The % figures in Workshop Descriptions indicate the relative percentage of presentation, discussion, and experiential activity.

Saturday Evening Optional Activities:

One and a Half Hours (choose one and one alternative)

SE1. Dancing the Cosmic Dance: Accessing the Art of Movement in Spiritual Direction

As participants in the dynamic evolution of the cosmos, each of us is given the gift and challenge of having a body. Can we access the body as source of revelation, wisdom and manifestation? One of the most exciting ways is to dance! In this workshop, explore simple movement and InterPlay exercises that can help you and your directees become more comfortable with the gift of the body as instrument of prayer, expression, discovery and discernment.

Betsey Beckman, MM, is a spirited dancer, storyteller, teacher of SpiritPlay and dancing spiritual director from Seattle, Washington, USA. She leaps across the continent calling out the creative in body, breath and bone.

SE2. The Journey of Coming Home in our Inner Cities

Are you pulled to walk among those marginalized by our culture and society? Are you wondering how to create a sacred space for those "with no money to come?" What would a space look like that is open to different faith journeys and a variety of walks of life? Come and hear the story of “The Listening Post” in Vancouver's Downtown Eastside, in the heart of the inner city. We will share our experiences of journeying with those on the margins and how our own lives have been shaped by their teachings.

Kathi Bentall and Lorraine LaMarre, SSA, spiritual directors and retreat leaders in the Vancouver area who brought "The Listening Post" to Vancouver, BC, CAN in 2000.

SE3. Reiki: A Spiritual Doorway to Natural Healing

Learn about Reiki, a way of attuning ourselves to the Universal Life Force, opening to the healing energy of God and living in harmony with God in us and in all creation. Discover the potential in Reiki for healing and renewal of body, mind and spirit. Experience simple T'ai Chi Chih movements that relax and energize as they circulate and balance your energy. This workshop will include the viewing of a DVD by Sr. Eileen, personal sharing, teaching about Reiki (the definition, history, and benefits of it) and time for questions and discussion.

Eileen Curteis, SSA, a published author, poet, and educator, has taught Reiki classes and given Reiki treatments at Queenswood Centre in Victoria, BC, CAN for twelve years. Karen Williamson, MCM, DASD, has worked as a spiritual director for twenty-five years, including four years on the Diploma in the Art of Spiritual Direction staff at San Francisco Theological Seminary, California, USA.

SE4. Turangawaewae: Coming Home to the Cosmos in a South Pacific Context

Participants will explore what it means for their spirituality to come home to a physical place in the cosmos in the South Pacific. In doing so they will be encouraged to dialogue with the internal landscape of the soul and find ways in which they can facilitate this for their directees.
Dr. Anne Hadfield is a founding member of Spiritual Growth Ministries, an ecumenical Christian organization in New Zealand. She currently serves on the New Zealand Association of Christian Spiritual Directors and assists people in exploration of the landscape of the soul through her consultancy, SoulScape.

SE5. Conversations with Dorothy Day

A dramatic one woman presentation of the life of Dorothy Day depicts her stopping by to visit with friends and to share a cup of coffee while she reminisces about her life. The setting is the present time and the "powers that be" have given Dorothy permission to be gone from the heavenly realm for a very short time. Come sit with Dorothy for a while as she shares the story of her conversion and the founding of the Catholic Worker. Dorothy Day can be an inspiration to spiritual directors. We can point to her as an example of the final integration of a radical inner and outer journey.

Sharon Halsey-Hoover, storyteller, actor, retreat presenter, spiritual director, adjunct staff at the Center for Spiritual Development in Orange, California, USA and Assistant Director of Bethany, a transitional living residence for homeless women who are striving to return to self sufficiency.

SE6. Weaving a Web of Light: A Movement, Meditation and Prayer Workshop

As manifestations of the divine, we are filled with the light of the cosmos. Prayers are channels of light and take many forms. By using the creativity of our bodies to pray, we collaborate deeply with that in ourselves which is divine and can direct this energy to the outer world.

Tannis Hugill, RCC, RDT, ADTR, dance and drama therapist, creator of ritual theatre, and community movement rituals. Her passion is helping others experience the presence of spirit in their bodies. She lives in CAN.

SE7. Caribbean Women and Spiritual Exile

An opportunity for participants to "come reason together" by taking a concrete look at Caribbean culture, music, and dance forms as a source for exploring and engaging a spirituality of homecoming in response to women's experiences of exile. Participants will be encouraged to develop a critical spirituality that appreciates the Caribbean culture as a spiritually formative and countercultural to our lived experiences.

Rev. Vivette Jennings is a Jamaican Anglican Priest working in Barbados. She is priest-in-charge at All Saints Church, lectures part-time in Christian Spirituality at Codrington College and is regional coordinator for many Caribbean Islands.

SE8. Accessing Cosmic Unity with Wordless Song using Nigunim from the Jewish Mystical Tradition.

Our souls desire to connect to the place of cosmic unity. By releasing from words, we tap into the cosmic primordial where words only diminish the experience. Nigunim are wordless melodies from the Jewish mystical tradition that take us to that place of cosmic unity and help us access our deep wordless prayers. Chanting (or listening to) nigunim arouses a deep contemplative state, evoking the cosmic sense of timelessness and inner space. This workshop will teach a few simple Jewish nigunim to help enhance our connection to cosmic unity and our work companioning others.

Wendie Bernstein Lash, MA, is co-director of Yedidya Center for Jewish Spiritual Direction. She is a chanting service leader, Morei Derekh Jewish Spiritual Direction program faculty member, and a Jewish meditation and spirituality teacher in Redwood City, California, USA.

SE9. Coming Home to the Cosmos According to Harry Potter

The books about Harry Potter have become very popular to both young and old. Why? What do they have to teach us about archetypes and living authentic lives in our cosmos? Through dialogue, journaling, artistic expression and shared experiences we will explore the themes and values that Harry Potter suggests are needed to live wholesomely in our world.

Sharon Miller, CSJ, PhD, Mary Jane Wilson, CND, MA, and Bill Wilson, SJ, PhD, minister as a team at both Queenswood Retreat Centre in Victoria, BC, CAN offering spiritual companioning, retreat and workshop facilitating and Cedars at Cobble Hill, a Residential Treatment Centre for those suffering from addictions.

SE10. Audio Divina: A New Contemplative Practice for Spiritual Direction

Carefully selected music has the power to deepen Christian contemplative prayer.
Audio Divina: a music-assisted contemplative practice, offers a new pathway for meeting God in silence. Combined with Lectio Divina, Audio Divina can deepen the prayer life of spiritual directors and introduce directees to an easily accessible practice of contemplative prayer. Participants will learn the theory and practice of Audio Divina. Applications for individual use and group spiritual direction will be discussed. Participants will experience how music can be a guide into sacred silence and learn beginning principles of music selection for creating Audio Divina music programs.

Mary Terry Rankin is a registered counselor and spiritual director from Bellingham, Washington, USA. She is the author of Audio Divina: Introducing a Contemplative Practice for Contemporary Times.