One of our main event this Fall is this unique workshop "Caring and Cared For: A Contemplative and Earth Wisdom Path for Caregivers" hosted November 23rd - 25th 2018.
La Solitude asked Monique Léger, the event coordinator, to tell us a little bit more about what to expect from this week end and the content of this particular session.
Monique Léger, please describe the workshop in a few words
The workshop invites caregivers to experience a restorative replenishment. A time to breathe again while nature too releases her summer efforts in the fall. A time to be in the company of other caregivers to exchange and share stories. The teachers, working professionally as caregivers, will share the work that supports themselves and their clients. Calling on the life force of poetry and the rich nourishment of plants as a means for staying grounded in difficult times. A contemplative invitation to listen into oneself for what supports and what is not supportive. A time for discernment and ways of listening into what is needed for the next step in the care for oneself and others.
What is the objective of the Caring and Cared for workshop?
As a first objective, the workshop wants to give back to the ones who give of themselves in caring for others: their time, their presence, their touch, their listening, their good humour, their life energy. We are talking about the gifting of care for those who care.
This is an invitation to learn more of how to replenish oneself, on a daily basis. As well, we want to affirm an ethics of care which invites simplicity in the return to the relation with oneself and others. The caregiver is not only a single person but an entire community. The young caregiver and older cared for is not a viable model as we presently know it. We are proposing other models.
This workshop is for who ?
The workshop welcomes anyone who identifies with the term caregiver--the action of caring for another. The choice to be a caregiver is not always a voluntary choice and there are times when the caregiver is short of resources and support. The caregiver can also be a professional in need of rest and replenishment. The caregiver can be a parent that takes care of their own parents and younger children. There is also the older caregiver helping less fortunate elders. Everyone who is concerned with the wellbeing of others is welcome.
“Others” also means forms of life such as animals and the Earth, who also have their place in caring and being cared for. Let’s remember the joy a pet or a garden bring to one’s life.
What will the participants do during the two-day workshop ?
Participants will have time to slow down, rest, reflect, converse and receive the quiet. They will learn more of how the wisdom Earth path powerfully supports and teaches caring for oneself and others. How do I recognize when too much is too much and when it’s not enough? What is most supportive for me? How do I look after myself when tired and stressed? How do I celebrate what I enjoy in caring for another? This is invitation to re-connect with what nourishes and creates sanctuary for you, learn from others--and learn from the Elder wisdom of the Earth. Some of the offerings of the workshop will include gentle movement, journaling, walking, contemplative and ritual practices for supporting reflection.
Why did you want to organize this workshop for our communities ?
I want to participate in the present phenomenon of an ageing society, rich in experience and increasingly isolated. I want to make room for the gift of self of the caregiver in our families and communities. I want to explore the fragile link and resilient dependency, the place of poetry and nature as forms of supports to give back to caregivers the dignity they deserve. I want to contribute to laying down a gentle foundation for living-together that explores other models of social benevolence.
And of course to discover the magnificent La Solitude de Pré d’en Haut!
The teachers have a profound experience with an ethics of care they have explored in simple, universal and time tested approaches applicable to caregivers. They will share with us numerous ways to nourish our resilience, our spirits and our communities for a meaningful living-together.
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Picture: Monique Léger