November 2017
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Welcome Russell King!
The Christine Center is delighted to introduce Russell King as our new Executive Director.   He brings over 20 years of nonprofit leadership experience, and his management style and core values make him an ideal leader for the Christine Center in these times of opportunity and transformation.  Russell is also a writer and poet, author of two chapbooks "Love Songs" and "Harvest Work," and two collections of essays "A Hint of Frost: Essays on the Earth" and "Confessions of an American Dad." He also writes a column for the Madison Capital Times newspaper and the Huffington Post

Ss. Marge and Gabe asked Russell why he felt called to be part of the Christine Center at this time. He replied quoting Robert Frost:  “Earth’s the right place for love, I don’t know where it’s likely to go better.” Those two spirits, Earth and love, are what have drawn me to the Christine Center. I find them vibrant in this place, blended in a gentle, powerful way. They are what I hope to help nurture here over the coming years.
 
Also important was the question: What effect do you hope to have on the Christine Center? Russell responds: The Christine Center has experienced the vitalizing current of choice, chance, and change for some time now, and that’s a good thing. Adaptation and evolution are part of the miraculous flow that makes life possible.  In her beautiful and intensely spiritual book, Grounded, Diane Butler Bass call it the "riparian zone, the river's edge" describing it this way: "Neither the surety of firm ground nor the excitement of clear current, the muddy edge of the river is its most vital feature…. The riparian zone is remarkably like what some faith traditions call liminal space, the uncertain territory of fresh possibility between more certain realities.” It's in the rich muck of change where great things happen, and while I am ecstatic to share this place and time with you, I sense that my arrival is but a drop in a much larger flow. My intent and my prayer are to flow with you and to exalt, enhance, and empower that which you have come to love at the Christine Center. The effect I hope to have as I serve our mission is “more.” Let us see where the spirit leads us, together.  

Welcome, Russell!

Read about Russell in the Huffington Post .
Some wonderful poetry by Russell .
Upcoming Retreat Programs

Visit our  retreat calendar web page  for more program offerings and descriptions. Visit the  reservation  page for information or call 715.267.7507.  
DECEMBER PROGRAMS :

Prayer by Heart and Hands:
A Christmas Season Contemplative Prayer-Bead Crafting Retreat!
December 15-17 (Friday–Sunday)
with S. Gabriele Uhlein, PhD
and Anastasia Dzenowagis, BA, BS, MIM, PMP
Contemplative crafting in time for Christmas gifting! Join our circle of happy “making” and contemplative deepening. Anastasia and S. Gabriele will guide and assist, so no experience is required. Enjoy creating unique prayer beads to celebrate life, bless others and simply relax.  Learn more
 
Sound and Silence
December 15-17 (Friday-Sunday)
With Cecilia Corcoran, FSPA, PhD and Wendy Kohlhaas, ICS, CSAC, LPN  
Praying from the heart! Gemstone crystal and Tibetan bowls and sacred singing, mantras and toning can move us toward higher states of well-being. Learn and practice simple chants to pray when there are no words. Learn more

Our 6 th annual Christine Center winter woods New Year’s retreat! 
Soul-tending, Dream-listening: Welcoming 2018!
December 27-January 1
(Wednesday-Monday)
With Sisters Gabriele Uhlein, OSF, PhD and Marge Zulaski, OSF, PsyD.
Greet 2018 with grace and spiritual poise! This retreat is an annual favorite! It’s an opportunity to attune to the wonderful energy of Dreams and the transformative heart of Silence in preparation for a splendid New Year’s Eve transition ritual. A wonderful alternative to all the holiday bustle. Let the winter woods bring you home to Soul. Learn more
JANUARY PROGRAMS :

Yoga with Iris Mickey
January 5-7 (Friday-Sunday)
Join Iris for this retreat to embrace the inner light. Even at times of great darkness, we have access to innate goodness, love and light. Practices suitable for all levels and will include daily asana, yoga nidra for self-inquiry and seated meditation.  Learn more

4 th Annual Winter Yoga Retreat With Aveen Banich
January 12-14 (Friday-Sunday)
Re-commit to self-love, care and compassion in 2018 with gentle yoga, gemstone alchemy bowl sound baths, New Year visioning, rest, delicious, nourishing food and connection.

Mandala-Making for Soul Tending
January 12-14 (Friday-Sunday)
With Gabriele Uhlein, OSF, PhD
Mandala-making is art as a contemplative spiritual practice. Make mandalas for love of the world, for gifting and for wholeness and self-healing. No art experience is necessary; all materials are provided. Learn more

Yoga with Tracy Hart
January 26-28 (Friday-Sunday)
Join Christine Center’s own premier yoga instructor, Tracy Hart for this weekend of relaxation. Learn techniques to relax the mind, release the nervous system and develop an overall sense of peace and tranquility. Sessions will incorporate periods of yoga exercises, breath work, conscious relaxation, Yoga Nidra and seated meditation. Learn more

What to Remember When Waking: The Awakening Male in Emergent Consciousness
January 26- 28 (Friday-Sunday)
With Endel Kallas
Awaken and liberate Soul! Realize inner spaciousness and conscious creativity! Through a daily rhythm of mindfulness, music, poetry and experiential learning, we’ll celebrate our unique gifts as generative men – our one wild and precious life. Learn more
What Draws You to the Christine Center?
Perhaps it’s the natural beauty, the quiet rhythm of the woods and its creatures. Perhaps it’s a sense of community, acceptance, and compassion. Could it simply be, “Earth and Love”?

Whatever draws you to the Christine Center, we thank you for your presence, for your participation in spiritual deepening and your steadfast support.

Together we face a future filled with exciting change and possibility and trust that great things will happen. In the words of our new executive director, Russell King, “Let us see where the spirit leads us, together.”
Coming soon ● 11.28.2017
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