I wanted to share this gorgeous testimonial from my friend and fellow coach Sae Mickelson about my early June EMERGE Retreat. It was a time of exploration, re-membering, and being present to LIFE. Here are her words:
“I’ve always had a daydream about finding a big, softly rolling field filled with backlit, blowing grasses and a single large tree for me to sit under and watch the day go by. The sun is out and it is early spring-time lighting with gentle clouds throughout the sky.
I finally got to experience exactly this, on a weekend retreat led by Coach Angie Mattson Stegall and held at Earthshine Lodge in Lake Toxaway, NC.
I came home to a whole bunch of experiences immediately following the retreat – most were planned, a few big ones were not, and I am so grateful that I made that space for myself actually happen…
Retreat can be such a bougie sounding word.
I love many bougie things, so this is not a problem, it just isn’t the full truth.
Besides, I also love and connect deeply to dirt beneath my unpainted toes.
Time for yourself can be anything you want, but being guided through ritual and experience is what makes so much of life’s learning possible. Intentional co-creation with open freedom and loving space made for you is what most of us have lacked, most of our lives.
Retreat is a necessity if we want to pull back, up and out, to see what is possible.
This life concept is from many cultures and is done in many ways…
I mean, even if you are in the midst of a war that you are winning, some form of individual retreat is imperative if you are going to stay in for the long-haul.
This particular retreat was a small, powerful group of women led by a strong, heart-centered coach who has the deep understanding and ability to convey the gift of nature to connect with the capital S, Self.
As a coach myself, I was grateful to witness other women describing how finally having the mentorship of a coach has created for them a whole different space in their lives to do the things they did not imagine themselves able to do.
I too know what it is like to move around the world not feeling able to have the time to care for myself – hell, I remember not even knowing how I felt about the term “self-care” or what it really meant.
For me, I now know “Self-Care” means Body Sovereignty – learning to move towards your soul’s knowing because you can actually hear what your body is telling you. You care for your own self by asking gently: “What do I need right now?” and find yourself able to understand the messages you receive.
The loud-assed lives we lead do not lend themselves to hearing anything but the even louder noise above the rest of the cacophony.
A Solo Retreat is THE ultimate quiet space.
An expertly guided Group Retreat is a gentle, in-between step towards the quiet that helps us listen, instead of the sudden silence that can scare us back into the noisy known space we are accustomed to.
I love the camaraderie with others that is created when a carefully, thoughtfully, curated experience is made for a group craving the same thing – and I also love dead quiet alone time too. Angie made space for both to happen and helped us bond deeply with the woods and elements surrounding our senses throughout.
We experienced such beautiful forest bathing rituals!
You might think that walking through the woods is forest bathing – but the art and science of being guided through the forest is so much more than that.
It is reading the barks of many trees like braille beneath your fingertips. Then, noticing the smells of each and every thing around you. Walking only a few feet in an hour because you are slowly listening to the direction changes of the wind as it makes it way through the tops of the trees. Touching moss with your bare feet because it looks like the softest fairy shag carpet you could ever imagine. Watching the smallest purple moth flit from one tiny plant on the forest’s floor after another. Delighting in the discoball effect of the ever changing dapples of sunlight around your feet. Feeling the sudden drop of last night’s dew escaping the sun’s rays and seeking shelter where you are sitting below. Finding the bits of dew still on the leaf you want to decorate the final tea ceremony’s “table” with…
It is beyond precious to be with nature in such a profound and respectful way.
It’s like learning to truly listen to a friend who has always been wise and generous, and now you are finally understanding their vast kindness and patience.
Thank you Angie. You made a space for me to delight in my own human experience.
You put so much beauty out into this world” ~ Sae
If you’ve never given yourself the gift of RETREAT (defined as both an act or process of withdrawing especially from what is difficult, dangerous, or disagreeable [Hello, modern life sometimes] AND a period of group withdrawal for prayer, meditation, study, or instruction under a director], you might consider how important it could be for your mind, body, and Spirit.
Warmly,
Angie