WOMEN IN THE ROUND: Rooted In Resilience
Join Linda Meacci, Yoga and Movement Instructor, and Dreama Phoenix, Artist and Art Therapist, for a week of creativity, exploration, and transformation through yoga, movement, meditation, and image-making. Explore yoga, movement, and the revelatory and healing power of art-making as we create symbols of physical, emotional, mental, and spiritual resilience in community with other women. Our home for the week is the majestic and beautiful Ghost Ranch in Abiquiu, NM — the long-time summer home and source of inspiration for Georgia O'Keeffe.
A GATHERING ROOTED IN RESILIENCE
The focus of this Women in the Round experience is to explore and foster resilience, which can be described as:
The capacity to recover quickly from difficulties
The ability to spring back into shape
The capacity to be transformed by life’s challenges.
Our lived experiences of the last two years have made each of us aware of extraordinary stresses and unprecedented individual resilience. Throughout this retreat, we will use yoga, movement, meditation, and image-making to embark upon a journey of self-inquiry and discovery in community with other women.
CREATIVITY AND COMMUNITY: Studies show that creative endeavors enhance well-being, reduce stress, and lower cortisol levels. Moving together and making art together affirms our sense of community. As we come together, we begin to heal together, sharing and affirming each other’s resilience.
By tapping into the creation of resilience-themed mandalas together, we travel into the worlds of our imaginations, where symbols of sustaining resilience wait to be manifested. In our yoga and movement practices, we immerse ourselves in self-inquiry and explore ways to connect with ourselves in body, mind, and heart, so we may more easily align with our felt sense of groundedness and resilience.
In the Art Studio, we will practice:
Using art media—paint, drawing materials, collage—to create symbols of physical, emotional, mental, and spiritual resilience
Working and supporting each other in community, which is a key function of resilience.
In both the Art Studio and the Movement Studio, we will gift ourselves the opportunity to:
Relax in gratitude
Recognize strengths
Revise dead imagery
Balance our nervous systems
Reconnect to the rugged part of ourselves from which resilience springs.
RETREAT FACILITATORS
LINDA MEACCI
Yoga and Movement Instructor
Linda Meacci, E-RYT 500, is an insightful and compassionate yoga instructor who creates a supportive and empowering learning environment, welcoming student participation and self-exploration. She honors the great potential within each individual, encouraging students to contemplate the forces at work in their lives, open up to possibility, and strive to reconnect with the power, love, and wisdom within. Linda draws upon her background as performing artist, athlete and yogi to design rhythmic, fluid practices that incorporate physical asana, therapeutic movement, yogic philosophy, spiritual themes and personal attention. Off the mat, Linda thrives on her love of nature, travel and her spiritual path, Surat Shabda Yoga.
DREAMA PHOENIX
Artist and Art Therapist
Dreama Phoenix finds great joy in creating cutout images with handmade paper from Nepal and is fascinated with the healing power of making images. She is a credentialed art therapist with 35 years in private practice focused on helping people cope with the effects of post-traumatic stress, grief, and chronic illness. Dreama is proud to be a Work That Reconnects facilitator, offering her community Joanna Macy's Work That Reconnects in IntuitEarth Deep Ecology Workshops. Her Whitebear Studio is the home of IntuitArt process painting workshops, ElderArt Home-based Art Therapy, and Whitebear Creativity Coaching. Dreama walks daily in the woods above the Little Buffalo River in Jasper, Arkansas, and practices Surat Shabda Yoga.
THE ART EXPERIENCE
The Transformative Power of Image-Making: Creating Resilience-Themed Mandalas
THE MANDALA – SYMBOL OF WHOLENESS: Mandala means “circle” in Sanskrit. But it is more than just a shape. Carl Jung called it a "safe refuge of inner reconciliation and wholeness." So, making mandalas—imaging them and creating our images with art media—is a creative process that takes each of us into our unique individual center. By drawing the circle, its center, and its contents, we are making ourselves whole, literally “wholeing,” or healing, ourselves.
When we find a center, draw a circle, and begin to draw an image inside that circle, we begin to relax the body and focus the attention. Creating shape and form inside the circle invites a message to take shape that comes from a deeper part of the Self, through the art media, to the waiting conscious Self. By allowing ourselves to create these circular images, we invite an experience that helps unify the parts of ourselves and allows us to see ourselves in new ways.
DAILY THEMES: In our group art-making sessions, Dreama will link the mandala-making process to Linda's morning meditation theme. Each daily meditation theme addresses a concept that Linda and Dreama have identified as a key aspect of resilience. We will anchor these concepts visually in our mandalas. During the retreat, you may choose to create one mandala, several, or one each day—whatever lets you manifest imagery related to your emerging sense of your own expression of resilience.
