Core Learning Program©
The Core Learning Program for the retreats is based on work done by Dr. Matthew Budd at the Harvard Community Health Plan during the past two decades. Dr. Budd has brought this work to the public through his book, You Are What You Say, and through many articles and lectures. The Program has been developed and refined for the retreats to assist people in their quest for emotional and spiritual well-being. Thousands of participants have found it to be beneficial to both their spiritual and physical health.
Two special elements have been added to the Program for these retreats. The first is spiritual. The Program is not religious, but it draws on the literature and tradition of wisdom practices throughout history to provide participants with inspiration and strength.
The second element is creative. The inclusion of artistic activities provide participants with a direct view of their capacity to invent and to manifest possibility on paper, in verse, in song, through a lens, or by other means. As they strengthen this relationship with possibility, they bring this capacity into the areas of their lives that they want to change, alter, or accept with loving compassion. Massage and daily yoga help them comfort themselves and assist their bodies in the process of learning and healing.
The combination of the Core Learning Program, the creative activities, the community and its people, and the breathtaking setting present an irresistible opportunity for growth and change.
Healing
Healing is an evasive concept; one could discuss it for days. But at the same time, we all know and recognize the healing forces in life.
For example, when we cut our skin accidentally, we may need a band-aid to prevent infection, or may even need stitches to close the wound. The stitches do not heal the wound nor does protecting against infection produce the result. They simply "allow" it to heal by the force of nature itself. This is the case in all living systems; there are intrinsic and powerful forces for restoring integrity, balance and what biologists call homeostasis or the natural state. Nature heals, our actions either hinder or facilitate what is natural.
The natural powers of healing exist in different domains of life: physical, emotional and spiritual. Our bodies want to be well, and there are sometimes insurmountable physical limits. Emotionally we yearn for peace and dignity. Spiritually we cry to be connected with the world and all of its inhabitants.
We know instinctively that these three domains, the physical, the emotional, and the spiritual, are connected. When we are anxious our circulation is effected. When we are depressed our immune system does not protect us. And when we are estranged and isolated from our world illness and shortened lifespan are just around the corner. We live and function as a unity, not in disconnected parts.
The work that we do at the F. Holland Day Retreats allows participants to achieve balance in the three domains of life: physical, emotional, and spiritual.
Creativity
Another difficult word to define, except by metaphor. Despite this we all know that we have this ability. Look at young children at play with crayons or animal figures and we know that this ability is natural, instinctive, ….and generally lost with time as we become adults confined by disciplines, social and personal habit. We become repeaters of the expected.
Poets and artists remind us that we can bring forth novelty even as adults, but we think that this is a special property that they have, forgetting that at one time we were all creators, and may still be.
At the workshops, we engage in creative activity through word, image making, movement, and even prayer (a special form of poetry). In so doing we witness our hesitancy to be artists, our fears of the unknown, our embarrassment, but we also experience being on the cutting edge of the moment….standing in the present and creating the next moment. Our poems, essays, and art are the artifacts of our creativity as we remind ourselves that we do have a divine spark, can imbed this in color or word, and then talk about it and learn from it.
When this creative energy is present and palpable, we can begin to examine our stuck places and invent or bring forth new possibilities for action. Our life can become a work of art. When this is done in a community, as in the retreats, an irresistible force for change and innovation develops and we move toward balance and healing together.
Then we can begin to imbed these insights and energies into practices for change which we can take with us as we leave the retreat and journey homeward.