TAKE ME TO: Our Next 2 Spiritual Journeys & Retreats
Sheri’s Article | Our Favorite Recommendations, Books & Videos | Ales’ Travel Advice!
Our Upcoming Journeys | Quote of the Month!

My mom and Lily when she first came home. (mischievous & WICKED Yorkie)

Dear Friends,

WHAT’S NEW? – FAMILY! Now that I am older I am participating more deeply in my parents lives – especially since my step-dad just had two serious surgeries. I know that many of you are experiencing the same challenges – how do we make time for our own lives, our businesses, kids, parents, heath and spiritual practices?

I don’t have any answers to this question – I think each of us has to be very honest with our priorities and whatever we decide, make sure it is done without resentment and only with the greatest respect and love. I’m curious what you think – do post a comment at the bottom of the newsletter! ♥

Also, please consider donating even a little something for the people of Japan who are suffering at this time, my heart is with them.

~TIME TO REGISTER FOR:~

SEDONA: Goddess Healing Retreat – April 28-May 3rd SOLD OUT!
BIG SUR: Explore & Express Your Authentic Artistic Vision – May 18-22nd
THE OREGON COAST: A Women’s Photography Workshop – Jun 9-13th
SANTA FE, NM: Healthy, Spiritual & Conscious Relationships – June 17-22nd
KENYA, AFRICA: A Woman’s Safari for the Mind, Body & Spirit! – Oct 3-15th REGISTER EARLY!

Need a special trip for you or your family? Let Ales in Custom Travel design something special for you.

Blessings and love, Sheri Rosenthal – Connect with me: Email | Facebook | LinkedIn | Twitter

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OUR NEXT TWO SPIRITUAL JOURNEYS

BIG SUR: Explore & Express Your Authentic Artistic Vision – May 18-22nd
REGISTRATION IS NOW!

Inspire your imagination by painting in one of the most beautiful settings in the world. Join us for an invigorating artist’s retreat in Big Sur where the rugged California coastline meets magical redwood forests. Through guided visualizations, Linda Jacobson will help you tap into your inner vision and express your own personal imagery. Rejuvenate your life by giving yourself the time to focus on your inner nature and the beauty of the landscape that surrounds you.

Nestled amongst the aged oak trees and tall ancient redwoods, Big Sur Lodge has provided inspiration to writers, artists and the weary traveler in search of majestic splendor that soothes and restores both the heart and soul. No prior art experience necessary – everyone is welcome, beginning and advanced artists. In this drawing and painting creative retreat you will create free flowing spontaneous imagery, draw from nature and develop sketches into finished works. 2011 trip cost is: $1155.00 USD per person double occupancy. Details for Big Sur here!

THE OREGON COAST: Women’s Photography Retreat – June 9-13th
REGISTER NOW!

Please join us on this amazing photography workshop and spiritual retreat with award-winning photographer Catherine Just. We’ll be relaxing for 4 days in a beautiful oceanfront home set along the stunning Oregon beach. There will be plenty of time to expand your consciousness, explore the assignments, work on personal projects, walk along the beach, journal, or simply take a quiet break.

Surrounded by nature you’ll have unlimited potential for quiet image making and communion between yourself and the earth, sky, mountains, trees and ocean. This merging between self and nature is experienced in the moment your being knows it’s time to click or take the picture. This knowing is what we wish to experience time and time again – the mysterious space in time when we merge with spirit though the camera lens. All are welcome – so don’t be shy! The 2011 trip cost is: $780.00-$1050.00 USD per person. Details for Oregon here.

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EVENTS & WORKSHOPS

OUR UPCOMING TELECLASSES!

♥Join Samvedam Randalls and I on Thurs April 7th at 8:30 pm eastern, 5:30 pacific time (she’s the facilitator for our Badlands Vision Quest July 2-12th). We’ll be chatting about: How to Remember Spirit in Day to Day Consciousness! We’ll be talking about chakra’s, vibrational frequencies, personal and group consciousness and so much more – including what she will be sharing on her upcoming vision quest!

♥Join Katherine Woodward Thomas, Miriam Martineau and I on Saturday April 23rd at 12:00 noon eastern, 9:00 am pacific time (they are the facilitators for our Raising Empowered, Radiant Daughters: Mother/Daughter Retreat! July 24-30th). We’ll be chatting about: How to realize our own empowerment and radiance in order to model it for our daughters, and what are the necessary tools we need to support our girls in stepping fully into their co-creative feminine power. We’ll also be sharing what we can expect to experience on their upcoming retreat!
If you’ve missed any of the previous teleclasses you can listen them on the library page of my website.

