The Void
Every time I tell my psychiatrist something’s wrong, I wonder if a) I’m lying b) the symptoms are really that bad, and c) if other human beings feel the same way whether they’re on meds or not.
Do you think my meds are working if it takes me 4 days to get the laundry out of the dryer and then another 3 to get the basket upstairs? I asked my husband this rhetorical question one day last week. However, why I asked a man who mixes his clean and dirty clothes in a huge mound on the laundry room floor and calls it “a system” is beyond me.
I can’t make dinner, I’m in the void! I yelled at my husband that night.
I don’t think my meds are working, I told my psychiatrist the next day.
OK, he said. Have you noticed anything else? Well, there’s the sluggishness, crying, lethargy, and doom, I said. He nodded. Every time I tell my psychiatrist something’s wrong, I wonder if a) I’m lying b) the symptoms are really that bad, and c) if other human beings feel the same way whether they’re on meds or not?
I wish I could get and stay off everything, but I remember the old weather system constantly raging through my veins too clearly. And alternately, the flatness I called Siberia in the winter and the Sahara in the summer, that monotony of endless terrain without even shadows to break up the middle distance.
On the phone later, my friend Sarah reminded me that I feel this way every January. I was dumbfounded. In my mind, the last ten years had been an unrelenting trajectory of success (HA. HA. HA.) It’s hard to remember feeling bad when you feel good, and vice versa. But I like the idea of being aligned with the earth’s cycles even when they don’t feel good. Because we are part of the weather and the planets and the earth’s rotation around the sun. No matter what we do about it, it’s in our blood.
“Unsolicited advice is criticism,” ancient Alanon proverb
COME ON AND WRITE WITH ME!
Check out my new online and in-person classes!
Writing Ritual: Care for the Body, Mind, and Soul
Sat, Feb. 10
10:00 am– 4:00 pm
$100
I am so excited to share my new Writing Rituals Studio with you. It is intimate and cozy, sacred and safe, the perfect container for nurturing your inner self.
Self-care is an act of holy rebellion. In a hyper-busy world focused on productivity, output, and profit, creating sacred space for ourselves enables us to listen to the quiet voice within. When we are in touch with our intuition, we are in touch with the divine. When we are in touch with the divine, we are able to access inspiration and resources that were not present before.
Join me for an afternoon of ritual and writing, connection, and deep internal exploration. Learn to care for yourself so beautifully that you have the energy and reserves to care for others.
Tea, coffee, hot chocolate, water, and snacks will be provided. Please bring a pen, journal, and water bottle, and wear comfortable clothes. We have cushions to sit on but feel free to bring your yoga mat if you like!
We will take a 1-hour lunch break from 12- 1. Please bring a bagged lunch to enjoy!
Maximum: 8
True Story: Writing the Stories of Our Lives
ZOOM
Tuesdays, Feb 20- March 26
10 am - 12 noon
Max: 8 participants
$250
We each have unique and universal stories to tell, whether they are on the surface of our lives or buried in the depths of our subconscious. In this writing-from-life 6-week series, we will delve into our origin stories, map our timelines, and find access points to the stories we most need to tell.
Whether you are writing to process or working on a manuscript, we will each generate our own specific prompt lists to propel us forward into the stories of our lives.
Deep Dive: an In-Person 6 week writing intensive
Valley's Studio In-Person
Wednesdays, Feb 21-March 27
1-3 pm
Max: 8 participants
$250
Are you haunted by an unfinished manuscript? Do you want to write a book but feel overwhelmed about what to do and how to start?
Take your writing to the next level in this special intensive designed to help you create structure, generate prompts, and provide accountability for writing your manuscript. Our small group will encourage and inspire each other in the spirit of safety and nonjudgment, with the steady support of guidance and gentle direction along the way.
We will gather at my house around the dining room table and may be joined by a few 4-legged family members. Please bring your notebook and pen. Coffee and tea will be provided.
Max: 8 participants.
Reiki 1 Certification with Valley Haggard
Saturday, Feb. 24
9:30 am - 5:30 pm
Price: $270
Early bird before January 14! $245
Do you feel called to ground, connect, and deepen? Would you like to learn a powerful, intuitive method for healing yourself and others? A Japanese form of energy work meaning Universal Life Energy, Reiki infuses our mind, body, and spirit with a life force in ways that can empower every aspect of our lives.
In this Reiki 1 workshop, we will learn primarily through hands-on experience how to give ourselves and others Reiki treatments, how to protect our energy fields, traditional and intuitive hand placement, and more.
Each participant will receive a Reiki 1 attunement and Reiki 1 certification by the end of the workshop day.
No previous experience necessary.
We will learn:
The origin of Reiki
Reiki philosophy
Reiki self-treatment
Reiki treatment for others
Energy field protection
Traditional hand position sequence
Intuitive hand position method
Introduction to Pendulum
Reiki 1 attunement
Reiki 1 Certification
Schedule:
9 - 9:30 AM – welcome and arrival
9:30 - 12 PM–workshop
12 - 1 PM– lunch break
1 - 5 PM– workshop
$270 includes course materials and the book Essential Reiki: a Complete Guide to an Ancient Healing Art by Diane Stein. A $100 nonrefundable deposit is required to hold your space. Please email info@lifein10minutes for additional payment plan options.
Reiki 2 Certification with Valley Haggard
Sat, Mar 23, 2024
10 am – 5:00 pm
Price: $270
Early bird before February 14! $245
If you have earned your Reiki Level 1 attunement and certification, you are ready for Level 2! This special one-day workshop will help us fine-tune and increase our vibrational healing energy to balance and increase energy flow in our mental, emotional, and spiritual bodies. During our workshop, we will focus on use of the Reiki symbols, learning the mantras, and practicing distance healing. You will receive an intro to chakra balancing and accessing your Reiki guides.
You will receive a Level 2 attunement and certification by the end of the day.
Reiki 2 certification includes:
Review of Reiki 1
Reiki symbols
Introduction to the Chakras
Distance Healing
Reiki ethics
Introduction to the Reiki guides
Attunement
Schedule:
10 - 10:30 AM – welcome and arrival
10:30 AM - 12 PM–workshop
12 - 1 PM– lunch break
1 - 5 PM– workshop
You must have completed a Reiki Level 1 certification (from any Reiki Master) before registering for this class. The cost of registration includes all course materials and a Reiki book (TBD). A $100 nonrefundable deposit is required to hold your space. Please email hello@valleyhaggard.com for additional payment plan options.
Maximum: 8 students.
The Healing Narrative: a 4-Day Transformational Retreat
The Porches, 56 Pine Hill Ln, Norwood, VA,
Writing about our past empowers us to identify old patterns so that we can write new futures, transforming old wounds into new stories.
On this intimate 4-day retreat in the Blue Ridge Mountains, we will write our origin stories, chart our timelines, discover our archetypes, and identify the path of our own particular hero's journey. Combining guided meditation, visualization, and energy work within our small group writing circles, we will unearth our most potent and pervasive themes in order to imagine new plotlines for our lives moving forward. As we find our voices, we take back our power, becoming the hero, the most important character, in our own lives.
Each writer will have their own gorgeous bedroom in the beautiful farmhouse of Porches Writing Retreat in Nelson County, a short walk away from the James River. Our schedule will include small circle writing, free time, energy work, writing at the river, half a day at Yogaville ( a 15-minute drive from Porches), and all course materials.
Our small group will be limited to 4 participants.
Maybe my favorite of your writings so far!