Practicing Resurrection: An Embodied Pilgrimage for the Easter Season
50-Day Companion Retreat to the Book "Practicing Resurrection"
with Christine Valters Paintner, Lisha Epperson, and Richard Bruxvoort Colligan
Forum facilitators Amber Andreasen and Polly Paton-Brown
March 28 – May 16, 2027
Live Opening Gathering on Zoom Easter Monday, March 29th
3:30-5pm Ireland
10:30am-12pm Eastern
7:30-9am Pacific
What does it mean for us to not just say we believe in a resurrected life, but to truly practice resurrection?
What will your practices of resurrected life be?
Program Description
Easter isn’t just one Sunday–it’s a fifty-day season of renewal.
In Practicing Resurrection we invite you to embrace this sacred stretch of time as a pilgrimage of transformation. Rather than rushing past Easter after a single day of celebration, this retreat calls you to linger in its mystery and let it shape your life.
Through weekly reflections on the Gospel stories of resurrection, we will open doorways into themes like standing in liminal space, honoring wounds, breathing inspiration, and tasting abundance. Each week unfolds through simple yet profound practices—lectio divina, breath prayer, visio divina, embodied movement, and more—that help you slow down, listen deeply, and awaken to the holy shimmering in ordinary moments.
This lyrical and practical retreat is for seekers longing for both beauty and clarity: those who yearn for poetry and presence yet also want tangible steps to nurture their spiritual life. Practicing Resurrection reminds us that resurrection is not a distant promise but a living energy–one that calls us to joy, courage, and love in the midst of a complex world.
Enter this season with open hands and discover the home that has always been waiting within you. Let these fifty days become a journey of renewal, a time to cultivate hope, savor beauty, and live into the radiant truth that new life is always possible.
You will need to order a copy of Practicing Resurrection: An Embodied Pilgrimage through the Easter Season in addition to registering for the program.
You have lifetime access to all online programs.
How the Program Works
The book this retreat companions has daily meditations. Included in this program will be audio versions from Christine each day so you can be led in the practices. In addition, there is some other bonus content to further enrich your retreat experience.
There is one live session hosted on Zoom on Monday, March 29th. All the other content is pre-recorded and released each day.
Weekly Rhythm of Content
Sunday: Lectio Divina practice with audio guidance from Christine
Monday: Breath Prayer meditation with audio guidance from Christine
Tuesday: Visio Divina meditation with audio guidance from Christine
Wednesday: Meditation with the Mystics audio guidance from Christine
Thursday: Contemplative Walk meditation with audio guidance from Christine
Friday: Imaginative Prayer meditation with audio guidance from Christine
Saturday: Embodied Prayer, Reflection Questions audio guidance from Christine + Bonus embodied prayer practice with Lisha Epperson
Weekly Themes
Week 1:
Stand in Liminal Space
The Empty Tomb (John 20:1-10)
Week 2:
Embrace Awe and Wonder
Jesus appears to Mary Magdalene (John 20:11-18)
Week 3:
Breathe the Gift of Inspiration
Jesus breathing on the disciples (John 20:19-23)
Week 4:
Honor the Wounds
Thomas touching Jesus’s wounds (John 20:24-25)
Week 5:
Experience Lavish Nourishment
Jesus pulling up the nets of fish (John 21:1-14)
Week 6:
Open Your Eyes
Road to Emmaus (Luke 24:13-35)
Week 7:
Feel Body and Soul Rise
Ascension of Jesus (Luke 24:50-53)
Conclusion:
Be Inspired by the Spirit
Pentecost Sunday (Acts 2:1-6)
This lyrical and practical retreat is for seekers longing for both beauty and clarity: those who yearn for poetry and presence yet also want tangible steps to nurture their spiritual life.
What's Included
- Each day for 50 days you receive an email with a link to the day’s content. The materials are in written and audio format with bonus weekly video content which you can view and listen to at any time.
- A lovingly facilitated forum is also included in this live version of the retreat. Feel free to share what you are discovering with a community of kindred souls.
- We will turn on closed captioning during the live Zoom session (which you are able to turn off in your settings if you find distracting) as well as provide a video recording with closed captioning available and a text transcript of the session. Captions and a transcript are available for all video material.
- The opening Zoom gathering will be recorded for those who register but are unable to attend at the scheduled time or who want to view again. You will be sent a notification when this is ready to view.
- You have lifetime access to all online programs.
