Coming soon: online opportunities for exploring, learning and experiencing here.
Unless otherwise noted, programs begin at 7 pm and end at noon.
Here is our March 18 e-newsletter. Sign up for future issues here.
Please note that the Christine Center does not offer either health care or psychotherapy. We offer opportunities for spiritual deepening and exploration, as well as personal restoration and peace.
Equinox Yoga and Meditation Retreat
March 21-24 (Thursday – Sunday)
with Amie Heeter, CYT 500
Tuition: $250, plus meals and lodging
Retreats are an invitation to dive deep, intentionally, into a place that supports the opportunity to see inside and listen. We will harness this seasonal transition of winter to spring and utilize tools to vitalize, clear, empower, and inspire. Our days will include breath centered hatha yoga, meditation, Yoga Nidra, writing, reflection, and group discussion- as well as ample free time to explore the surroundings and enjoy the quiet, creative atmosphere. Special attention will be given to cultivating a Sankalpa, an intention born of the heart meant to bring us closer to that which supports growth, meaning, and embodied potential, and actively erodes unconscious thinking and behavior patterns that hold us back with dysfunction and cycles of self-sabotage. May this retreat help carry you into a fruitful season of activation and empowerment. Some yoga experience required, open to all levels of practitioners. Learn more. Register here.
Mandala Weekend: Discovering Beauty and Light
March 22-24 (Friday-Sunday | 10 am – 5 pm daily)
with Sister Gabriele Uhlein, OSF, PhD
Tuition: $60 a day / $30 for half days (all materials included, meals and lodging are additional)
Commuters are welcome. Bring a bag lunch or purchase a delicious vegetarian meal for $16.
Learn how to make mandalas and discover creativity, relaxation and meditation. Relax, refresh and reflect as your hands create circles of beauty and light. Sister Gabriele provides guidance and introduces how to use mandala making as a form of prayer and meditation. No previous drawing or art experience is necessary. We will use artist grade colored pencils and watercolors. All materials are provided. Mandalas make wonderful personal keepsakes to honor special occasions and lovely one-of-a-kind gifts. Register here.
Awakening a new depth consciousness
March 22-24 (Friday-Sunday)
with Tom Roberts
Tuition: $150, plus meals and lodging
The importance of cultivating quiet and peace has been the bedrock of many spiritual traditions, leading to the skillful return to presence.
During this retreat, we will explore the depth teachings of the Zen tradition (specifically the Hsin Hsin Ming) along with Hesychasm, Kenosis and Apatheia practices of the early Christians, as valuable methods in achieving a renewed depth of spiritual consciousness. In addition to contemplative time, study and discussion, we will immerse ourselves in a meditation method leading us toward a direct experience of the depth spiritual essence. Tom will also be sharing a singing bowl sound experience. As the Zen teachers implore: “cultivating a method of no method.” Learn more. Register here.
Yoga Nidra 24
March 28-29 (Thursday-Friday)
with Patricia Wack
Tuition $95, plus housing and meals
“The mid-week, once-a-month yoga retreat is a wonderful idea! It’s a great break from everyday life. Everything is excellent. The Christine Center never disappoints.”–November 2018 retreat participant
Enjoy 24 hours of restoration and rejuvenation through the easiest yoga practice of all – simple, deep, natural rest. The Christine Center welcomes you to a monthly day designated for health, well-being, and ease. Each month, one of our featured instructors will offer a Yoga Nidra-based program designed to help you experience quiet clarity and calm from the top of your head to the tips of your toes. Join us as we take a 24 hour “time out” from our busy lives to unwind one serene breath at a time. You may even choose to extend your stay and create your own customized personal retreat. Our woodland sanctuary awaits you. Learn more. Register here.
Earth-Heart Relating: Revealing the Beautiful Soul of the World.
April 4-8 (Thursday – Monday)
with Robert Sardello and Sister Gabriele Uhlein, OSF, PhD.
Tuition: Early Bird Rate $300 until March 4th, then $350, plus meals and lodging
Imagine the tumult of our times and the complexities of our contemporary living reconstituted in Earth-intelligent beauty. Imagine our relationships with each other–and all our contentious discourse of race, religion and nations–restored to balance and unity. Such a quantum leap in love requires our awakening to Earth presence in every encounter. Earth’s beauty is revealed each time the spontaneous creativity of heartful Earth-intelligence informs our relationships. In earlier times, such beauty was termed “the soul of the world.”