COME AS YOU ARE; NO ART EXPERIENCE REQUIRED: Research has proven what we know instinctively: art-making is relaxing and fun! Our Studio will be a place for you to relax and have fun with yourself and the group. There's no right or wrong way to draw or paint or make a mandala—just your way. As Ursula Le Guin said, “It is good to have an end to journey towards; but it is the journey that matters, in the end.” As we journey together, you’ll have the satisfaction of gaining some mastery as you create your mandala(s), but you may find that learning more about your individual creative process is even more compelling. The creation of your own personal mandala is a contemplative exercise that opens pathways to introspection, healing and growth, allowing you to express yourself in new ways as you honor your true Self.
“For me, the Studio isn’t just a physical location but also a state of mind. When I “go to the Studio,” I enter a workspace that has no limits, physical or otherwise. The Studio is the location and interior space where I explore, experiment, and manifest, and this is my vision for our Women in the Round Art Studio.”
MIXED MEDIA PROVIDED FOR ARTWORK: One of the techniques Dreama will introduce is tissue paper collage. Dreama says, “I love this medium—it excites and inspires me and lends itself beautifully to manifesting unconscious imagery.” Other media available include paint, drawing media, and lots of materials for collage (including a large collection of magazines for photos and words). You may want to bring some of your own beads, natural objects, curiosities, or other materials for collage. There will be hot glue guns for attaching materials to canvases, canvas board, and watercolor paper.
THE INNER AND OUTER MOVEMENT EXPERIENCE
Cultivating Resilience through Yoga, Movement, Meditation, and Restorative Practices
In our yoga and movement practices, we will immerse ourselves in self-inquiry and explore ways to connect with ourselves in body, mind, and heart, so we may more easily align with our felt sense of groundedness and resilience.
Our experiential and embodied practices center around breath and somatic awareness, guided meditation, yoga shapes, expressive movement, and restoration. These practices provide a framework for understanding where you are in the present moment and envisioning how you may align with resiliency from the inside out.
Our yoga and movement practices will include:
Guided morning meditation centered on resilience-related themes
Somatic exploration to enhance self-awareness
Self-inquiry grounded in the body’s deep core structure, including the breath and the pelvic floor
Effective ways to release gripping in the body’s bridging structure (the psoas muscles)
Embodiment of breath and asana to enhance proprioception (awareness of where our bodies are in space) and interoception (awareness of what is happening on the inside)
Restorative and yin shapes to deeply settle into our parasympathetic nervous system (the “rest and digest” system)
Expressive movement to release endorphins and foster creativity
Learning about self-regulation and co-regulation of the nervous system
Exploring the connection between our physical state of being, our emotional states, and the attitudes we hold dear.
THE VENUE: Ghost Ranch, Abiquiu, NM
As you approach Ghost Ranch by car, about an hour north of Santa Fe, you enter a landscape of vast vistas, table-topped mesas, tall cliffs, the Rio Chama bordered by huge old cottonwood trees, mountains in the distance, and more beauty around every bend in the winding road.
The landscape of Ghost Ranch—made famous by painter Georgia O’Keeffe—encompasses 21,000 acres of towering rock walls, vivid colors and vast skies. O’Keeffe once said of the ranch, which was her long-time summer home, “It is not a country of light on things, it is a country of things in light.”
Ghost Ranch offers:
A welcoming, beautiful and sacred space
Simple, rustic lodging
A perfect place to retreat and reflect
Space to explore what nourishes your heart and soul
Outdoor beauty with adventure for those who seek it.
To learn more about this magical place, visit the Ghost Ranch website.
LODGING AND MEALS at the RANCH
LODGING OPTIONS:
Standard Room with Private Bath (Single or Double Occupancy)
Comfortably appointed with neutral hues and a Southwest theme, each room has two beds (a queen + twin, or double + twin) and a dresser, nightstand, lamp, chair, closet and its own bathroom with shower.Mesa Level — These rooms are located on a hill with amazing views. Note: You will need a car to get to these rooms when you arrive with luggage; there is a walking path that brings you close to the Dining Hall, Library and Art Center area. If you love to walk and are of average fitness to walk up and down an incline, this is a great accommodation choice!
Main Ranch Level —The newest units on the Main Level are spacious, ADA accessible units close to the Dining Hall, flat surface for walking.
Dorm Room with Communal Bath (Single or Double Occupancy)
Dorm-style rooms have a communal bath down the hall or in another building and reflect the history and dude ranch culture of Ghost Ranch’s past. Multiple bunk or twin beds and very simple furnishings keep them among Ghost Ranch’s most affordable options.
For more information on rooms, visit the Ghost Ranch lodging page.
MEALS:
The ranch Dining Hall serves three meals a day. Vegetarian entrees are often available upon request. A salad bar is featured at lunch and dinner each day. Meals are served cafeteria style, with your choice of indoor or outdoor dining.
While the Dining Hall offers gluten-free items and vegan dishes at some meals, they cannot guarantee that these options will be available for every meal. If it is necessary for a guest to eat a specific diet or if a guest has food allergies, the surest option is to bring personal food items to the ranch. There are several kitchen facilities available for guest use.
