Women’s Retreats
In putting together this article I thought "Who would be reading it? Who do I want to reach?" Just as the question formed in my mind, the answer came into my thoughts. Any woman who needs to make time to get away from it all and reconnect with herself; any woman who wants the opportunity to listen to her authentic self, nourish and nurture her soul and replenish her spirit.

You may ask yourself "What is a retreat?"It is an opportunity to move away from your everyday schedule, to listen and align to your truest, most authentic self. It is about being self-referenced; to become self restored. It is about trusting and acknowledging what you experience internally as sacred without the need for external sanction and approval. It is setting time apart to honor and care for yourself and reclaim your dreams. Making a place to reaffirm your values by giving yourself permission to do what you need when you need it, not when you think you should, or when someone else thinks you should. It is a time to use your loving self-discipline to push past limiting beliefs to instigate change, or to bring closure to the past. A retreat can be an opportunity to bring you back to your center.

Women have retreated since the very beginning of time. From menstruating women living apart in huts to the biblical stories of Ruth and Judith, from Emily Dickinson, Georgia O’Keefe on to Annie Dillard, there is a history, although slim and barely recorded (when compared to the sagas of men on retreat), of women alone, women turning within.

Retreats are composed of three parts:

Part One-RITUAL SEPARATION. Through this separation, women are removed from the ordinary tasks and routines of life. This is an indication that essential shifts in consciousness were occurring, which is the substance of a retreat. Women are able to separate their minds from everyday responsibilities.
This ritual separation caused women, who took the time, to step out of a particular space and time into a secret, set apart world: betwixt and between, liminal space, time out of time.

Part two-LIMINAL SPACE. This is a threshold, a timeless in between place that forces women to focus inward, giving them time away to listen to their innermost self.

Part Three-THE RETURN. This is a gradual return to ordinary space and time. As the women returned to their daily lives they have the opportunity to integrate what they have learned by acknowledging that their consciousness has shifted, enlarged and changed.
Retreats can be any length of time, years, months, days, hours, or minutes. They also can be used for any purpose. The following are only a sample of the many options available to women to renew their spirit.

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