This is an open letter to any women thinking about the Heart of the Huntress retreat, from Gina Chick, saying hi :)
I have had questions from women asking about the retreat and also about me, so I thought I'd introduce myself as most of you haven't met me yet.
I have been on a healing path consciously for 30 years now, both doing my own inner work and holding others in private sessions, and (holding others) I stopped counting at 40 000 hours of hands on or face to face sessions with people, mostly women.
I do my own homework every day and constantly attend workshops so I don't get stale or think I have my crap sorted! In my experience, we never do, there is always more. I love this ever changing dance with what is there, with ever increasing understanding and tools for transformation. At the moment I am loving being a 5 Rhythms (dance meditation) teacher, and the last couple of years have seen me pursue this pretty much full time; dancing deeply into an amazing modality pioneered by a woman named Gabrielle Roth, who taught how to turn suffering into art by following the unique wisdom of the body and moving what is true.
For me what has been true is that we have depths and heights of experience and awareness to explore, and that this journey is a rich and marvellous adventure through magic and mystery, grit and awe, wonder and crunchiness on our individual path to wholeness. I am interested in saying yes to everything that I find, even (especially) the uncomfortable bits; in loving the parts that are stuck and lost, and bringing them home.
I lost my three year old daughter to cancer late in 2013, and have been on a deep journey of grief ever since, saying yes to every part of it, and so am not afraid of deep emotional process in myself or others. I know in my bones that we are bigger than these feelings, and once we allow ourselves to feel the stuck and frozen parts of ourselves we emerge more alive and whole and real.
The Heart of the Huntress women's retreats bring together all of my work; I studied earth skills and primitive survival at Tracker School, and bring hundreds of adults and kids home to their wildness each year through deep rewilding and connection to the land; remembering our our mother tongue, if you like. I studied breathwork and rebirthing for years and love helping women effectively process the emotions that come up in deep work. 5 Rhythms is a wonderful tool of the body and heart, and uses instinctive movement as a beautiful path, like a martial art, to homecoming.
In the retreats we weave elements of all of these (and soooo much more) into our journey.
I am an instinctive facilitator, and respond to the group in the moment rather than use detailed workshop plans. That way when something comes up in the group, we all get to journey together it because it is real, it's what's there right now, and as we are all reflections of each other, there is always something in it for everyone.
The overall workshop movement is one into our forgotten wisdom, reclaiming the birthright of all women as powerful, creative beings, in touch with the true flowing nature of the feminine energy in the universe, but also able to balance this with action and clarity and creativity. To be in the world, to get our needs met, to walk our own path with confidence and strength, able to respond in the moment to what is in front of us and stay true to our centre. To have the tools to be with ourselves, be internally resourced, rather than dependent on external authority. To be our own guru. To be able to stuff it up with panache (or not) and have the skills to right the ship and keep sailing. To learn the blessin' in every lesson.
I love love love the instinctive wisdom of women, and how once we feel safe we just let things flow; let the river run its course, and naturally heal what is there.
Basically, in Heart of the Huntress, every day we will be using dance and movement meditation (which means dancing how you instinctively feel rather than how you look) to discover what is really going on in us, and move what we find. There will be meditations and explorations into aspects of feminine power, and a place to own the bits of us we usually reject and judge because we feel that they are unloveable or don't belong or they have been rejected so many times by outsiders that we don't feel safe to see or express them. We use art therapy and earth skills and archery as a metaphor for getting our needs met. We uses elements of Vision Quest to deepen our inner eye. I have spent 30 years collecting amazing healing tools from incredible healers all over the planet, and it means that whatever turns up in the group, there will be some fun and juicy process for us to explore it with.
I also bring humour to these retreats. In my experience, healing doesn't have to be heavy and earnest all the time. Sometimes we just need to get silly, to blow off steam, have a pillow fight, tell rude jokes or scandalous stories from the bad old days, be inappropriate. It's all real. Letting go the Good Girl means exploring what's underneath, and when we misbehave there is a glorious freedom for those parts we have squashed under respectability. Glee is gorgeous. So is chocolate. As long as we maintain respect for each other and the group agreements (which we absolutely will!), there is room to have fun with all this, before we dive in and get serious again.
