Mindfulness Retreats in July

“Feelings come and go like clouds in a windy sky.” -Thich Nhat Hanh

Have you ever thought: There is no WAY I could ever meditate, my mind is too busy, crazy, active and wild. I only feel like I’m failing when I try to meditate. I feel frustrated just thinking about it!...  Many people imagine meditation as sitting completely still with one’s mind clear from thoughts. but the July fertility AND women's retreats will prove that this is simply not true! 

The July 11th Women's and July 20th Fertility retreats will offer a good ‘ole Minnesotan smorgasbord of mindfulness options, from moving, walking, eating, cooking and cleaning, to breath awareness and quieting the mind.  In addition to receiving acupuncture, you will spend time trying several of the many many options out there and will discover which work best for YOU and how to incorporate them into your daily life to reduce stress, promote balance and feel more focused, healthy and calm.

Oh, and did I mention we'll be eating several different types of delicious CHOCOLATE!?!  

come mindfully compare different types and see how different they really are. It's like a wine tasting, but for chocolate!!!  Who can say no to that?!

I hope you will join me, share your experience, feel support and community, and take some time to nourish your body, mind and spirit!  It is a great way to start your weekend.

Click Here to go to the Life Healing Life Store and register for your spot

Wear comfortable clothes and bring a blanket and/or yoga mat and pillow as well as a journal if you wish (not required).  ALL stages of the journey are welcome.  TTC naturally, with ART, 3rd party, adopting, unsure what your next step is... acupuncture pro or newbie... you will be supported and at home here!

Both retreats will be held on the campus of St. Catherine University. Room and parking info will be sent 2 days prior to each retreat to all registered participants. Wear comfy cloths that are comfortable for both relaxing on the floor and getting acupuncture as well as walking a bit outside (weather permitting!)

Retreats

If you've found your way here, there's a good chance you found one of the Life Healing Life Retreat Postcards!  Welcome and a BIG thanks for taking the time to check it out! These retreats are one of my favorite parts of my practice (which is REALLY saying something, since I'm head-over-heels in LOVE with my work!) I'd be thrilled to see you at one of my upcoming events and help you find inner balance, health and time for a little TLC for YOU!

Here are some links you may find helpful!

To view the entire year's topics and find further descriptions and dates of each click here
To learn more about retreat style acupuncture click here
To reserve your spot in an upcoming retreat click here
To learn more about me (Nicole Lange) click here

I also invite you to take a gander at my blog... body and earth friendly beauty care, ways to deal with stress, inspiration and more are waiting, just check out some of the links to the right ---->

Hope to see you soon -
and remember.... Be Kind to YOU!

Nicole

June Fertility Retreat - Feeling Like a Failure

FAILURE
Oh, let me count the ways...

As a woman
   As a human
      As a partner
          As a daughter

To myself
   To others

Spiritually
    Physically
        Emotionally
             Socially

Am I hitting a nerve?

I know. I've seen women in their darkest places. I want to cry when I think about some of the hard, hard, hard places I've seen women have to go. Places they never dreamed of. Have you gone to these places?  Do you worry you are on your way?

I am more sorry than I can say. And while it is easy for me to be kind and compassionate, I know it is not usually easy for you to do it for yourself.

Let me help you learn how. Let me help you know that you are not alone. Let me validate that your feelings are real and true and so very very hard.

Come to the June 22nd fertility retreat from 9-noon at St. Catherine University in St. Paul. (directions, room number and parking info will be emailed to all registered attendees 2 days in advance).

Other Details:

Who: women who are in ALL stages and phases of creating the family of their dreams.  TTC naturally, with IUI, IVF, 3rd party, adopting, grieving loss, making peace with discontinuing to try, in limbo, primary or secondary fertility issues, GLBT, Hetero, partnered or single, acupuncture pro or newbie.  ALL non pregnant women are welcome! IF YOU REGISTER AND LEARN YOU ARE PREGNANT PRIOR TO THE RETREAT (first off, YAY) FULL REFUND WILL BE GIVEN.

Cost: $75 per participant includes supplies, tea, snacks and acupuncture OR skip the acupuncture (and stay the 1st and 2nd hour only) and pay $50 instead. 