In this workshop, we will develop a living, creative imagination of the heart of Earth — how to notice it, how it reveals in human relationships as new, intimate living, and how to experience again the restorative soul of the world in our times and circumstances. Learn more. Register here.
Yoga Nidra- A Day of Deep Relaxation
April 11-12 (Thursday-Friday), 2 PM — 2 PM
with Tracy Chipman – MA/CYT/AYS
Tuition: $95
Enjoy 24 hours of Restoration and Rejuvenation through the easiest yoga practice of all – simple, deep, natural rest! The Christine Center welcomes you to a day designated for health, well-being, and ease. Each month, one of our featured instructors will offer a mid-week Yoga Nidra based program designed to help you experience quiet clarity and calm from the top of your head to the tips of your toes. Join us as we take a 24 hour “time out” from our busy lives to unwind one serene breath at a time. You may even choose to extend your stay and create your own customized personal retreat. Our woodland sanctuary awaits you! Learn more. Register here.
Discovering Wholeness with the Enneagram
April 12-14 (Friday – Sunday)
with Katy Taylor and Dave Hall
Tuition: sliding scale $200 – $250, plus meals and housing
The Enneagram teaches us that there are nine facets to the human soul, nine different styles of orienting the personality toward the world and toward our own true nature. When we simply play out the reactions and rely on the habits of our core personality type, we constrict our understanding of our deeper potentials and limit what we can offer to the world. Conversely, when we learn to embrace and draw upon the full palette of human capacities available to each and every one of us, we discover a much richer and more colorful way of being in the world.
This workshop is open to all students, whether you are new to the Enneagram or wish to deepen your understanding of this beautiful and liberating map of the human soul. Learn more. Register here.
Sound and Silence
April 12-14 (Friday – Sunday)
with Wendy Kohlhaas, and Sheila Nolte
Tuition: $150, plus meals and lodging
Two practices based on praying from the heart frame this retreat. Sounds produced by gemstone crystal and Tibetan bowls help purify and raise the vibration of the body. The pure sound helps you release aches and tensions of a lifetime. Sacred singing, mantras, toning and giving voice can move us toward higher states of well-being. Learn and practice simple chants to pray when there are no words. Each tone makes its journey into deep places within the soul and aligns us with divine harmony. Learn more. Register here.
Opening to Pure Awareness: Experienced Student Retreat
with Susan Mickel
April 14-21 (Sunday-Sunday)
This retreat has as its foundation the teachings of the Theravada mindfulness meditation tradition. The heart of the retreat draws primarily on the essence traditions, which belong to the Mahayana and Vajrayana traditions. Although the emphasis in this retreat is on cultivation of direct experience through meditation, the teaching will also present conceptual understandings of the approach. Group discussion of meditation experience gives an opportunity for regular feedback to help students to stay on track, and it helps participants to learn from each other. Prerequisite: practitioners must have completed a foundational level Opening to Pure Awareness retreat with Susan Mickel, or a Level 1 retreat with Susan Mickel or a teacher from Pointing Out the Great Way. A brief telephone call with Susan regarding ongoing practice is required to approve participation (there is no charge for this). If you have questions about the retreat, or to register, email Susan.
Learn more.
Holy Week Retreat
April 17-21 ( Wednesday – Sunday)
with Father James Logan and Sisters Henrita Frost, SSND, and Johanna Seubert, FSPA
Tuition: A suggested offering of $50 – $100
All-inclusive housing and meal rates: Modern and guest room housing (four nights with all meals) are $400; Rustic housing (four nights with all meals) is $300
Join the Christine Center Community as we enter deeply into the mystery of Christ in Holy Week. We offer quiet and reflective days with optional participation in various sessions: group meditations, reflections on the theme of each day, and participation in liturgical rituals for Holy Thursday, Good Friday, and Holy Saturday. The retreat concludes on Sunday morning with a gathering for prayer, celebrating Easter, followed by lunch. Register here.
Cultivating Mindfulness One Breath at a Time
April 25 – 26 (Thursday – Friday)
with Barbara Wulf
Tuition: $95, plus meals and housing
Mindfulness can shift our experience, expand our awareness, and open us up to new approaches to life. In this workshop, learn techniques for bringing awareness and balance into your life while cultivating a sense of overall calm. Sessions include sitting meditation, loving kindness meditation, gentle mindful movement, walking meditation (outside), and mindful rest yoga, a form of deep, restful sleep.
There will be group dialogue and time to commune with nature in the peaceful setting of the Christine Center grounds. Learn more. Register here.
