Shadow Work: Flower Power (for SWTC veterans)

This juicy new offering is only for those who completed my Shadow Work Through the Chakras course by 2024 (at least once). Many of you expressed a desire to continue this work and to have opportunities be stay connected with your cohort.

I am so stoked to be finally pulling together this offering and I’m loving how the concept and structure are landing!

Ok, here’s what’s coming!!

4 mini-retreats (1-day workshops) total, one mini-retreat per quarter of 2025. These will be held in-person in the Ann Arbor area. These are the dates that are pretty solid (but not yet in stone). Feb 9, May 10, Aug 10 & Nov 1. Each mini-retreat includes the 4-5 hour workshop and two monthly zoom check-ins for follow up.

You are welcome to move through the whole program ($800), or just choose individual mini-retreats ($222 each) – whatever works best for you, your time and your budget.

In “Shadow Work Through the Chakras” we used the chakra system as our framework to within which to do our shadow work. For this next series of mini-retreats, we are going to use the ReBloom framework to do our shadow dancing.

Those of you who took Shadow Work in the earlier cohorts (2021 – 2022) were not introduced to this framework. It is based on Rachael Maddox’s work: “ReBloom: Archetypal Trauma Resolution for Personal & Collective Healing.” This is a beautiful and powerful framework that uses the metaphor of the garden and the archetypes within a healthy and thriving garden. I completed a ReBloom Foundations training with Maddox a few years ago and I am still holding it as one of the most impactful trainings on my work over the last few decades. I will be sharing some of my income from this offering with Rachael as a thank you honorarium.

Each garden archetype holds the blueprints for certain wellness attributes. It also offers ways of working with specific negative imprints on the blueprints. It is these negative imprints like neglect and alienation, that are often the sources of reaction from our shadow defenses. So, in these mini-retreats, we’ll take a deep dive into one or two of these archetypes, the blueprint for wellness they hold, and the negative imprints from which our shadow attributes come.

Mini-Retreat 1: Healthy Seeds & Soil (Feb 9)

Intro to ReBloom & Nervous System Basics / Soul Seed Archetype

In this retreat we will cover the basics of the ReBloom framework and review some of the key shadow work concepts we worked with in Shadow Work Through the Chakras. We will work with some of the basics of understanding on how trauma and negative imprints affect our nervous systems and what effect that has on how we behave. We will then begin with the Soul Seed archetype that holds the healthy blueprints for worthiness and receptivity. The negative imprint on this blueprint is neglect and all of the shadow behaviors that may result in form of protection.

Mini-Retreat 2: Safe to Bloom! (May 10) 

Gatekeeper & Expressionista Archetypes

In this retreat, we will encounter the garden’s Gatekeeper archetype. Its healthy blueprint is of Sovereignty and the primary negative imprint is exploitation. Of course, this archetype is all about healthy boundaries and discernment. The other archetype we will engage with is the Expressionista. This is like full-flowering, no apologies, whole self-expression. The negative imprints we will work with that most affect the blueprints of the Expressionista are shame and repression. Most shadow behaviors are ultimately over-protective and are about keeping us safe – whether it seems logical or not. Once we can recover our healthy Gatekeeper, the Expressionista is safe enough to shine!

Mini-Retreat 3: Cultivating Wildness (Aug 10)

Sage & Groundskeeper Archetypes

In this retreat, we meet the wise archetype of the Sage. The Sage holds the healthy blueprints for clarity and choice. The negative imprints of manipulation and control are what show up as hypervigilance or being too easily confused and blindly following. We will also encounter the archetype of The Groundskeeper. The Groundskeeper holds the healthy blueprints for vitality and empowered safety. The Groundskeeper deals with the health and safety of the whole garden. The negative imprints with most effect are violence and chaos. These archetypes help us be in the truth of our cycles and help us to balance our wild and more cultivated parts.

Mini-Retreat 4: Community Gardening (Nov 1) 

Pollinator & Sacred Gardener Archetypes

In this retreat, we begin by exploring The Pollinator archetype who holds the healthy blueprint of intimate belonging. Within this archetype we can work with the shadows of hyper-individualism or group indoctrination that come with the negative imprints of isolation and alienation. Then we will wrap up this series with the final archetype of The Sacred Gardener. The Sacred Gardener holds the healthy blueprints of co-creation. The negative imprint of colonization is apparent in deeply embedded belief systems, behaviors and ways of being that are counter-productive to both individual and group thriving.

Each mini-retreat is $222. or sign up for all four for $800. That investment includes any food and materials on your mini-retreat, two optional monthly zoom calls with your group as follow up / check in. This investment price does not include any travel or food expenses outside of the mini-retreat time.