The Haven in the News
This article first appeared in the Learning For Life section of the Times Colonist, Feburary 2 2016. Go to timescolonist.com to read it online.
Living Well Together: Come Alive at The Haven
Here at The Haven on Gabriola Island, we get some remarkable feedback from participants in our flagship program, Come Alive. Here’s just one example:
“When I returned home after the program I was approached by many people asking, ‘What was it like?’ … My answer was, “You just have to do it to find out!” I have felt things I have not felt in my lifetime. I feel alive!”
For thousands of other people over its 32-year history, Come Alive has been a transformative, life-changing experience, opening the door to what we describe as “living well, together.”
For us, living well, together, means learning to be self-responsible, embodied and relational. For that to happen, each of us needs to find out about ourselves – to look at big questions like who am I? How have I become how I am today? How am I dealing with things that have happened in my life? – and to respond consciously to what we discover, with compassion and empathy for ourselves and others. In Come Alive, and other Haven programs, people answer these questions for themselves, energetically, emotionally and intellectually, both by looking within and by sharing their thoughts and feelings with others, and hearing what others have to say. This process isn’t always comfortable, and it can be eye-opening, exciting and deeply fulfilling.
Here are two more comments from recent participants:
“The grounds, the air, the people, the feeling I had when I arrived … it was like coming home. The connections I made with others and most importantly with myself were life-changing.”
“I learned to embrace, accept, let go of grief I’ve held for 30 years.”
In Come Alive, you will learn and practice the Haven models of communication, relationship and self-responsibility. In addition to group activities and discussions, each participant is offered a time for individual experience in large or small group sessions, including breath and body work, gestalt, psychodrama and other forms.
This combination of time-tested and challenging ideas with energetic and relational experience results in a dynamic and inspirational program. People have found in it the impetus and tools they need to transform their lives, emotionally, intellectually, and physically, in their professional lives as well as in their close relationships.
The Haven is a centre for transformative learning on Gabriola Island, BC. For more information visit www.haven.ca or contact our registrars on 1 800 222 9211 or register@haven.ca
