What I offer: Creative Soulful Sanctuary

The SoulCollage® process thrives in a sanctuary -- a spacious temple of safety and healing set apart from ordinary life, where time slows down and people can drop into deeper self-awareness to meet and hear the wise voices of their own Neters. Participants return to daily life with their world subtly changed. With practice, a participant may internalize the energy of the sanctuary, easily catching sight of -- and insight from -- the Neters flowing all around her/him.

As a SoulCollage® Facilitator, I see my role as the Guardian of the Sanctuary, one who prepares and holds the sacred space; one who fosters the conditions that allow each person to do their own solitary soul-exploration, freed from any input or interference from others. This soul-work can be enhanced when done in a community -- with the help of silence.

 - Seena Frost.

This is how I see myself as well, as a Creative Soulful guardian of the Sanctuary, one who offers support, and a place where this important soul-work can be done by each one.

There are so many ways to feel a connection with the soul. Seeing any human being smile touches something in my soul, but newborn babies especially so. Feeling seen and heard by a loving circle of women opens my heart. Nature’s beauty stirs a feeling of joy inside.  I love Seena Frost’s description of sanctuary. That is where I want to live! And I’m musing lately on more ways to provide this.

I believe we are all creative, and we all have a soul. But creative soulfulness is something we need practice at. I offer support by providing a space and sanctuary for classes and retreats, and even on my Facebook page, so that in your over-filled busy days and weeks, you can pencil in a little time, or maybe a whole day or weekend, to feed your need for Soul Food.

What I am offering:

The Creative Circle class is in full swing on Tuesday afternoons since September 22, 2015. Classes include poetry, SoulCollage(R), mandala, doodling, and mixed media expressive arts. Drop ins are available for $40, onetime fee.

SoulCollage(R) Workshop: I’m headed to Calgary on Oct 24 for a one day mini-retreat and SoulCollage workshop entitled Playing with Creative Soulfulness (10 am – 5 pm). RSVP for more info.

Hummingbird Retreat-Tap into Joy: If you’re thinking about going south this winter, consider a 4-Day retreat in Costa Rica, February 21-24, with myself and yogi/shaman Brigitte Bauhart. $750 Canadian. 

Includes: Joyful Yoga on the beach, walks in a Tropical Rainforest, creative expressive exercises, SoulCollage(R). Time to nap or swim. Expand your joy with dancing and a Sunset cruise. Extra: excursion to visit Hummingbirds. If you love to play creatively and soulfully, this is for you!  (There is room for 6 participants to stay the whole week; cost includes 4 day retreat, all meals during retreat; and a sunset cruise. Deposit required by Nov 1). Register at info@jenniferboire.com

NOTE: My website is being updated, to make the site mobile phone friendly and simplify the information. I had fun recording a welcome video this week (see below).  Should go live early October.

Don’t forget to like the Creative Soulful Woman Facebook page at http://on.fb.me/1Ff1GO7. 

stay in touch!
xxx

Jennifer

Jennifer Boire, author and poet

Valuing the Feminine Way

"Let's put a woman's mid-life struggle for self-care into context. in the Western world, we live in a culture that highly values productivity, assertiveness, aggression, drive, forward motion which we like to consider as progress, and have traditionally aligned with the world of work and the masculine. we spend our lives with the on button pressed all the time, work work work. Being productive is good, however, we've created imbalance by banishing the day off, the Sabbath or rest day. The softer, inner values of rest, reflection and cultivating the artistic, inner soul qualities have become secondary. but that is exactly what we need as an antidote to being overly busy and exhausted. getting in touch with the feminine is an important survival tool for our planet right now, especially at mid-life, when so many workers are burning out, especially those in the caring professions. taking a little down time to rest should not make us feel guilty, but somehow it does.

"How do you get in touch with and strengthen your connection with the Feminine? on the most basic level, you acknowledge it whenever you take care of your body through conscous eating, exercising, bathing, resting, healing and lovemaking. you also  nurture your connection to the Feminine by listening to your emotions and feelings." from The Tao of Turning Fifty What Every Woman in her Forties needs to Know.

I would also add, creative flow and soulfulness are great antidotes to overwhelm, and they help us reconnect to the Self and find our wholeness. It's also lots of fun to be creative. We are all creative beings.

Explore your creative soulfulness today!

Jennifer

SMALL DAILY PRACTICES - CREATIVE SOULFULNESS

Which one of these can you incorporate into a daily ritual or practice to help you FEEL and listen to what your soul is saying? Try one on for size today.

Centering breath: take 5 minutes to connect with your belly breath, and come home to Calm. Release busy thoughts, and breathe.

Communion with Nature: sky, earth, stars, trees, birds, moon, walk outdoors 15 minutes

Grounding practice – when spinning too fast, slow down and breathe roots from your feet into ground. Really feel your breath coming down into your feet, down into ground.

Beauty: let yourself be enthralled by the veins on a leaf, a bright green bug, the indigo at twilight

Expressive arts: have fun with collage, doodles, acrylic paint, any artistic expression – move your body to music, add a little bit of creative play. What new thing can you try?  photography, water colour, drumming?

Journaling: Staying in touch with my soul, by listening to what it has to say and writing it down: I feel, I need, I sense, I remember, I want, I desire, I am. Or simply, What does my soul have to say about this?

Dreams – keep a journal by your bed, stay in bed 4 minutes longer to capture your dreams. Dr Estes says every night we dream 5-7 “stories”, our soul’s way of teaching  and reflecting to us what is going on in our lives. Learn how to decode the metaphors by writing down all the nouns and verbs and watching the associations that pop up.

Bookstore browsing: pencil in a one-hour book store browse; let your intuition guide you to a new  book

Cup of tea with that book: pencil it in your agenda, 10 minutes 1x a day.

Relaxation – find a CD* that soothes you, 20 minutes before bedtime or take a 30 minute nap. Do like the cats and dogs do and find a comfy blanket in the sun to curl up in. (*Sounds True, Eversound)

Meditation, mindfulness: 10 minutes, 30 minutes, an hour – what do you need to really satisfy your soul’s desire for stillness, inner peace?

Tai chi, yoga, chi gong: can you move your body mindfully once a day, stretch first thing in the morning, do some tai chi at lunchtime, or do a little downward dog before bed?

Make a playlist for your mood: sunny upbeat, darker days, stress free, happy rock ‘n roll, soulful R&B

TAKE TIME FOR YOUR LIFE

Tend your inner garden and water your soul with these practices.

namaste, Jennifer