Spring's lessons.

In the depths of winter it is so difficult to remember what the warmth of the sunshine is like. The minute we change the clocks and spring time arrives we welcome the longer hours of light and our energy levels rise.

Easter always reminds me of the dark overcast days of Holy Week in Greece. The weather was strangely depressing as the week progressed and on "Good Friday" you could feel the depth of mourning, even if you were not particularly religious. The slow church bells ring and as the procession of the coffin is carried through the streets the darkness seems to return.

As the resurrection takes place, Easter begins and the mood swiftly changes to that of joy and celebration. From a place of suffering came release. From a place of despair came hope and the Easter message spreads by the tradition of sharing candle-light and ringing of bells.

Let us remember the simple message. Often we have to visit the scary places before we see the light. If you know of someone who has challenges and a heavy load to carry right now, share a little light this Easter.

Executive Depression

Executives of all backgrounds are suffering the most awful pressures whether from their workplace or from not being in work. Just look at the number of articles being written everyday on the increase in mental health problems, suicide and depression and anxiety cases.

"Prime minister Gordon Brown may have made a 'slip of the tongue', according to his spokesman, when he recently referred to the recession as a 'depression', but there is no confusion about the association between economic problems and poor mental health.
An increasing number of studies are linking the recession to ill health - particularly anxiety, heart disease and stress. For example, academics at the University of North Texas have found that three to five years after periods of job loss and financial insecurity, there was a marked increase in the number of heart attacks.
Meanwhile, researchers at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine report that surveys following the break-up of the Soviet Union showed that the regions with the highest rate of job loss also had the highest death rates."

Let's get really active in offering our support. As Retreat Coaches we are trained to support and allow for reflection. This is our time as thousands are looking at their "Crisis of Meaning" a theme that we used to associate with the mid life crisis stage. It is hitting hard and our executives are losing face, confidence and jobs. Many of the values that they held so dearly have been wiped out in the business world and people are looking for guidance and support to find new meaning and purpose.

As their lives crumble there is the need to work with resilience, values, positive mental attitude, CBT and almost every tool in the Retreat Coach toolbox.

Look for the sign http://www.nursingtimes.net/depression/1996457.article

and step up to the cause. Be sure that coaching is the correct intervention, that medical assistance has been received and that you have your professional intentions set and contracted for.

Dorothy Larios

Taking Meaning from Kindness.

I went walking the other day around my local area to post a letter, pick up a prescription and generally let the sunshine brighten my mood. As I looked at the sudden colours of spring blooming in the gardens and people taking the first steps towards awakening their passion for gardening, I began to see the goodness of our world.

As if through fresh eyes and ears which had borne the winter's economic depression, I saw things afresh. A little girl was sad as she left the doctor's surgery and her Mum bent down to meet her eye to eye to explain that taking medicine wasn't really so bad as it would make her feel better. The headache and sniffles would stop and she would be able to go out to play again!

As I continued along the pavement beside the parked cars, I noticed that someone had designed a really beautiful Birthday Message and lain it over the windscreen of one of the parked cars. " Happy Birthday Steve- Have a good one!"

It lifts your spirits to experience such little tastes of gentle kindness amongst the usual day to day routine of any normal neighbourhood. It brings a spring smile to my face and thoughts of " the majority of people are truly kind." There are so many cynical people telling us what is wrong in the world we forget that there are more goodness and kindness out there that you can ever imagine. Like all good news it is seldom told.

I am reading "All Will be Well" by Michael Meegan and would love you to enjoy it too.

Finding Purpose on Retreat

" When I last stepped away from my life I felt so guilty about going way and leaving my husband with the children for three whole days. On the train to my retreat venue, I began to slow down and as I flicked through a glossy magazine my mind reflected on the green countryside whizzing by and how much I had forgotten my rural childhood roots."

" My whole life had become a lovely, homely family whirl of children, schools and husband. The whirl was great at times but somewhere I had forgotten about me. Who was I before I had children? What had I become? Was my life of any real meaning?"

