The last week of July was a rainy one in the Taos Ski Valley and surroundings. It rained every day and sometimes many times each day and the ground became soggy and muddy, slippery. The clouds came and went and the sun often only peeked out a bit in the mornings before another wave of thunder and lightning and rain ensued. Mother Earth was showing her pain to us. This was the setting of the Rebirthing in Nature in Taos Adventure Retreat in which nine hardy and eager women of all stages of midlife descended into the Blake Hotel on Thursday morning.
In this setting powerful experiences arose; much as when we are challenged in our lives and things feel really hard, these conditions set up the opportunity for personal expansion. When we expand ourselves through difficult experiences, choosing to take ourselves somewhere outside of our comfort zone, as these ladies did, or whether we are caught in a crisis we have to learn to manage and work through, our attitude makes all the difference. An attitude of curiosity and gratitude can open us up to the possibilities of growth and expansion.
We’ve all met after this long year of isolation, fear and grief with the Covid-19 pandemic, ready to re-connect, to share so much that we need to release, to find deep connections again. These intentions were strong and loud and from Day 1 we began our sharing, our releasing, or expanding…Why are you here? Why are you really here? Calling us to go deeper into a more intimate place with ourselves as women. To deepen our relationships with ourselves.
Yoga was a powerful experience where we deeply connected and explored our emotional state together. Kari Malen, our Taos yoga teacher asked what we wanted (for our bodies, our hearts) and then gave it to us. I noticed how wonderful it feels to have someone ask you just what you want and then deliver it to you perfectly! Women need to experience this often and we did for three mornings both inside the Blake hotel and then outside on the outdoor platform high on the Ski Mountain near our outdoor Glamping Camp. We were taking our gratitude into embodiment of more feelings we shared and felt together as we shared time both in silence, in wonderful meals, in hiking and being in the forest together. Setting the stage for rebirthing and healing the many parts of us that were emerging and being noticed.
Through nature practice, the experience of using mindfulness to expand the senses, and forest bathing, we continued our expansion and embodiment into deeper sharing together. Each evening we came out of our tents when the rain subsided to move together around the fire in ceremony and celebration of our woman-ness, our powerful stages of our lives we were all experiencing and had experienced, and our joys and sorrows coming forth. Sometimes it was just what we felt inside and how we embodied our many transitions and parts, and honored who were in this moment as women; witnessing and celebrating each other.
Being in nature, being willing to explore whatever is coming forth and opening to it, is the process of nature practice. These women did exactly that and with grace and generosity for each other and the beauty we experienced here. Deep joy and connection was harvested and shared.
I was deeply touched by these women, this amazing four days in the Taos Valley, and the hearts of all the staff and teams that came together to create this beautiful retreat. Gratitude, Curiosity, Embodiment and Celebration brings deep awakening and deep connections. Rebirthing in Taos!!
You can join us for the Fall Retreat in the foothills outside of Boulder. Sign up here: HERE. Healing Yourself: Healing the World: Women’s Mindfulness & Grief Retreat October 28-31, 2021.
