Tag Archive for: Your Authentic Self

Your Authentic Life Personal Growth Retreat

One day, Saturday, September 16, 2017

Register by August 26, 2017.

 

What if you don’t take the risk to be your Authentic Self?

The thought of showing up as your Authentic Self can be exciting and scary. It requires you to take risks, and sometimes you don’t know the outcome before you jump off the proverbial cliff.

Will your marriage weather the transition? Will you still be employed? Will you be embraced by your family and friends … if you dare to be your Authentic Self and tell the truth about who you are?

But …

If you don’t show up as your Authentic Self, love is never fulfilling because your true self hides behind a mask. People can’t reach you and you can’t reach them. You change your behavior to manage people’s impressions, hoping they’ll love you. Or you withdraw to protect yourself, or you fight with your loved ones.
If you don’t show up as your Authentic Self, work is never fulfilling. Even if you get promoted because you’re conscientious, you’re unhappy. You’re not as creative as you could be. You’re not tapped into your sweet spot, shining from your God-given gifts. Without the passion of being fully alive, you feel drained, depressed or anxious.

So why take the risks to show up as Your Authentic Self?

Even when you’re afraid to fully show up, there’s a part of you who still yearns to unfold the truth of your being.

You want to be loved and respected for who you truly are. You want genuine emotional connection. You want to express your unique voice. You feel compelled to share your gifts with the world and leave your legacy.

The truth is: When you take a stand to show up as your Authentic Self, then you will find the people who truly support you. Others may fall away. You have to risk letting go. You must get good at grieving … saying good-bye … so you can say hello to your Authentic Self and the new people who will come into your life.

You must challenge the idea that being true to your self is selfish. Many of us grew up with the idea that it is bad to be self-centered … as if we couldn’t think about ourselves and be kind to others.

Some people will understand you and like you; some people won’t. When you define your true North, and summon the courage to be real, you glisten like a diamond, just as God intended you to shine in the world.

When you pay more attention to your divine blueprint than the opinions of others, only then will you experience true fulfillment.

In this Retreat …

  • You’ll clarify your core values and develop skills to craft the most meaningful life possible for you.
  • You’ll explore the limiting beliefs that hold you back.
  • You’ll learn why thinking positively doesn’t transform entrenched coping patterns.
  • You’ll examine childhood core decisions that have unconsciously thwarted your success.
  • You’ll learn skills to heal difficult emotional experiences that have shaped your life.
  • You’ll increase courage to show up as your Authentic Self, and share your most precious gifts.
  • As a result, you’ll enjoy greater health, happiness and work-life balance.

Who Should Attend?

Singles and Couples: Adults who want to express their Authentic Self, do deep emotional healing so they can successfully reach their life goals. Appropriate for Highly Sensitive People and others.

Retreat View, Young Harris, GA

Retreat View, Young Harris, GA

Why Attend a Retreat?

One-hour therapy sessions are great, but you can make much faster progress with an entire day spent with like-hearted people joined together to help you heal and tap into your full potential.

I will help you connect with your Authentic Self, your Spirit, and the Holy Spirit where healing, wisdom and creativity naturally flow.

This retreat will be tailored to the specific needs of those present.

This retreat unfolds organically to meet each participant’s needs. You will each define your goals, and I will draw on my 40 years of experience to choose specific skills to help you attain your goals. My task is to be present with you, and help you be present each moment, even in your vulnerable emotions. You’ll tell the deepest truth, and connect with your highest wisdom. We’ll mine the gold in the darkness.

When you develop the ability to feel your emotions while staying grounded in your body, you’ll experience an incredible freedom and peace, even in the midst of chaos. You will learn how to remain calm in the peaceful eye of the hurricane while the winds whip all around you. Instead of shrinking back from your fears, you will find your way through the storm, and flourish in the freedom of pure love. You’ll connect with your Authentic Self, just the way God made you.

Like to swim? Bring your suit.

Topics may include, but are not limited to the following:

  • Increase self-confidence, and self-esteem.
  • Create healthy relationships.
  • Improve communication and assertiveness skills.
  • Deepen emotional healing.
  • Eliminate emotional reactivity.
  • Enjoy sweeter spiritual intimacy.
  • Heal family of origin wounds.
  • Achieve work-life balance.
  • Improve self-care and overall health.

