with Christine & John Valters Paintner, and Jamie Marich
A self-study retreat (start any time, move at your own pace, forever access)
Description
Make a soulful journey in the coming season.
Join us for an 8-week companion retreat to Christine Valters Paintner's book The Soul of a Pilgrim: Eight Practices for the Journey Within. Christine takes you on a new kind of pilgrimage: an inner journey to discover the heart of God. Eight stages of the pilgrim's way–from hearing the call to coming home–are accompanied by scripture stories of great biblical journeys and creative practices of prayer, writing, and photography.
In The Soul of a Pilgrim, Christine identifies eight experiences of the pilgrim's way and shows how to follow these movements to make an intentional, transformative journey to your inner "wild edges." Each phase of the exploration requires a distinct practice such as packing lightly, being uncomfortable, or embracing the unknown. She shows how to cultivate attentiveness to the divine through deep listening, patience, and opening oneself to the gifts that arise in the midst of discomfort.
Each of the eight chapters offers reflections on the themes, a scripture story, an invitation to the practice of lectio divina, and creative exploration through photography, midrash writing, and meditative movement (with Jamie Marich, founder of Dancing Mindfulness).
The Soul of a Pilgrim was named one of the best spiritual books of 2015 by Spirituality and Practice!
All materials are hosted on a private teaching platform with audio guidance from Christine Valters Paintner to deepen into the materials along with a special guided meditation to begin each week that is not included in the book. All mp3 files can be downloaded and all videos can be streamed.
Weekly Themes
Week 1: The practice hearing the call and responding
Week 2: The practice of packing lightly
Week 3: The practice of crossing the threshold
Week 4: The practice of making the way by walking
Week 5: The practice of being uncomfortable
Week 6: The practice of beginning again
Week 7: The practice of embracing the unknown
Week 8: The practice of coming home
Daily Schedule
Six days each week you receive an email with a link to the day's content. The 7th day is a time for rest and integration. The added materials (in addition to the book) are in audio and video format which you can listen to at any time. You have lifetime access to the materials in the course.
Monday: Introduction to theme (with audio guided meditation)
Tuesday: Scripture reflection from John Valters Paintner (with audio lectio divina meditation)
Wednesday: Midrash Exploration (with audio)
Thursday: Photography Exploration (with audio)
Friday: Movement Invitation from Jamie Marich (with video)
Saturday: Closing Blessing (with audio)
Sunday: Sabbath rest
Program Fee
ONLINE COURSE TERMS AND CONDITIONS
There are no refunds for online purchases.
You will need to purchase a copy of The Soul of a Pilgrim to use for this retreat.
You have forever access to the course material.
For technical issues please contact university@ruzuku.com.
Discounts are available for small groups wanting to move through the material together: 20% off when 3 people register together, 30% off for 5, 40% off for 7 and above. Please contact Christine by email to request an invoice. We require that one person take responsibility for full payment for the group.
Limited partial scholarships are available for those for whom participation in the retreat would otherwise be a hardship. Please contact us with your reasons for wanting to take the course and a prayerful consideration of what you can afford to pay. We do our best to honor as many requests as we can, but due to limited funds, we may not always be able to fulfill your full request.
We can also arrange payment plans if that makes the registration fee more accessible. Please contact us by email to request a payment plan.
Your Guides for the Journey
Christine Valters Paintner, PhD, REACE is a writer, spiritual director, teacher, and retreat & pilgrimage guide. She is the author of eleven books on contemplative practice and creative expression including her forthcoming book this fall 2018, The Soul's Slow Ripening: 12 Celtic Practices for Seekers of the Sacred. Christine lives in Galway, Ireland with her husband John where together they steward Abbey of the Arts, a global monastery, and lead pilgrimages to the wild edges.
John Valters Paintner, MTS is the online prior for Abbey of the Arts, where he assists his wife Christine in ministering to global community both online and through in-person programs. John was a youth minister and pastoral associate for four years before becoming a high school religion teacher for twelve years. He has a Masters of Theological Studies from the Jesuit School of Theology at Berkeley. His love for the Bible, particularly the Hebrew Scriptures, emerged when he taught the “Old Testament” at an all-boys high school. John is also a lover of the art of story-telling and has written dozens of short stories, one-act plays, and short films in a variety of genres.
Jamie Marich, Ph.D., LPCC-S, LICDC-CS, REAT, RMT
Jamie travels internationally speaking on topics related to EMDR, trauma, addiction, expressive arts, LGBTQ issues, spirituality and mindfulness while maintaining a private practice in her home base of Warren, OH. Jamie is also the developer of the Dancing Mindfulness expressive arts practice. Jamie is the author of EMDR Made Simple: 4 Approaches for Using EMDR with Every Client (2011), Trauma and the Twelve Steps: A Complete Guide for Recovery Enhancement (2012), and Trauma Made Simple: Competencies in Assessment, Treatment, and Working with Survivors. Her newest book, Dancing Mindfulness: A Creative Path to Healing and Transformation released in the Fall of 2015 (with foreword by Christine Valters Paintner). She is currently working on her latest book (in collaboration with Dr. Stephen Dansiger) EMDR Therapy and Mindfulness for Trauma Focused Care. Visit Jamie's website here>>
