Architecture of belonging – messages, beliefs, burdens, intergenerational traumas
📅 Date October 2-5
🎯 For whom?
This retreat is for everyone who wants to take a pause in the charming town of Kazimierz Dolny on the Vistula River and take a closer look at their complex family history.
During the retreat we will touch on what has shaped us – the voices, the roles, defense mechanisms and hidden messages – which, the more they are unconscious, the stronger their impact on our relationships, decisions and sense of identity.
We welcome all who feel they carry- embedded in their bodies, their relationships, their daily choices echoes of the unspoken stories relating the experiences of their ancestors. And those who recognise that belonging is sometimes conditional and the price to pay is silence, loyalty and unconscious patterns that leave us choiceless.
We encourage you to immerse yourself in this world of spells, secrets and family messages – and try to find your way to Self. This is an invitation to reflect and dare a transformative experience.
The retreat is for you if:
- you wish to live more consciously and free of entanglement in family patterns passed down from generation to generation,
- you desire to draw strength from the messages and wisdom of your ancestors and ancestresses,
- you want to reclaim or nurture the connection to the history of your family, nation and culture that still lives within you,
- you are ready to work with beliefs – and release those that no longer serve you,
- you are interested in the Inner Family System (IFS) approach to intergenerational patterns and trauma.
If what you read moves and resonates with you – sign up today!
Why the Architecture of Belonging?
When we come into the world, we have no choice – we have to fit in with our family, because it is the family that ensures our survival. The better we conform to its rules and expectations, the greater our chances of closeness and acceptance from those on whom we are completely dependent – first caregivers, then teachers, and eventually other important people.
As children, we don’t notice the beliefs or behaviour patterns that surround us – they are like air to us. And even if we begin to notice them, we can’t get away from them without suffering serious emotional and relational consequences.
Sometimes many years pass before we realise that the pain we carry is not our own – that it echoes the experiences of our mother, grandfather, or perhaps multiple generations. These unspoken stories and loyalties are coded in our bodies – in tensions, in illnesses, in the immune system. They manifest in the need for control, in chronic guilt or shame, or relational issues.
During this retreat, we will open up space inviting you to look at the patterns you carry – patterns which may not be yours at all. It’s an invitation to discover the “scaffolding” formed in childhood, and around which – often unconsciously – you build your identity.
What is the benefit of discovering patterns?
Family beliefs and behavioral patterns permeate our lives – they are like an inherited internal architecture. We adopt them involuntarily, like a sponge soaking up water, not realising that we are looking at the world through a lens tinted by our family, our “tribe,” our national culture. We don’t know nothing of it till we bump against themas if we bumped into an invisible, perfectly polished glass door.
Patterns that once gave us a sense of security can, in adulthood, become a source of internal conflict, discomfort, suffering. Some remain hidden under a layer of shame, others express themselves through tension, avoidance, withdrawal or over-adjustment
Naming them is the first step to let go of them. Because we are most affected by what is unconscious and unnamed.
What you will get by participating :
- you will learn to identify beliefs,
- you will learn steps to help you get in touch with your inner compass in IFS called SELF energy which carries qualities such as clarity peace creativity presence courage or assertiveness,
- you will gain a deeper trust in your own Self and ancestral energies,
- you will leave with a deeper understanding of your emotional landscape, you will learn practices for healing your ancestral lineage,
- you will master methods to safely transform intergenerational patterns and reclaim the gifts of your lineage,
- you will learn how to support clients in identifying and freeing themselves from similar patterns.
What forms of work and experience you can expect during the workshop:
- didactic elements – introduction to key concepts and the IFS approach,
- demonstrations of therapeutic work in the Inner Family System (IFS) therapeutic work,
- sculpting – a group process based on an individual case brought by the participant, with the participation of volunteers from the group,
- guided meditation and visualisation,
- exercises in pairs and small groups,
- space for personal reflection,
- sharing experiences and integrating together in a circle,
- a bonfire – as a symbolic moment of saying goodbye to old patterns and beliefs
Additionally:
- evening tour of Kazimierz with a guide
- a visit to the Jewish cemetery
- for those interested: morning yoga, breathing exercises, meditation, swimming in the pool, sauna.
Why take part?
During the workshop, we will look at how family, culture, society and national heritage shape our internal architecture – and how they influence the formation of beliefs that can limit us.
We’ll stop at the beliefs we carry: we’ll see what beautiful things they’ve brought us, as well as the costs they entail. We will name the losses and allow ourselves to mourn them.
We will go through the process of releasing those beliefs that no longer support us – with the support of Self energy, group community and symbolically fire.
We will invite the qualities we have lost access to by adopting the beliefs of our ancestors, opening ourselves to a stronger connection with our potential.
This experience can become an opportunity for moving, authentic encounters with others – with people who are also seeking greater clarity, lightness and inner freedom in their lives.