NEED SOME CLARITY & A NEW POINT OF VIEW?

♥Join Sheri for a personal intensive! These intensives will take place in St Petersburg, Florida. It’s a lovely place to take time to reflect upon your life and walking on the beach is beautiful and peaceful. You’ll stay at a hotel on the beach during your intensive. Figure we’ll spend around 3 hours together in the morning and then you’ll do your assignments in the afternoon. Then we’ll catch back up for ~1 hour in the evening to re-cap. Details here.

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FEATURED ARTICLE

IF YOU THINK YOU’RE FREE – THINK AGAIN!

All of us have been taught from the time we were young to abhor slavery. Ask any person and they will tell you it is cruel, debasing and against human rights to do so. Yet – most of us participate in slavery everyday without awareness of how we are doing so. As students of spirituality it is critical that we expand our awareness to recognize when we are doing this and make the necessary changes to end the servitude.

I’d like to share several ways that we can enslave ourselves and others so our actions can become clear.
See if you resonate with any of these:

#1 – We are all aware of the incessant internal dialogue that goes on in our heads. But rarely do we realize how enslaved we are by our own thought-forms. For example, let’s say you have been working on a project and you are almost done but you realize you are starving and you need to eat. But your mind pipes in and says; “You can get something to eat as soon as you finish this last section of work.” So you finish your work with a headache and finally get something to eat.

Your mind, which has no idea what it is like to be hungry, just commanded your physical body to suffer in hunger because of some rule it has about finishing your work first. Your mind made the proposal and you said “Yes master.” If that is not slavery I don’t know what is! The way to love and respect our body is to attend to its needs like it is a treasured child. Not to disrespect it in favor of some thought-form about getting work done. Take a moment to see how many ways you engage in this kind of mental slavery:

• Do you over exercise because your mind says you must look a certain way?
• Do you work too much because your mind says you need respect and accolades?
• Do you always entertain others because your mind says you need to do so to be loved?
• Do you avoid actions that would lead to success because your mind says you’re not capable or deserving?
• Are you staying in unhealthy relationships or jobs because your mind is saying you can’t get anything better?

#2 – We often enslave the people we love by projecting onto them the judgments we hold regarding who they are and how they live their lives. For example; if your father was verbally and/or physically abusive to you when you were young, you probably are treating him in your adulthood in a way that reflects your inner child’s judgment of him.

In other words, without forgiveness we will talk to those who have hurt us in a tone and/or with an energy that carries our anger in it. In return, that person feels that energy and does not like feeling guilty – so they defend themselves in return and end up using that same tone and/or energy back to us. In this way we enslave our family and ourselves by not allowing them to be who they are now because we are forcing them to relive the past.

We cast the people we know into roles that we have assigned to them forcing them to behave in a particular way in our presence. Without awareness it is so easy to do – but once we have awareness we can change this kind of energetic co-dependency and free the people in our lives to be all they can be in our presence. We can give them a chance to grow, heal, and play new and different parts in our dream.

These examples are just two reasons why most spiritual paths talk about freedom so often. In the end, the only one who is creating hell in our lives is us and the rigid position of the human mind. Freedom is the ability to change our beliefs, let go of hard and fast points of view, and to be able see the world without predetermined socially domesticated mental concepts. I encourage you to challenge yourself to make a list of how you have been enslaving yourself and others so you can make another choice. Maybe next time you are playing that video game you will actually get up and allow yourself go to the bathroom! Please post below and let me know what you think!

With all my love & best wishes, Sheri
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RECOMMENDED BOOK OF THE MONTH

THE GIFT OF FORGIVENESS

Author Oliver Clerc shares his experience of the forgiveness process during his attendance at a Toltec spiritual journey with don Miguel Ruiz in Teotihuacán, Mexico. This little and dear book unearths and explores the unique and simple tool of forgiveness. Oliver explains how this forgiveness has immediate impact on our lives by bringing inner peace while at the same time unleashing love that has been blocked by personal resentments. Through the magic of reversal taught in this practical book, you can change your understanding of forgiveness and free yourself from the grip of resentment and hatred.

Pick up a copy of his book today: The Gift of Forgiveness. When you purchase a book through Amazon.com a small percentage of your dollars come back to JOTS to support our free teleclass series.

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OUR MENU OF UPCOMING FABULOUS ADVENTURES!