SPECIAL DEAL!  If this is your first ever retreat or you bring a friend take $25 off your fee

Reservations: Space is limited to 8 acupuncture participants MAX. TO EITHER RESERVE YOUR PLACE OR PAY IN FULL CLICK HERE TO GO TO THE LIFE HEALING LIFE STORE. Cancellations given less than 72 hours in advance will get all but $25 of the fee refunded ($25 non-refundable). 

Reserve a space at a Life Healing Life Retreat!

Starting in June the reservations for both the fertility and busy women's retreats will get a little easier!

Please visit the Life Healing Life Store to claim your very own space with just a few easy clicks of a button - yay for Nicole joining the 21st century (hey, better late than never!)

May Fertility Retreat: It's Hard to Tell a Story when You Don't Know the End...

Maybe it's the ones you anticipate...
    the mother-in-law repeatedly sharing her burning desire to be a grandmother... "I'm not getting any younger!"

Or the one's that blind side you...
    the friend who swore she never wanted kids announcing she's pregnant, "I guess it was meant to be."

The ones that make you want to just stay home...
    the dental hygienist with her hands in your mouth asking, "do you have kids?"

Or the ones that just seem down right cruel...
     "You are SO lucky you don't have kids!"

What do you say when you're feeling speechless, tongue tied, and choked up?

How do you share without over sharing?  Balance educating others with self preservation?

Oh, and did I mention... it's Mother's Day that weekend? (bet you already knew!)

Come to the May 11th retreat, during a month when even the greeting card section seems to be hollering inappropriate and hurtful things you way.

We'll create a sisterhood of women who can relate, we'll be kind to one another, incensed together, and figure out some tactics to go out and face the world!

Let's celebrate Mother's-at-Heart Day together and tell our stories... even if we don't know how they end. You deserve it!

The Details:

What: relaxing holistic fertility retreats with topics you'll love, women you'll connect with and a la carte retreat style acupuncture

When: Saturday, May 11th from 9am-noon (11 if you do not stay for acupuncture)

Where: On the campus of St. Catherine University in Saint Paul (directions, room number and parking info will be given after registration)

Who: women who are in ALL stages and phases of creating the family of their dreams.  TTC naturally, with IUI, IVF, 3rd party, adopting, grieving loss, making peace with discontinuing to try, in limbo, primary or secondary fertility issues, GLBT, Hetero, partnered or single, acupuncture pro or newbie.  ALL non pregnant women are welcome!

Cost: $75 per participant includes supplies, tea, snacks and acupuncture OR skip the acupuncture (and stay the 1st and 2nd hour only) and pay $50 instead. Space is limited to 8 acupuncture participants MAX. Pay a minimum of $25 in advance (non refundable) to reserve your place. If you pay in full in advance and need to cancel less than 72hours in advance you will be refunded your full fee less $25. 

SPRING FEVER DEAL!  If this is your first ever retreat or you bring a friend take $25 off your fee ($25 off EACH if you bring a friend)

Spaces Limited

Email nicole@lifehealinglife.com to register 

April Fertility Retreat - Transformed Through 'Infertility'

As mother nature transforms the world from the cold, hard, dark landscape of winter into the lush, vibrant world of spring do you feel like your own inner world is transforming in the opposite direction?  Picture your younger self, the girl without a care in the world, full of hope, possibility and a love for life. Does it feel like she's gotten lost along the way or beaten down into submission by this thing called 'infertility?'

How about the ways this has transformed you for the better? Showed you you are indeed (as Christopher Robin reminded Pooh), "...braver than you believe, stronger than you seem and smarter than you think."

Come to the April 27th Fertility Retreat from 9-noon on the campus of St. Catherine University and honor the sea change that is this journey. You'll need a picture of yourself as a child, an open heart and exactly whatever else you bring (no more no less).

