Monday – Friday, 8:45am & 5:00pm CST
Hosted by Sisters Johanna & Henrita

Discover the profound stillness and clarity that daily meditation can bring to your life. Our guided sessions, offered each day, create a nurturing space for inner reflection, mindful presence, and spiritual connection. Whether you are a seasoned practitioner or new to meditation, these gatherings provide gentle guidance and community support to deepen your practice. Rooted in the Christine Center’s commitment to contemplative living, daily meditation invites you to slow down, reset, and carry the essence of peace into your day.

Sundays, 9-10am CST
Facilitated by: Sara Neall

Join us each Sunday to explore LovingKindness practices from the Buddhist traditions.

Each session will begin with a brief dharma talk which will frame our practice. The meditation will be 20-30 minutes in length, followed time to ask questions and share experiences. The discussion period is optional with an approximate end time of 10am or earlier depending on the discussion.

The qualities of kindness, compassion, joy and equanimity help us to live in this world with courage. They help us to be a true friend to ourself and to others. They connect us back to an inner abiding that is a true refuge.

January 16-19, 2025
with Nancy Boler

Join us for a weekend of yoga, meditation, and relaxation led by experienced instructor Nancy Boler. This retreat offers space to deepen your practice and reconnect with yourself through gentle and invigorating yoga sessions, guided meditation, and intentional relaxation. Beginning with dinner on Thursday at 5:30 p.m., the weekend includes time for personal reflection and nature walks, fostering a sense of renewal in a peaceful setting. We’ll conclude after brunch on Sunday, with a renewed sense of calm and tools to bring mindfulness into daily life. Suitable for all levels.

January 16, 2025 from 7:00 – 8:30pm

with Paul Norton and Nancy Newman

Offered at no cost. Donations appreciated!

Join us at the Death Café, an open forum dedicated to discussing end-of-life issues in a supportive and respectful environment. This gathering provides a unique opportunity to explore topics often considered difficult to approach, within community and understanding. Come together with us the third Thursday of every month.

Monday, January 27, 2025
6:30 – 8:30pm CST on Zoom
with Midwest Diamond Approach Teachers

Please join us for an online orientation to Diamond Approach retreats and practices held by Diamond Approach teachers in this region, Kathleen Graham, Jim Lockridge, and Kara Vangen. This is a NO COST event, open to anyone who is interested in the Diamond Approach. This evening we will discuss the Diamond Approach and its enduring presence in the Midwest since 1996 and share information about MW4 which is an open group still taking new students. 

Beginning January 29th; 5 Sessions, the last Wednesday of the month
9:30 – 11:30am on Zoom
with Rev. Sheryl Lyndes Stowman

Group Spiritual Direction offers a confidential and safe space to explore your spirituality and journey, with the facilitation of an experienced Spiritual Director. Through listening, guidance and engagement each participant can come closer to their own experience of the divine, their faith and how they are living that out in their daily lives. The group offers a unique blend of individual reflection with communal support, creating a holistic and supportive holding for spiritual exploration.

February 1, 2025
Either 9:30am-5:30pm on Zoom
with Midwest Diamond Approach Teachers

The calling to know oneself is a deeply personal movement that arises from the heart, igniting a journey of inner work and self-discovery. The Diamond Approach offers a unique path to self-realization, integrating psychological and spiritual understanding into a living knowledge that guides us to embody our true nature. Through open-ended inquiry—radical acceptance of where we are as a doorway to deeper truth—participants can access greater freedom, fulfillment, and illumination. This workshop invites you to explore the profound depth of your inner being through presentations, practices, and meaningful discussion, providing a transformative experience rooted in nearly thirty years of teaching in the Midwest.

February 11, 2025, 9:45-10:45am CST                with Joanne Nelson

Join a nurturing community of writers in a shared practice that invites you to reinvigorate your creativity and deepen your connection to personal writing. Through thoughtfully designed prompts and awareness practices, we’ll explore the art of paying close attention to ourselves and the world around us, using writing as a tool to expand and transform our experiences. Open to writers of all levels, this gathering encourages curiosity, deep listening, and imaginative exploration in a supportive environment. Each session features opportunities for writing, reflection, and optional sharing, fostering creativity and insight while building a meaningful connection with a writing community. Whether you attend once or make it a weekly practice, this space offers inspiration and support for your writing journey.