Special Diets — Please Note: We will submit your dietary preferences to the Ghost Ranch Dining Hall but cannot guarantee they will be able to meet all requests.
YOUR RETREAT, YOUR WAY:
Relax, reflect, renew on your own terms
There will be yoga, image-making and other activities scheduled daily. A sample day's schedule is shown here (times and activities may vary).
Please do not feel pressure to do it all. You may participate in as many or as few sessions as you wish. This is your retreat, so make it what it needs to be for you, no one else. It's important that you allow yourself time and space to relax and renew in body, mind and spirit.
Go at your own pace. Honor your inner nudges and whispers and let them guide you toward an appropriate level of activity, striking a healthy balance between community time and your own personal time.
Take time for yourself and take advantage of everything Ghost Ranch has to offer. Breathe deep and take in the majesty of this land—its burnt orange mesas and deep blue sky, its awe-inspiring sunrises and sunsets. Quiet yourself and listen for the wind as it sweeps across this rugged plain. Let earth and sky nourish the soul!
TRAVEL PLANNING
ARRIVAL DAY -- SATURDAY, MARCH 5, 2022:
3:00 PM — Room check-in opens
5:30 PM — Dinner
Welcome Gathering after dinner
DEPARTURE DAY -- SATURDAY, MARCH 12, 2022:
Early Morning Practice
7:30 AM — Breakfast
10:00 AM — Room checkout and departure
RETREAT VENUE:
Ghost Ranch — 280 Private Drive 1708, Abiquiu, NM 87510
NEAREST AIRPORTS:
— Albuquerque International Sunport (ABQ) — 128 miles
— Santa Fe Regional Airport (SAF) — 70 miles
Additional Travel Information: For more helpful information, visit the Ghost Ranch website travel page.
COVID-19 CONSIDERATIONS
IMPORTANT: Please read the Women in the Round COVID-19 Considerations page for all COVID-related guidelines and recommendations, including detailed information on travel insurance.
All retreat participants must agree and adhere to the following COVID-19 guidelines, which are based on the policies of the retreat venue.
Masks required indoors: Masks are required in all public indoor locations except when eating or drinking. In our private retreat meeting spaces, masks will be optional.
Proof of COVID-19 vaccination required: Proof of vaccination is required for workshop and retreat guests, outside group participants, and overnight stay guests. Guest are required to present proof of vaccination to Ghost Ranch personnel upon arrival at check-in.
Travel insurance recommended: We strongly recommend you purchase travel insurance to cover the nonrefundable costs of your trip, including the retreat fee. Travel insurance can reimburse nonrefundable trip costs if unforeseen circumstances prevent you from attending the retreat, or if you change your mind. See the Women in the Round COVID-19 Considerations page for detailed information on travel insurance.
PLEASE NOTE:
Please be sure you have proof of vaccination (or be confident that you will have proof of vaccination by the date of the retreat) before registering for this retreat.
You do not need to provide proof of COVID-19 vaccination to register or pay for the retreat. However, you are required to present proof of vaccination upon arrival at Ghost Ranch. Without proof of vaccination, you will not be admitted to the retreat.
Thank you in advance for your consideration and cooperation.
Women in the Round 2022: Rooted in Resilience
FEES and PAYMENT INFORMATION
Fees (all prices are per person)
EARLY BIRD RATES (good through Jan 2, 2022):
— DOUBLE Occupancy STANDARD Room w/ Private Bath: $1,995
— SINGLE Occupancy STANDARD Room w/ Private Bath: $2,535
— DOUBLE Occupancy DORM Room w/ Communal Bath: $1,740*
— SINGLE Occupancy DORM Room w/ Communal Bath: $2,035*
STANDARD RATES (after Jan 2, 2022)
— Add $200 to all Early Bird Rates
Payment Information
FULL PAYMENT is due at time of registration; no refunds after Jan 2, 2022.
Because of our payment obligations with the retreat venue, we need to collect full payment at the time you register for the retreat. If you cancel your registration before January 2, 2022, a cancellation fee of $500 will be retained and the remainder of your retreat fee will be refunded. After January 2, 2022, no refunds will be issued, due to our contractual obligation with the retreat venue.
FORMS of PAYMENT ACCEPTED:
— Check payable to LINDA MEACCI YOGA INSTRUCTION
— Credit card via PayPal (a 3.7% processing fee applies)
— PayPal funds transfer (a 3.7% processing fee applies)
CANCELLATION and REFUND POLICY:
— Cancellation request must be made by EMAIL to info@lindameacciyoga.com.
— On or before January 2, 2022: Refund issued, minus a $500 cancellation fee.
— After January 2, 2022: No refunds.
Women in the Round 2022: Rooted in Resilience
REQUEST A REGISTRATION FORM / ASK A QUESTION
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