Soul Frontier

A nature retreat in the wilderness of Maine

Oct. 2-4, 2009
Katahdin Lake Wilderness Camp
Baxter State Park, ME

Celebrate and honor the changing season while on a nature retreat at Katahdin Lake in Baxter State Park. Canoeing, hiking, gentle physical exercise, soul-art and time spent in silence will be the program for this 3 day/2 night retreat. Let your soul expand in this inspiring and peaceful environment.


To find out more about this spectactular retreat please contact me at 207l.592.7888 or angela@gestaltyourlife.com. Hope to hear from you soon!

Angela

Retreat coming up!

I am clearing a space --
here, where the trees stand back.
I am making a circle so open
the moon will fall in love
and stroke these grasses with her silver.
I am setting stones in the four directions,
stones that have called my name
from mountaintops and riverbeds, canyons and mesas.
Here I will stand with my hands empty,
mind gaping under the moon.
- Morgan Farley


I am very excited to anounce my first retreat offering:
June 13, 2009
Back to your senses
Spend a day on the beach to slow down, listen within, experience nature and connect with yourself. Guided walks, meditation, reflection and physical awareness exercises as well as a delicious lunch will make this day a special treat for you!

Fee: $ 75.00 (incl. lunch)
Location: Popham Beach, Phipppsburg Maine

To register and for more info please email me: angela@gestaltyourlife.com
Hope to see you there.....

Stay with what is...

Whenever we notice discomfort, odd sensations or 'something not quite right' we tend to correct 'it' as fast as possible, change our position, attitude or action.

We notice, make assumptions and correct. But do we really know the experience? Do we really make the right assumption and is the correction really adequate? Or do we just want to get away from the discomfort? Better not listening deeper or longer to something, we don't really want to know about? What would happen, if we stayed with our sensation, with what is? Notice where in our body it manifests. What kind of discomfort (pain, soreness, itch, restriction of movement, etc.) is it? What is the impulse, what might be a movement coming out of the discomfort? Any noises coming up? What do we have to say, that our body tries to communicate in a different language?

Stay, just a little bit longer.... with me. Listen.

The power of dreams

Jung wrote in his autobiography, "Day after day we live far beyond the bounds of our consciousness; without our knowledge, the life of the unconscious is also going on with us. The more the critical reason dominates, the more impoverished life becomes; but the more of the unconscious, and the more of myth we are capable of making conscious, the more of life we integrate.

There is nothing to be scared of. The fact that some things coming from deep within us are not 'reasonable' is not scary but truly amazing!
Going through transitions - whether it's just the change of seasons or rather big life transitions -can be accompanied by wonderful dreams. Sometimes the dreams even come first and are nudging us in the new direction.
I always appreciate them, like a special gift or a good old friend. I am happy to have them (back), to be able to look into that 'mirror' again. It's time to put my dream journal on my nightstand!

The secret of Life

A story told in India about an argument among the gods as to where to hide the secret of life so that men and women cannot find it:

Bury it under a mountain, one god suggested, they’ll never find it there.
No, the others countered, one day they will find a way to dig up the mountain and uncover the secret of life.
Put it in the depths of the deepest ocean, another god suggested, it will be safe there.
No, said the others, some day humankind will find a way to travel to the depths of the ocean and will find it.
Put it inside them, another god said, men and women will never think of looking for it there.
All the gods agreed, and so it is said the gods hid the secret of life within us.

Well, let’s look for it!

Proactive vs. Reactive

PROACTICE vs. REACTIVE

With all the challenges and choices looming in the air, what is your stance? Are you concerned and experiencing the uncertainty? Or are you seeing opportunities and feel excited energy for action?

Whichever your dominating experience is, try to integrate your gifts and strengths. Are you aware of them? Do you know what your gifts are and if so, how do you share them? When was the last time, you said out loud: “I am good at this, I love doing this – this is how I want to experience my life!”

Being in contact and aware of our gifts and strengths gives us access to our life energy, to something very authentic in us. This is our asset, our treasure. This is what we have to give, what we can share and make meaningful contributions with. But even more important in challenging times: This is what can motivate us toward action, what can re-energize us and overcome concerns and fear.

Below you'll find an exercise that can be helpful to recover or emphasize your gifts and strengths. May it support you in getting in touch with your inner source!

EXERCISE: Explore your gifts and strengths

1. Take a stack of index cards and list your gifts and strengths individually.

2. Next, for each of them write down where, when and how you apply them (you might also make notes of the environment and its quality, people with whom you share them, people who are supportive etc.)

3. Now think of situations or places where you seem to forget about them, hide them, or simply ignore them. So, what is that about?

4. Are there situations or areas in your life where you want to integrate more of your gifts and strengths? Who could profit, if you did? How could that look like?

(Note: Please try to work through this exercise with an open mind and be kind with yourself, no judgment here!)