Revived Life Retreat:
Joshua Tree
APRIL 9-12, 2020
We all begin as a bundle of bones lost somewhere in a desert, a dismantled skeleton that lies under the sand.
It is our work to recover the parts.
Clarissa Pinkola Estes
It's time to welcome yourself home
At some point, it catches up to us.
All the time we've spent in silence. The time we've spent catering to what's expected of us, living according to who we should be.
All the energy we've spent holding back, pushing down, denying.
EXILING.
The bones lost in the desert of our soul are calling out to us. They long to be recovered, integrated back into the whole.
THEY LONG TO BE WELCOMED HOME.
Within us is the old one who collects bones. Within us there are the soul-bones of this wild Self. Within us is the potential to be fleshed out again as the creature we once were. Within us are the bones to change ourselves and our world. Within us is the breath and our truths and our longings - together they are the song, the creation hymn we have been yearning to sing.
Clarissa Pinkola Estes
When we exile parts of our Self, we ultimately lose ourselves. We become disintegrated, fragmented, lost. We forget what it is we're striving for. We can't remember why we're working so hard. We lose touch with our desires and longings. Happiness, fulfillment, and pleasure become elusive.
We feel directionless, unmotivated, lazy...
Passionless, stuck, blocked, and uncreative...
We doubt ourselves, our decisions, our motivations. We criticize our every move, look to others for validation, and let fear guide us.
We lose our vitality. Our aliveness. Our wildness.
And if we continue in this way long enough, we eventually lose the very essence of who we are. Our inner guide, healer, and creator.
But she's not lost forever. There is always a way to find her and bring her back to life. It requires venturing into the desert, gathering her bones, and pouring soul over them.
SHE'S WAITING FOR YOU. ARE YOU READY?
Without her, they forget why they’re here, they hold on when they would best hold out. Without her, they take too much or too little or nothing at all.
Without her, they are silent when they are in fact on fire.”
Clarissa Pinkola Estes
What you can expect
Four days, three nights in Joshua Tree, California, home of Joshua Tree National Park.
A guided tour of the park - and an opportunity to physically and metaphorically - go into the desert to gather the bones
of your exiled Self.
Yoga in the desert.
Meditation, visualization, and breathwork exercises to get you in your body and help you integrate the work.
A healing touch session using essential oils and reiki.
Free time to relax, journal, shop, sleep, and explore.
A 60-minute sound bath healing at the famous Integratron.
Healthy, all-organic meals and always available tea, coffee, and snacks (that you don't have to prepare!).
A final meal together at Pappy & Harriet's in Pioneertown - a honky-tonk and BBQ restaurant and live music venue that
was previously the site of a Western movie set.
Spectacular desert sunrises and sunsets and the most awe-inspiring desert night sky you've ever seen.
Introspection and healing along with fun, play, and connection.
Sample itinerary
THURSDAY, APRIL 9
Arrival & Settling In
Dinner
Evening Session
FRIDAY, APRIL 10
Breakfast & Morning Session
Desert Tour & Yoga
Lunch
Break / Free Time
Evening Session
SATURDAY, APRIL 11
Breakfast & Morning Session
Lunch
Integratron Sound Bath
Break / Free Time
Evening Session
Dinner at Pappy & Harriet's
SUNDAY, APRIL 12
Breakfast & Morning Session
Integration & Goodbyes
The accommodations
The Moondance: Joshua Tree is an original 1961 mid-century modern horse ranch estate that's been reimagined in the hygge tradition and meant to inspire simplicity, intimacy, and cozy contentment. The estate is located on 2.5 acres of desert land, just half a mile outside the border of Joshua Tree National Park.
The property is private and secluded with 360-degree views of the region, from giant boulder-piled mountains to the South, the vast Mojave Desert to the North and East, and a stunning, unobstructed vista of San Gorgonio Mountain, the tallest mountain in Southern California, to the West. Joshua Tree Village is a short five-minute drive.
Amenities include a new Cowboy Tub Pool, hot tub, outdoor shower, fire pit, horseshoe pit, and fully-equipped kitchen.
