WRITE about your sorrows, your wishes, your passing thoughts, your beliefs in anything beautiful.

The second Friday of every month
1-3pm
my home in Westminster near 120th and Sheridan
$30

Writing Our Wings monthly drop-in writing group

"Giving and receiving our most authentic selves is worship." - Brother Dennis Gibbs, Episcopal monk

Come look at yourself and your life through new lenses, discovering insight and affirmation on the page, reveling in support and acknowledgment in a circle of like-minded others.

I will guide you with Journal to the Self® writing techniques, topics and prompts, quotes and poems and hold safety by setting sacred boundaries.

No experience necessary. Just bring an open mind and heart and a fast-moving pen.

Of note: since I often work with those in recovery from eating disorders, those of you in recovery (from anything) are welcome, as are those of you who've never had disordered eating. Together we'll practice the life skills of being authentic and vulnerable and taking risks, as well as boundary setting—along with practicing respect, acceptance, dropping judgment and being our messy, beautiful human selves. We're all in this rich stew of life together.

Let me know that you're coming at 720 289 0896 or here, and I'll make sure you have address and directions to my home.

"[Being part of] a group that meets just once a month produces the same increase in happiness as doubling your income." - David Brooks, The New Yorker

Thanks to Shiloh Sophia for the "Freedom Flight" ©2001 artwork, https://www.shilohsophiastudios.com

The final Friday of every month
1-3pm
Online using Zoom

A Different Kind of Hug: the Sacred Practice of Living with Grief, Sorrow and Loss
a monthly drop-in writing workshop

Grief can be a soul, heart, communal experience. Sorrow is not a problem to be solved; it's a request for witnessing.



I've been studying grief—2020 is the perfect year for that! By studying it, I mean reading about it, taking classes and bringing what I've learned into my own experience of sadness. The writings of Francis Weller cradled my sorrow and birthed my education.

I have developed entirely new perspectives of and relationship with grief. I used to see it only as ache, a time of loneliness, a detour to get through, a difficulty to get over.

I've learned you can never fully process sorrow alone (as our culture advocates); you need a community of caring witnesses to emote and digest and heal together.

I've also come to believe, as indigenous peoples often practice, that grief is not something only to be dealt with at the time of loss. Instead, for the healing of the community and the individual, loss should be acknowledged regularly as maintenance or self care—like an annual physical or regular time in nature.



Grief can bring us closer to others, to the vitality of life and the world. In this workshop, we'll reflect on being a good host to all emotions and on being with our sorrow in the safety of community where our shared losses will be held by many hands. We'll practice approaching sorrow with curiosity, friendliness and compassion. We'll get acquainted with tools to support our time spent with grief, to be more skillful at digesting our losses and to become a source of stability for ourselves and our communities.

Much of what we experience as depression or emptiness or loneliness can be grief and loss—both personal and of the world around us.

Some cultures treat grief not as something to endure and get over but as a necessary part of maturation for an individual and as medicine needed by the community.

If sorrow is kept private, shame can arise. If sorrow is approached with friendliness, kindness and curiosity, it doesn't harden. Grief is a solvent to soften the hardest places of our heart.



$20

Thanks to Annette Kensmoe for the alcohol ink artwork.

Saturday, September 18 and Sunday September 19, 2021
9:30am-3:30pm
Both online and in-person options

Where Is Your Heart Leading You Now?
- a retreat weekend for a conversation with your emerging self

This will be a weekend to summon a call from within to affirm and reveal who you are, who you are becoming, what you believe and how you take action. The retreat will be a guided exploration using images, art and words.

Harvesting the wisdom of poet David Whyte, we'll engage questions that "shape our identity as much by the asking as by the answering."



The collective shifts of the past years have initiated all of us into the female hero's journey. We've gone through changes in identity and moved into the unknown. This weekend is a support of your rebirth: receiving what is here now and trusting your steps into expanded expressions and attitudes of self.



Come listen to the whispers and inklings of your heart and soul. So that, as Whyte suggests, we can live conversations happening around and within us as soon as they begin speaking. This eases the path to exit our comfort zone into a new frontier, which is the emerging self.

Facilitated with Laura Lyon, M.Ed., SoulCollage® Certified Facilitator, teacher and collage artist for decades. More at www.lauralyonstudio.com"

For over eight years, Laura and Carolyn have brought images, guided meditation and writing together in their workshops and retreats to foster healing, transformation and wholeness.

Participation Options
In Person at Laura Lyon Studio in Boulder, Colorado near Chautauqua limited to 8 participants for social distancing. Precautions will be taken to keep the studio and all materials clean and safe. Option to work outside if weather permits.

Note Masks may be required and in-person option may change based on Boulder County health guidelines at the time of the retreat.

Online via Zoom
SoulCollage® supplies will be mailed to you.

Cost
$180 Early Bird Discount by September 1
$225 after September 1

Registration
Payment must be made at time of registration. Pay by check or PayPal. To register, contact Carolyn.

Cancellation policy: Full refund minus $20 processing fee before September 10. After September 10, 50% refund before September 17.

If you have questions, contact Laura or Carolyn.

Webinar presented by and archived at the National Eating Disorder Association
Writing Through Stress and Shame: Taking Our Power Back

Shame and stress proliferate around eating disorders. This is an invitation to face challenging feelings in new and creative ways in this hands-on writing webinar. The writing methods are fast, fresh and fun. In a shelter of acceptance and safety, you'll be guided through Journal to the Self® techniques developed by psychotherapist, visionary and founder of The Center for Journal Therapy Kathleen Adams. The techniques add color, perspective and dimension to reflective writing. The webinar informs about the mental and physical health benefits of writing and provides a new view of difficult emotions, an experience of creativity that can lead to insight and empowerment, and tools at your fingertips for future self-care.

Offered through the National Eating Disorder Association at no cost
Click here to access the 90-minute webinar.

Online class presented by and archived at the SoulCollage® Institute

Expanding Your Relationship With Your SoulCollage® Cards Through Journal to the Self®

This course is for anyone who has made SoulCollage® cards. The true value of SoulCollage® Cards lies in integrating them into our lives to guide, heal, vision and transform ourselves as we move through the changes that life brings. If you are interested in exploring a deeper level of insight using your cards, Journal to the Self® writing techniques can support your journey. In the “soup of life” SoulCollage® cards are the ingredients, Journal to the Self® writing techniques are the spoon that blends those ingredients to create a delicious rich YOU! We will show you how doing “quick writes” can spark intuitive understanding and how longer writes can bring you to a deep level of wisdom.

Nine techniques are taught for writing during class and at home between sessions. All four suits are included in writing and discussion.

Co-facilitated with Laura Lyon, M.Ed., a collage artist for decades and SoulCollage® facilitator since January 2011. For over two years now, Laura and Carolyn have brought image-wisdom and word-wisdom together in their workshops to gently and playfully foster healing, transformation and wholeness.

Offered through the SoulCollage® Institute
$90 Plus $10 for CEU (6 CEUS)
Click here to register.