My underlying focus is to provide a safe container for deep work.
In my experience, when a group is held well, we all support each other, but it is the facilitator's job to ensure that the trajectory of the the group supports everyone taking their next step with absolutely no pressure. People are combination locks, and I am here to provide the stepping stones for you to choose your next step, in your own time, and in your own grace. I can highlight the doorways and watch the door while you step through, but in the end your soul chooses which one you go through. I can give you the tools to journey what you find, I can gently guide you through your process, and give ample time and techniques for integration, but your path is yours and yours alone, and it is really none of my business what choices you make. It is my job to respect and love them, whatever they are.
After the workshop, if you need some contact and support I am available for five minute check-in chats, and if you need deeper attention, we can talk about what that would look like.
If you're reading this, you are probably on some kind of journey of self discovery. In my experience, there are 9 billion ways to the mountain top, and each is as perfect and personal as a fingerprint. Different teachers resonate with different people, at different times.
A teacher is only someone who can offer you something you don't yet know, on your path. In this way we are all each other's teachers. For the purposes of these workshops I am in the teacher role for this specific information, but as soon as the workshop is over this hat comes off, and throughout life I am always a student. In each workshop I learn as much as I teach, from every single person there. It is important to me that anyone in a teaching position has an ongoing relationship with their own power issues, and is constantly reflecting on these, so that we can all feel safe. My commitment to you is that I will do my own homework, will check myself, will hold your process and journey sacred, and balance the needs of the individual with the needs of the group. I will remain transparent and approachable and answer in authenticity any question I am asked. There will be group agreements regarding confidentiality, boundaries and processes at the beginning of each workshop, and if anyone breaches these agreements they will be asked to leave.
And of course, I am human, perfectly imperfect, on my own soul's journey. If I miss something in the moment I will address it as soon as I am aware of it and welcome any feedback coming from a heartfelt space, or a triggered one.
Feel free to contact me with any questions about the retreat, or about my teaching style.
I look forward to walking next to you on this great adventure, for a little while, in whichever way is right for you.
Love, love, and love
Gina Chick
I have had questions from women asking about the retreat and also about me, so I thought I'd introduce myself as most of you haven't met me yet.
I have been on a healing path consciously for 30 years now, both doing my own inner work and holding others in private sessions, and (holding others) I stopped counting at 40 000 hours of hands on or face to face sessions with people, mostly women.
I do my own homework every day and constantly attend workshops so I don't get stale or think I have my crap sorted! In my experience, we never do, there is always more. I love this ever changing dance with what is there, with ever increasing understanding and tools for transformation. At the moment I am loving being a 5 Rhythms (dance meditation) teacher, and the last couple of years have seen me pursue this pretty much full time; dancing deeply into an amazing modality pioneered by a woman named Gabrielle Roth, who taught how to turn suffering into art by following the unique wisdom of the body and moving what is true.
For me what has been true is that we have depths and heights of experience and awareness to explore, and that this journey is a rich and marvellous adventure through magic and mystery, grit and awe, wonder and crunchiness on our individual path to wholeness. I am interested in saying yes to everything that I find, even (especially) the uncomfortable bits; in loving the parts that are stuck and lost, and bringing them home.
I lost my three year old daughter to cancer late in 2013, and have been on a deep journey of grief ever since, saying yes to every part of it, and so am not afraid of deep emotional process in myself or others. I know in my bones that we are bigger than these feelings, and once we allow ourselves to feel the stuck and frozen parts of ourselves we emerge more alive and whole and real.
The Heart of the Huntress women's retreats bring together all of my work; I studied earth skills and primitive survival at Tracker School, and bring hundreds of adults and kids home to their wildness each year through deep rewilding and connection to the land; remembering our our mother tongue, if you like. I studied breathwork and rebirthing for years and love helping women effectively process the emotions that come up in deep work. 5 Rhythms is a wonderful tool of the body and heart, and uses instinctive movement as a beautiful path, like a martial art, to homecoming.
In the retreats we weave elements of all of these (and soooo much more) into our journey.
