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"I thought the Saturday afternoon session was especially effective. The group energy was strong, and the sharing was powerful. The facilitator's choices of material and patient facilitation allowed this to happen." "Thank you so much for all of your hard work, not to mention your patience and good humor. The retreat went well, and I hope you enjoyed it as much as we did. I'm still digesting all the great material you shared with us - a sign of a productive weekend!" "Cool videos. Depth of background re: scriptural/theological concepts. Sense of humor. Not afraid to share and be vulnerable." "Continuing support for the journey – company of kindred spirits." "Thoughts of creativity/spirituality belonging to everyone... my reactions to very stimulating prompts, films, etc. Speaker depth!!" "I found most helpful Kim's broad knowledge of the topic and her ability or openness to inviting the participants to be open to express the individual views or questions. I enjoyed the film by DeWitt Jones and the previous one on the ice sculpture." Participant comments from the Shadybrook retreat on Creativity and Spirituality
"This topic provided a wonderful vehicle for individual introspection while reminding us of the common threads that unite the souls of women. A successful event indeed given the positive energy shared and comments received." Barbara Saifman Co-Chair, Women's Fellowship Comments from "Quilts in Women's Lives"
"Thank you for a fun, no pressure, but stimulating retreat. I truly enjoyed 'The Sacred in Poetry'. Your choice of poems went from very thought provoking to fun. It was a good call on your part to let volunteers read many of the poems, but your reading of Mary Oliver's poems was awesome. Thanks for a getaway for my spirit and my mind." Jean Grady Comments from "Listening to the Sacred in Poetry"
"We have received many compliments and thank-you's for your talk. It's so nice to put on an event for our parish and have it be received so well. Thank you, again, for your expertise and good humor. It made for a delightful afternoon." Betty Jane Cogar St. Elizabeth Ann Seton Parish
"Your program 2 weeks ago was amazing, and I have a new appreciation for poetry. You are blessed with a wonderful gift!"
Isabel Kinsley Comments from "Listening to the Sacred in Poetry"
"Your presentation was great!! I never really took time to look at poetry much and certainly not much adult poetry! I really came away with a greater under-standing. Now I feel that I could read it without being overwhelmed and walking away mystified! Thanks! You’re the best! Marilyn Miller, Librarian
"I must tell you that I deeply enjoyed the experience with our 'Sacred in Poetry' workshop. I have seen many others in our church since the workshop and we all came away inspired. Thank you for your passion and desire to share!"
Susan Kent Comments from "Listening to the Sacred in Poetry"
"The material that you presented for the United Church of Christ retreat on 'The Sacred in Poetry' was wonderful and you made everything seem so simple. I am so glad that I was able to take part. " Bernie Ogan Comments from "Listening to the Sacred in Poetry"
Information presented helps me with ideas on how I need to reconnect with what I do as a life's work of passion. Reaffirming and encouraging. Uplifting! A little freshening of the attitude...the video was great! Trainer is competent on the topic, high energy, and values class input. Trainer is very transparent and knowledgeable about the subject she presents. Comments from "Finding Meaning While Making a Living"
"Thanks so much for an inspirational talk on making Christmas more spiritual with your family. I really enjoyed it!! I learned some easy and meaningful ways to bring The Reasons for the Season closer to our family. I will try to incorporate the following things I learned: adding straw to the manger for acts of kindness, buying some more spiritual Christmas books AND I already got the religious advent calendar!"
Jean McNamara Comments from "Advent Customs and Spirituality"
Thanks for facilitating such a unique program. Your approach of incorporating quilting into a morning of reflection was perfect! I found myself totally absorbed through your combination of inspirational quotes, film, discussion topics and activities. My one "regret" is that you have added to my "to do list" with your terrific ideas for some inspiring reading. I can't wait to get these books!!! Thank you again for a morning filled with laughter, reflection, meditation and stitching. Can't wait for the sequel!
Cathy Flament Comment from "Quilts in Women's Lives"
Excellent presentation on Women in Scripture, Women Like Us. The response from the women in the parish was overwhelmingly positive, and we hope to have you back again in the future. Jean Smith, St. Clement's Parish Council Comment from "Women in Scripture, Women Like Us"
Thank you again for speaking at St. Clement church, and for such an uplifting overview of Women in Scripture. I thoroughly enjoyed myself, and am eager to read more about these powerful women. Mary Miranda Comment from "Women in Scripture, Women Like Us"
I always find these programs very enriching. She creates an environment for reflection, humor, truthfulness and creativity--elements that are so often lacking in our lives! Emily Hoeltl-Hoag Comment from "Quilts in Women's Lives"
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If you are looking for more meaning and creativity in life either for yourself or your group, LifeBalance Enterprises can help bring that to you. Kim Langley, president of LifeBalance Enterprises, presents 100-150 programs each year to church groups, educators, parent groups, helping professionals, and businesses. She is a certified Pastoral Minister with the Diocese of Cleveland, and has many years of experience presenting spiritual and creative educational programs and retreats.