Date: One day. Saturday, September 16,  9:30a.m.-5:30 p.m. Please arrive 9:00-9:15a.m.

We’ll have a lunch break for 2 hours so you can go swimming, walk by the lake, meditate or visit with group members. Bring a picnic lunch or go out to eat.

money-visa-blue-morguefile-freeTuition: $240.00. Lunch on your own.

Register early to reserve your seat. Space is limited to 7 participants. Please register by August 26, 2017.

If you have had three or more private therapy sessions with me, you may go ahead and pay with PayPal. Ask me for instructions. Or mail a check to The Esposito Institute, PO Box 1074, Young Harris, GA 30582.

If you are a new client: To apply for participation in this event, complete the Contact form. Give me 3 good times to call you. You’ll receive a complimentary 10-minute phone interview to see how this retreat will benefit you. Prerequisite: 2 private therapy sessions, in-person or videoconference.

HiawasseeLocation: Young Harris, Georgia. Enjoy the beauty of the Blue Ridge Mountains.  Two hours from Atlanta, Asheville or Chattanooga.

The Old Paradigm

When we judge and suppress or repress our emotional experiences, we get stuck. We learn to wear a mask, protecting our soft under-belly from being hurt. We hide from ourselves and our loved ones. We can’t truly flourish. We may try hard, and we may be very successful in ways defined by the world. But our relationship with our Authentic Self, with our body, with God, and with others becomes compromised. This separation creates dis-ease and unrest on many levels.

The New Paradigm

Contrary to popular opinion, fear, anger, or anguish are not the problem. Emotions are not our enemies and we do not have to get rid of them or release them. This thinking  keeps us stuck in a vicious cycle: feeling good for a while and then feeling bad and ashamed, and then suffering once again.

We need to accept difficult emotions as part of our human experience and stay fully present in our bodies, receiving unconditional love. Then we heal. Health and vitality flow. Relationships flourish. Self-esteem rises.

Retreat Testimonials

Suggested reading: The Path of Least Resistance by Robert Fritz.

Pre-requisite: A minimum of two private sessions with Benita A. Esposito.

 BE July2016Credentials:  Benita A. Esposito, M.A. earned her master’s degree in clinical psychology in 1976. She is a licensed professional counselor, life coach and ordained minister with “The Association for the Integration of the Whole Person.” Benita provides individual and couples private sessions, groups, workshops and weekend retreats.  This retreat is a spiritual healing format, not a psychotherapy format.

—> If you would like a two-day retreat to do more intensive work, join us for the Deep Emotional Healing Retreat October 28-29, 2017.

“Truly, truly, I say to you, he who believes in Me, the works that I do, he will do also; and greater works than these he will do; because I go to the Father.”  Jesus, quoted in John 14:12

Copyright 2016.  All rights reserved. The Esposito Institute, Inc.

Psychotherapy: www.Flourishing-Lives.com

Life Coaching: www.SensitiveIntrovert.com anywhere in the world via videoconference

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Your Authentic Self–Definition

I’m often asked, “What does it mean to be your Authentic Self?

Does it mean that you are happy all the time?  If you aren’t happy all the time, does that mean you have not arrived at being truly authentic? Does it mean that you are never afraid? No, not at all.

Here’s my definition of what it means to live as your Authentic Self.

1.    You are continually growing into the divine blueprint God designed for you. No two snowflakes are exactly alike, and neither are we. You use every situation to become more conscious on all levels: spiritual, mental, emotional, and physical. Read more

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Deep Emotional Healing Retreat

This Semi-Private Retreat has a maximum of six people.

Unresolved emotional wounds decrease your self-esteem, self-confidence, and ability to create healthy personal and professional relationships. Even though you are successful on the outside, you may feel empty inside … a lack of wholeness … little inner peace.

You may have experienced emotional, physical or sexual abuse. You may have experienced the anguish that comes from having an emotionally distant parent.

You may yearn for intimacy, but be afraid of it at the same time. You may attract emotionally unavailable people. You may not know how to effectively communicate to resolve conflicts so that your personal and professional relationships flourish. Your intimate relationship may suffer because you cannot be as emotionally close or as sexually open as you would like.

