A Mini Weekend Retreat: Working with the Inner Critic
Four gatherings. Four different ways into the practice.
Time & Location
Oct 02, 2026, 6:00 PM MDT – Oct 05, 2026, 6:30 PM MDT
Zoom
About the event
A Mini Weekend Retreat: Working with the Inner Critic
Four gatherings. Four different ways into the practice.
Live, Online.
Oct. 2-5, 2026
$100
The mind often believes self-criticism is helping. It thinks, "If I scare you enough, push you enough, point out what's wrong quickly enough, maybe you'll do better. Maybe you'll be okay."
But when we slow down and experience what that strategy actually does to the body - the fear, tension, panic, confusion, and pain - the mind gets new information.
It can begin to see: This isn't helping the way I thought it was. That direct experience creates the possibility for something different.
Not getting rid of the mind. Not fighting the inner critic. We help the mind discover a kinder, and often far more effective, way of meeting fear that doesn't require turning against yourself. It is possible to bring the mind and body into partnership. Presence, clarity, and wisdom are accessible in that space.
Learn to recognize the moment you turn against yourself and practice another way of meeting what's here. The goal isn't to stop self-critical thoughts. It's to change your relationship with the part of your mind that believes it needs them.
The Weekend
FRIDAY · 6:00–7:00 PM MDT
Bad Art
We’ll begin by getting out of our heads. No talent required. No making something beautiful. Just creating badly, loosening perfectionism, and noticing what happens when there’s nothing to get right. All you need is a sharpie and some markers, crayons, or watercolors. Arrive as you are, leave feeling more grounded.
SATURDAY · 8:00–10:30 AM MDT
Body-Based Inquiry Workshop
Bring one real situation where self-criticism shows up. We’ll slow it down, meet its impact in the body, and use Body-Based Inquiry to explore what becomes possible when we stop automatically believing or fighting the mind.
Optional partner inquiry included.
SUNDAY · 8:00–10:30 AM MDT
The Sunday Landing
Movement, breath, meditation, and inquiry focused on the practice of staying on your own side - even when you’ve made a mistake, disappointed someone, fallen short, or simply don’t like what you’re feeling.
Optional partner inquiry included.
MONDAY · 6:00–7:00 PM MDT
Meditation + Closing
A quiet closing practice to integrate the weekend and identify what you want to carry with you.
In this mini-retreat, you’ll learn how to:
Work with stress and emotion in real time
Stay in your body instead of getting pulled into reactivity
Build the capacity to feel without overwhelm
Let patterns shift through the body, not just the mind
What makes this different
Most approaches stay in the mind. They help you understand your patterns, but not necessarily change how they live in the body.
Body-Based Inquiry includes the body as a primary part of the process.
When the body is included:
The nervous system begins to settle
Stored tension can release
Old reactions lose their intensity
Insight becomes something you feel—not just something you know
What we’ll do together
This workshop is experiential and gently guided. You won’t be put on the spot. There’s nothing to perform or explain. You’ll be supported step by step as we move through:
Body-Based Inquiry
Working with a real, current stress through sensation instead of story
Somatic Movement
Movement to support the body to complete the cycle of what it's been holding
Guided Meditation
Building the capacity to stay with what’s here
Regulated Breathing
Using breath to support safety and integration
Shared Space
A grounded environment where you can simply be as you are
This is for you if
You’re highly self-aware but still reactive in key moments
You’ve done therapy, coaching, or inquiry, but something hasn’t fully shifted
You notice yourself overriding or rushing past what you feel
You’re tired of living “in your head”
You want a more direct, embodied way to move through stress and self-judgment
No prior experience is needed.