As we pour our yearning and our heartbreaks over the bones of what we used to be when we were young, of what we used to know in the centuries past, and over the quickening we sense in the future, we stand on all fours, four-square. As we pour soul, we are revivified. We are no longer a thin solution, a dissolving frail thing. No, we are in the “becoming” stage of transformation.
Clarissa Pinkola Estes
Pouring soul over your bones means first, collecting the bones of your Self that have been exiled and relegated to the shadow, to the desert of your psyche.
Once you've collected the parts of you that you haven't allowed or that haven't been allowed by others, you can then begin the process of gathering and reintegrating, of pouring soul over them to bring them back to life and welcome them back home.
The bones may be anything.
Parts of your personality that haven't been accepted or allowed. Your desires and longings. Your inner child. Your wild woman soul.
This is ultimately the work of transformation.
Of revivification.
Of reclamation.
THE DESERT IS CALLING. ARE YOU READY?
She feels anywhere from a little bit to a lot "lost," for she has stayed too long from home. These feelings are just the right feelings to feel. They are a message that says, "Come here now." That feeling of being torn comes from hearing, consciously or unconsciously, something calling us back.
Clarissa Pinkola Estes
Retreat cost includes lodging for three nights plus...
all meals, tea & coffee, and snacks
dinner out at Pappy & Harriet's
desert tour and yoga
healing touch session with essential oils & reiki
Integratron Sound Bath
transportation during the retreat
learning materials and gift bag
There are two options for accommodations:
Single bed in a shared room - $1350 (5 available)
Queen bed in a shared room - $1400 (2 available)
There is an option to share a queen bed with a friend.
Please contact me directly if you're interested.
Initial deposit is $300 to reserve your spot
Payment plans available
The logistics
Joshua Tree is located just east of Los Angeles. The nearest airports are as follows:
Los Angeles International (LAX) 2.5 hours
Ontario, CA (ONT) – 1 hour 30 mins
Orange County, CA (JWA) – 2 hours
Long Beach, CA (LGB) – 2 hours 30 mins
San Diego, CA (SAN) – 2 hours 45 mins
Palm Springs, CA (PSP) – 55 mins
*Note: Airport transportation can be coordinated for you upon request
The weather in April is warm during the day (mid-70s to upper 90s) but can dip into the 50s at night.
You'll want to pack layers as the desert tends to be chilly in the morning and evening.
You are welcome to bring your own yoga mat and blanket for meditations, yoga,
and the sound bath but mats and blankets will be available for you to use.
Yet women continue in their day-to-day routines, looking sheepish, acting guilty and smirky. "Yes, yes, yes, I know," they say. "I should but, but, but..." It is the "buts" in their sentences that are the dead giveaways that they have stayed too long.
Clarissa Pinkola Estes
A word about that "but"
You knew the answer right away. That urging you felt. That twisting in your gut, tightness in your chest, hopefulness in your heart.
You need to GO.
And then it kicked in - your brain. Your excuses. All the reasons why you can't.
THE "BUTS."
Those "buts" are a dead giveaway that it's time.
The kids, the schedule, your workload, all the errands, chores, and to-do lists. The money, the house, the pets. All of that will be there when you return.
What about you?
What will happen to you if you continue choosing everyone and everything else above yourself?
Your vitality, creativity, and very aliveness are at stake.
When it's time, it's time.
ARE YOU READY?
As we pour soul, we are revivified.
Clarissa Pinkola Estes
One last thing
Last April, I felt distinctly called to visit Joshua Tree at a time when I was longing for answers, clarity, and direction. The desert stirred in me a long-forgotten passion, creativity, and wildness, and I felt myself - viscerally - coming home to myself. When I left, I knew the desert would call me back whenever I needed it - whenever I needed to return to myself.
This time, it's calling me to bring back other women with whom to share this experience. And let me tell you, this place will change your life if you let it. If you do the work, if you connect and commune with its sacred, spiritual, and mystical powers, it will become a part of you and you'll NEVER ever forget it.
So, let me ask you:
ARE YOU READY?
Consider this your official invitation to the desert. Come transform, revive, and reclaim your life.
Additional details
Please read the CANCELLATION POLICY in full before submitting your registration
If you have questions or need clarification on anything, please contact me by email at kristine@kristinealetha.com