Monthly Archives: May 2024

Connecting, Life Experiences

The Time Between Trains

Last night of Couple’s Alive

Sitting here at MadRonas Coffee shop on Gabriola. Dropped CrisMarie off at Silva Bay for her journey back to Whitefish.

Couples Alive was amazing, fulfilling and it’s hard to let her go. Even hard for me to stay. I know I’ll be super excited to step and start Come Alive tomorrow evening. And I want to honor, soak and digest Couples Alive. I always learn and discover so much in the process of leading, being and growing alongside CrisMarie and each of the couples in the room.

Haven has taught be so much about aliveness, relating, being and doing.

In the in between, I’ve had a deep dive with a friend and colleague here at the coffee shop. We talked Haven, our lives, the ways we have shifted and changed over the years. What’s real and happening in our lives now. It is one thing I love about my connections here. They go deep even when it’s been months, years. Time drops away with the real-ness and willingness to connect.

Later I’ll be having dinner with another couple and I look forward to talking below the surface and connecting.

It’s a part of life I treasure.

It is so easy in life to be busy and getting stuff done. Sometimes that can be great. However, I like a conversation or connection that takes me out of the day to day and even out of time.

Usually that involves getting out of my head and into heart. It’s not always about talking feelings though – it’s more about energy versus matter.

Sometimes that can happen out walking in the woods with my pups. It can happen on my bike. It can happen simply breathing and noticing the world and threads weaving all around me.

It can happen in conversation and sometimes that is the hardest entry moment, unless I am really tracking my agenda, my projections and just how I am putting the pieces together.

And realize whoever I am talking to is doing their own inner reality creating.

Words, time and perceived space can make it seem like we are separate. Yet, energetically we’re not. Just in our minds and stories. Not in our hearts and energy.

That’s why a walk with a horse or my dogs is sometimes the best path to take to reconnect to the world around me.

Well that and being here at the Haven where I learned to navigate between my worlds, inner and outer. Actually came to understand energy and the importance of using my mind, breath and my heartbeats in living this life.

Time to be off. A Reiki appointment is calling me. Maybe a hot tub. Maybe a nap. I’ll put this out in world and see what this post weaves in it’s travels.

I imagine I’ll have more to share. And feel free to let me know what you do between trains.

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Come Alive Ignite & Spark Your Heart

Got asked to do a short video about Come Alive. I’m not a natural on camera. So I wrote first. Here’s that version:

For me, Come Alive is an ignition/spark to the heart.

When I arrived at Haven for my first Come Alive 40 years ago, I was stuck in a story that lived as tumors in my body, I was terrified of living.

Those five days woke me up. Started me on an incredible journey through some very dark, scary places. At times I was wondering if I had the heart to keep going.

What kept the spark alive were those Come Alive tools, breathing, being vulnerable, curious, and expressing. I had a strong will to live and to learn to connect. I had seen, felt and experienced the power of real relating.

I became a therapist, coach, trained with various mentors in the field of humanistic psychology, learning a variety breath and energy practices, studying integrative body psychotherapy, other somatic teachings – even became a Master Facilitator in Equus coaching. I love learning and fine tuning my ability to connect and be with people wherever they are. The foundation of that work still brings me back to Come Alive.

I love leading and having a team of supportive people, committed to being real, personal skilled at holding space for others to step in and discover.

I love the program because there are things that are known (a structure and a space) and there is much that is unknown and shows up. It’s beautiful dance.

Cliff notes on Come Alive:

Life is an energy game.

We’ve generally learned much more about managing, surviving, being liked and transacting then we have about thriving, joy, experimenting, loving, mistaking and recovering.

Come Alive is a wonderful program to reconnect with to your energy, aliveness, to develop self-awareness and response – ableness.

Whether you are facing a loss, a challenging relationship, health issue or simply want more connection and aliveness in your life – Come Alive is for you.

There’s theory, practice, tears, laughs and much more.

You’ll learn relational tools that deepen connections both with yourself and others.

Plus:

Haven is on a beautiful island, interesting people from all walks of life, other adventurers, there’s a great staff and an environment set up to support you in becoming and discovering that you not so separate, broken but indeed whole and can more of you to everything you do.

Here’s a Link the final cut to FB: https://fb.watch/r_kUUoj0eS/

I actually like the live video – love to hear your thoughts.