~MAGICAL MAY SOJOURNS~

BIG SUR: Explore & Express Your Authentic Vision REGISTER NOW!
May 18-22nd, 2011
Trip Leader: Linda Jacobson

~GENTLE JUNE JOURNEYS~

THE OREGON COAST: A Women’s Photography Workshop
Please watch the lovely video up on the right –>
Trip Leader: Catherine Just
Jun 9-13th, 2011

SANTA FE, NM: Healthy, Spiritual & Conscious Relationships NEW!
Trip Leader: Sheri Rosenthal
June 17-22nd, 2011

~GLORIOUS JULY JAUNTS~

NORTH DAKOTA: Vision Quest into the Badlands
Trip Leader: Samvedam Randles
July 2-14th, 2011

DAHLONEGA,GEORGIA: Raising Empowered, Radiant Daughters: Mother/Daughter Retreat
Trip Leaders: Katherine Woodward Thomas & Miriam Mason Martineau
July 24-30th, 2011

~AUDACIOUS AUGUST ADVENTURES~

PERU & MACHU PICCHU: The Heart & Soul of Pachamama
Trip Leader: Carol Rydell
August 4-14th, 2011

~SOUL-STIRRING SEPTEMBER SOJOURNS~

ZION NATIONAL PARK: Art & Spirit Painting Retreat
Trip Leader: Linda Jacobson
Sept 14-18th, 2011

HAVASUPAI FALLS GRAND CANYON: Living Fearlessly
Trip Leader: Sheri Rosenthal
Sept 20-26th, 2011

SEDONA: The Aramaic Breath of Life: Awakening in the Desert
Trip Leader: Dale Allen Hoffman
Sept 22-27th, 2011

DOLORES, CO: Revolution! Intuitive Awareness & Communication Retreat NEW!
Trip Leader: Kathy Knowles & Joy Valenti Kochmer
Sept 24-28th, 2011

TEPOZTLÁN, MEXICO: Creating Divine Partnerships NEW! COMING SOON
Trip Leaders: Greg & Tamara Montana
September 24-30th

~BOLD OCTOBER EXPEDITIONS~

SANTORINI, GREECE: Inspire Your Creative Soul!
Trip Leader: Linda Jacobson
October 14-21st, 2011

KENYA, AFRICA :A Woman’s Safari for the Mind, Body & Spirit! MUST REGISTER BY MAY 1st!
Trip Leader: Sheri Rosenthal & Melinda Johnson
Oct 3-15th, 2011

THE MONTEREY PENINSULA: A Photography Workshop
Trip Leader: Catherine Just
October 19-23rd, 2011

DAY OF THE DEAD, Oaxaca Mexico: A Celebration of Life!
Trip Leader: Sheri Rosenthal
October 29th-November 6th, 2011

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ALES’ COOL TIP OF THE MONTH!

MY FAVORITE 3 INTIMATE MEXICAN SPA RESORTS!

At Journeys of the Spirit we adore the quainter hotels and resorts as they offer a personal touch and a more authentic experience of the soul and spirit of a place. So this month I would like to share 3 of my favorite small wellness resorts in Mexico.

Mar de Jade

Our first small resort is a jewel of a-get-away hidden between the tropical jungle and the pristine sandy beaches of Chacala, Mexico: Mar de Jade. This drop of heaven on the pacific coast of Mexico is still untouched, surrounded by palm trees and soft sands. Their delicious home-made food is included in your retreat package, and a good part of it comes from either their organic gardens or local fresh produce. It doesn’t matter if you have allergies, are vegan or vegetarian, gluten-free, or dairy-free, they have no problem accommodating you, and all their meals are made with love.

A typical 7 day wellness package includes: 7 nights lodging, 3 meals a day, 2 daily yoga classes, a morning stress-reduction meditation, a 90 minute massage, use of the spa facilities – and you can even sign up for extras like: hiking, horseback riding, whale watching, Spanish classes, and/or a visit to the local market! Simply fly to Puerto Vallarta, and proceed about 90 min. north and you are there.

Flying east – our next destination is in the highlands of Mexico just outside the beautiful little town of Tepoztlan – better known as the Valley of Magic and Mysticism (Mexico’s New Age capital, so to speak!). It is famous for the remains of a temple built on top of the nearby Tepozteco mountain and according to myth, Tepoztlan is the birthplace of Quetzalcoatl over 1200 years ago, the feathered serpent god, widely-worshiped in ancient Mexico.