I am an instinctive facilitator, and respond to the group in the moment rather than use detailed workshop plans. That way when something comes up in the group, we all get to journey together it because it is real, it's what's there right now, and as we are all reflections of each other, there is always something in it for everyone.
The overall workshop movement is one into our forgotten wisdom, reclaiming the birthright of all women as powerful, creative beings, in touch with the true flowing nature of the feminine energy in the universe, but also able to balance this with action and clarity and creativity. To be in the world, to get our needs met, to walk our own path with confidence and strength, able to respond in the moment to what is in front of us and stay true to our centre. To have the tools to be with ourselves, be internally resourced, rather than dependent on external authority. To be our own guru. To be able to stuff it up with panache (or not) and have the skills to right the ship and keep sailing. To learn the blessin' in every lesson.
I love love love the instinctive wisdom of women, and how once we feel safe we just let things flow; let the river run its course, and naturally heal what is there.
Basically, in Heart of the Huntress, every day we will be using dance and movement meditation (which means dancing how you instinctively feel rather than how you look) to discover what is really going on in us, and move what we find. There will be meditations and explorations into aspects of feminine power, and a place to own the bits of us we usually reject and judge because we feel that they are unloveable or don't belong or they have been rejected so many times by outsiders that we don't feel safe to see or express them. We use art therapy and earth skills and archery as a metaphor for getting our needs met. We uses elements of Vision Quest to deepen our inner eye. I have spent 30 years collecting amazing healing tools from incredible healers all over the planet, and it means that whatever turns up in the group, there will be some fun and juicy process for us to explore it with.
I also bring humour to these retreats. In my experience, healing doesn't have to be heavy and earnest all the time. Sometimes we just need to get silly, to blow off steam, have a pillow fight, tell rude jokes or scandalous stories from the bad old days, be inappropriate. It's all real. Letting go the Good Girl means exploring what's underneath, and when we misbehave there is a glorious freedom for those parts we have squashed under respectability. Glee is gorgeous. So is chocolate. As long as we maintain respect for each other and the group agreements (which we absolutely will!), there is room to have fun with all this, before we dive in and get serious again.
My underlying focus is to provide a safe container for deep work.
In my experience, when a group is held well, we all support each other, but it is the facilitator's job to ensure that the trajectory of the the group supports everyone taking their next step with absolutely no pressure. People are combination locks, and I am here to provide the stepping stones for you to choose your next step, in your own time, and in your own grace. I can highlight the doorways and watch the door while you step through, but in the end your soul chooses which one you go through. I can give you the tools to journey what you find, I can gently guide you through your process, and give ample time and techniques for integration, but your path is yours and yours alone, and it is really none of my business what choices you make. It is my job to respect and love them, whatever they are.
After the workshop, if you need some contact and support I am available for five minute check-in chats, and if you need deeper attention, we can talk about what that would look like.
If you're reading this, you are probably on some kind of journey of self discovery. In my experience, there are 9 billion ways to the mountain top, and each is as perfect and personal as a fingerprint. Different teachers resonate with different people, at different times.
A teacher is only someone who can offer you something you don't yet know, on your path. In this way we are all each other's teachers. For the purposes of these workshops I am in the teacher role for this specific information, but as soon as the workshop is over this hat comes off, and throughout life I am always a student. In each workshop I learn as much as I teach, from every single person there. It is important to me that anyone in a teaching position has an ongoing relationship with their own power issues, and is constantly reflecting on these, so that we can all feel safe. My commitment to you is that I will do my own homework, will check myself, will hold your process and journey sacred, and balance the needs of the individual with the needs of the group. I will remain transparent and approachable and answer in authenticity any question I am asked. There will be group agreements regarding confidentiality, boundaries and processes at the beginning of each workshop, and if anyone breaches these agreements they will be asked to leave.
And of course, I am human, perfectly imperfect, on my own soul's journey. If I miss something in the moment I will address it as soon as I am aware of it and welcome any feedback coming from a heartfelt space, or a triggered one.
Feel free to contact me with any questions about the retreat, or about my teaching style.
I look forward to walking next to you on this great adventure, for a little while, in whichever way is right for you.
Love, love, and love
Gina Chick