Meet the presenter
Marushka Glissen is a licensed couples therapist, clinical consultant and supervisor at the IFS Institute.
She has worked as a therapist at the Newton Center, Massachussets for 25 years.
She works with adults, adolescents and couples. She provides bereavement therapy. She integrates IFS with hypnotherapy. She is interested in intergenerational relationships and the inheritance of trauma. For years, as part of the Zen Peacemakers order, she has been holding grief circles around the world especially for Native and local populations and The First Nations and societies emerging out of war. Years of meditation are a resource Marushka draws upon when holding space
Privately she is a happy wife, mother of two sons and grandmother
Marushka talks about the workshops:
Meet the co-leaders:
Mary Kruger
Psychologist, licensed couples and family therapist (LMFT), supervisor at IFS Institute. Founder of Rimmon Pond Counselling New Haven, Connecticut. She specialises in working with addiction, trauma and eating disorders. She has over 35 years of experience in individual and group therapy. She has visited Poland twice conducting workshops on working with groups and intergenerational burdens.
Mary is a radiant soul, in love with life and cats. The temperament inherited from her Italian ancestors can be seen in her energy and openness to people.
Magdalena Dzięgielewska
Certified psychodrama therapist, IFS certified practitioner, Familylab trainer, experienced educator and didact, Hispanist. In her work she integrates various humanistic therapeutic currents – psychodrama, Internal Family Systems somatic experiencing, focusing, brainspotting. She completed Level I and II training at the Psychodrama Institute für Europe, and is a graduate of the Faculty of Neophilology at the Adam Mickiewicz University in Poznan and the Postgraduate Study of Didactics. She has completed the certification training for trainers of Familylab Poland, level I and II of the IFS therapy training path, Intro Somatic Experiencing training, and Brainspotting level I training.
Gabriela Papuzińska-Gerlee
Justyna Dermont-Owsińska
Where?
The workshop will be held in Kazimierz Dolny – a unique place where life slows down inviting inner calm, reflection and facilitating deep inner work. This charming town on the banks of Vistula River in eastern Poland, surrounded by hills and loess ravines, attracts people seeking peace, contact with nature and connection with the world within. History, art and nature intertwine to create a unique atmosphere.
“Gołębnik” – Your place of silence, calm and closeness to nature.
Take a pause, allow yourself to feel your breath. Listen to birds chirping, to trees rustling in the wind and the soothing current of the Vistula River. In “Gołębnik pod Kazimierzem” something more than just a lodge awaits you – It is a place where time slows down and every minute can be savoured , every movement becomes meaningful, and nature supports your healing process.
The venue offers:
- atmospheric cottages and rooms decorated with natural materials
- an ecological swimming pool,- ideal for silent immersions.
- a sauna, which supports the process of cleansing the body, and the soul
- morning sessions of gentle yoga and breath work
- space for relaxation: hammocks, deck chairs, a fireplace and terraces with serene views
- a healthy, seasonal cuisine based on local products
Explore the charming Gołębnik venue:
Logistical information:
📅 Date October 2-5
Venue: Gołębnik, Kazimierz-nad Wisłą
Preliminary workshop schedule:
Thursday:
14.00- 14.30- registration
14.30 – lunch
16.00 – 17.30 – group warm-up
17.30 – 17.45 – coffee break
17.45 – 19.00 – workshops
19.00 – dinner
20.00 – 21.00 – evening city tour
21.00 – 21.30 – meditation and breath work in a secret place
Friday:
8.00 – yoga
9.00 – breakfast
10.00 -11.30 – workshop
11.30 – 12.00 – coffee break
12.00 – 13.30 – workshop
13.30 – 14.30 – lunch
14.30 – 16.00 – workshop
16.00 – 16.30 – coffee break
16.30 – 18.30 – visiting the historic Jewish cemetery and heeling circle under the trees
19.00 – supper
20.00 – sauna and integration by the bonfire
Saturday:
8.00 – yoga
9.00 – breakfast
10.00 -11.30 – workshops
11.30 – 12.00 – coffee break
12.00 – 13.30 – workshop
13.30 – 14.30 – lunch
14.30 – 16.00 – workshop
16.00 – 16.30 – coffee break
16.30 – 18.30 – workshop/outdoor activity
19.00 – dinner
20.00 – meditation and breath work
21.00 – integration by the campfire
Sunday:
8.00 – yoga
9.00 – breakfast
10.00 – 11.30 – workshop
11.30 – 12.00 – coffee break
12.00 – 13.30 – integration circle
13.30 – lunch
14.00 – 15.00 – time to say goodbye
Certificate: Each participant, participant will receive a certificate of completion of the training
Price: 4000 PLN
The price includes the total cost of the workshop, additional activities (yoga, meditation, TRE, city and cemetery tours), accomodation, full board (breakfast, lunch, dinner and coffeebreaks).
Number of places: 30
Mindfulnvc Foundation http://www.mindfulnvc.pl/
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