By Elias Patras
Are things just not fitting right in your life at this time? Are you trying hard to find the right mate or make things work better with your mate? Are you finding that your relationships in general are shifting? By setting free old patterns that no longer serve us, we can shift into a better place—a place of knowing ourselves better.
One of the ways that we can do this is by participating in a retreat. A retreat allows us to go within ourselves. When we go within we are giving ourselves the permission to quiet our minds so we can listen and honor our inner voice. Via this simple process, we can open up to our own knowing, our own intuition—a place deep from our hearts.
My partner and I co-facilitate retreats for gay men by focusing on self-love, self-awareness and self-discovery. The retreats allow each one of us to grow into a deeper understanding of ourselves. The work that we do comes from our passion to reconnect the gay community to our roots. To help to become a stronger community so we are not only able to help ourselves but to help one another. We feel that if we can focus on our hearts and see one another as a support system, a teacher, and a mirror for our journey through life, we can then learn extensively from one another. We believe that our gay community can be a strong, healthy and vital community if we have an increased connection with our core. If we respect ourselves, we can then respect each other and become this ideal. Our goal is to continue to connect more gay men to a way of tapping into their own inner strength and beauty and letting go of old patterns which no longer serve an objective.
The retreats are non-denominational, yet are based on some very basic teachings of the indigenous healing tribes. Throughout the weekend we will do some fire ceremonies, guided meditations, a trance dance and other experimential exercises.
Our weekend would start Friday afternoon with meeting one another by sitting in a circle, introducing ourselves and revealing expectations. We then engage in a series of exercises that allow us to go on our respective journeys but that also allow us to bond.
The wonderful thing about this retreat is to see how we can bond as a community of men. There are no judgment or hidden agendas. We come together to honor each other for the beauty that we have within.
Elias Patras is a licensed massage therapist is also a reiki practitioner, and ordained minister.
The retreat will be Nov. 3-5 at Edwards Camp and Conference Center in East Troy, Wis., about 80 miles from Chicago. For more information, see www.ReAwakeningsLLC.com or call 773-817-0923.