Hostal de la Luz Spa Holistic Resort

The resort I love in this area is the Hostal de la Luz Holistic Spa, and from the traditional adobe structure to the use of Feng Shui, the complex is designed to blend with the environment and soothe its guests, offering an array of spa treatments sure to heighten your senses and rejuvenate your body and soul. While you are there I highly recommend taking in a Shiatsu Massage or Reflexology treatment – for sure you’ll feel energized and whole again! Our Divine Partnerships Retreat, Sept 24-30th will be taking place in this stunning resort!

While you are there immerse yourself in the local culture, walk through the Wednesday market in Tepoztlan, pilgrimage up the Tepozteco mountain, or stop by one of the many wonderful restaurants and enjoy the incredible flavors of the local foods. And do remember to take advantage of the beautiful labyrinth overlooking the majestic scenery! The Spa also offers a wellness package including a facial treatment, massage, Temazcal (traditional Mexican sweat lodge), guided meditation, and much more! All this beauty is located only 40 minutes from the Mexico City Airport.

Moving on eastward to the Caribbean Sea we make our way to the Riviera Maya, rich with Mayan history, mystery and culture! The Ceiba del Mar Spa and Resort is the perfect base to discover the sacred ruins of Tulum and Chichen Itza from and it’s located only 20 minutes south of the Cancun airport at the edge of Puerto Morelos.

Cieba del Mar

Considered a luxury resort, you can be sure you’ll be eating unique wood-fired oven specialties and regional dishes – all on the colorful beachfront Terrace Lounge. It’s hard to decide whether one should rest next to the gorgeous swimming pools or lie on the perfectly white powder beach – hummmm? Your days can be spent visiting nearby Mayan ruins, joining a yoga or pilates session with the sound of the ocean and the warm breeze surrounding you – or you can spend the day at the spa.

Coast-to-coast, Mexico has some of the more lovely and charming offerings and even better – these are all located in areas that are virtually free of all the drug-war hype you have been hearing about on the news. If you need more information don’t forget to either ring or email me and I am happy to create the perfect spa retreat escape for you!

Love & Blessings, Ales Stuna, Director of Custom Travel.
Photographs kindly borrowed from the resorts websites.

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SPIRITUAL CINEMA CIRCLE

If You Love Movies, You Are About to Be Inspired AND Entertained!

If you feel ready for the magic of spiritual connection, then the Spiritual Cinema Circle is your community. As the only DVD club specializing in films that inspire LOVE and COMPASSION, the Circle is your monthly opportunity to enjoy stories that highlight the values you care about most! Sign up for your free trial today! When you join Spiritual Cinema Circle a small percentage of your dollars come back to JOTS to support our free teleclass series.

This month’s Feature film: The GODCHILD, is a powerful and inspiring spiritual film that will leave you not only illuminated, but ready to deepen your own quest to find healing. A story of human compassion comes alive in this beautiful movie as a young man discovers healing powers that benefit himself and others around him.

This months short – Portraits of Inspiring Lives: Join bestselling author Neale Donald Walsch as he answers the questions: Who is God, anyway? – Why is there so much suffering if there is a God? and How can I feel good about myself and about life? “Your life is about everyone whose life you touch, and it is about the way in which you touch them.” – Neale Donald Walsch (from this month’s interview)

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WHAT I LOVE – LOVE – LOVE THIS MONTH!

Take a moment to watch this video!

He felt a strong wind of change blowing through his life which brought with it a deep urge to surrender completely to divine will. A great peace entered his being, and has remained ever since. Since 1999, Mooji has been sharing satsang with the many seekers who visit him, from all parts of the world, in search of the direct experience of truth.

Pick up a copy of his book today: Before I am: The Direct Recognition of Our Original Self. When you purchase a book through Amazon.com a small percentage of your dollars come back to JOTS to support our free teleclass series. PS: If this video is glitchy – press the “watch on You Tube” button to see it directly on their site.

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FAVORITE QUOTE OF THE MONTH

Words of Wisdom for the Heart

Join Sheri in Havasuapi Falls this September 20-26th for an extraordinary journey!

“Awareness is the birthright of all life forms on the planet. The key to mastering awareness is where we focus our attention. Attention is the ability of the mind to discriminate between all of the information obtained by the senses in any given moment. If we focus our attention on the difficult things in our life and the ‘bad’ things that are always happening to us, life will always look bad and difficult to us. If we focus on the beauty and magnificence of creation, our life will always be beautiful and magnificent, no matter what challenges life may bring.”

~Sheri Rosenthal

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