Retreats

Welcome to the new series of Fertility Blogs! As a Mom and a woman who had some of the most excruciating experiences with my infertility treatments, I can empathize and sympathize with every woman, man and family during these emotional times. A friend once asked me to describe myself, using one word, starting with the letter of the alphabet. This gave me 26 ways to describe myself and I felt compelled to accept the challenge; knowing it would be simple, right? I began to ask other friends, family and colleagues to use a word that best described me in their eyes. Some were hilarious, others poignant, and still some even stung. As a columnist, I began a series on life from A-Z and it… [more]

I can honestly say that this retreat and I did not get along for the full twenty minutes. During the times that I was supposed to be focusing on the past, I was thinking about the future or the present. During the times that I was supposed to be thinking about the present, I was thinking about the future. I just couldn't seem to focus my attention on anything besides things that I needed to get done. My mind would race with little details that needed tending to this weekend and also more in advance, everything that needs to be done for next week. Appointments and errands flooded my mind and would not evaporate. There were a… [more]

Right Here, Right Now This retreat was calling to me today. As I have posted earlier this week, we are getting ready for Bec's 3 month visit from his case worker and we are doing small things around the house that have turned out to be a late summer/fall cleaning. Everyday we are snowballing our efforts. On Monday, we had the carpets cleaned. By today, we were putting in new flooring in our bathroom and hallway, and working on getting our second bathroom in working order. All for a meeting that is scheduled for next week! Step 1: Entering into Retreat: Sit comfortably in an upright position, with back support if you need. Allow your eyes to close gently. Use the first three… [more]

Tonight's retreat needed to be fast one. First of all, I didn't have much time to devote tonight to this, since both of the kids are still up and Chris just headed to bed. Lastly, I have someone in my life, actually 2 people who I need to work on forgiving. But I honestly am not ready one bit to even think about forgiveness at this point. I'm still in the thick of the emotion, haven't had the time or the space to think about forgiveness for them at all. In fact, just imagining that I'm thinking about forgiving them, gives me the creeps. So, since the next chapter in the book dealt with forgiveness, I hoped that there… [more]

Last night after I wrote here, I took the book, The Bridge of Stars: 365 Prayers, Blessings, and Meditations from Around the World into the tub with me. I randomly skimmed through the different prayers and came to one that I wanted to focus on. This was the prayer that I felt drawn to: Mention of God Blessed is the spot, and the house. and the place, and the city, and the heart, and the mountain, and the refuge, and the cave, and the valley, and the land, and the sea, and the island, and the meadow, where mention of God has been made and His praise glorified. Baha' Ullah (1817-92), Persia This poem/prayer was located in the "Away from home" section and, I'm not sure if it was because we just got back from vacation, or just because… [more]

The first retreat that I have decided to do is called, Inspirational Reading. I have had to choose something that holds inspiration for me to do this retreat. Here are the instructions: Step 1 Entering into Retreat: For the first three minutes, sit quietly in silence with your reading material close at hand. Breathe quietly. Steps 2 through 5 will take four minutes each. Step 2: Read the piece slowly. this is a different kind of reading, not for speed or content, rather for absorption. Simply take your time. Step 3: Reflect on the reading, using both your intellect and your imagination to fully receive the message. For instance, you can rephrase the reading in your… [more]

I'm talking all of us! For the rest of the week we will be retreating as needed. What am I talking about? This new obsession of mine titled, 20-Minute Retreats: Revive Your Spirits in Just MInutes a Day with Simple Self-Led Exercises by Rachel Harris, Ph.D. Don't have time to do these? Well, guess what? There are also 5 and 1 minute retreats as well. When I need a retreat, I have a pajama day. I haven't had a full one of these in forever. Before the kids, I would take pajama weekends! I really needed these times while recovering from D&C surgeries. I did them often. To plan for a pajama day I… [more]