February 14 – 16, 2025
with Paul Norton

Paul Norton, M.D., will lead a series of talks and practices regarding the connection between modern neuroscience and the traditional dharma from Eastern practices. Having a modern sense of where we are and how these ancient practices work can allow us to become better practitioners and people. There will be instructions on the practices and plenty of tie for interactions with others.

February 16 – 20, 2025
with Molly Davis

Led by Molly Davis of Becoming Boundaried, this retreat for compassionate people ready to take their boundaries journey even deeper. Using Molly’s inside-out approach (building on many of the lessons taught inside her online program and in her art work), it is time to observe and release the inner obstacles holding us back from stepping into the fullness of our power and light. Using somatic, psychodramatic, and art-based tools, participants will be skillfully guided into the beautiful riches of themselves, where deep wisdom, clear intuition, and profoundly healing insight awaits. [Please note, this retreat is limited to only 12 attendees and is almost full]

February 20, 2025 from 7:00 – 8:30pm

with Paul Norton and Nancy Newman

Offered at no cost. Donations appreciated!

Join us at the Death Café, an open forum dedicated to discussing end-of-life issues in a supportive and respectful environment. This gathering provides a unique opportunity to explore topics often considered difficult to approach, within community and understanding. Come together with us the third Thursday of every month.

February 21-23
with Midwest Diamond Approach Teachers

In this retreat we will be exploring the essential quality of the White Latifa, True Will which brings a presence in our soul of true support; an unwavering determination and solid steadfastness for opening to our experience as it is. Our inner journey needs this quality to keep going, to persevere, to continue, rather than getting discouraged or losing heart. This retreat is part of a series of teachings we are presenting on the qualities of our being known as the Lataif. This is an ongoing retreat group in the initial stages of the Diamond Approach work called Midwest Group 4. We are meeting 4 weekends a year, with a mix of in-person and online retreats. As the group gets established, additional sessions will be added which will extend the retreat.

February 28 – March 2, 2025                                with Mark Ensweiler

Join us for an early transition into Spring with this transformative experiential gathering that is designed to deepen your reflection and connection in a supportive group setting. Explore the expressive and healing potentials of JourneyDance Flow™ through individual, expressive (non-performance oriented) movement, ritual, guided imagery, voice, and breath. This retreat offers a sanctuary to release tensions, open and connect deeply with your body, feelings, and senses; allowing for evocative and transformative experiences.

March 4, 2025, 9:45-10:45am CST                      with Joanne Nelson

Join a nurturing community of writers in a shared practice that invites you to reinvigorate your creativity and deepen your connection to personal writing. Through thoughtfully designed prompts and awareness practices, we’ll explore the art of paying close attention to ourselves and the world around us, using writing as a tool to expand and transform our experiences. Open to writers of all levels, this gathering encourages curiosity, deep listening, and imaginative exploration in a supportive environment. Each session features opportunities for writing, reflection, and optional sharing, fostering creativity and insight while building a meaningful connection with a writing community. Whether you attend once or make it a weekly practice, this space offers inspiration and support for your writing journey.

March 7 – 9, 2025
with Robin Richards, Theresa Falvey-Hunt, Wendy Mitch, Sara Perry & massage therapy with Heather Simmons

Celebrate the power of bringing women together in a circle of connection and compassion at the annual By Women For Women Retreat. The Christine Center holds a rich history of hosting this cherished gathering, each year weaving together the wisdom of diverse women facilitators to guide participants on a journey toward alignment with their authentic selves, inner strength, and shared purpose. Through a blend of nurturing practices, creative expression, and meaningful connection, this retreat offers a sacred space for renewal, empowerment, and the celebration of women’s collective power.

Thursdays, beginning March 13th (10 weeks)
Two groups: 11am-12:30pm and 6:30-8pm      with Chris Flynn

If Women Rose Rooted has been described as both transformative and essential. Sharon Blackie leads the reader on a quest to find their place in the world, drawing inspiration from the wise and powerful females in native mythology, and guidance from contemporary women who have re-rooted themselves in land and community and taken responsibility for shaping the future. Beautifully written, honest and moving, If Women Rose Rooted is a passionate song to a different kind of femininity; a rallying cry for women to reawaken their natural power – not just for the sake of their own wellbeing, but for love of this threatened earth.

