August 23rd – 29th, 2010 (with an arrival on the evening of August 22nd)
Ekone Ranch, located near Goldendale, Washington (primitive camping only)
Facilitators: Susanna Maida

The program is offered through the School of Lost Borders on a sliding scale. Total program cost:

    $1895 to $1595 (includes $1200 to $900 program fee and $695 for shared room and food)

New reduced tuition!
    $1110 to $710 (includes $1000 to $600 program fee and $110 for camping / land use; participants provide their own food) 

Save $100 if you register and pay in full by May 23rd.

(A limited number of scholarships are available through the School of Lost Borders. This financial assistance, available on a first come basis, can help you further reduce the out-of-pocket cost for this retreat. Please inquire early if this is something you'd need in order to attend.)

Click here for Registration.

At this profound moment in human history, there's a monumental wave of women in the developed world who are awakening to their full potential and becoming passionate and empowered co-creators of change. Those of us riding this wave feel a yearning to gather our unique gifts, passion, wisdom, and vision for what's possible and offer them in service to the world with a desire to make a meaningful and enduring difference, be it in large or small arenas. Seeing leadership in this way turns it into an invitation for each of us to respond to the deeper longing in our soul and lead from the inspiration present there.

And so as women we are each being called to the role of leadership, whether it be through creating alternative possibilities for our organizations and communities, facilitating transformative processes that enhance our human connection, ushering new ideas and perspectives into the larger culture, responding to an unmet need in the world, or leading our own lives at that of our families in new directions.

This type of leadership will settle for nothing less than us bringing our whole selves to the journey -- body, psyche, mind, and spirit. Throughout history, cultures around the world have acknowledged the fundamental importance of these four domains of being. We call them the Four Shields.

An authentic leader will possess a style of leadership that reflects a balanced integration of these four shields. Yet life in our chronically out-of-balanced modern world often leaves us with some shields over-developed and others diminished. Culturally-based gender biases can exacerbate this imbalance.

In this seven-day, soul-nourishing retreat for women leaders, you'll relax into your most natural self, access the deep Feminine wisdom present there in body, psyche, mind, and spirit, and bring a new balance to your own four shields. By drawing upon the wisdom inherent in these four aspects of who you are, you'll connect more fully to your essential truth and discover how to lead in ways that are more authentic, life-affirming, sustainable, and impactful. 

In a circle of extraordinary women, we'll surrender to the mirror of wild nature so that we may come to better know our own essential nature as women and as leaders. There will be time to spend alone in nature and time to be together as a group; time to listen deeply within and time to share stories in community; time to call forth our individual and collective wisdom and time to celebrate the power and beauty we each carry as women willing to move out in the world as leaders.

Participating in this retreat will instill in you a greater sense of clarity, confidence, and appreciation of yourself as a woman and as a leader. You'll leave the retreat ready to take action on behalf of whatever vision you carry, action that will bring your outer vocational life into far greater alignment with your inner purpose and knowing. This transformation will then ripple out into your particular sphere of influence, helping to co-create the flourishing of a more conscious world that works for all.

The retreat will begin at 8:00 a.m. on a Monday morning, although we encourage you to arrive the previous evening so you have plenty of time to get settled. We'll end after lunch on the following Sunday afternoon and, as much as possible, the retreat will take place outdoors. After an opening introduction and setting of the context, we will begin to weave ourselves together into community. On Tuesday, we will move into the first Shield and from then through Friday, we will spend abundant time cycling through each Shield as follows:

• Introduction to the Shield
• Solo time in nature immersed in and experiencing the Shield
• Sharing of Shield stories
• Mirroring of the stories
• Reflective time
• Interactive group discussion connecting it all back to leadership

There is a ceremonial quality to this retreat although each woman can engage as deeply with that as she wishes to. Open time is built into each day, time in which we can each do whatever calls to us. For some, this is time to allow the retreat experiences to settle in and take root. For others, it's a time to rest, to listen deeply within – perhaps even to nap. Others may use this time to connect one-on-one with some of the other participants or to more actively explore the surrounding natural beauty.

Beginning on Saturday and then concluding on Sunday, we will spend considerable time, individually and as a group, integrating our experiences and learning. We will take our individual Shield experiences and weave them together into our own dynamic wheel that is in perpetual motion with the context of our lives. Doing this allows us to see where we are strong in our Shields, where we are less developed, and what we might need to do to bring about greater balance in our lives.

We will also begin the process of incorporation where we look specifically at how we will each take what we've learned into our lives and our leadership. Part of this includes stating intentions for ourselves as related to how we want to move forward in our leadership, being witnessed by the group, and creating support structures that will aid us in fulfilling those intentions.

Tuition includes a pre-retreat coaching session to help you clarify your personal intention for participating in the retreat and a post-retreat coaching session to support you in incorporating your learning into your life and your leadership. Both of these coaching sessions are one-on-one with one of the facilitators and are conducted via phone.

While the retreat involves spending individual time in nature, no previous wilderness experience is required and no extreme physical exertion is involved. Each woman will be able to choose how deeply into nature she feels comfortable wandering. So one woman might feel inspired to take a three-mile hike during solo time while another might choose to sit quietly under a tree.