Preparing for
Discovering Your Succulence
Retreat Day
Welcome Precious Woman,
You are embarking upon a most sacred experience. You will be guided, loved, held, and shared with, in this exquisite experience of discovering your succulence. This powerful yet delicate “work” requires a strong container; and, we are with you every step of the way. Our desire is for you to feel completely safe, supported, held, and free to blossom open in joyful alignment! In order to do that, we’re calling on you to gather a few things to support you in preparation for this rich experience.
Know that this guide will be of service to you in future experiences as well! Anytime you require a powerful and soft container for your process or presence, whenever you long for a nurturing nest, or whenever you move into another at-home retreat of any kind, consult this guide, and allow yourself to be surrounded by love and grace.
You may want to print an extra copy of this page’s full guidance, and consider laminating it, for future use. Alternately, you could simply keep this file where you can easily find it again, and print the list page in preparing for your next in-home retreat day or day of self-love and spiritual-emotional nourishment.
SPECIAL TIP: Use this preparation guide to share a day of feminine nurturing with another woman you love! Prepare yourselves in the ways discussed in this guide, and then simply share a women’s council or spend time in silent reflection together or create a ritual of honouring. Allow your divine creativity to shine forth as you create your own deepening experience.
Preparing Your Time
This time is important. This time is for you–the deeper aspects of you, that you may not be in the habit of allowing to come forth and be present. In creating the time and space to give breath to these deeper aspects, you are creating a greater sense of wholeness within yourself. This is the time to arrange for childcare of any children that you are not currently breast feeding. This is the time to turn off all electronics (save for the one you are using to connect with us for the retreat). This is the time to speak with the people with whom you share space, and make agreements about having the full day of uninterrupted time for this experience.
Preparing Your Body
In many spiritual paths it is customary to engage in a ritual bath prior to spiritual works of importance. This at-home retreat day is one of those works, Darling. Choose intuitively what type of bath you require to bring yourself into centering, openness, and focus.
Here’s one process to discover what you require:
- Breathe deeply and consciously
- Ask your being “how would I like to feel, in this experience”? Listen and allow the answer to come forth. Write it down.
- Ask your being “what plants, stones or minerals, etc. will support me in bringing about these feelings”? Listen and allow the answer to come forth. Write it down.
A well-known feminine favorite is adding a handful of fresh or dried moonwort (also known as mugwort) to your ritual bath. You might also consider bathing in a naturally-occurring sacred body of water near you. If you want to keep it simple, try a “salty-goddess” bath!
*Salty-Goddess: equal parts of epsom salt, baking soda, sea salt. Add two large handfuls to your warm bath.
After bathing, allow yourself to engage in a full-body self-massage with special lotion or oil. Take an extra few minutes with your feet, as our feet are our best receivers for Earth energy. Very useful for grounding yourself! You’ll want to take care to be present with your body as you do your massage. Let your skin drink in the lotion or oil; and, consider reciting loving words either silently or aloud. Your body will be drinking those words in, as well. For this discovery experience, you will not need undergarments.
*Special Note: the delicate skin of female genitals does not generally take well to synthetic ingredients. You may choose to leave your yoni bare, or gently apply a small amount of 100% natural coconut oil.
Adorn yourself with a beautiful robe, kimono, loose dress, or skirt. It’s wonderful if you have something to wear that is sacred to you. You’ll want to allow yourself complete comfort, grace, and beauty. This nourishes your body and spirit, and allows them to breathe
Preparing Your Space
Just as you’re creating sacred space in your schedule for this rich and luscious experience, creating sacred space in your atmosphere will help bring your experience a strong and supportive container. We invite you to prepare some special materials for really setting yourself up with a very nourishing atmosphere. We have a sheet for you on a separate page, that you can use as a checklist. You are encouraged to create sacredness and convenience around you. Having a few items ready and within reach will enhance your experience of feeling nurtured and loved.
While you’ll see several items in the list, we invite you to allow your preparation to be simple. Do what feels right for you! The key items that are most important are identified on the list. If anything gets skipped, that’s ok! Let your gathering of these items be Divinely guided, by asking the Divine to help guide you through gathering your sacred items. Start gathering your items now, and begin putting them aside in a sacred place.
As you discover where you will nest for your retreat, consider choosing a space where you will be comfortable both sitting and laying down. Having plenty of floor space would be ideal if this is possible for you. And if you can choose a space where there is a low table or space for a tray, that would be even more superb!
Sacred Items for My Nurturing Retreat Time:
- Pillows, sheepskin, cushions, and/or rugs
- Blankets
- Water or herbal tea
- Finger foods that are healthful for your body
- Pretty Journal, with a favorite pen
- Art paper and supplies like markers crayons
- Candles – unscented is recommended but not required
- Fresh flowers or flower petals (faux flowers are a great substitute)
- Altar (sacred space on the floor or a table)
- Anointing bowl (for your oils)
- Water bowl (for washing hands etc)
- Soft hand towels and/or washcloths
- Beautiful book of matches or lighter
Optional items to further personalize and enhance the magic:
- Oracle or Tarot card deck(s)
- Crystals or Stones (when uncertain, use clear quartz, rose quartz, or moon stone)
- Natural Feathers (preferably meaningful to you, and harvested harmlessly)
- Incense with Burner (non-toxic charcoal, if resins will be burned)
- Cleansing Herbs to be burned as smudge (sage, cedar, santo palo, sweetgrass)
Once gathered and your sacred appointment approaches, ask yourself these final questions as a check-in just before you begin:
- Have I prepared my Sacred Time?
- Have I prepared my Sacred Space?
- Have I prepared my Sacred Body?
- Have I placed my Sacred Items?
- Is there anything else I would like to have available to me?
Click here to download a PDF of the preparation lists above.
Click here to download a PDF of this full page‘s contents.
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