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April Newsletter

 

Coming Soon Events

Hold Me, Thrill Me 

 

Power, Pleasure & Play

May 25 to
May 27, 2012
Kirkridge Retreat Center
Delaware Water Gap, PA

Are you looking for greater intimacy and touch in your life? Is something preventing you from fully enjoying the touch of another man? Do you want to better express yourself through touch? Are you wanting to hold someone lovingly, with no agenda other than to express your caring and love? Do you need to be held in the safety of another's arms? Then this is the workshop for you!

With Love as our inspiration for this weekend, you'll find yourself in the company of like-minded men who are sincere seekers. Together we'll earnestly explore such questions as, 'How can I better express myself with simply my touch?' and "How can I experience more pleasure in touching and being touched?' With the support of community, you'll come to know the joys of giving and receiving unconditional love through the power of touch.

 

Wisdom of Desire 

 

Wisdom of Desire

June 29 to
July 1, 2012
Kirkridge Retreat Center
Delaware Water Gap, PA

Whatever your relationship with desire, come! We invite you to join us for a passionate, playful and profound exploration of desire, its role in our lives, and its potential to set us free! In this three-day experiential retreat, we will draw upon the teachings and practices of the world's mystical traditions to rediscover the deep organismic wisdom of desire, liberate our desire from addiction, judgment, and fear, break through habits of suppressing or indulging our desire, and harness our desire to create lives of passion and joy. Through inner exploration, dialogue, interactive group exercises, breathwork, authentic movement, intimate touch, and erotic play, we will support each other in discovering a relationship with desire that heals and fulfills us.

20th Annual
Summer Retreat
 

 

Summer Retreat

August 5 to
August 11, 2012
Bodhi Manda Zen Center
Jemez Springs, NM

Come one. Come all as we celebrate 20 years of men loving and supporting each other!

The Summer Retreat has always been a relaxing, rejuvenating, life changing and life affirming event. However, we are planning some very special things for our 20th Anniversary to make it even more powerful.

The Summer Retreat is a chance to really "get away from it all"; to recover from the stresses of daily life and to make new connections with other men, much more so than on an ordinary vacation. There is extraordinary power to be found in a community of gay men gathered together for seven days in such an intimate setting. With the loving encouragement of brothers, we are able to see ourselves more clearly and empower each other in realizing our life's potential; taking small steps, and sometimes large leaps, toward living life to the fullest.

"I cannot say enough good things about the facilitators and how the retreat was organized. I really appreciate the balance between learning about myself and learning about spirituality. Almost one week later and I still daydream about the events of that week." - Jeff, Oakland, CA 

 

Finding Love: A Path to Satisfaction  

 

Holding Hands

August 15 to
August 18, 2012
Bodhi Manda Zen Center
Jemez Springs, NM

Looking for love? Ready to leave loneliness behind? Want to release the fear, shame, doubt, or grief that keep you from finding love and letting it in? Join us as we explore and release the things that keep us from having a fulfilling, lasting relationship with another man. With the support of our brothers, we will unlock our minds and hearts and allow ourselves to love and to be loved.

This workshop is open to both single gay men as well as couples; any man that is looking to improve their capacities to love and to be loved is welcome. 

Dear Spirit Journeyers,

 

In preparing for the upcoming Hold Me, Thrill Me workshop I've been talking to a lot of men about the importance of touch in our lives. I was very surprised to hear from many of them that they could not remember the last time they touched or were touched; touched in any way, not just intimate or erotic touch. In essence they were "touch starved" and didn't even realize it.

 

Some came from homes where touching was not a part of growing up and some had very "touchy-feely" childhoods. Either way, they all "learned" not to touch as they grew up. I guess I can intellectually understand this. After all, the American culture certainly doesn't encourage touch, especially between men.

 

But even beyond the "real men don't touch" cultural prohibition (except handshakes or slaps on the back), it seems to me that touching has also become "politically incorrect" and there is now a great deal of fear around touching. It's gone beyond just worrying about "invading someone's space". Now we're afraid of sexual harassment charges; terrified of being accused of being a pedophile or of having incestuous intentions.  

 

We also seem to have learned to distrust the touch we receive from others. We question the other person's motives for touch, asking ourselves what does this person want from me? This causes us to pull back even from the most innocent, casual touch from a stranger.

 

I'm not saying that there shouldn't be boundaries around touch. Without boundaries and cultural norms we can't function in a society. It just feels to me that we have created such an atmosphere of fear around touch that in order to protect ourselves we've simply stopped touching altogether. Frankly, I find this very sad.

 

I am only writing this simply to bring it to our awareness. If we bring our awareness to the lack of touch in our lives, perhaps, just perhaps, we may reach out to touch someone a little more often and pull back from touch a little less. 

 

Until we have the joy of being together again, remember that, like it or not, the Universe is indeed conspiring for our betterment.

 

Much Love and Many, Many Hugs,

 

Howie

Calendar Updates

The Hold Me, Thrill Me Workshop is set for May 25-27, 2012 at Kirkridge. Join us for an entire weekend dedicated to exploring the incredible power that touch has to heal, transform and excite us. Come and learn how to touch and be touched like never before! Spaces still available, but please register very soon  

   

Our new workshop, The Wisdom of Desire will be held at Kirkridge. The dates are June 29 to July 1. We invite you to join Hunter Flournoy for this passionate, playful and profound exploration of desire, its role in our lives, and its potential to set us free!

