At the end of August, I hosted a retreat for coaches here in Newagen, Maine (my summer home). It's a beautiful place with water, woods, rocky shore, lighthouses, wildlife and a lot of summer visitors. I'm blessed to be able to spend time here and delighted when my coaching community joins me.
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| Great Blue Heron along Maine's Rocky Coast |
This year's retreat theme was Resilience, Renewal and Self-Care. We explored rituals and Brene Brown's "Rising Strong", and practiced using Visual Explorer cards to tap into emotions and passion. And we ate a lot of lobster and talked and walked through the woods and relaxed on hammocks and sang songs under the stars and talked some more!
I share this essay that I wrote as the retreat was unfolding with my observations about our topic - with an indirect, maybe tenuous, connection to the ICF Code of Ethics that asks us to be aware of what will impair, conflict with, or interfere with our coaching performance (#8).
Reflections on Retreat 2017
I’m sitting on the deck of my cottage with a steaming cup of coffee, getting ready for the coach’s retreat.
Gentle waves are lapping against the rocky shore. A watchful gull is nestled on a seaweed covered boulder. A lobster boat engine gurgles as it takes its circuitous path to check the traps.
The promised warm and sunny day arrived this morning cool and overcast.The sky is light gray, the islands a misty blue, and the ocean water somewhere in between. The ferns, pine trees and goldenrod along the shore are almost vibrant against this matte water-colored background.
The theme for this retreat is Renewal, Resilience, and Self-Care. This seems to be a common quest this year. When my colleagues gather and share what is going on in their lives, there is a common thread of stress and hard work and feeling overwhelmed.
Some are feeling battered by a political environment that feels strange and surreal. Others are struggling to keep up their businesses, hustling to keep pace, be visible and connected, and reinventing themselves to stay relevant. Some are winding down into retirement facing the uncertainties of what the future will bring. Many are also juggling the responsibilities of growing families, managing ailments and diseases, and experiencing life transitions of marriages, births, and death. There’s comfort in sharing our burdens and knowing we’re not the only ones to be challenged.
Some are feeling battered by a political environment that feels strange and surreal. Others are struggling to keep up their businesses, hustling to keep pace, be visible and connected, and reinventing themselves to stay relevant. Some are winding down into retirement facing the uncertainties of what the future will bring. Many are also juggling the responsibilities of growing families, managing ailments and diseases, and experiencing life transitions of marriages, births, and death. There’s comfort in sharing our burdens and knowing we’re not the only ones to be challenged.
At this retreat, we give in to the yearning to pause, to take a few days away to be alone and to be in the company of coaches. We embrace the opportunity to better understand resilience, renewal and self-care - and step into the invitation to use this time and space as we please.
As September begins, I move into fall which is busy and demanding, and feel again the press of expectations, deadlines, and schedules. My world moves away from the vacation mindset into a performance mindset. I’m wondering if there is a way to bring the time and space of a retreat with me into this season of work.
How can I tap into my inner stores of resilience? Where can I take better care of myself? What can I make new again in my life - something that will sustain and support me?
And how can I give myself permission to use time and space to do as I please - every now and then, so I don't forget that "vacation" feeling?
