Tuesday, September 6th, 2011
I am looking forward to continuing the story of my first vision fast, as I think sharing my experience might be helpful for people who are struggling with difficulties they have experienced on their own first fasts. Sometimes it is good to hear others' stories.
First, though, I'd like to share ...
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Sunday, June 19th, 2011
Today I'd like to pick up the story of my journey to my first vision fast. When I left you last time, I had set out on the road trip to Boulder, Colorado, for a week-long intensive at Naropa University, prior to going with my classmates to our vision fast ...
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Thursday, March 10th, 2011
John Boyer, one of our guides for the upcoming vision fast in Wyoming, taught us some aspects of the Lakota people's vision quest ceremony. The first stage of the vision fast is called "Decision Road." This is part of the severance or preparation phase, in which we make the decision ...
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Thursday, March 3rd, 2011
As I mentioned last time, writing a letter of intention was one of the preparation tasks in the severance phase of the vision fast. I wrote a 6-page letter and sent it to the two guides. Here I include the part where I focused on my hopes for the vision ...
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Thursday, February 24th, 2011
The story of the vision fast I was going to undertake in June 2005 begins with the preparations I made in the threshold phase. The vision fast was a component of the three-week residential portion of the summer semester at Naropa University in Boulder, Colorado. This would be my fourth ...
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Thursday, February 17th, 2011
The time when we are preparing to undertake a vision fast is the first of the three phases of the vision fast ceremony. It is called the severance phase. The medicine walk I've been describing was an important step in preparing for the vision fast, as well as being a ...
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Thursday, January 27th, 2011
The "something else" that awaited me was being chased by blood-thirsty mosquitoes all the way home! I followed the ravine between the giant old fir tree and the rock face, heading northwest towards Monkey Valley. Suddenly I heard an angry buzzing. It was amazingly loud. So loud it was terrifying. ...
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Sunday, January 23rd, 2011
Monkey Valley Retreat Centre has hosted vision fasts, medicine wheel teachings, teachings of ecopsychology practices, medicine walks, inquiry groups, a yoga and ChiRunning retreat, and, of course, many gatherings of family and friends, too.
For a brief account of last summer's amazingly awesome Chirunning and yoga retreat, see here.
In the summer ...
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Thursday, January 6th, 2011
Karen Rempel is the director of Monkey Valley Retreat Centre. She leads retreats at the centre, and also apprentices on vision fasts in Colorado and California. She teaches tools to help people find healing and guidance in nature, including the medicine walk, medicine wheel, four shields of (human) nature, other ...
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Wednesday, December 8th, 2010
As you might have guessed from my last entry, this time when I set out on the medicine walk I was determined not to get my feet wet. At least not until after the sun came up! I set out at about 4:25 am, with a cool morning temperature of 1° ...
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