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May 6 - 8, 2022

OMO WOMEN'S RETREAT
-Weekend Getaway-

Thank you for a wonderful weekend!

Below you'll find books, talks, and other multimedia materials related to our retreat topics.
​We hope these spur you to focus on your health and wellness .

See No Stranger
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Did you miss the conversation?? Visit our Conversation with Valarie Kaur page to watch. 
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How do we love in a time of rage?
How do we fix a broken world while not breaking ourselves?

​ Valarie Kaur—renowned Sikh activist, filmmaker, and civil rights lawyer—describes revolutionary love as the call of our time, a radical, joyful practice that extends in three directions: to others, to our opponents, and to ourselves. It enjoins us to see no stranger but instead look at others and say: You are part of me I do not yet know. Starting from that place of wonder, the world begins to change: It is a practice that can transform a relationship, a community, a culture, even a nation. (Goodreads)

The HC Library purchased additional paper, digital, and audio copies of this book just for OMO! Request the title here to receive as soon as the new copies come in.

See No Stranger online Book Discussion May 11 at 7:00pm
OMO will be hosting our second book group on See No Stranger which will explore the book in greater depth (while still leaving plenty of room for discussion at the retreat). Register through Eventbrite for reminders or visit the homepage on May 11 for the Zoom link. 

Resources from the weekend:

Adding to Your Self-Care Toolkit
  • App recommendations and a video about tapping can be found on our Whole Self/Community Wellness page from Corinne's Scorpion Speaker Series presentation. 
  • Breathing Techniques: box breathing (breath in, hold, breath out, hold), slide breathing (picture a slide, short breaths in, long exhalation)
  • Connect to your senses: 5 things you can see, 4 things you can feel, three things you can hear, two things you can smell, one thing you can taste. Consider this as you decide what to put in the spaces around you, whether at home, work, or in your car, what can you have near you that brings you calmness.

Changes to Our Bodies as We Age

Women and Community:
Reclaiming Our Health, Our Voice, and Our Power

Remember: everything is optional; you can do as much or as little as you desire.
You are in charge of you!

Visit our main retreat page for more details about the retreat and the retreat center or email us with any specific questions.


Friday, May 6, 2022 ​​
Check-in beginning at 3pm
  • Independent exploration of the retreat center, walking paths, and grounds (313 acres!)
  • 6pm Dinner and getting to know each other
  • Gathering as a whole group to set intentions 
  • Starry Night Walking Meditation 
  • Adding to Your Self-Care Toolkit: stress relieving activities that can be done in 30 seconds to 30 minutes with Corinne, Psychotherapist

Saturday, May 7, 2022 ​​
  • Sunrise Exercise: Body Weight Circuit Training with Jenny, Physical Therapist
  • 8am Breakfast and connecting conversation
  • Whole Group Gathering: Self Care Discussion and Activity
  • Workshop 1: Changes to Our Reproductive System as We Age: preparing for perimenopause with Dr. Kimberly Turner
  • Workshop 2: Presence, Pleasure, and Peace: Turned On and Tuned In to Our Lives, Our Communities, and Our World with Rebecca, Educator
  • 12pm Lunch
  • Workshop 3: Meditative Creative Pattern Art with Jenn, Art Teacher
  • Afternoon Exercise: Pelvic Floor and Core Strengthening with Jenny, Physical Therapist
  • Labyrinth Walk and Enso Circles
  • Independent Time
  • 6pm Dinner
  • Whole Group Gathering: Featured Book Discussion of See No Stranger by Valarie Kaur
  • Evening Exhalation: relax in conversation or rest as you need

Sunday, May 8, 2022 ​​
  • Sunrise Yoga with Carla S, certified Yoga instructor
  • 8am Breakfast 
  • Whole Group Gathering: Reflect and Incorporate Ideas from the Weekend
  • Check out of room
  • 12pm Lunch
  • Departure or Independent Time outdoors for those who wish to stay at the retreat center
Attendees are expected to leave the retreat center by 5pm
How Are You?
An excerpt from Mama Gena's Blog
How are you?
It’s the simplest of questions.
A typical greeting.
A form of “hello”.
But if you’re anything like me – raw, shaken, uplifted, forever changed, grief and gratitude-soaked after an unprecedented year – that question has felt heavier lately, more loaded. It was almost a year ago now, that I was diagnosed with Covid, and my whole world flipped upside down and sideways.  
2020 took a toll on every single one of us. 
We went from thinking we knew who and what we were – living out loud and in good company – to lurking alone behind closed doors. Isolation became a full blown survival tactic. 
We hid out, and hunkered down, and watched the cracks in our system, and our lives, grow deeper.
Truth?
As women, it wasn’t a toll we were unfamiliar with. 
Feeling alone, unsupported, at odds with ourselves and the world – these things are not new.
Women are used to a certain level of shutdown. Living inside a patriarchal world culture that denies our feminine gifts, turns us inside out, upside down, and against one another. ​
When we started OMO in March 2020, Amy began every session with a check-in. As Mama Gena describes, a simple How are you? was so much more, especially during those early days of uncertainty. With the world in tumult, children and adults were willing to be vulnerable enough to say "I'm exhausted/sad/scared/happy/well-rested" (more on this in our 2020 Year in Review). We continue to start our sessions with a check-in, but as we "get back to normal" more people just answer Fine.

