Link: Chad Novak

This is an interesting article.  Chad Novak, a life-counselor, yoga instructor and spiritual facilitator is organizing a retreat in Ludington, Michigan to help men start their spiritual journey.  I spoke with him in an e-mail exchange about his plans.  "What I'm looking to create here is a starting point for men to start to go inside in a safe and explorative environment."  He said that he's noticed a quite a difference between men and women in how open they are to their emotions, something I've absolutely noticed as well.  

"During the retreat we will be exploring how we're showing up in the world. What patterns have been reoccurring throughout our lives and finding the common thread within ourselves."  I think this is really important.  I wrote a blog post a while back about the West-African Adinkra symbol, Sankofa, which means, "return and pick it up", referring to those patterns.  And, from an emotional mechanics point of view, I think those patterns are what I call "emotional structures".  Ways that we interact with our emotions that differ from the normal, healthy approach.  When we can identify those structures, we regain the ability to set our own course in life.  Focusing on these patterns in a retreat is a great idea.

He also said, "One of the biggest things that we will be talking about is how to face your pain and suffering without running away from it."  If you know someone who doesn't struggle with this, I'd like to talk to that person.  And I'm not talking about people who just ignore their internal struggles.  My grandmother has told me many times how my grandfather used to tell her, "just face it.  Whatever it is, face it."  That's been a great source of inspiration to me, throughout my adult life.  To know that Chad will be working with people to help them face their pain inspires me too.

If you are interested in attending his retreat, his contact information is at the end of the article I linked to at the top.  From the article and my conversation with Chad, I believe he really understands these issues and I think his retreat will be a great experience.  You should check it out.