Retreat Recap: Wild Sanctuary Two-Night Retreat

The unending, loving presence of the God of Surprises was palpable throughout our two night stay at St.Mary’s in Sewanee for our annual Wild Sanctuary retreat. Expanding to two nights this year, the retreat held space for a small group of brave women who accepted the invitation from Spirit to pause on the regular rhythms of their life and spent time embracing a slower pace with embodiment, contemplation, and resting in God’s love.

When guests arrived on Friday, the ‘peak autumn’ weather welcomed us a sense of reprieve. As women stepped out of their vehicles and inhaled the crisp mountain air, you could see the refreshment already filling their faces. Our Welcome Circle opened our time together with laughter and sharing, chair yoga to settle our bodies, journaling to facilitate a deeper connection to Spirit and self, and closed with gratitude and our welcome prayer. This prayer has been with us since our very first retreat, and has become a moment of intention setting, of setting our hearts and minds on our Creator God, and reminding us of the gift of being here in this moment. It’s become a liturgy of welcome our retreat participants have become to recognize, and it always makes us feel our time together is truly sacred.

As we moved from welcome to our classic ‘girl dinner’ of charcuterie, the clouds broke away for one of the most stunning sunsets we’ve witnessed together. Vibrant shades of hot pink, highlighter orange, and sunflower yellow broke through the clouds and our ‘sunset and charcuterie’ on the schedule was underway. As we gawked at how God surprised us all with this sunset, we couldn’t help but feel held and invited to consider the goodness of God in creation.

The clouds rolled back in and Yoga Under The Stars was more ‘Yoga Under The Clouds’, which brought its own unique charm. Instead of a star-filled sky to gaze upon during Restorative Yoga and Visio Divina, the cloud covered softened the darkness and we watched the leaves of the trees overhead dance in the wind. The song of nature around us, and the cracking of a fire in the distance to keep us present, we rested in God’s abundant creation and saw how the wild is truly sanctuary.

New to this years retreat was our firelight ritual. We moved through three distinct movements over the weekend; unlearning, re-seeing, and reclaiming. Friday night was about unlearning. And so, into the sacred firelight of God’s love and care, we offered something we wanted to see in a new light, have refined, or let go of. Ideas about ourselves, God, the sacred, or anything else that was stirring was written on a magnolia leaf and, one by one, offered to the fire. The fire accepted the leaves with sparks and crackles, sounding similar to fireworks—God celebrating the bravery it takes to admit there is something we want to have illuminated or refined. Ritual transitioned to relaxing as the fire burned and new faces became familiar and friendships began. Those who came with those they knew enjoyed time together to catch up, relax, and enjoy each others presence. And everyone began to feel a sense of togetherness with their fellow retreatants.

On Saturday, the scheduled rain arrived and while we originally were hoping for a sunny sky, the rain truly brought with it all the cozy autumn vibes you can imagine. The fire place (which turned off and on at will), and the random breaks in clouds and rain for pockets of sunshine, reminded us of the process of re-seeing; patterns of reflection and awakening, offering and resting, praising and waiting. Soul Care Yoga invited participants to not only offer a belief or story about themselves, God, the Wild, and the Sacred to the sacred firelight of God’s love, but invited everyone into the re-seeing of the day—how might God be inviting a shift in these areas? Each woman moved through a repetitive cycle of reflecting, breathing, moving, and reflecting once more, allowing the movement to get us out of our heads and into our bodies as we made room for the Spirit to move. From this deep work we rested in Centering Prayer—simply resting in God’s love without having to do anything. Silence followed, and we continued our silence as we ate lunch together.

Free time arrived along with a break in the rain so a few women went on a short hike, while others read books on cozy couches, took naps with blankets, played games, embroidered, visited the craft room for painting and collaging, and others enjoyed the cool weather on the enclosed patio. This year, we intentionally built in more free time so no one felt ‘rushed’. Women could nap and read, do arts and crafts and play games. Go for a walk and enjoy another activity. During this time, we encouraged each woman to do what was best for her—resting, creating, playing, spending time in creation… doing whatever would bring their soul rest, care, and joy.

With pumpkin coconut muffins at every mat, and favorite mugs brought from home in the hands of each woman, our autumn tea ceremony began with the ceremony of pouring hot water over tea hand crafted by Wilding Roots. Embodied sips of tea punctuated a time of sharing as the women spoke of their favourite parts of autumn. Unison agreement, laughter, questions, and smiles showed how fellowship can be over something as simple and as common as a cup of tea, but that the connection it can create runs deep. As mugs were set aside, the Yin practice began. Each shape held for longer periods of time, the sun was setting as the women moved with compassion from shape to shape, finding their edge, and leaning into the experience.

After a delicious meal prepared by the team at St.Marys (who lovingly crafted all of the meals during our weekend stay) it was SLUMBER PARTY TIME! Aligned with the theme of re-seeing, we invited the women to see play as sacred. Created with the capacity for joy and fun, leaning into these parts of ourselves is sacred, too. You’ve Got Mail was played while popcorn and candy was snacked on, chit chat was lighthearted, face masks were used, and we allowed the sacredness of girlhood to keep us feeling light and spacious.

A special treat for our group was to head to St.Mary’s Convent for Holy Eucharist Rite. A short, foggy walk through towering trees to arrive, we enjoyed the liturgical service of classic hymns, wonderful sermon, and communion with the sisters and community members who attend on Sunday morning. A foggy walk back welcomed us to a hot meal and a transition to our final session—the closing circle. From a Chair Yoga practice, to taking time to move through a Prayer Of Examen from the weekend, we allowed ourselves to settle into the reclaiming by answering this one question—what do we want to remember when we leave this space? As each woman shared, hearts filled with gratitude, shifts, and a deepening awareness that our lives are filled with the sacred because all is created by God. Smiles and tears, warm hearts and deep breaths brought us together as we closed with a blessing…

Blessing at the Burning Bush —Jan Richardson

You will have to decide
if you want this—
want the blessing
that comes to you
on an ordinary day,
when you are minding
your own path,
bent on the task before you
that you have done
a hundred times,
a thousand.

You will have to choose
for yourself
whether you will attend
to the signs;
whether you will open your eyes
to the searing light, the heat;
whether you will open
your ears, your heart
to the voice
that knows your name,
that tells you this place
where you stand—
this ground so familiar
and therefore unregarded—
is, in fact,
holy.

You will have to discern
whether you have
defenses enough
to rebuff the call,
excuses sufficient
to withstand the pull
of what blazes before you;
whether you will
hide your face,
will turn away,
back toward—
what, exactly?

No path from here
could ever be
ordinary again,
could ever become
unstrange to you,
whose seeing
has been scorched
beyond all salving.

You will know your path
not by how it shines
before you
but by how it burns
within you,
leaving you whole
as you go from here,
blazing with
your inarticulate,
your inescapable
yes.

Hugs were filled with gratitude and goodbyes as the women each packed up their belongings and began the journey home. The privilege of holding space is never lost on us, and we always admire the bravery it takes to step out of the flow of the stream of what our days usually hold, and step onto the path of the unknown. Like Moses at the burning bush, something seemingly ordinary was having an extraordinary experience—and we, too, learned that the sacred is everywhere when we stop to notice and hear God calling our names.