Love Warrior Weekend
painting by Carlin Barton
Love Warrior Weekend ~ A Continuum Workshop at Shantigar
Otters are long, sleek and graceful swimmers. They live on land and in the water – flowing effortlessly between the two elements. They are always moving, curious, and playful. Otters will not fight unless provoked first. In many indigenous traditions, Otter is revered as an embodiment of balanced female energy. Otter creates space for others to enter without preconceptions or suspicions. It enjoys and shares the pleasure of the good fortune of others. Otter reminds us not to be jealous of others’ success or afraid of scarcity; everyone’s accomplishments benefit the whole. Otter swims in the waters of universal connection. Otter is an embodiment of a kind of love we call Eros.
Bud Harris writes, “Eros means personal relatedness, a keen interest in relationships, and a prevailing attitude that works for conciliation and reconciliation. It supports healthy interdependence on every level of life. Eros evokes self-integration, subjectivity, and the concern of individuals. Eros is rooted in the material universe and the earthy feminine qualities of love, receptivity, and transformation—new life being born. Eros supports the love of life, individuals, and the pains of bringing forth the future. Eros and love do not lead us to an end of the challenges of human life, but they support us in facing them, living through them, and when feasible being transformed by them in ways that enhance our growth, character, and wisdom.”
self love is
a revolution
that every atom
in your body is
marching for.
~ by s.r.w
Right now, humanity is suffering because we are out of balance and created cultures that have attacked “the great feminine principle of Eros—love, the source of life—that supports life and our potentials of healing and transformation” for generations upon generations. We think this is normal. This is not normal. Harris notes, “As a natural consequence of this murder, we are killing our humanity. When love stops, the symptoms of the imbalance—anxiety, hopelessness, despair, mistrust, and then even violence and terror—increase.”
The time has come for this imbalance between male and female energies to correct itself. There are so many signs that this essential rebalancing is underway. We have an opportunity to step up to help.
Are you ready to become a love warrior?
“It takes more courage to examine the dark corners of your own soul than it does for the soldier to fight on the battlefield.” – William Butler Yeats
A love warrior is someone who courageously chooses love, vulnerability, and compassion as their guiding force, using inner strength and resilience to overcome challenges, promote connection, and stand for positive values, even in difficulty, transforming pain into growth and fostering authenticity in themselves and others. It’s about fierce commitment to love—for self, others, and life—without fear, control, or attachment, aiming for genuine, strong relationships and inner peace.
“It takes even more courage to examine the dark corners of our collective soul. We need love warriors to face and reverse the course we are on,” Bud Harris continues. “The quest of a love warrior is to never settle for an interior wasteland caused by a discouraged or barren heart. We must be seeking the Grail in the forests of our interior lives. Choosing life means becoming fully engaged in living with body, mind, and heart. To be fully engaged with life we must be fully committed to our inner lives and resources. This means we must be on the journey to discover and mature our capacities for passion and compassion, for love and strength. Becoming a love warrior is to confront our fears, our suffering, our despair, and the shadow sides of our lives, our culture, and our history. And it is to do this with the confidence that comes from the good we have done and are still capable of doing.”
Continuum is a practice of swimming in Eros. Continuum is a practice for love warriors.
Spring is the perfect time to commit to life, to the power of love; to embrace the contracting forces of our own resistance, and to meet the unknown with power, curiosity, and creativity. A cacao or tea ceremony will be offered to enhance heart-mind opening as an optional part of deepening the communal experiences of this weekend workshop at Shantigar.
Shantigar is a nonprofit foundation situated in an idyllic landscape including ample fields, hills, forests, pond, and public walking trails in Western Massachusetts. Shantigar is rooted in the mission of “joining meditative and artistic practices with the healing power of nature, so we can live more peacefully on the planet”. Shantigar was founded by the late playwright Jean-Claude van Itallie in the 1990’s. Jean-Claude had a deep love of Continuum and co-taught workshops with founder Emilie Conrad until her death in 2014 and with Elaine Colandrea and Megan Bathory-Peeler until his own death in 2021.