March 14 – 16, 2025
with Amie Heeter

Celebrate the seasonal transition from winter to spring with intention and renewal. This weekend retreat invites you to explore contemplative wisdom and yogic practices that nourish, guide, and empower. Through breath-centered slow flow yoga, meditation, yoga nidra, writing, reflection, and group discussions, we’ll co-create a weekend of vitality and inspiration in a supportive community. Ample free time allows you to enjoy the peaceful, creative atmosphere and natural surroundings. Open to all levels with some yoga experience required, this retreat offers a rejuvenating way to step into a season of activation and growth.

March 15, 2025
9:30am to noon; 1:30 to 4:00pm
with Joanne Nelson and Elaine Jones

Moving attention inward we find another cosmos to explore: the creative potential of our stories, our capacity for imagination, and the life-determining power of our values. Together we will explore the beliefs and insights that form our inner maps, directing our choices, and shaping our lives from the inside out.

Who am I? Where did I come from? Where am I going? What must I do to get there? These are the great human existential questions, to which every spiritual tradition worth its salt, offers certain beliefs in response.

Let’s explore together the way in which unexamined beliefs and stories powerfully determine how we live. How do you know the truth of your stories? How do you choose? Why does it matter? What if our stories and even our beliefs shifted?

March 18, 2025, 9:45-10:45am CST                    with Joanne Nelson

Join a nurturing community of writers in a shared practice that invites you to reinvigorate your creativity and deepen your connection to personal writing. Through thoughtfully designed prompts and awareness practices, we’ll explore the art of paying close attention to ourselves and the world around us, using writing as a tool to expand and transform our experiences. Open to writers of all levels, this gathering encourages curiosity, deep listening, and imaginative exploration in a supportive environment. Each session features opportunities for writing, reflection, and optional sharing, fostering creativity and insight while building a meaningful connection with a writing community. Whether you attend once or make it a weekly practice, this space offers inspiration and support for your writing journey.

March 21-23, 2025                                                  with Wendy Mitch

The Enneagram is more than a sound bite or buzzword, it is an ancient path to a tender and deeper understanding of ourselves and those we walk in the world with. In today’s culture, the Enneagram is used in corporate settings, education, health care, as well as non-profits. It is a valuable tool in therapy modalities, Life Coaching and even personal training as a way to understand our motivations, behaviors and impact. Many view the Enneagram as simply a personality inventory, but as you will learn in this retreat the Enneagram is a deep well of ancient wisdom which surprises and astonishes learners at every turn. It can be eye popping to discover the vast depth of self-knowledge and spiritual insight that can be gained by even a shallow dive into the Enneagram. This retreat will provide a deep dive.

March 28-30, 2025

Step into a sacred journey of transformation and heartfulness during this immersive introductory weekend at the Christine Center. Designed as the gateway to the three-year Spiritual Deepening for Global Transformation (SDGT) program, this retreat invites you to explore how personal spiritual practice can become a profound act of service to the Earth and all beings.

With the sanctuary of nature as your backdrop, this weekend offers gracious space for deep inner work, communal connection, and restorative practices. Guided by experienced facilitators, you’ll engage in heartful rituals, reflective conversations, and practices that awaken a renewed sense of possibility in your spiritual life.

If you’ve felt the call for “something more” in your practice or yearn for a community of seekers on a shared path of transformation, this weekend is your invitation to begin. Together, we’ll explore how the inner work of soul becomes the outer work of healing and wholeness for our world.

Come and discover if the SDGT program resonates with your heart’s longing for deeper presence, connection, and purpose.

Webpage Coming Soon. Registration link: https://cc.retreatportal.com/calendar/event?programid=3660

April 11-13, 2025
with Mollee Sheehan

We have the innate capacity to heal. In this retreat, we’ll explore ancient practices and evidence-supported techniques that utilize the built-in resources of our own bodies to transform trauma patterns and rebalance our nervous systems, to connect with our true nature, and to live with greater ease.

The retreat is a mix of education and specific guided practices that work with the nervous system to shift mental, emotional, and physical states. There will be space for reflection, rest, and connection with nature. After discovering which practices support your whole-being well-being, you’ll leave with a personalized resilience ritual for integrating rewiring practices into your daily life.