A SOJOURNER'S DELIGHT:
Reflections from the 2017 EANT Retreat

By Tina Heck, EANT President

The Enneagram and Inner Practices Retreat, held January 12-15, 2017 in Tucson, AZ, was a sojourner’s delight. Set among the saguaro-dotted desert, we gathered to explore our inner territory and discover the creative flow of essence through inner practices. I found the whole experience to be deeply relaxing and restorative. I see why mystics go to the desert! It invites one into a quieting, reflective state of being – the extremity of the environment certainly contributed to bringing us into a circle of tranquility.

Additionally, the “right-brained” activities, as one participant described them, provided a synthesis of body-centered, creative and unfettered experiences. When a gathered community can undertake this blended experience of visuals, sounds and embodied practices, it can generate a changed state of being.

On the first morning, following the group Qi Gong practice, I felt open as I watched the incredible visuals that Ruth Hill brought, weaving the beginning of human life with the birth of the cosmos. The cosmos is in me and I in it. As above, so below. Through body prayer movement and collage work that day, I felt fully myself, contained and free.

By the second morning, I simply felt present. Really present. To myself. To my fellow travelers. And I laughed, tears streaming over something silly, and I was free.

I am thankful for the willingness of those who gathered to go within and to explore movement, breath and art. It was a beautiful way to begin a new year. I hope you will join us next year. We will return to the beautiful Redemptorist Retreat Center in Tucson on February 23-26 for our 2018 Inner Practices Retreat.

PARTICIPANT FEEDBACK

Nurturing Body and Soul
"One aspect of the Narrative Tradition that drew me in is our focus on experience. Listening to panels of people talk about their experience of living in the world from their type’s motivation took hold of me.

“During Tina Heck’s introduction to the Inner Practices Retreat in Tucson, one of the first things she said was that the conventional focus of the Enneagram in Narrative Tradition’s programs had been on content. This retreat would be different. The focus would be experience, not from particular type perspectives but from an inner practices perspective. I was delighted. I felt invited to relax and settle in. I was being offered a time for going within to nourish my inner self rather than focusing on information to be learned.

“The only time we talked about personality types was when we introduced ourselves and stated where we ventured from and what type we led from. The rest of the retreat was a time of exploring inner practices, nurturing body and soul while being together as a loving and supporting community.

“Thank you, Tina and all the other presenters for offering up this experience of being loved and cared for.”

JULIE HONSEY
Des Moines, IA

 

Lovely Power
“The inner practice at the EANT retreat that was most profound for me was called God’s Breath. Using paper, colored ink, an eyedropper and a straw, we were invited to create a piece of art using only our breath. Dropping ink on the paper and blowing through the straw was a delight as I watched the color dance across the page in unexpected and uncontrollable ways. As my critical mind quieted and my personality structure relaxed, I found freedom in allowing this prayer to simply unfold before my eyes with little room for comparison or envy. As our ink masterpieces began to dry, we were invited to walk around the room and write a name for each created work. I felt immense gratitude for the beauty that we created individually and together, as I offered a name for each painting. Returning to my colorful creation, I read through the list of titles others had perceived there on the page. One name encapsulated my art and my experience of this God’s Breath practice: lovely power.”

THE REV. CHRISTOPHER T. COPELAND
Winston-Salem, NC

 

Seeing Myself Through My Own Eyes
“The Tucson personal retreat was an incredible opportunity to be in community and yet totally in my own body and process. The rhythmic nature of the schedule was so well thought out and full of meaning without extraneous content. The power of learning and moving with the group in Qi gong, body prayers, creativity and art was powerful and nourishing. All of the presenters brought their grounded presence, clarity and gifts to the group with ease and grace. I reconnected with myself in what feels to be a truly essential way, accepting the invitation to see myself through my own eyes, using the mirror versus others’ reflection. I thank Tina Heck, Ruth Hill, Bill Schafer, Monirah Womack and Gloria Cuevas Barnett for this incredible gift.”

CECILIA RAPAICH
Foster City, CA