THE DETAILS

What: relaxing holistic fertility retreats with topics you'll love, women you'll connect with and a la carte group style acupuncture

When: Saturday, April 27th from 9am-noon (11 if you do not stay for acupuncture)

Where: On the campus of St. Catherine University in Saint Paul (directions, room number and parking info will be given after registration)

Who: women who are in ALL stages and phases of creating the family of their dreams.  TTC naturally, with IUI, IVF, 3rd party, adopting, grieving loss, making peace with discontinuing to try, in limbo, primary or secondary fertility issues, GLBT, Hetero, partnered or single, acupuncture pro or newbie.  ALL non pregnant women are welcome!

Cost: $75 per participant includes supplies, tea, snacks and acupuncture OR skip the acupuncture (and stay the 1st and 2nd hour only) and pay $50 instead. Space is limited to 8 acupuncture participants MAX. Pay a minimum of $25 in advance (non refundable) to reserve your place. If you pay in full in advance and need to cancel less than 72hours in advance you will be refunded your full fee less $25. 

Email nicole@lifehealinglife.com to register 

Fertility Retreat - Transformation through Infertility

“Scared and sacred are spelled with the same letters. Awful proceeds from the same root word as awesome. Terrify and terrific. Every negative experience holds the seed of transformation.”    ― Alan Cohen

Look back at yourself when you decided you wanted to become a parent, how does this woman compare to the woman you are now?

What ways do you judge who you you've become harshly?
What ways can you see who you are as a gift?
How do you face the path that continues to unfold in front of you and the unknown of who you will become?

Only one this is constant and that is change.

Join me to explore the power of being reborn through infertility...

DETAILS....

What: Relaxing holistic fertility retreats with topics you'll love, women you'll connect with, and a la carte group style acupuncture/acupressure healing.  

When: Saturday, April 27th 9-noon

Where: St. Catherine's University in St. Paul (directions, room number & parking info will be given upon registration)

Who: Women who are naturally TTC, IUI, IVF, Donor Cycles, Surrogate Cycles, Adopting, Recurrent Loss, Making peace with discontinuing to try, Primary or Secondary, GLBT or Hetero, partnered or single, acupuncture pro or newbie (that includes needle-phobes, LHL Patients and non patients :)  (ALL women are welcome!)

Cost: $75 per participant per session - or skip the acupuncture (stay from 9-11) and pay $50 instead (acupuncture spaces are limited, so please specify when you register). $25 to reserve a space (refundable with >72 hours cancellation notice, non-refundable with <72 font="" hours="" notice="">

Please pre-register at nicole@lifehealinglife.com 

Fertility Retreat - Rage Against "Infertility"

It is not fair - in fact, it's often the opposite of fair.
It feels helpless - completely out of your control.
There are more layers of stress than you ever could have known.
It doesn't make sense no matter how much you try.
It wears you down, month after month of high highs and low lows.

It makes you want to scream and kick.
It makes you want to hurl something.
It makes you want to lash out.
It makes you want to hold your breath, clam up and shut down.

To say infertility is maddening may be the understatement of the century!

What does one do with this jaw clenching, heart thumping, fist pounding, foot stamping anger?

Scream and yell?

Break something?

Punch something?

Cry?

We may very well do all these and more at the March fertility retreat.  Join me to explore why feeling angry is okay along with ways to work with and through the anger to come to a more peaceful and receptive place.

I promise you, you aren't alone! Come join what is sure to be a dynamic and passionate group of women and see what you can do with this feeling that feels so big.

Hope to see you there!

THE DETAILS

what: relaxing holistic fertility retreats with topics you'll love, women you'll connect with and a la carte group style acupuncture

when: Saturday, March 16th from 9-noon (or 11 if you opt out of the acupuncture portion)

where: On the campus of St. Catherine University in Saint Paul (directions, room number and parking info will be given after registration)

who: women who are in ALL stages and phases of creating the family of their dreams.  TTC naturally, with IUI, IVF, 3rd party, adopting, grieving loss, making peace with discontinuing to try, in limbo, primary or secondary fertility issues, GLBT, Hetero, partnered or single, acupuncture pro or newbie.  ALL non pregnant women are welcome!

cost: $75 per participant includes supplies, tea, snacks and acupuncture OR skip the acupuncture (and stay from just 9-11) and pay $50 instead. Space is limited to 8 participants MAX. Pay a minimum of $25 in advance (non refundable) to reserve your place. If you pay in full in advance and need to cancel you will be refunded your full fee less $25. 

