This May we had the privilege to facilitate a renewing, restful, and all out fun Care for the Caregivers retreat for Southern Oregon frontline workers. This pilot retreat was designed to give our frontline workers a chance to rest, heal, reflect, and connect with one another. Facilitators Mark Yaconelli and Sylvia Poareo used a variety of trauma-informed “folk medicines”–song, story, silence, nature, play, movement, and ritual to help participants feel grounded, connected, cared for, and resilient. Comments from participants include:
This retreat was joyful and relaxing! It also gave us great tools to manage stress and carry the weight of our work in a more sustainable way. There was times for stillness and reflection, as well as laughter and celebration of ourselves as individuals fighting for our communities
For many of us, we don’t realize how much tension we are holding until we stop enough to feel it. The two day retreat felt like one long breath of fresh air. I left feeling more connected, inspired and supported.
I greatly appreciated sessions that generate reflection, relaxation, and combat the detrimental long-term effects of stress and workplace burn out. Shifting the focus within to rebuild the participant’s ability to connect better with themselves but also their team and service population.
This retreat was life changing. I would recommend this retreat to anyone who is needing to get away from this fast paced life, and be reminded of what truly matters in our life & community
This was the first time in a long time in which I physically felt that I had rested. What a healing experience with such loving people.
I left with such gratitude and a longing for more spaces like this. I would HIGHLY recommend this retreat and deeply encourage folks come with open-minds, open-hearts, ready to trust the process. It can change your life.