The part of your brain that tries to protect you might have become stuck in survival mode: fight, flight or freeze. This can generate a number of symptoms including anxiety, depression, chronic worry, self-sabotage, pessimism, procrastination, OCD, substance abuse, and emotional eating.

LkChtg 7Apr12

Lake Chatuge. Photo by Benita Esposito

The Promise of the Retreat:  You’ll experience rigorous yet gentle leadership tailored to your unique learning style to ensure your success. You’ll receive insights so compelling that you will naturally flow into effective action instead of getting bogged down in self-defeating patterns. You’ll be in a safe place so you can allow Love to flood you, heal you and release wave after wave of creativity. Bask in the sweetness of spiritual intimacy, drawing ever closer to the Divine, the source of all healing. Your transformational journey will be accelerated in this beautiful Nature setting: the Blue Ridge Mountains overlooking Lake Chatuge.

When: View the retreat schedule for current dates.

Where: Young Harris, GA. Enjoy the beauty of the Blue Ridge Mountains overlooking Lake Chatuge.

Breathwork is the primary activity of the day. It helps you access memory, emotion and spirituality in a profound way.

Click on the following links to learn more about what happens in breathwork:

Breathwork Q&A.wisdom-of-crowds-control

Breathwork Testimonials: Relationships, self-esteem, physical healings, career success.

2 Client Stories about their Breathwork experiences in our Annual Florida Beach Retreat

Healing Abuse. In Susan’s Breathwork, God showed her where the abuse pattern started: at conception.

Healing Trauma of an abortion and open-heart surgery.

Healing an Eating Disorder. This client was not focusing on healing her eating disorder. It occurred as a side-benefit.

Reserve your seat now. This small intimate retreat consists of 6 people.  A minimum of 3 private sessions are required before attending this retreat. Participation is by invitation only. Complete the Contact Form for a complementary 10-minute interview.

NOTE: If you are allergic to cats, please let me know. I have one cat who will not be in our meeting space if it is a problem for you.

Cupids Falls, Young Harris, GA

Cupids Falls, Young Harris, GAReserve your seat now.

Retreat FAQs

TESTIMONIALS

“I had never really even entertained the idea of doing a retreat. Scared me to death. Once my spirit decided it was the place to be, then it was so powerful that I had to surrender. So far it’s been one life changing experience after another. Right now I am flying. Can you tell? I mean high! I feel like running up this path barefooted if I have to.” – V.S., Psychotherapist

Last night while soaking in the hot tub, I had a mental slideshow of past retreats and how transformative they’ve been for me.  For many years there’s been a deep ache inside of me because my father didn’t affirm me. This unresolved pain caused great difficulty with my romantic relationships. During the breathwork session at the last retreat, while I was in a dreamy state, I appeared as a radiant bride and my Dad finally gave me the adoration I have wanted all my life. Now six months later, I still feel the love that was planted in me during that retreat. What a priceless journey, worth more than gold!  – T.H, Realtor, Health Coach

“By working with Benita Esposito over the last eight years in one-on-one and in group settings, I have deeply explored the outer reaches of consciousness, and the inner depths of my body-mind-soul-emotions. Via strong empathetic connection with me, Benita has intuitively coached me through issues so I can create healthy personal and business relationships. I benefit most from group retreats where there is a mixture of people’s energies. The extended time to work on things is crucial to digging deep and making major changes, while the beautiful Nature settings give me the soothing arena I need to process the experiences. Jump at the chance to be involved in a retreat as often as possible. It is an honor and a privilege to have Benita as the co-creator of my true destiny and my journey towards my Authentic Self.”  ~ L.S., Software Engineer

Lodging:  click here for a list of hotels.

Facilitator: Benita A. Esposito, MA, Licensed Professional Counselor

To inquire about counseling services or intensive retreats, click the Contact Us form. Enter your question and comments. If that does not work, enter your contact information in the “comment box” on this site.

Refund Policy
*There will be no refunds within 30 days of the event. Cancellation must be writing. Fax to 706.896.0031 or email to Benita@EspositoInstitute.com.
* 31-45 days before the retreat, there will be a 50% refund, minus a $35 processing fee.
* 46 or more days before an event, there will be a full refund minus a $35 processing fee.

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