Tend Your Spirit in Big Sky Country
Join us Sept. 13-19 for rest, reflection and renewal.
We're less than four months away from our Tending Your Inner Garden® retreat on Flathead Lake in northern Montana, and we have exciting new details to share with you.
Just imagine...
• a cabin on crystal-clear water, surrounded by some of the world’s most majestic mountains, where the changing colors of aspen and birch sparkle in the setting sun.
• a gathering of women who honor the sacred in nature, in one another, and in themselves.
• daily opportunities to remember and rediscover your own passions and dreams.
• time to leave your busy routine behind—to walk, sit, reflect, play, and be.
It’s time to find more peace and stillness, more laughter and friendship, more support in creating the life you want.
Join us this September for a week-long Tending Your Inner Garden® women’s retreat in Montana, where we’ll help you Tend Your Spirit in Big Sky Country.
Dates: September 13-19, 2009
Location: Flathead Lake, Montana (so beautiful that it’s included in the book 1,000 Places to See Before You Die in the USA and Canada)
This is the first international Tending Your Inner Garden retreat, and we promise to make it SENSATIONAL!
Whether you’re new to Tending Your Inner Garden or have been involved in the program before, we welcome you.
Tending Your Inner Garden began in 2003 as a year-long program of workshops and monthly dinners, designed to bring women together to listen to one another, and to their own inner wisdom.
Hundreds of women have participated in the program, either in person, by reading our weekly e-newsletters, or by attending a special Inner Garden event. Here’s what some of them have to say.
“Anyone desiring inner change can find amazing opportunities for personal growth and supportive inspiration in Tending Your Inner Garden." —Joyce Rupp, author of numerous best-selling books, including The Cosmic Dance
“Gently, Deb and Diane encourage each woman to ponder what is most sacred to her.” —Julie Gibson
“The Tending Your Inner Garden program offers a unique experience for women who are alive, growing, and changing.” —Carol Mathews
Now, with our first ever week-long retreat, we’re sharing the principles of Tending Your Inner Garden in a new way as we gather in one of the world’s most glorious places. As you go inside yourself to discover your own inner wisdom, you’ll be supported by a group of like-minded women, and by a majestic combination of mountains, water, and sky.
• Morning: We’ll enjoy a hearty breakfast, then gather as a group for spiritual practices and small-group exercises, themed to reflect our surroundings and the discovery of your inner Self.
• Afternoon: We’ll have lunch as a group (or take your meal outdoors and eat by the lake). The afternoon is yours, whether you’d like to walk, canoe, explore, read, journal, or spend time with new friends. When you arrive, you’ll receive a list of places within an hour’s drive (don’t worry, several participants will have vehicles) including Blacktail Mountain for hiking, a bison range, and natural hot springs where you can enjoy a soothing and healing soak.
A "creative expressions" area will be open to you every day, offering a wide variety of art materials. Do the mountains inspire you? Try painting them. Are you mesmerized by the view of the water from your cabin? Make a sketch to take home. Leaf prints, vision boards, journals, earth-fired pottery—you’ll work with the natural materials of the area and create items that have deep and lasting meaning for you. Local artists will be on hand some afternoons to share their skills with you. And if you'd like a little pampering and a pick-me-up late in the afternoon, join your new friends for a spot of tea.
• Evening: After supper, we’ll gather as a group once again for an evening ritual to share the insights we’ve gained through the day. To bridge the morning and evening times, we’ll offer a question or “assignment” to think about or plan during the afternoon. This will give each day a special focus and a sense of beginnings and endings as you discover something new in yourself.
Since the Tending Your Inner Garden program is so closely tied to nature and the metaphor of the seasons, we’ve chosen a place where the landscape itself has much to teach us.
During the week, a theme for each day ties the beauty of that landscape to your inner journey:
Sunday
The Inner and Outer Landscape: How does nature inspire the deepening of my spirit?
Monday
The Grandeur of Glacier Mountain: How do I create a strong foundation for my life?
Tuesday
The Call of the Western Meadowlark: What do I long to express?
Wednesday
The Splendor of Going-to-the-Sun Road: How do I travel my spiritual path?
Thursday
The Delicacy of the Alpine Laurel: How do I share my beauty with the world?
Friday
The Crystal Clarity of Flathead Lake: What inner wisdom shines through my being?
Saturday
The Journey Home: What do I take back with me?
• As you arrive, take time to unpack in your housekeeping cabin, get to know other participants, walk by the lake, or enjoy a massage and relax after your travels. After you’ve settled in, we’ll gather for a healthy homemade supper, a welcome from our host (a former Inner Gardener herself), and information from a Montana naturalist. Then we’ll spend the evening getting acquainted.
• A local musician will lead a drumming circle one evening, with African dancing led by his wife. Think you're not cut out for music or dance? This night of powerful energy and playfulness will convince you otherwise!