Midwest Diamond Approach Weekend
The Yellow Lataif: Gateway to Essence
April 26-28 (Friday-Sunday)
with Diamond Approach teachers: Kara Vangen and Kathleen Graham
All-inclusive cost: $315.00 (includes tuition, 2 nights lodging & 4 meals)
Please join us for an exploration of the Yellow Lataif.
Activation of the joy or yellow qualities invites a sense of adventure and playfulness into the process of exploring and discovering our true nature. It allows us to access the lightness and curiosity we need to guide our inner journey, illuminating what is real and authentic in us. This retreat is the 4th of an ongoing program on the lataif presented by Midwest Diamond Approach teachers in 2018-19. This weekend we will carefully explore the quality of being that connects us to our deeper inner nature through meditation, teaching and experiential exercises. The retreat begins on Friday night at 7 pm and ends on Sunday noon. Learn more. To register: email S. Johanna Seubert or call (715)267-5703.
The Splendor of Recognition : Yoga and Its Many Facets
May 10-12 (Friday-Sunday)
with Iris Mickey
Tuition: $200, plus lodging and meals
Exploring the classical eight limbs of Yoga and the tantric philosophy of non-dualism, we will practice together to celebrate the aliveness of the spring season as a mirror of our own lives. Each day will consist of chanting, asana, mediation and Yoga Nidra.
The Grief Retreat
Friday, June 7 – 9 (Friday-Sunday)
with Patricia Williams and Patricia Polski
Tuition: $150, plus meals and lodging. Commuters welcome.
Have you recently (or not so recently) experienced a loss and are still struggling with what happened? Do you feel like grief has overwhelmed you? Do think that after all this time you should be feeling better? Do you wonder where you can find support? These situations and questions are typical and normal when someone experiences loss. Loss of a loved-one, loss of a pet, loss of a job, loss of a dream and other losses that life throws at us can sometimes be unbearable. In talking about your struggles, receiving support and immersing yourself in a nature-filled, caring environment, you may discover ways to see things a little differently. Join us for a weekend of reflection and discovery. The program is presented by experienced grief group facilitators who will present topics for discussion and guide you through the weekend. Learn more. Register here.
Cultivating Mindfulness One Breath at a Time
June 12-13 (Wednesday-Thursday)
with Barbara Wulf
Tuition: $95, plus lodging and meals
Mindfulness can shift our experience, expand our awareness, and open us up to new approaches to life. In this workshop, learn techniques for bringing awareness and balance into your life while cultivating a sense of overall calm. Sessions include Sitting Meditation, Loving Kindness Meditation, Gentle Mindful Movement, Walking Meditation (outside), and Mindful Rest Yoga, a form of deep, restful yogic sleep.
There will be group dialogue and time to commune with nature in the peaceful setting of the Christine Center grounds. Learn more. Register here.
Upside and Down: Exploring Perspective Through Writing and Yoga
with Joanne Nelson and Sabré Page
June 17–20 (Monday-Thursday)
Tuition: $275, plus housing and meals
Through yoga we open ourselves to possibility. Our bodies stretch and grow strong, our spirits are deepened, and our minds relax and renew. When the body, spirit, and mind are united, amazing things happen. Integrating writing experiences with a yoga practice enriches and enlivens the opportunities for creative growth.
Looking at everything in a new way—right side up, upside down, or sideways will be our theme. We will practice a variety of yoga poses and writing techniques designed to help us view ourselves and our writing from new perspectives. Combining these modalities allows the inner and outer world to be explored through a different lens as we experiment, play, deepen, and grow.
Whether you are a seasoned yogi and writer, or just beginning to explore, you will grow from from this innovative workshop filled with techniques that can be applied to all levels of practice and all genres of writing. Time will be available for writing in silence as well as for optional sharing in a safe and supportive community.
Participants will return home with a greater awareness of how writing enhances a yoga practice as well as how a yoga practice enhances creativity.
The Circle of Womanhood
June 26-30 (Wednesday-Sunday)
Ancestral Impressions: Exploring Your Ancestry Through Creativity, Imagery, and Intuition
July 22-25 (Monday-Thursday)
with Audrey Chowdhury
Tuition: $375, plus meals and housing
Your ancestors are a tremendous resource for you, and they are just waiting for you to ask them for guidance and information about who and where you come from. Your ancestors also love to speak through creative processes. During our time together, we will be tapping into this great well of wisdom and experience through processes that use your creative imagination. We will travel to the ancestral realm using guided imagery, SoulCollage®, mandala creating, intuitive art processes and intuitive writing. You will learn about the four realms of ancestral memory and explore your heritage through these portals. We will take movement breaks to help integrate our experience and have time to take advantage of the beautiful natural surroundings at the Christine Center. We will be nourished and supported by delicious community meals prepared by loving chefs at the center. You will also have time and opportunity to take advantage of the resources the Christine offers for contemplation, reflection, rest, and play. Learn more. Register here.