Below is a list of programs that can be delivered to your company, along with descriptions of each.
Available Programs
Retreats and Spiritual Growth Opportunities Stress Management for the Spiritually Awake Moving your Marriage from Ordinary to Extraordinary Soulful Work: Finding Meaning While Making a Living A Day for Helping Professionals (health care, education, social/civic workers etc.) Spirituality of Parenting (or Mothering only) The Spirituality and Science of Optimism Listening to the Sacred Through Poetry Women in Scripture, Women Like Us Paying Attention to the Still Small Voice of God: Meditation for Anybody and Everybody Less Is More: Raising a Thinking Child in a Consumer Society SEASONAL PROGRAMS Discover the Holy in Holidays & Family Festivals At the end of the holidays do you feel, at times, as if you’ve overlooked the important messages of the Advent, Christmas, Lenten, and Easter seasons because you were so busy trying to fit it all in? From time to time, do family celebrations feel like one more thing to include in your hectic schedule? If you answered yes or sometimes to either of these questions, have we got terrific programs for you and your MOMS group! The three programs discussed below, will enlighten and inspire you and yours to re-discover the holy during the holidays, give you permission to savor the simple joys of these blessed seasons, and create easy, meaningful traditions you and your children will share, celebrate, and remember for many years. The activities and rituals we share during these sessions are simple and easy to do - Martha Stewart skills and gifts are not required! Dates for these seasonal two-hour programs are limited, so please, book your program in advance. Bookings may be made up to one year in advance. The best time to host these programs is one to two months before the holiday so participants can embrace the ideas that are shared and can celebrate them during the season. For more detailed descriptions, email your questions to kimlangley10 at sbcglobal.net or call Kim at (216) 226-3351. Spirituality of Advent and Christmas Customs Spirituality of Lenten and Easter Customs
Retreats and Spiritual Growth Opportunities Evening only, half day or full day. The experience may include some or many of the following activities, and can be customized for volunteers, a women's club gathering, the professional staff, married couples, singles, teachers, or other groups. Journaling, Guided imagery, Silence, Music, Prayer, Nature walks, Sharing, Stories, Presentations, Slides, Visual Meditation, Body prayer, Self study, Art
Stress Management for the Spiritually Awake This seminar offers you practical tools for building a more satisfying personal and professional life, with scripture and prayer addressing the theme of hope and the spirit of reflection. No one can live a stress-free life, but when faithfully practiced, the skills gleaned from this seminar can result in increased health, fulfillment, and clarity of purpose. At the end of the experience, participants will be able to • identify their main stress symptoms and effective techniques for relieving them • describe 5 "quick fix" stress buster methods • demonstrate 3 minute energy builders • fill the "energy bank" • experience the benefits of guided imagery and affirmations • recognize the difference between tough times and real addiction to stress or work • evaluate personal tendencies to react with positive or negative "self-talk" • set goals in a personal plan to reduce stress • describe 5 proven long term stress reduction skills • evaluate their risk for stress exhaustion • continue their learning beyond the day with excellent print and audio and video resources that they have sampled in the workshop.
Moving your Marriage from Ordinary to Extraordinary This ten-hour program is fun, interactive, lively and practical. Most couples have "their moments," so this program offers a blueprint for handling conflict constructively, communicating more positively and to the point, and breaking free from relationship ruts. Couples practice new skills together in private. They find that not only does their relationship benefit, but the entire family's as well as the couple's communication. "Moving your Marriage from Ordinary to Extraordinary merges the best of behavioral and spiritual interventions," says presenter, Kim Langley. "It's a wonderful program to bring to your place of worship to enrich family life."
Stress-Less Holidays The holidays can be a joyful time, and they can also bring stress, complicated family relationships, and many extra household tasks. In this seminar, we will step back from all the excitement and look at our options, making a plan for holiday celebrations that feel do-able, and also addressing prevention for the post holiday blues. Participants will identify sources of holiday stress, and consider how to best manage their time, relatives, gift giving and finances.