Email nicole@lifehealinglife.com to register 

Fertility Retreat (for COUPLES!) with Massage

I'm so excited not only to collaborate with another practitioner who's work I'm crazy about, but also host the FIRST EVER couples retreat!!!

Spaces are limited, we want to insure everyone to get the most out of their time so let me know if you can make it.  I hope to see you there :)

Fertility Struggles are hard on so many levels...

With Valentine’s day on the horizon and the disconnecting, stress and strains that fertility struggles can bring to relationships, the February fertility retreat will be especially for couples.

Join Nicole and massage therapist Liv Sulerud for a half day retreat that will explore ways for couples to strengthen connection and heal together through loving yet non-sexual touch. We will provide a peaceful, cozy space where you will learn how to give each other a safe and simple massage that is connecting, relaxing and healing.

Who: Couples struggling with fertility issues*

When: Saturday, February 9th 9-noon

Where: St Catherine University in St. Paul

What to bring: A thick mat or blanket for lying on a carpeted floor, a pillow, and another blanket for warmth

What to wear: Comfortable knit clothing (you will be fully clothed for the massage)

Cost: $100 per couple ($25 required in advance to hold your space)

To Register: Contact Nicole at nicole@lifehealinglife.com or 612-423-9986. Space is limited!

About Liv:

Liv provides holistic therapeutic bodywork using an intuitive approach that is both restorative and healing. She works with clients to bring relief from tension and pain, and to foster a perspective that is gentle and curious about the messages our bodies give us.  Integrating a range of healing tools, including therapeutic massage and craniosacral therapy, Liv’s heartfelt intention is to meet you right where you are on your unique journey, and to help you remember and experience your innate wholeness.  www.bodyworkbyliv.com

*This retreat is open to all couples who are struggling with building the family of their dreams: trying naturally, with IUI, IVF, 3rd party, adopting, grieving loss, making peace with discontinuing to try, in limbo, primary or secondary, GLBT, Hetero... ALL non-pregnant couples are welcome).

Fertility Retreat - Cultivating Gratitude and Giving Thanks

I'm amused that the normal way we Americans start a new year is by focusing on what we aren't doing well, what we don't have and what we want to change.  Seems to me it'd be much healthier to focus on what we do have, what we are doing well and what we are thankful for right here and right now.  So come start your 2013 with me, cultivating gratitude and thankfulness!

We will explore the power of gratitude from personal, holistic and scientific perspectives and create our own gratitude bead necklaces.* We will also honor that, while gratitude is healthy and wonderful, it does not take away the difficulties of life, rather, it balances them out. 

*if you would like to use beads of your own choosing please feel free to bring them along (you should have around 100 beads with one that is unique and stands out from the rest) otherwise basic beads and supplies will be provided! 

THE DETAILS

what: relaxing holistic fertility retreats with topics you'll love, women you'll connect with and a la carte group style acupuncture

when: Saturday, January 19th from 9-noon (or 11 if you opt out of the acupuncture portion)

where: On the campus of St. Catherine University in Saint Paul (directions, room number and parking info will be given after registration)

who: women who are in ALL stages and phases of creating the family of their dreams.  TTC naturally, with IUI, IVF, 3rd party, adopting, grieving loss, making peace with discontinuing to try, in limbo, primary or secondary fertility issues, GLBT, Hetero, partnered or single, acupuncture pro or newbie.  ALL non pregnant women are welcome!

cost: $75 per participant includes supplies, tea, snacks and acupuncture OR skip the acupuncture (and stay from just 9-11) and pay $50 instead. Space is limited to 8 participants MAX. Pay in person at the retreat (cash or check only please, to Life Healing Life)

Email nicole@lifehealinglife.com to register 

The February 9th Retreat will be for COUPLES!

Come and learn couples massage with Liv Sulerud   in time for valentines day while we explore the challenges and strengths fertility struggles bring to relationships and focus on reconnecting through non-sexual touch. Register early, spaces limited!

Fertility Retreat - Change, Resilience and Other Lessons from Nature

With fall here and the world outside rapidly changing take a moment and think about your own world.  While mother nature makes these big shifts look effortless, do you feel more like a branch that is ready to snap?  

