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| Welcome to a very special
journey, a quiet journey of self discovery that has the capacity to
lead you back to your self.
Somehow in the day-to-day
grown-up world we slowly lose our way. We've been busy caring for
others, tending home, and building community and careers. Then one
day we wake up. If we're lucky, we awake in our 20's or 30's, but
for many of us we reach the menopause years before we realize that
we are sleepwalking through our life. And that we've not only lost
our way but also lost ourselves in the process. |
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| I believe in the
life-changing potential of retreating. Not just because I've
seen its results through A Woman's Way, but also because I've
experienced its value on a deep personal level. After leaving
a 32-year marriage in 1998, I lived on the top of a mountain,
a great deal of the time in near total silence. It was a year
of sadness and loss but, more importantly, it was a year of
incredible magic. Because, on that quiet mountain, I found
enough space to see my self. |
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That year I learned the
importance of quiet, of stepping back from life in order to
listen. I learned the value of journaling in order to hear
what I needed to hear. I learned that self-reflection was
essential for insight. And I knew that I wanted to share this
information with other women. |
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| Not everyone has the
option of living on a mountaintop, nor attending a structured
retreat, but we all have a few hours each month that we can
set aside for quiet renewal, a special time to step back and
assess who we are and where we're going and time to celebrate
where we've come from and what we've learned. |
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| This book is a reference
guide. It can be used alone or shared with sisters, friends, mothers
or daughters. It can be used in pieces -- for a quiet lunch hour, an
afternoon alone -- or for a full two-day retreat. It can be used for
any reason and for any amount of time. |
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| This guide is
divided into three parts – The journey begins
(preparing for a retreat), On retreat (the
central pieces of a retreat) and Returning home
(concluding a retreat). As you design your first
retreat, or series of retreats, plan to work through the
lessons and exercises from the front of the guide to the
end. As you get experienced at retreating, feel free to
expand on any of the exercises. Rewrite them, combine
them, create your own, use them in any order. Do the
ones that speak the most to you. |
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| For those who would like to
follow a template, at least at the beginning, you will find sample
half-day and full-day retreat formats in Part IV. Once again, use
the pieces that speak to you and set aside the rest. |
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There is no
right way to use this guide – make it your own. |
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| It is my hope that the
lessons and exercises in this guide will assist you in connecting
deeply with your self. And that as you complete the final exercise
and close the cover, you will have discovered a sense of hope and
joy . . . and an understanding that quiet reflection is the
threshold to a vibrant, authentic life.
As you move into the next chapter
of your life, I'd like to hear from you but, more importantly, I'd
love to meet you in person at A Woman's Way retreat. And when we
meet, nothing would thrill me more than to see a much-used,
dog-eared, written-all-over, tattered copy of A Retreat of My Own
in your hand. For this guide is not meant to be lovingly placed on a
bookshelf but to be really used. Make it your own guide, your own
story, fill it with your own thoughts, hopes and dreams. And,
through that process, you might find an open space and, in that
space, you might feel the impulse to soar. |
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