Your Guides for the Journey
Christine Valters Paintner
Christine Valters Paintner is the online Abbess and director of AbbeyoftheArts.com, a virtual monastery exploring contemplative practice, creative expression, and ways to nourish an earth-cherishing consciousness. She is a spiritual director, teacher, pilgrimage guide, Benedictine oblate, and author of numerous books on spirituality and the arts. Her deepest belief is that the earth is the original monastery–a wisdom guide and mentor in living a soulful and vibrant life. Visit the “About Christine” page for more information.
Lisha Epperson
Lisha Epperson is a minister, movement specialist, writer, speaker, and Christian meditation practitioner. She teaches embodied practices (contemplative yoga/movement and faith-based meditation) to Christian communities. These therapeutic practices support overall wellness and help balance the demands of modern life. Lisha offers movement workshops and quiet day retreats designed around these themes and shares resources and tools to encourage a life long practice of self-care and spiritual formation. She is the founder of the Creative Arts Project, a summer arts immersion camp for children aged 6-12, and an ordained Episcopal priest. LishaEpperson.com
Richard Bruxvoort Colligan
Dr. Richard Bruxvoort Colligan is a spiritual director, musician, and lover of laughter. To this retreat, he brings his passion for lifelong spiritual formation and the arts, along with enthralled curiosity for the Great Mystery we are in together. His ongoing project is composing congregational songs at PsalmImmersion.com. He is the author of Dangerous Songs: The Psalms and a Gloriously Disrupted Life (Broadleaf Books). Richard serves as Director of Spiritual Formation at Mount Olive Lutheran Church in Rochester, MN and lives in Strawberry Point, Iowa USA with his wife Trish and dogs Winifred and Jack. Visit Richard online at Worldmaking.net and Patreon.com/RichardBC
Richard will offer music during our live, opening gathering on Zoom.
Forum Facilitators
Amber Andreasen
Amber Andreasen is a contemplative, ever desiring to deepen into and dance the rhythms of monk and artist. She has trained as a spiritual director, receiving her M.A. in Spiritual Formation and Soul Care from The Institute of Spiritual Formation at Talbot School of Theology. She has her B.S. and M.S. in Kinesiology and a Ph.D. in Holistic Nutrition. She has also done training in BioSpiritual Focusing as a holistic approach to spiritual growth. Wherever she finds herself, she desires to nurture a compassionate space where others can be listened, beheld and loved into fuller being by the Beloved. She is continually awed by the body as sacred storyholder and storyteller and by dance and movement as conduits of deep interior silence, stillness and joy. Her heart beats loudly for the weaving together of creativity and spirituality in the discovering of what it means to live an embodied, fully human life in all its mystery and wonder.
Polly Paton-Brown
Polly Paton-Brown MA UKCP worked for many years as a psychotherapist and trainer in the field of trauma. More recently, Polly’s focus has been on helping people explore their spirituality and prayer, using creativity and connection with nature. Polly has a particular passion for creating healing dolls as a portal to transformation.
Always a lover of nature, horses and creativity Polly now integrates all of these into her practice. She has trained in Nature Based Practice and Eco-pychology, Environmental Arts, Expressive Arts and Equine Facilitated Psychotherapy. She is a licenced facilitator of Chakradance, The Art of Allowing , Creative Awakenings and the Wild Soul Woman Programme. With roots in the contemplative and monastic traditions, Polly also draws wisdom from other spiritual paths such as Druidry and Sufism. She is passionate to help those wounded by the institutional church restore their image of God and themselves. PollyPatonBrown.co.uk Polly writes the Wild Soul Calling Substack.
Enter this season with open hands and discover the home that has always been waiting within you. Let these fifty days become a journey of renewal, a time to cultivate hope, savor beauty, and live into the radiant truth that new life is always possible.
Registration
Please be careful to enter your correct email address when you register.
$140
Reduced fee
- Includes partial scholarship
- Select this only if you require financial assistance
$180
Standard fee
- The standard fee for the program
- Keeps our programs sustainable
or
2 monthly payments of $90
$220
sponsorship fee
- Includes added donation to support scholarships
- THANK YOU for supporting our scholarship program!
or
If you are in need of additional financial assistance or a different payment plan please fill out our Scholarship Request form.
Purchase the Companion Book
The book is not included in the registration fee. You may purchase the book at the links below or at your local book seller. Thank you for your support!
Terms and Conditions
Please consider your purchase carefully and review the many free materials we have on our website to make sure the program will be a good fit or get in touch with any questions.
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