Are you honest when someone who truly cares asks you this question? Are you honest with yourself? What are the risks of being real?
Lizzo: The Black History of Twerking--and How It Taught Me Self-love
Lizzo's TED Talk on twerking covers more than the history of the movement. She shares how twerking connects her to her body, to her ancestors, and to other women out in the world. If you're short on time, start at minute 10:35, cursing involved.
Even more from TED:
These sessions can also be enjoyed as podcasts, just search your preferred podcast app by title or speaker.
Recommended Reads
Non-fiction
Mama Gena's School of Womanly Arts and Pussy: A Reclamation by Regena Thomashauer: help you connect with the feminine and get empowered. Mama Gena's website 
Pleasure Activism by adrienne maree brown

Fun Reads
Get a Life, Chloe Brown by Talia Hibbert: diverse, funny, spicy rom-com with characters who normalize dealing with their mental and physical health needs
​From Facebook: Rebecca Cooper, Author
"Remember your grandmommas? They showed up on door steps with casseroles and side dishes and they stood at sinks that weren’t theirs and they washed dishes.
They stood in gaps.
Remember your momma? The same casserole she made a thousand times in her kitchen? She would let you stir and you would chat and now you know that recipe backwards and forwards. It would sit on your lap in the car - the heat radiating down your legs. She would drop it off and come back to the car and - that was her - standing in a gap.
I need you to remember that we need to do that, too. “Let me know if you need anything,” is not sufficient. Show up. Get your hands dirty.
Stand in a gap.
And if you live far away, send a gift card. Or send plastic plates and forks via Amazon.
If your neighbor is experiencing a loss, or a new neighbor is moving in, or if a neighbor lost a job or a baby or a husband -  stand in the gap.
This is how we walk each other back home."
TikTok
You do not have to sacrifice yourself in order to receive love. @katiemckennatherapist says that when you're used to putting others' needs first, the opposite of that isn't to put yourself first, but to say "Me, too".  https://vm.tiktok.com/ZM8pE37GX/

Beautiful Scars @lindyenglish says that the things that became our scars is what makes us so beautiful vm.tiktok.com/ZM8pouC9G/

Women are the superior sex says @dontcrossagayman, dealing with all they deal with from puberty on, with the "reward" of years of periods being menopause, all while "maintaining her beauty standards but of course not too beautiful because then she's dumb" vm.tiktok.com/ZM8poCj3a/


NPR's LifeKit (listen or read)
How to Stop Being Self-Critical and Silence Negative Self Talk: Would I talk to my best friend this way?
​

Diet Culture is Everywhere, Here's How to Fight It: "We're often taught to see our bodies from a deficit model. Like, what doesn't it do? What isn't it getting me? And I encourage people to kind of flip that on its head. You know, regardless of your ability level, your body is absolutely doing rad stuff." - Virgie Tovar, author and public speaker on befriending your body 

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  • Home
  • Youth Programming
    • Scorpion Speaker Series
    • OMO Recommends... >
      • Black History Month
      • Disabilities Awareness Month
      • Whole Self/Community Wellness
      • Hispanic Heritage Month
    • Children's Book Recommendations
    • Spanish Club
    • Let's Talk Books with Ms Chris
    • Resources >
      • Schooling at Home Resources
      • Student Support
      • Summer Family Fun Ideas
  • OMO Retreats
    • 2024 Women's Weekend Retreat
    • Women's Renewal Retreat 2023
    • Women's Restorative Retreat 2022
    • Educators' Retreat
    • Women's Retreat 2021
  • Evening Sessions
    • Book Groups >
      • Book Talks & Book Studies
      • Revolutionary Love Project >
        • Conversation with Valarie Kaur
      • Author Hena Khan
      • Drawing with Kazu Kibuishi
      • Harry Potter
    • The 1619 Project
    • Education Forums
    • Caste Study Group
    • REACH
    • Maryland Legislation
    • Mass Incarceration Forum
    • Redistricting Forum
    • Mindfulness with Rebecca Beall
    • Voting Information Resources
  • About Us
    • Meet the OMO Team
    • Partners >
      • Chasing Childhood Film
      • HCLS Sessions >
        • Children's Book Recommendations
    • Financial Transparency
    • Sessions by Subject >
      • Journaling
      • Social Activism
      • Covid-19 Related Sessions
      • Yoga/Exercise
      • English/Social Studies >
        • Eva Schloss
      • Math/Science >
        • Puberty Ed
        • Gardening
      • Languages/Cultures >
        • Hispanic Heritage Month
        • Learn Vietnamese
      • Creative Arts
      • Freaky Fridays
    • Recordings