Meditation: Taming the Mind, Unlocking the Heart
July 26-28 (Friday-Sunday)
with Lama Yeshe
Tuition $150
The foundation practice the Buddha taught is meditation. It is a way to tame our minds so they behave better. There is a big difference between being impulsive and spontaneous. Impulses have elements of selfishness, fear and habit; spontaneity comes from our inherent wisdom, love and compassion. We start by increasing our ability to stay focused so we are distracted less by fear, wild thoughts, impulses and the chaos of daily life. This is achieved by meditating on an object, usually the breath. We all have a noble heart full of wisdom, love and compassion. There is another type of meditation we will learn during this retreat that will aid in releasing these wonderful qualities of our noble heart. This type of meditation is called taking and sending, Tonglen in Tibetan. Participants will have the opportunity to meet individually with Lama Yeshe during the retreat. Register here.
Writing to Wake the Soul: cultivating curiosity
July 26-31 (Friday–Wednesday)
with author Karen Hering
Tuition: $295 before June 26; $325 after; plus meals and lodging
Creativity – on the page and in our lives – begins with curiosity, the posture of an open heart and mind. How do we keep our curiosity alive and well in these times of so much closed thinking? This retreat, designed for writers of fiction, memoir, poetry and other forms, is an invitation to cultivate curiosity in your own writing. We’ll explore practices and tools that can open our hearts and minds as writers and awaken the healing power of words and story for us and for our readers.
Karen Hering, author of Writing to Wake the Soul: Opening the Sacred Conversation Within, will lead this writing retreat for both experienced and emerging writers. The retreat includes: personal time for your own writing projects; optional daily guided writing sessions on themes of cultivating wonder, creativity and wholeness; gentle qigong and tai ji to listen to your body; and community meals and daily circles for abundant conversation, insight and laughter in creative exchanges with writing friends, new and old.
Together, we’ll share the gifts and challenges of the writing life, supported by the Christine Center’s generous hospitality, delicious and nourishing meals, peaceful natural setting, and opportunities for silent meditation and spiritual direction or unleashing creativity in the arts studio. Learn more. Register here.
Wake Up the Writer Within
with Joanne Nelson
August 16-18 (Friday–Sunday)
Tuition: $175, plus lodging and meals
Discover how to awaken and transform your creativity through writing prompts and awareness practices. You’ll have time to relax while learning to combine the art of paying close attention with writing that deepens every experience. Give your true voice space to roam and reawaken your intuitive self through guided exercises, discussion, and reflection.
Appropriate for beginning writers as well as those with more experience, all that is necessary is the curiosity to listen deeply to yourself, the desire to pay close attention to all that is around you, and a willingness to explore your imagination. We’ll utilize techniques proven to enhance creativity, create opportunities to gain insights, and take time to write in a safe and nurturing environment. Any sharing of class writing is completely optional. Learn more. Register here.
The Naad: Sacred Sounds of Kundalini Yoga
September 30 – October 6 (Monday-Sunday)
with Sat Purkh and Abhai Raj
Tuition: Sliding Scale $475-$675
Naad Yoga is as old as the first impulse of creation. The universe began with sound — the word — and that same vibration lives within every cell of your body: Ang Sang Wahe Guru. We’ll experience the key components of the Naad: listening and expanding the definition of harmony, silence and the still point (shuniya), anaahad or unstruck sound and the song of the soul, the human body as an instrument, and vibration as the key to transformation within the practice of Kundalini Yoga and meditation. Come join us as we practice the art and science of The Naad: Sacred Sounds of Kundalini Yoga. Learn more. Register here.
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The staff has been incredibly kind. Everyone has gone out of their way to be of service. I could not ask for a more loving environment. David B.
The staff were so warm and welcoming. I felt completely comfortable right away. Judy M.
The energy at the Center is so calm, soothing, and peaceful. Everyone is so kind and helpful. I felt safe and cared for by ALL the staff. Laurie R.
The staff was so helpful and friendly. They took care of my special diet with excellence. Spruce K.