• On Wednesday, September 16, we'll travel as a group to Glacier National Park to travel and explore the Going-to-the-Sun Road, the premier 50-mile drive through the park. Here you'll view rugged landscapes and magnificent waterfalls—some of the most spectacular vistas in the Northern Rockies. As we reach the highest point, Logan Pass at 6,646 feet, we'll keep a watch for grizzly bears, goats and bighorn sheep. Along the way, we'll have time for hiking and energy exercises to fill your body with the chi of the pine trees and mountains. This is a sacred place and promises to be a life-changing day trip. We'll return to our accommodations at Flathead Lake that evening.
• Later in the week, an afternoon of shopping will take us to Bigfork, a small community of galleries and boutiques not far from Flathead Lake. Buy your Montana souvenirs before returning home!
In this world, where people have more ways to connect with each other than ever, many also experience more isolation. A quick comment on Facebook can link you to hundreds of people. But it’s no substitute for real friendship, for a community of caring individuals who will hold your hand when the world seems dark and scary.
That’s what Tending Your Inner Garden is all about—bringing together women who will accept, support, and challenge you while you become better friends with yourself. In this community, in which you learn to listen to one another and yourself, you can make deep, lasting change.
Sign up for this retreat if you're...
• Hoping to make changes in your life.
• Wanting to get to know yourself better.
• Wanting to connect with other women who are on a spiritual path.
• Ready to put old goals and behaviors behind you and re-envision the life ahead.
• Needing support as you move into a new stage of your life.
• Longing to feel excited about life again.
• Convinced that there’s a you inside that you haven’t yet come to know.
• Drawn to one of the world’s most beautiful places, where you can find solitude, laughter, and friendship, and develop a deeper relationship with nature.
COST: The week is $750, including lodging, meals, and a one-day excursion into Glacier National Park on Going-to-the-Sun Highway. More information and online registration will be available soon through the camp website.
SCHEDULE: We'll open the week with supper and complimentary chair massages on Sunday, September 13 and end with breakfast on Saturday, September 19. If you're traveling by train or plane and arrive earlier, your registration will also cover lodging the night of Saturday, September 12. Sunday breakfast and lunch are available for an additional fee. If you're leaving by train, you may opt to leave before breakfast on Saturday, September 19.
ACCOMMODATIONS: You'll stay at Flathead Lake United Methodist Camp in a heated cottage facing the lake, with just a path between you and the shore. The arrangement is conducive to waking up and taking a cup of coffee or tea to the water's edge.
Each cottage has a kitchen with a coffeemaker, sink (with cold water), range, refrigerator, microwave, toaster, plates, and utensils. (Coffee and tea are supplied.) You'll share a cabin with one or two other participants. If you'd like to request a specific roommate, please let Martha Cline, our host, know. You'll have your own private sleeping room with a double or single bed. Linens, including bedding and towels, are provided.
The camp has two bath houses, both of which are a short walk from the cottages. The bath houses have toilets, sinks and plenty of shower space.
TRAVEL ARRANGEMENTS Plan to travel to Flathead Lake either by taking Amtrak into Whitefish Montana (code WFH), or flying United Airlines or Northwest Airlines into Glacier International Airport (airport code FCA). When we have your travel plans, we'll arrange to pick you up and transport you to the camp at no additional charge. As an alternative, you might fly into Missoula or Spokane and rent a car.
FOOD Meals include Sunday supper, Sept. 13 and Saturday breakfast, Sept. 19, as well as three meals a day during the retreat. Enjoy freshly made meals, comfort food, and vegetarian options.
TEMPERATURE Average temperature in September is in the 60s during the day and the 40s at night. It's wise to bring comfortable walking or hiking shoes, rain gear, sweatshirts, and other clothing that can be layered. A walking stick may be helpful for hikes.
Register now. We're capping the registrations at 30, and the retreat is already half full, so please register as soon as possible.
The fee is $750, which includes the following:
• Transfers to and from the airport and Amtrak station.
• Meals and lodging from Sunday supper, Sept. 13 through breakfast on Saturday, Sept. 19.
• Linen service
• Transportation to Glacier National Park
• All materials
• Daily activities and evening rituals
• To hold your place, please send a $100 deposit (or a check in full) to Flathead Lake U.M. Camp, c/o Martha Cline, 21339 Methodist Camp Rd., Rollins, MT 59931. Payment in full is due by August 26, 2009. Space is limited. Please register as early as possible.
If cancellation is received by June 30, 2009, you're entitled to a full refund. After June 30, $50 of the deposit/registration fee will be retained. After August 26, you will receive a refund of 50%.
We'll send out updates with additional details soon. Hope to see you in Big Sky Country!
Deb Engle and Diane Glass
Send us a message >
|
