Last weekend, I went on an adventure with some of my Raise Your Vibration participant Soul Friends. We went to see the Hopewell Mounds, the Serpent Mound, and to Hocking Hills State Park. It was a transformative experience on many levels! Below are some of the insights I gained from the trip. I hope you find them helpful too!
Retreat Reflections
Angels are great travel companions – As I always do, I asked the Angels to go first through all phases of this trip. While we had a few directional challenges, overall the whole trip went really smoothly. We even made an impromptu stop at Lancaster on the way home when we discovered my family was all meeting there for lunch (they’d all been in different parts of the state on separate adventures!). I also was blessed with six Earth angels to be hanging out with. What an amazing group of people! Not only were they inspirational and lots of fun, they were also incredibly supportive and kind. I had hurt my back the week before and I felt so taken care of from the beginning to the end of this experience.
Getting older doesn’t have to be a bad thing – As my son approaches the end of high school, I find myself worrying a bit about growing older and what the last half of my life will look like. This trip gave me a whole new perspective on that! Four of the seven people attending were over 60. They were all great role models for how to really enjoy life! Pilar and Sussie were especially inspirational. They had more energy, more playfulness, and more enthusiasm than the rest of us combined. I learned so much from their ability to really savor and enjoy everything – from the sweet potato at dinner to the beautiful rock formations to the wind chimes at a local shop. Their openness to learning new things and complete joy in sharing who they are was such a beautiful gift to us all.
Being yourself is a lot of fun – I would guess that most of us don’t always feel comfortable being completely ourselves. When you are with people who are so completely unconcerned about what others think, you see how free that can make you. My wonderful soul friend Pilar gifted all those we met with the sounds of her turtle drum, tuning forks or her pan flute. She dressed in vibrant colors and happily shared stories and wisdom with everyone who came along the path. At Ash Cave, she sang a prayer in its original language and her beautiful voice called in the Angels through the whole cave structure.
Our dear friend Ken explained to the park ranger at Hopewell National Monument that he was bringing his crystal skull, Amel, to soak up the energy of the mounds, unconcerned that she would find that a bit odd. Sussie couldn’t wait to pull over at an unusual rock formation on the side of the road. Her excited exploration turned up a beautiful ice sculpture made by Mother Earth that we would have missed if she hadn’t been willing to explore off the beaten path. She also was the one who came to the rescue when we had an unexpected night-time visitor in the form of a renegade chipmunk! Tracie’s adventuring spirit led her and Shannon to explore some parts of Old Man’s Cave not seen by most. Angie’s willingness to take the lead and make a decision brought us the wonderful gift of the Wind Chime and Candle shops. Everyone happily shared their intuitive and healing gifts throughout the weekend which was such a blessing for us all.
There are no wrong turns – We ended up going the wrong direction a few times while we were in Hocking Hills. I learned through this experience with these very wise souls, that there really are no wrong turns. It all just became part of the adventure, giving us more to see, more conversations to have, and an opportunity for us all to stretch our map reading skills. Being with people who took everything in stride really helped me see that perspective is everything. Flowing with life is so much easier than trying to fight against it.
I can trust myself – Sometimes being with a lot of people can be challenging for me. On Saturday, I found myself feeling a little overloaded. I’m an introvert, which means recharging is something that requires some alone time. In the past, I would have made myself stay with everyone. This time, I took an hour to rest upstairs on my own and to take a short walk outside. It was just what I needed to come back refreshed and ready to enjoy some more adventures. Knowing I could honor what I needed and take care of myself was another great gift this experience provided.
I’m looking forward to my next adventure and sending much love to my wonderful travel companions for an amazing experience!
Much love to all of you who have shared a bit of it through this post too.
Nancy
www.EmpoweringLightworkers.com
Spirit Earth Coaching 
Thank you for sharing your experience, what was cultivated by an open and loving heart was now experienced by not only all who were with you but as you say, those of us who were there through this sharing.
ps. the personality part of me, although very happy for you all, is a tad jealous 🙂
Next time you’ll have to come too! Hugs! Nancy