Newsletter July 2012: Why Retreats are So Effective.
I know your path is not always easy. I know you are intelligent, conscientious, and you have a big heart. I know you are courageous. Every time you take a step toward your goals, every time you speak up for yourself, every time you extend compassion to yourself or someone else, I applaud you.
Part of me cries when you cry. Part of me aches when you feel stuck. Part of me wails my tigress roar when people mistreat you or neglect your needs. You are not alone. We are in this life together, connected through the web of humanity.
I’d like to tell you a little about my own transformational journey in the article below. I have struggled with some of the same issues you have, and I’ve grown and healed. I hope my story inspires you.
My Transformational Journey: An Overview
When I was doing my heavy-duty inner healing work in the 1970s and 1980s, two things made the biggest difference for me: (1) having 2 long-term teachers I trusted and (2) attending multi-day retreats. My teachers saw dynamics in me that I couldn’t begin to understand, let alone heal. I wouldn’t be where I am today without their help.
In order to break free of my past programming and the emotional wounding that held patterns in place, I had to go deep, really deep. I would never have gone there without my teachers. I had to trust them to take me into the unknown. I soaked in their love for me, and because of that, I felt safe enough to let go and explore my inner wilderness. Sometimes I challenged them, and they were strong enough to let me ask tons of questions.
The toughest thing was for me to drop down into my emotions and my body, and stop being so intellectual. I had to learn how to get in touch with emotions and stay fully present in my body. That can only be learned experientially, not from reading a book.
I was willing to do that in retreats because I had enough time to pussy-foot around, and stick my toe in the proverbial water. I watched other people as they were coached by my teachers, and I learned vicariously before I asked for healing. I had plenty of time to deal with my anxiety instead of shrinking back. I was scared of the unknown, but I didn’t let it stop me because I saw other people making major breakthroughs. They’d come out smiling, even radiant.
I knew I was playing too small in my life. I felt God prompting me to unfold more of my divine blueprint. Private counseling sessions were great, weekly groups were wonderful, but my biggest changes occurred at retreats because we had three full days to go deep. “Deep” is what I needed.
What About You?
Are you feeling an inner prompting to go deeper like I did? Do you have a sense that God designed a blueprint uniquely for you, and you want to fulfill it? Are you feeling the need to break out of the patterns that have kept you stuck? In my mind’s eye, I see the picture of a chick tap, tap, tapping from the inside of the shell, and finally breaking it open. It is the beginning of its new life. I want this for you with all my heart, and that’s why I am writing to you today. I want you to break free.
I love to lead transformational personal growth retreats more than any of the work I do because of the deep bonding we experience over two – three days and the remarkable changes that occur.
If you are a highly sensitive person, my Breathwork Retreats are made with you in mind.
To view the current list of Retreats, click here.
If you feel your spirit urging you to explore these opportunities, please contact me now to arrange a complimentary phone interview.
Complete the application on the Contact Page.
Register early for retreats to receive a discount. There are pre-requisites, so if you are interested, it is important to contact me ASAP to see if a retreat is a good fit for you.
Links to Retreat Stories
1) If you’d like to read about one of the first times I participated in a retreat and how I learned to be vulnerable in public, click here.
2) To read a story about how I facilitated a client’s healing trauma in a retreat, click here.
3) To read about a participant’s reflections after a Retreat, click here: The holy connection between body and spirit.
4) To read about Breathwork combined with our Lake Lanier Yacht Retreat with amazing Nature and animal stories, click here.
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Author and Facilitator
Benita A. Esposito, MA, Licensed Professional Counselor
The Esposito Institute, Inc.
Psychotherapy Website: www.Flourishing-Lives.com
Life Coaching and Spiritual Counseling: www.SensitiveIntrovert.com
Specialties: Marriage counseling, divorce, emotional roots of disease, depression, anxiety, post-traumatic stress, grief, bipolar disorders and success skills. Combining intuition and evidence-based practices, Benita gets to the bottom line quickly to help clients create flourishing personal and professional lives. Psychotherapy is available in Blairsville and Atlanta. Life coaching for high achievers is available worldwide via telephone and skype. Retreats are facilitated by Benita A. Esposito as spiritual therapy which includes hands-on-healing. Benita is an ordained minister with the AIWP.