Continuum is at its core a deep listening practice that cultivates dynamic awareness throughout the body. Beginning with simple breaths and vocalized sounds, these vibrations invoke subtle and spontaneous movements within the body. As these intrinsic movements emerge, they spark creative sensory imagery and increase fluid responsiveness in our embodied minds. Within the first few breaths, we recover and restore sensation and awareness that has been flattened and lost by the speed of modern life. This immediately increases our vitality, adaptability, and immunity — making us more resilient. Continuum is a profoundly relevant awareness-awakening practice that reminds us how to slow down, quiet our minds, and open our hearts.
Slowing down to the speed of water, our tissues hydrate themselves, becoming less dense and more spacious. Continuum helps us relocate ourselves, separate from the sensory overload of technology-driven culture, and drop into our place in the interconnected web of life on earth. It then becomes possible to explore the edges between the known and the unknown in Continuum’s essential inquiry — what is a body?
Continuum develops the non-judgmental witness, allowing to us to be fully present to our own process, without expectations of outcome. This enhances our ability to rest into what is, to be in the Here and Now. By reconnecting to what is most alive in each of us with more empathy and compassion for ourselves, it becomes easier to perceive the same in others and offer these gifts out to human and non-human beings around us. Continuum is a practice that deepens our trust in our own inherent wisdom and the interdependence of all things —skills and awareness that are critically needed in this time of ongoing human sanity recovery and climate-driven adaptability.
“Justice is what love looks like in public just like tenderness is what love feels like in private.” ~ Cornel West
WEEKEND SCHEDULE (subject to evolve)
Friday, May 29 – 1:00pm: Arrivals & Room check-in
3:00 Workshop
6:30 Group dinner (evening meals provided for all participants)
7:30 Open evening time to socialize and settle in
Saturday, May 30 – full day
9:00 Workshop
12:30-2:00 lunch break
2:00-5:30 Workshop
6:00 Group dinner (evening meals provided for all participants)
7:30-9:00 Workshop
Sunday, May 31 – 2:00pm: Departures
9:30 Workshop
12:30-2:00 lunch, check out & departures
REGISTRATION
To register, email: megan@somanautiko.com or call/text: 413.772.0078
Suggested packing list will be emailed early in May.
SACRED INVESTMENT
Workshop fee: $120-$240 (sliding scale) ~ Those who can offer more help those who can offer less.
Residential: $200 (3 days/2 nights housing with 2 evening meals provided)
Commuter: $130 (3 days full access with 2 evening meals provided)
*Free camping is available nearby at local participant’s house. If interested, contact information will be provided to make arrangements.
To keep weekend costs low for everyone all participants are asked to provide their own breakfast and lunch meals. There is full kitchen access and communal making and sharing of resources is invited and welcome at mealtimes.
**A limited number of partial work study trades are available to help offset costs for those in need. Apply early!
Payments can be made via:
1) Cash or check – Easy! Bring to workshop
2) DIGITAL TRANSFER: Venmo (@meganbathory-peeler) or Zelle – Megan Bathory-Peeler
SHANTIGAR – https://www.shantigar.org/
63 Davenport Road, Rowe, MA 01367
Located in a classic New England farmhouse with seven bedrooms, three adjoining cabins, two full bathrooms, four half-bathrooms, one additional shower, two kitchens, sunporch, living room, library, and movement room. Shantigar is situated in an idyllic landscape including ample fields, hills, forests, pond, and public walking trails.
OCCUPANCY
Shantigar can house a maximum of 21 people. Six bedrooms and three cabins have double beds.
The bedroom over the garage has three single beds.
AMENITIES
• Linens, blankets, towels
• Soap and shampoo
• Well-equipped kitchen
• Wi-Fi
• Yoga blankets, pillows, and props
• Hand weights
• Vegetable garden (in season)
