Initiations of the Heart: Writing from the Depths

 A retreat with Lorraine Gane and PurnaMa

November 16

 Our truest writing is often held in our most potent experiences. Yet these moments may be locked away in hidden recesses of our Hearts where we can’t access them. In this retreat you’ll be offered a nurturing sanctuary to open to these buried treasures so you can bring them up from the depths onto the page. We’ll prepare the ground to do this through gentle qigong practices to relax our bodies, quieten our minds, and deepen into our Hearts. Entry points through word portals, poetry lines, and guided meditations will ignite a flow of writing onto the page. We’ll then share this writing, or part of it, in our circle of heart-centred women. Our time together will offer a sacred space to open to new creative possibilities, deepen into our Hearts, and connect with one another at this auspicious time. Saturday, November 16, 10-2 p.m. PST on Zoom; Cost: $85 (Can.) by November 10; $95 after; please send an e-transfer to lorrainegane@shaw.ca or lorrainegane@yahoo.ca for PayPal

Lorraine Gane is a poet, writer, teacher, editor, and mentor. A heart-centred approach to creativity has been an integral part of Lorraine’s journey, both in her own writing and with those she mentors through workshops, online courses, consultations, and manuscript development/editing. Among her poetry collections are If I Have Known Beauty (Raven Chapbooks, 2024), as well as Even the Slightest Touch Thunders on My Skin, The Blue Halo, and The Way the Light Enters. She is completing a fourth full-length poetry collection and a writing book and mentors writers worldwide. www.lorrainegane.com

 PurnaMa has been a devoted and passionate teacher and practitioner of Qigong and Tai Chi for 33 years. She is a former Shiatsu Therapist and Registered Massage Therapist who practised in Toronto at her own natural health centre. She has had a committed meditation practice for over 40 years. It has been said about her that she has an ability to communicate the deep and subtle aspects of Qigong with enthusiasm, clarity, and simplicity. Her approach is gentle and encouraging and draws on many years of deep inner exploration and extensive experience.

Writing as a Sacred Journey

(dates by agreement)

This twelve-week online course offers a strong foundation for creative expansion, spiritual growth, and deeper well-being on all levels. Every week you’ll be offered an email package with one virtue or quality to contemplate through discussions and inquiry questions. The questions will allow deeper reflection, insight, and revelation about your life experiences to express on the page. In addition to these questions, you’ll receive other prompts, meditative practices, and guided visualizations for gateways to inspiration and insight. To support your process, you’ll be offered monthly one-hour consultations by Zoom, feedback on ten double-spaced pages of prose (fifteen pages of poetry), and email support. The journey will be engaging, inspiring, and enlivening, offering what you need to embark on the next stage of your journey. Cost is $597 or three installments of $215. For more information click HERE.

Three-Month Writing Program

(dates by agreement)

This program is designed to support new writing as well as ongoing projects that could benefit from editorial suggestions and other creative advice. The program starts with a one-hour consultation to discern what would help your writing process. We then create a plan to propel your writing through various means (practices, exercises, reading suggestions, creative approaches). Feedback on writing includes detailed comments on aspects such as cohesiveness and clarity, in addition to fine-tuning suggestions. Two more consultations follow, one per month. Participants can send in ten double-spaced pages of prose (or fifteen pages of poetry) for review with the option of buying more editing time, as needed, at a special rate.  The program will offer the support you need to take your writing to the next level. Cost: $597 (can pay in three installments of $215). For more information click HERE.

Beauty & Truth: The Secret Heart of a Poem

A three-month poetry program

(dates by agreement)

This program will help you open fully to your truest voice and express it on the page with vividness, precision, truth, and beauty. Discussions will introduce you to the essential elements of the craft and practices will help you to apply them to your own writing. Feedback on fifteen double spaced pages of poetry will further assist your process, as will three one-on-one consultations and email support. The program will open a deeper poetic awareness and understanding of the genre’s forms while you write and complete a selection of poems. Cost: $597 or three installments of $215. For more information click HERE.

 

Writing the Spiritual Memoir

(dates by agreement)

This three-month program is designed to help you write about the deeper mysteries of your life with the aim of working towards a book-length project. The discussions and practices will open a flow of writing that you will shape into clear and cohesive narratives. You will be offered ways to enhance narratives with methods such as fictional techniques, including dialogue, scene making, imagery, and descriptive writing. You’ll work towards a marriage of craft and content. You’ll find what you have to say and express it in the most compelling way possible. What’s included in the program: three one-hour coaching sessions by Zoom; six modules of discussions and practices; email support; review of ten pages (2,500 words) of double-spaced writing; cost: $597 or monthly installments of $215. For more information click HERE.

A Crack That Lets the Light In

Retreat; Next date TBA

Often our most powerful writing is hidden deep in recesses of our heart. To access this writing, we need an opening that will let the writing spill out onto the page.  Through stilling the mind, relaxing the body, and resting deep within, we’ll allow what wants to arise on the page, whether the writing is about joyful moments or those filled with loss, grief, or other challenges, for often these are the cracks that let the light in. We’ll share this writing in a supportive circle, listening with attentive ears to what rings true and what can be expressed in a fuller way. The retreat will offer a container to express yourself with awareness, depth, compassion, and courage, bringing forth writing in your truest voice.

 

FOR MORE INFORMATION OR TO REGISTER PLEASE CONTACT LORRAINE HERE.

Please send me a brief note about what writing you’ve engaged in and what interests you about a particular course.