Living with Personal Passion
A day of mindfulness that is a gift of remembering
that each of us is a human being, not a "human doing". Cultivating a habit of
focused attention reduces stress, and is an important life habit for busy
people. Take time to prayerfully assess yourself as a
Spirituality and Creativity Many of us mistakenly apply creativity only to the work of fine or performing artists. You will be inspired to rethink the possibility of creativity in the unique circumstances of your own life. The voice of the inner critic that holds us back from pursuing new ideas, callings, or ways of being in the world can be quieted! God's creative energy flows through us, and blesses the world through us. God longs for our creative energy to flow freely, perhaps more than we know. The day will include inspiring video clips from Creativity: Touching the Divine which features Madeleine L'Engle, Thomas Moore and others, as well as an awe inspiring look at Everyday Creativity with National Geographic photographer DeWitt Jones. There will be presentation, discussion, journaling, prayer, and quiet. It's an unforgettable day. >Click here< to view photos from a recent retreat!
Soulful Work: Finding Meaning While Making a Living We spend more time in the workplace than we do with our families, out in the natural world, or in our places of worship. What do I celebrate in my work? How different are work and play? Can I make my work more fun? Drawing on respected authors including Thomas Moore, Marsha Sinetar, and David Whyte we will enjoy the humorous and the serious sides of bringing home the bacon, and get a better perspective on work.
Living With Simple Abundance Living more simply is a powerful goal. In this gathering you will enjoy lively discussion, prayerful discernment, and practical ideas as we wrestle with creating a "slowed down" lifestyle. Using a short film called Affluenza (aired on PBS) we'll take a hilarious look at how the credo "bigger, better faster" drives so many of our unconscious choices. Then we will experience mentoring from a Christian role model for a more deliberate and simple life, to see what wisdom we can glean from her life, that is useful for ourselves. This retreat day has been a joyful wake-up call to many, and can be a real life-changer.
A Day for Helping Professionals (health care, education, social/civic workers etc.) This day is a gift for those who need to be reminded at times that the self also deserves time away and self-care. Using visuals, story, journaling, and quiet time to achieve renewal of the spirit, we will look at the cycle of seasons to explore the question "What season is it in your life just now?". What spiritual time of year -- Spring, Summer, Fall or Winter -- is unfolding in you just now?
Spirituality of Parenting (or Mothering only) Using stories and quotes both humorous and thought-provoking, this retreat marshals the wit and wisdom of those who have undertaken the task of parenting, and helps us to learn from the gurus! We'll take the time to get in touch with our own inner wisdom about partnering with God in the co-creation of good children. We'll hope to go away remembering why becoming parents seemed like such a good idea, and with our energy restored to reenter the fray. Parenting in a spiritual family (single parent, step-family, traditional, two career) means finding a love for "holy chaos". This retreat time will celebrate that greatest of all growth opportunities: working at being a Mom or Dad!
The Spirituality and Science of Optimism This is not just pop psychology, but a life-changing guide grounded in extensive clinical research and the re-claiming of Christian Hope. It is spirituality so practical for increased joy at work and at home that it "grabs you by the lapels"! Studies show that optimists are less likely not to talk themselves out of their own creative ideas, bounce back better from adversity, and boost their own moods as well as their immune systems. A key learning point will be recognizing the habitual way you talk to yourself. We will engage prayer, journaling, and some inspiring figures in scripture to help us to see positive change in our interior dialogues, as well as experience astonishing positive results that can influence everything from your work success, to your self esteem, and even your ability to stick to your concrete and spiritual goals. SEASONAL PROGRAMS
Listening to the Sacred Through Poetry Participants together explore the themes of Wonder, Refreshment, Longing and Redemption through the power of poetry by Hopkins, Rilke, Dickenson, Yeats, Oliver and some not-so-famous voices as well. Absolutely no experience with poetry is necessary, and you will not be asked to write poetry. You will (as past participants have said in their comments on the experience) "Find a kinship with poets I had no idea about", "see how poems are food for journaling and prayer in a new way", "recognize and integrate little known parts of myself", "see God in poetry in a fresh, passionate way with Kim's help". As Williams Carlos Williams has said, "It is difficult/ to get the news from poems/ yet men die miserably every day/ for lack of what is found there."
Quilts in Women's Lives Women have always known how to piece and stitch, cut and join, mend and imagine. We'll hear the voices of women quilters past and present, as we discover our own ways of patterning our life quilts. This art form has been a means of self expression for our mothers and grandmothers--what of ourselves can we discover in the making? No quilting experience is necessary. We will explore quilts as a metaphor for personal growth and an aid to connecting with generations of women who understood better than many of us do how to "sit and take time" for centering activity. Portions of excellent films on quilting add texture to the day.
Blessed by Lady Wisdom Lady Wisdom's powerful presence is waiting in the Scriptures to be discovered by us. Many women are yet to be introduced to this feminine image in the Hebrew Scriptures (Old Testament) and meet it with true delight. Praying with this model of God's playful, abundant, and creative spirit unlocks a special energy in women. Through the Word, activities, music and sharing, we can bring ourselves into her womanly care.
