Newsletter October 2026 Volume 204
Hello there! Hope you are well.
I’ve been back from my retreat for a bit now but I wanted to follow up and let you know how it went.
There is so much I loved about the retreat and its physicality; like the bells gonging for wake up, the beginning and end of meditation or as the call to the meditation hall or meals.
I adored the deep resonant sound making its way through the halls.
And the luxury and beauty of the food, prepared lovingly and in great abundance. Being able to eat in quiet.
Also, everything there is scent-free. They even provide luxurious scent-free shampoo, conditioner, and soap!
I love natural scents, but I can suddenly feel terrible when someone has a strong smelling artificial cologne or body wash on and I didn’t have to think about that at all. Lovely.
Another things that is so inspiring about the meditation retreats I have attended in Barre, in Shelburne and in India. They take into account the common good and then set expectations that people will adhere to the rules because they have been worked out with great thought and intention towards fairness, autonomy, and also comfort and safety.
The rules are then explained and enforced with such a graceful hand that It gives you hope that humans in community can thrive.
It felt very profound to be surrounded by other people seeking quiet and peace, but not having to get to know them or worry about them. It actually felt wonderful.
Several lifetimes had gone by since my last retreat 25 years before when I had sat in the same meditation hall six months pregnant with Lily.
I was both the same person with the same habits, and even some of the same aches and pains, distractions and enthusiasms while also having been totally transformed, enlightened and completely emotionally, physically, practically and spiritually beat up and expanded by the process of parenting two magnificent creatures into mostly adulthood.
The meditation instructions were simple – focus on the breath and the five senses. The goal was to focus less on the mind-door which consumes so much of our energy and attention in this culture at this time and focus instead on the other doors – feeling, smelling, tasting, seeing and hearing. Do that long enough, even with all the internal distractions, and the mind settles down like a smooth lake on a very still day.
The meditation teachers said many wise things, one was a response to someone’s question,
“How do I deal with loving the world when I am so angry about the destruction of nature around the world and right here at the retreat center where the beech trees are dying?”
And the teacher Winnie Nazarko replied,
“Can you learn to love what is broken?
Because eventually everything breaks.
Including us.
It’s kind of baked into the cake.”
Baked into the cake with all the sweetness and goodness. The ultimate ending makes everything more precious if we can accept it.
Winnie also told a story of when she was training a puppy. She called the puppy to her and the puppy took some time to get to her (as puppies do.). Someone unhelpfully suggested that she swat the puppy with a newspaper for taking so long.
She thought, “Well that is some terrible advice”, and instead she welcomed that puppy back and praised it for coming to her. She said that is the same attitude we should have when we welcome our attention back when it strays or our good nature back when it has disappeared for a time.
I have been thinking about that a lot in the days since I returned from the retreat. How to be more generous with myself and others as we age and grow in these profoundly challenging times. We’re all trying to keep daily life and household afloat while working, taking care of ourselves and others, and trying to do what we can for the world around us.
Things are hard.
Over and over the wise ones tell us that shame is not the way to growth.
We want to feel steadied, loved and nourished by our habits and our choices.
I took many things away from the retreat, including remembering that meditating every day, even just a few minnutes, is like a string of little pearls that connect in a beautiful subtle way to help to maintain an underlying bit of serenity or awareness, even as life is chaos around us sometimes.
When I have forgotten my intentions and have been snippy or impatient or I’m eating something I know will make me feel terrible in an hour or I am on my meditation cushion thinking about my to-do list instead of my breath.
I remember to be kind as I bring myself back and welcome myself back.
Not only does that help me stay steady in being who I want to be, but it also is the practice in itself, isn’t it?
I would say that the reminder to come back to the breath or the body sitting in the chair during meditation, the sound of the gong ringing through the halls, reminding you it is time to go to the meditation hall are both similar to the feeling I get when I see the moon in the sky.
It reminds me, no matter the phase or where it is in the sky to take a breath and notice.
It reminds me to come back to myself and my connection to the natural world and the cycles around me.
Reminds me to notice where I am and what I am doing and feeling.
So much of the retreat was about cultivating awareness without judgement and just noticing whenever possible which I have been able to bring back into daily life at least a bit and that is encouraging. I have also been meditating in a sweet little spot in my living room and that has surprised me how much it makes me feel connected to myself, my breath and the world.
So, there is my update. It took a while to sit down and write it but I loved the retreat and defineilty want to do one again soon and highly recommend it if it calls to you at all. xo
Friday October 23 is the last Full Moon Circle of the year and I would love to see you there.
This moon is called the Hunter’s Moon because historically with the leaves off the trees Hunters could see their prey and hunt for food to feed them throughout the coming winter. the full moon shines the light on what has been hidden and darkness – revealing things we need to remove or things we need to find.
This is a powerful time balanced between the fall equinox and the winter solstice. Halloween is approaching and it can be a time when it is easier to make contact with that which is hidden.
Come join us in circle or light a candle and take some time at home to feel your connections to the cycles that move you and the earth, stars, moon and sun.
Much love to you all.
xoxo
Katherine