Do you wish you could feel more grounded?
Less isolated and alone?
More able to be flexible when the winds of change blow your way?
More able to feel supported and nourished in your body, mind and spirit?
Join me to explore the lessons mother nature has to offer...

We'll use this beautiful season of change to inform and inspire, because we all know what comes after autumn... and too often the journey of infertility feels like a bitter cold, lonely winter.

Come to the October class and learn the lessons of change, resilience and more.

The details!

What: Relaxing holistic fertility retreats with topics you'll love, women you'll connect with, and a la carte group style acupuncture/acupressure healing.  

When: Saturday, October 20th 9am - Noon  (or 11 if you opt out of the acupuncture portion)

Where: St. Catherine's University in St. Paul (directions, room number & parking info will be given upon registration)

Who: Women who are naturally TTC, IUI, IVF, Donor Cycles, Surrogate Cycles, Adopting, Recurrent Loss, Making peace with discontinuing to try, Primary or Secondary, GLBT or Hetero, partnered or single, acupuncture pro or newbie (that includes needle-phobes, LHL Patients and non patients :)  (ALL women are welcome!)

Cost: $50 per participant per session - or skip the acupuncture (stay from 9-11) and pay $35 instead (acupuncture spaces are limited, so please specify when you register). pay in person (cash or check payable to Life Healing Life please)

THE NOVEMBER 17th TOPIC IS 'What Defines You?' 

please send me your ideas and what's been on your mind!

Please pre-register at nicole@lifehealinglife.com at least TWO days in advance as space is limited. 

Fertility Retreat - The Stories We Tell Ourselves (and other lies, falsehoods, and rottenness)

"If I adopt I won't love my child quite as much."
"I am less of a woman if I don't have a child."
"A real family has more than one child."
"My husband secretly wishes he wouldn't have married me."
"I'll never be happy if this doesn't work."
"An adopted child will have so many issues."
"I'm going to ruin a child's life because I choose..."

Sound familiar?

Sometimes far worse than the insensitive, misguides, and hurtful comments that we hear from others are the ones we tell ourselves.

Yet we all do it in one way or another.

What to do when logic and fear are duking it out for hold over your heart & mind?

Come to the September Mini Retreat and find out.

The details!

What: Relaxing holistic fertility retreats with topics you'll love, women you'll connect with, and a la carte group style acupuncture/acupressure healing.  

When: Saturday, September 15th 9am - Noon  (or 11 if you opt out of the acupuncture portion)

Where: St. Catherine's University in St. Paul (directions, room number & parking info will be given upon registration)

Who: Women who are naturally TTC, IUI, IVF, Donor Cycles, Surrogate Cycles, Adopting, Recurrent Loss, Making peace with discontinuing to try, Primary or Secondary, GLBT or Hetero, partnered or single, acupuncture pro or newbie (that includes needle-phobes, LHL Patients and non patients :)  (ALL women are welcome!)

Cost: $50 per participant per session - or skip the acupuncture (stay from 9-11) and pay $35 instead (acupuncture spaces are limited, so please specify when you register). pay in person (cash or check payable to Life Healing Life please)

THE OCTOBER TOPIC IS TBD 

please send me your ideas and what's been on your mind!

Please pre-register at nicole@lifehealinglife.com at least TWO days in advance as space is limited. 

What is Retreat Style Acupuncture?

Perhaps you are considering attending one of the Life Healing Life Fertility Retreats and aren't exactly sure what group style acupuncture entails... You've come to the right place!

During these retreat style acupuncture sessions participants come wearing comfy relaxing clothes and claim a space on the floor (where we'll have already been hanging out and chatting during the educations/support part of the retreat).  Typically participants bring something to lay on such as a yoga mat or blanket (or both).  Bringing one or two pillows is also recommended, one for your head (and should you bring a second you will likely find that placing one under your knees makes laying down and relaxing more easy & comfortable).  You are welcome to bring other blankets to cover up with as well (the room tends to be if anything on the warm side, so most find it very comfortable to relax in).