Women in Scripture, Women Like Us Reflecting on our own lives through joyful meetings with women in the Hebrew and Christian Scriptures finds us face to face with the moving stories of Sarah, Hannah, two headstrong midwives, an ideal wife, Mary Magdelene, Priscilla, a woman bent double, a widow of Nain, and a woman suffering chronic illness. Time together and time alone, journaling, slides, music and prayer create a rich experience through which these women can make their mark on our lives. These are flesh and blood companions for our journey.
A Mothers' Tea Celebrate the vocation of motherhood and the vitality of womanhood with a morning or evening of recollection accompanied by a Victorian tea. We'll reflect together on the spiritual opportunity and challenge that is mothering, while enjoying light refreshments, beautifully served. Can be accompanied by a special May Day (including a maypole) celebration if scheduled during the month of May!
Paying Attention to the Still Small Voice of God: Meditation for Anybody and Everybody This day (or overnight) retreat introduces to participants many different ways of being still, to "know that I am God". We will experience visual meditation, guided imagery and prayer, journaling, a brief silent, sitting meditation, use readings as a springboard for group meditation, and share the challenges and joys of making time to listen to the quiet with God. The most telling comments made by past participants are "I didn't think I'd like this, but I came anyway and loved it!" "I thought I'd be bored, or not disciplined enough to meditate, but I see now that there are many kinds of meditation and I can find a way to be quiet that fits me." How about you? Come for the experience, or just to get connected, and meet yourself again! -- How can I focus my flickering, perceive/at the fountain's heart/the sapphire I know is there? From "Flickering Mind" by Denise Levertov.
Less Is More: Raising a Thinking Child in a Consumer Society Spend an enjoyable and thought-provoking session wrestling honestly with the issue of how much stuff is enough, and how to help our kids to think critically about the consumer culture we live in. Did you know that one study showed that the average American child receives in excess of 500 toys before the age of 5 - that’s 100 per year of the child’s life! And if that doesn’t alarm you, learn practical, workable strategies for helping kids to sort through television advertisers who are spending increasingly more money on advertising aimed at the 2-10 age group. No guilt trips allowed, just honest talk about a tough issue that will help you, and the grandparents and doting aunts and uncles in your child’s life!
Spirituality of Advent and Christmas Customs Take time to prepare for the celebration of the season with emphasis on the church of the home. Parents will come away prepared to deepen the spiritual practice of their "Domestic church". Renewed excitement for our customs and traditions are the key to this experience. Participants will enjoy finding many “do-able” and inexpensive ideas for reclaiming the holiness of the season for their families and children. If time permits, "make and take" projects are fun to do, and send you off with a head start on the season. Prayer, art slides, and handouts loaded with ideas for keeping the Advent spirit going make this a consistently requested program.
Spirituality of Lenten and Easter Customs Lent and Easter are gifts from the church to busy, busy us. You can reclaim the time-honored traditions of this season centered on growth and joy and bring them into your home in a new way. Participants will discover the spirit of Lent in themselves through prayer, story, printed resources and journaling time. Let the Lenten spirit take root through simple home celebrations. What greater gift can you give to your family than the affirmation that taking time to reflect, rejuvenate, and rediscover the gifts God has provided is an important part of their lives in faith? If time permits, make and take projects add fun to the day and can easily be replicated at home.
Celebrating Family Festivals What is the faith "climate" in your home? Have treasured childhood traditions fallen to the wayside? Do you have happy memories of a heart shaped cake at Valentine's day, prayer at meals, picking apples in the fall or 4th of July fun? Do you remember the fun of simple Birthday parties or a yearly blessing of the animals with you and your pet? Many wholesome, common practices can be used to kindle faith in your home by making them part of the practice of your "Domestic Church". The "church of the home" has been honored by Christians since the earliest days of our faith. Join us as we rediscover this tradition and learn quick, easy, and inexpensive ways to use the cycle of seasons and year round holidays to pray with kids in ways that are fun and easily fit into your daily routines as they share and strengthen your family’s deepest values. Using stories, books, simple traditions, a blessing cup, ritual foods like that Birthday cake - yes, store bought cup cakes count! - stories, heroes and heroines, St. Valentine, St. Nicholas, St. Bridgid - we can reclaim the customs that our grandparents knew and loved, as we re-learn our own heritage and Christian symbols. Kim makes it easy, and provides resources and ideas for simple family celebrations that will become part of your family's life. This is spirituality that gets into the children's bones, and they won't even know it's good for them! Make this session more far reaching by inviting Grandparents or Godparents too, if desired!
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LifeBalance
Enterprises, Inc. | Kim A. Langley M.Ed. | 1599 Lakeland Avenue | Lakewood,
OH 44107 | (216) 226-3351 |
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Photographs © by Carole Calladine (440-895-9572) |
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