 

Our 20th Annual Summer Retreat is scheduled for August 4-11, 2012! Come and be with us as we celebrate 20 years of men loving and supporting each other. We are planning some new surprises for this very special occasion!

 

The Finding Love Workshop follows the Summer Retreat (August 15-18, 2012). During our time together we will explore and release the things that keep us from having a fulfilling, lasting relationship with another man.

 

There has been tremendous interest in our first Journey to India (October 25 to November 10, 2012). If you want to come along with us on this very special journey, PLEASE register soon to make sure you get a spot! 

 

Check out our Calendar of All Events for other upcoming workshops, retreats and journeys.

 

This Month's Special Offering

This month Mary Anne Flanagan from Toning the Om gives us "Befriending Ourselves - Again".

SpiritFund Information

Donations and applications for scholarships can be made online at the SpiritFund page. You can also support SpiritFund by buying items at SpiritWear. All profits from sales of SpiritWear items go directly to our scholarship program. On the SpiritFund page you will also find a list of Frequently Asked Questions that should explain everything about the scholarship program.

 

Total donations since last newsletter: $210.00
SpiritWear profits since last Newsletter: $90.00
Total income to date: $4302.00
Total expenses to date: -$219.00
Total net SpiritFund income to date: $4083.00
Number of Scholarships offered: 61
Total number of Scholarships accepted: 16

Total amount awarded: $4025.00
SpiritFund balance: $58.00

 

"The scholarship that I received gave me the opportunity to experience a truly wonderful, spiritual event that has left its mark on my heart, where it will remain for years. Attending this workshop has given me the opportunity to follow through on a goal that I've had for a long time, and has given me the courage to pursue other dreams and goals." - A comment from one of our scholarship recipients.

 

a2April's Special Offering

Mary Anne with new drum

Befriending Ourselves - Again
by Mary Anne Flanagan

 

As we enter a new season here on the East Coast, I am reminded of all the new growth that is (always) possible. It's a season of renewal and new life emerging from the earth. I catch myself in awe of the beauty of spring and its bursting of colors. Perhaps because it seems earlier than usual, the trees and flowers look brighter. I find myself asking, "Was that magnolia always that pink?" And I have found myself befriending spring. What or who else is there to befriend?

 

I want to emerge from the earth the way the flowers do - slowly, effortlessly, and with joy. To emerge, I must befriend myself, but how? In her book, "I Will Not Die an Unlived Life", Dawna Markova speaks about personal renewal and living with purpose. She writes about entering the abyss and entering life with wholeheartedness. One of Markova's paragraphs spoke powerfully to me:

"So many of us are afraid of meeting ourselves, alone, without distraction. We have been taught to fashion an image of who we think we are supposed to be and show that to the world. Through the fear of knowing who we really are we sidestep our own destiny, which leaves us hungry in a famine of our own making. Each of us is here to give something that only we can offer, and when we avoid knowing ourselves, we end up living numb, passionless lives, disconnected from our soul's true purpose. But when you have the courage to shape your life from the essence of who you are, you ignite, becoming truly alive. This requires letting go of everything that is inauthentic. But how can you know your truth unless you slow down, in your own quiet company?"

How can we befriend ourselves - again?

We can take time to be with our thoughts, our emotions, and spend time listening to our hearts. Pema Chodron writes, "It all starts with loving-kindness for oneself, which in turn becomes loving-kindness for others. As the barriers come down around our own hearts, we are less afraid of other people. We are more able to hear what is being said, see what is front of our eyes, and work in accord with what happens rather than struggle against it."

Befriending doesn't feel sorry for, get feared by, or become rejection; instead the capacity to befriend is the gift of bearing witness, exposing ourselves to the hidden gifts in the heart - what's beneath the suffering is the beauty, and allowing our hearts to experience being vulnerable in relationships.

Befriending ourselves is a path into our heart. It's listening to the inner brilliance and rhythm. What is the wisdom and rhythm of your heart? When was the last time you listened to your radiant heart?

For those interested in exploring a deeper heart-centered path, join us in Hawaii November 4-10, 2012 for the Wild Cosmic Heart Retreat on the Big Island, Hawaii. We will explore our heart practices and experience new ways to befriend ourselves. As a special spring treat, all participants who send in their deposit by June 15 will receive $100 off the total coast. Use the code Spirit Journeys when sending in your deposit to receive this discount. For more information, visit Toning the OM Events.

Yours in friendship,

Mary Anne

Mary Anne Flanagan is the founder of Toning the OM. Toning the OM is an international healing arts company that is committed to nurturing heart connections through experiential workshops, retreats, healing, and coaching sessions. Mary Anne is a Certified Life Coach from New York University, a Shamanic Teacher, and workshop facilitator.  She also has a Certificate in Coaching in Medicine and Leadership from Harvard University. Mary Anne has a private healing and coaching practice in New York City.
 
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Thanks for reading and we look forward to hearing from you,

Howie Holben