Women’s Retreat To Be Held in Highland
Midlife crisis – it’s a term that’s bandied about often, but it’s an all too real condition that can affect both men and women as they move away from their youth and look towards their older years
Annette Naber, a semi-retired clinical psychologist residing in Highland, is convening a retreat for women in August, for the purpose of helping them through this transitional period. She explained more.
“Women in Midlife Retreat will be held at Laurel Point Bed and Breakfast, in Monterey, VA, so I’m looking forward to having that beautiful site and beautiful view. It will be held on Saturday, August 15th and Sunday, August 16th, two full days. Any woman between 45 and 65 years of age is eligible – I’m especially looking for women who are introspective, and who want to look deeply at where they have come from, what skills and lessons they have gathered so far, and what they want to create from here now, in their midlife phase.
“The way I came up with this idea was actually almost 20 years ago, and I was partially inspired by my daughters Rite of Passage program that she did as a teenager, and at that time already, seeing how much the teenagers got out of this process, and how they became more conscious, I thought there should be a program like this entering every distinct life phase, especially midlife.
“So I started gathering ideas – of course I was too young to be taken seriously as a mid-lifer at that time – butn ow I’m about halfway into my own midlife, and it’s time.
“We’ll use individual creative time in the retreat, to do various activities, to get to that core of who we are, and what we want to do. An example would be creating a timeline of our life as an art project – we’ll do journaling, guided visualization – we’ll do an activity to let go of any burdens that are still weighing on us. At my last retreat in Augusta, Georgia, we were at the Savannah River, and each participant in the retreat wrote their burden down on paper, and then released it into the raging waters – it was very powerful. For my Highland retreat, of course, we don’t have such a river, but I’ve come up with another idea for this activity – and you really have to be there to find out what it is.”
The fee for the retreat covers course materials, lunch and snacks – lodging, if needed, is separate. Early registrants get a reduced fee – the deadline for this is July 15th. For more information or to register, contact Ms. Naber at 540-290-4033, or email anaber99@aol.com.
“Actually, I think this would be important for both men and women, but I’m starting with retreats for women, because I am a woman, and I understand women most intimately. But midlife is such an important time – we’ve learned so much in our lives so far, and now we have proven ourselves, perhaps we’ve raised a family, left an impression on our career. But there’s more to us, a greater self, that can only come into its wholeness at this stage in midlife, so working in a small group of women, in the retreat format, helps us to see that we’re not alone, in our midlife struggles and challenges, that we can talk honestly about the things that deeply matter to us, and also, use the group to help us set the stage for being who we were meant to be, and embracing those aspects, that serve us, and ultimately humanity the most.”
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