Work and Life Balance: Coming Alive at The Haven

Warm hellos again.

It has been a long stretch since I last wrote as I've been away on a personal development program entitled, "Coming Alive" at The Haven Institute for the past ten days.

This time away (from the intensity of writing our eBook and developing the website to promote the eBook) gave me the break I've SO needed... time to step out of living in my busy head and to focus on and nurture my heart, body and soul.

Coming Alive is not for the faint of heart. Each participant was called upon to search deep inside for the courage to be there among virtual strangers and do "the work"... me included.

With 28 other participants, this became our opportunity to share deeply in caring support of each other and to look at our individual inhibiting patterns of feelings and behaviours together. Believe me, we were not strangers for long... friendships quickly got deep. There were many different lives and many different life stories present... every heart-touching story you could ever imagine.

I learned much about myself, with my fellow journeyer friends reflecting important aspects of me that I wished to be free from. This program is about transformation... and transform I did.

The quiet mornings had me participating in a rigorous Hula dance class with the wonderfully brilliant and entertaining teacher, Gary Dillon. I felt truly joyous dancing every day.

And not once but TWICE I gifted myself with the most powerful massage I have ever had the opportunity to experience... LomiLomi Hawaiian massage! It is not only a very thorough deep muscular massage, but a sacred event as I was chanted and sung to by the practitioner, who was also the same Gary. Talk about bliss!

Mid-day, each day, the swimming pool beckoned me for resistance exercises followed by dreaming in the sunshine. Evenings, I joined others for lively conversation in the awesome hottub overlooking the beautiful night lights of Nanaimo across the inlet.

Every day offered me valuable time to walk in the beauty of the coastal environment, to move my body more than I'd done in many months and to feel new levels of muscle tone returning.

Every day offered me the opportunity to listen to the stillness within and to journal write the truth of my heart. I witnessed both sunrises and sunsets, too.

Great healthy food, lots of water, deep conversations and friendships that quickly emerged from mere strangers... this was my soul food. I even came home with several recipes of my favorite dishes... thanks to Travis!

I learned many very important things about myself, for which I feel grateful.

I learned that I NEED to be an integral part of a community of like-minded individuals living their potential, free from patterned behaviours.

I learned that I need quiet time every day to reflect on life and being on this human journey.

I learned that I am naturally an energetic and physically strong person.

I learned that I have a good heart to help others, even though I have the tendancy to "caretake" at times.

I learned that fear and anxiety are my own creations and that I can surrender them through breath.

I learned that I can still my mind and be at home in my body through movement sessions.

I learned that I am willing to fight hard for the expression of my life passions... that mediocrity is NOT an option.

I was reminded of how much I love the outdoors, taking photographs of nature and sharing them around.

You know, we ALL require time away from the craziness of our everyday lives to remember what is really important for our life quality...

... in our heart

... in our emotion

... in our soul

... in our body

... and in our being a part of the human experience in relation to one another.

We can be wonderful mirrors for each other to grow, if we allow ourselves to be open.

I will go to The Haven again... I hope sooner than later. If you are looking for an amazing place to step back, get unstuck and become more in touch with who you really are, I highly recommend that you consider going to this special haven for personal growth. http://www.haven.ca/

In addition to carrying on my daily personal growth practices, my task now that I am home is to introduce our "Becoming the BEST YOU Possible" eBook to the Internet public. I hope you'll check it out for yourself and share it around with others you see that can use some support with getting rebalanced in life.

http://www.life-balance-success.com/

I'll talk to you again in a day or two.