Once you are comfortable lying down (face up) you may opt to use an eye pillow to darken the room, or simply close your eyes.  Relaxing music will be playing, and prior to receiving your acupuncture treatment the mere act of lying down peacefully is much like a savasana (or final relaxation pose) at the end of a yoga class.  This alone is part of cultivating stillness and peace and unwinding from the stress that is so much a part of our day to day lives.

Using the one page paperwork that you complete when you arrive at the class, I will select the points that match your main complaints, where you are in your menstrual cycle (if pertinent) and anything acute that may be going on with you the day of the retreat (each person gets different points because each person is unique!).  I may take your pulse and/or palpate gently on your abdomen to help me determine the best point selection for you.  Because there are up to 10 participants per retreat, the number of points used per participant is usually between 5 and 10. They are commonly done on the arms, legs, head and abdomen (the abdomen often feels like a vulnerable place to be needled, but in reality, there are very few nerve endings, so it is one of the most comfortable places!).

I work my way through the group, needling each person in turn.  Once everyone has their needles in a brief meditation or peaceful music is played and then the needles are removed.  The first person to receive their needles is the first person to have them removed.  In this way everyone gets close the the same amount of time with their needles in (generally 20-30 minutes total).

A final goodbye is given and you are sent on your way, hopefully to embrace the day recharged and supported and ready to have a lovely rest of your week!

Some logistical things to know:
Eating within 4-5 hours of receiving acupuncture is required (feel free to bring snacks, I'll provide some too)
All needles used are single use, disposable, sterile needles
The needles used for acupuncture are much thinner than western needles and solid (as opposed to hollowed) so they feel like a tiny poke (most would say less than a mosquito bite) to not much of anything when they are place through the skin.
Once the needles are in place they do not feel "pokey" they typically feel a little heavy or distended, warm, or like nothing.
If you haven't ever tried acupuncture there is no way of really knowing how it feels without giving it a try.  I am a very gentle needler and have worked with many a needle-phobe as well as with many women who are just plain sick of needles because of ART treatments for fertility.  In almost every case these women are amazed that the acupuncture needles feel so different and relaxing!

If you aren't comfortable receiving acupuncture you may opt to leave after the first two hours (and pay accordingly) or stay for the third hour and be treated using pressure beads instead of needles.

I hope to see you at a retreat :)

Warmly,
Nicole

Fertility Retreat - Menu Options

Imagine yourself sitting at a restaurant. You open the menu... your eyes scan the page... you see things you definitely like... some you know you don't... others you've never tried... some of those sound intriguing or like something you'd like, while others don't really sound that great at all.  Perhaps one or two options make your stomach turn with revolt.

Now, the server comes to your table and asks if you're ready to order.

You've seen your options, you know your tastes, you know the mood you are in, how hungry you feel, your general plan for the rest of your day.

What do you order?

Would you order everything all at once and then feel rotten for not eating it all?

Would you choose to order something that you already know you don't like?

Would you decide to try something you've never tried before but sounds awful to you?

Would you order the exact same thing you had for the previous meal or the exact same thing you are planning to eat tomorrow?

Would you order something and actually like it, only to beat yourself up because you should have tried something else or more?

Probably not.

But when it comes to fertility and options to improve your chances of conceiving have you been doing the equivalent?

Now imagine you are being presented with a different kind of menu, instead of food it lists tons and tons and tons of options for "improving fertility."  Some are mainstream... try clomid, and IUI, IVF.  Some are alternative... try acupuncture, mayan abdominal massage, reiki. Some sex specific... tilt your hips, missionary position only. Some involve food therapy... eat pineapple for implantation, eat more yams to increase estrogen, cut out all gluten, sugar and dairy.  Some involve other lifestyle changes... add some supplements (which ones!?), exercise more or less, try meditation, change to chemical free skin care products, do self care like castor packs, massage, etc. Some are downright strange like throwing your undies on your roof.  Still, when it comes to wanting to be a mom, well... can you say, "I'll have one of everything?"

How do you make a choice and feel good about the day to day choices you make?

How do you let go of feeling attached to the ones that you just can't get into?

How do you stop feeling like you are missing some magic solution and once you find that one thing everything will happen?

