Why I Now Love to Share a Room at a Retreat

This note is for you if you have enjoyed my emails about the upcoming Making Room For You Retreat featuring the Breakthrough 2-Day Workshop: Unlock Your Power and Manifest Your Vision: Unlocking the Three Centres of Feminine Power and even visited the webpage with curiosity and mounting enthusiasm, until you got to the point where you learned the accommodation is shared. Once you knew that you felt less enthusiastic about it all.

I totally get that you might prefer a single room for the Retreat. In fact that is how I would have felt too, up until recently. When I went to my first 10-day Feminine Power retreat a few years ago, I didn’t even consider sharing a room. I wanted to be able to have that refuge of a room to myself. I have a husband, three kids, and a dog and this was my chance to not have to worry about anyone but myself. I love to spend time by myself as much as I love being with others. It was a great retreat for me. And, it paled in comparison to the next Retreat where I decided, after much reflection, to accept Catherine’s Hansen’s invitation to room with her for 10 days. What I knew of Catherine at the time, I loved. But still, my many fears about sharing made me hesitate. Catherine was patient with me as I worked through them.

In the midst of my reflections, as the registration process continued, we were being encouraged to find roommates – for the cost savings of a room of course, but even more importantly, for the experience of being in close community with a group of women with the same big intentions for growth. I hadn’t thought of it this way before. I listened to stories of the fun that was had and the sense of belonging experienced by the women courageous enough to room with others. And then I got really honest with myself. I thought about how I had had this fear that if I were successful in my work, I would be alone. Hmm - I made a connection between my behaviour (choosing to isolate myself in a room) and my concern about being alone - I realized I was making choices that were creating my alone-ness. So with those insights, I worked up the courage to make a different choice and took the leap of faith to say Yes to Catherine.

Well, it was an incredible experience - we had so much fun and enjoyed the little and big opportunities that arose to share and get to know each other better - we developed a great morning routine (an ocean walk, yoga, large lattes involved!) that set us up very well for the long days. This closeness laid the foundation for us to become Power Partners, along with the amazing Ellie Ballentine. And they are both coming to the Retreat! (I wrote about this here.) I don’t know if it would have happened anyway – probably it would have eventually – but having Catherine as a roommate accelerated my growth and our relationship in ways that have benefited me so much since. That worry about being alone? Gone!

So back to you and the Making Room For You Retreat. If the shared accommodation has been stopping you from registering, I invite you to re-consider.

The experience of staying at Harmony Dawn, which has been designed so thoughtfully, expressly for the purpose of supporting people’s connection to themselves, to Mother Earth and Life and to each other, is really a beautiful one.

The culture that we create together in the Retreat (and in the monthly Women’s Circles I run) is very, very respectful and positive. We create a safe Circle in which we can all grow and connect to our power. Sharing rooms in this context is a unique opportunity for you to create a deep sense of belonging and connection that will support your growth.

I may, in the future, run retreats where there is fancier accommodation and there are fewer people in a room. But if you are anything like me, you are feeling a sense of urgency – that we all need to step up to do our part to bring more light into these dark days (yes it's dark outside too - but I mean the darkness in our human culture). The Retreat will support you in becoming empowered to do your part. So let’s not wait for the next Retreat!!

If the Retreat appeals to you in all ways except the shared accommodation, please don’t let that be the reason you say no.