My client wrote this as she set off on her first retreat in her specially chosen retreat journal. Her yearning for a few days peace allowed her the time to think about what was her life all about. Her children were happy and healthy, she had a hard working, high earning husband and a busy contented life but she had a hole somewhere inside that just cried out for something more! There was an emptiness that had been concerning her but she had always avoided thinking too much! She was scared to look too closely for fear of discovering a ghost, a memory or worse, herself.

So many of us lose touch with what we believe in. We rebel as teenagers against the faith or belief our parents introduced us to. As students or young adults we begin to look further and
often we turn to other spiritual practices to find meaning and purpose. Where are you on this
journey? What do you connect with? What do you turn to in a time of need?

Our spirituality is the the very core of our being.

Easy Retreats for High Flyers

In February's issue of easyJet inflight magazine who can read a few favourite facts about me, Dorothy Larios and how I am passionate about my job!

Under "Holistic Retreats" is an interesting piece for high flyers to read whilst enjoying their view of European skies.

Interviews have always intrigued me as how and when they are carried out.I had literally just stepped off an easyJet plane after an unexpected trip to Greece and the phone rang. Gilly Smith introduced herself as a freelancer and off we went into an innocent conversation about who I am, what I offer and what my philosophy on retreating is all about.

At the very end of the conversation was "we have a 4 hour deadline and it is for easyJet!"
Thank you Gilly and thank you Piers for this opportunity to offer an alternative to jet-setting, for a few days of holistic retreating.

Watch this space as more venues are being added!


Dorothy

New Year with New Challenges

With January gone I now have time to resume blogging. How amazing life can be with unpredictable challenges arriving without any prior notice. 2009 came quietly for me and although there was predicted doom and gloom surrounding me, I had counted my good fortune and reflected on how I should be careful but be positive and trusting that the universe would supply me with all that I required.

How wonderful to see the first snowdrop in January and then the February snow that lay it's carpet over everything. The season is winter after all and why do we presume that global warming has forbidden nature's gift of a nurturing blanket of snow to arrive.Is there a reason to blame the authorities for being unable to keep the roads and motorways clear. We must accept that there is a much larger force able to send us challenges that are in the scheme of things, minor and slightly troublesome.What a wonderful day for having family fun; children and sleighs, snowballs and snowboarding and the birds attracted to my garden to find food supplied with love.The UK may have been forced to stop for a day but how small an inconvenience.

Winter Solstice

The Winter Solstice marks the shortest day of Winter, in the northern hemisphere.

Many of the customs associated with the Winter Solstice derive from stories of a mighty battle between the dark and the light, which is won, naturally, by the light.Celebrated in many religions and by many cultures we often forget the real meaning of this winter celebration.

Earlier traditions focused on the battle between the dark and the light, but we know both are valuable. Honor the dark before calling in the light. This is the season when animals hibernate and nature sleeps and we can turn inward too. Perhaps some of the depression people feel during the holidays comes from not providing a space for feeling the sadness associated with this season. Set aside time (hard to do amidst the frenzy of the holidays) for sitting in the dark and quiet. I like to spend a little time of the Winter Solstice in silence and reflection.

It is a time of year when some despair, seem lost, confused, frustrated and money seems to go before we receive it; with all the Christmas shopping. We feel like we have reached the turning point and our strength recedes and/or declines. Such is the cycle of birth and death, elation and melancholy, strength and weakness, health and sickness, prosperity and poverty, the harmony of change.

It is the time of year to have good friends around, and to be a good friend. Celebrate with the light of candles, yule logs on the fire and share your food and warmth. It is the time of year to be hospitable to strangers and travellers. It is the time of year for telling stories around the fire, the time for sipping hot drinks to warm the soul; the time to raise spirits...and a glass or too. A celebration of the promise of the Sun's return in all it's power.

You should enjoy yourself as much as possible on the Winter Solstice because this will bring back light (and lightness) into the world. Different traditions mention feasting, gambling, playing pranks, giving gifts, visiting, drinking, dressing up, putting on plays and staying up all night. During the dark of winter, invoke all the forces of pleasure and love which make life worth living.

This is a natural time for letting go and saying farewell. Release your resentments and regrets into the darkness, knowing they will be transformed. Write about them in your journal or write them on slips of paper which you can burn in your Yule fire.
Celebrate in the warmth and love of your friends and family and lighten the way into 2009.

Greetings from Dorothy