How do you stop feeling like if you aren't "working at it" you are wasting time?

Join me in August to help figure out what makes sense to order and what will leave you feeling satisfied and happy with your choices.

The details!

What: Relaxing holistic fertility retreats with topics you'll love, women you'll connect with, and a la carte group style acupuncture/acupressure healing.  

When: Saturday, August 18th 9am - Noon  (or 11 if you opt out of the acupuncture portion)

Where: St. Catherine's University in St. Paul (directions, room number & parking info will be given upon registration)

Who: Women who are naturally TTC, IUI, IVF, Donor Cycles, Surrogate Cycles, Adopting, Recurrent Loss, Making peace with discontinuing to try, Primary or Secondary, GLBT or Hetero, partnered or single, acupuncture pro or newbie (that includes needle-phobes, LHL Patients and non patients :)  (ALL women are welcome!)

Cost: $50 per participant per session - or skip the acupuncture (stay from 9-11) and pay $35 instead (acupuncture spaces are limited, so please specify when you register). pay in person (cash or check payable to Life Healing Life please)

AND THE SEPTEMBER TOPIC IS....

TBD please send me your ideas and what's been on your mind!

Please pre-register at nicole@lifehealinglife.com at least TWO days in advance as space is limited. 

Fertility Retreat - The Unknown

I've heard it more than once (okay, possibly more than oh, about five dozen times...)  Not having a plan SUCKS!  It is rivaled only by the two-week-wait and even then, there is an end date in sight (so in ways maybe it's worse?  Is that possible?  Perhaps a fiery debate is in order!?)  

Does it feel like you're at a crossroads with a signpost in front of you and EVERY single option sort-of sounds miserable?  Spending lots of money, risk staying the course and more time passing you by, giving up your biological connection to your child, subjecting your body and mind to all sorts of hormonal....ummm...havoc?  These are not fun choices to make, there is never a clear winner. 

Or maybe you HAVE to take a big unknown pause, waiting for medical clearance, to change insurance, to make some other big life change, and even if you think you sort of know what you'd like to do you can't because you don't know exactly if and how things will shape up.

And then there is the wonderfully hopeful, yet (in reality) incredibly frustrating "diagnosis" of unexplained infertility so it's hard to know what to do....

Or the heart-wrenching situation where it's not about getting pregnant, it's about staying pregnant and the typical routes feel sort of pointless with the huge risk of more loss and sadness....

Or the terrible situation where you know the answer, so it rules out any of the options (even if they were crummy ones) that you thought you could choose, and leaves you between a rock and a hard place...

I've seen so many versions, each unique, yet each universal. 
        The bottom line: It's horrible not knowing what's next.

If you have been there and felt at a loss for what to do and how to cope, if you are there right now and struggling with an ambiguous path, if you are worried about what you would do if it comes to this then the July class might be just what the doctor ordered.  I wish I could say I could promise answers, but I can't. What I can offer is a place of peace, connection and support, some really great coping skills and tools to work with and on the unknown, and ultimately, some ways to feel a little more settled and a little less freaked out, and hey, that's a good things to have, come what may.

The details!

What: Relaxing holistic fertility retreats with topics you'll love, women you'll connect with, and a la carte group style acupuncture/acupressure healing.  

When: Saturday, July 14th 9am - Noon  (or 11 if you opt out of the acupuncture portion)

Where: St. Catherine's University in St. Paul (directions, room number & parking info will be given upon registration)

Who: Women who are naturally TTC, IUI, IVF, Donor Cycles, Surrogate Cycles, Adopting, Recurrent Loss, Making peace with discontinuing to try, Primary or Secondary, GLBT or Hetero, partnered or single, acupuncture pro or newbie (that includes needle-phobes, LHL Patients and non patients :)  (ALL women are welcome!)

Cost: $75 per participant per session - or skip the acupuncture (stay from 9-11) and pay $50 instead (acupuncture spaces are limited, so please specify when you register). 

AND THE AUGUST TOPIC IS....

TBD (excited at the prospect of a guest speaker on Art therapy!), but the date is set - August 18th!

Please pre-register at nicole@lifehealinglife.com at least TWO days in advance as space is limited.