Sunday, September 19, 2010

Weekend Retreat -- Guide Camp with a Difference

The Women's Wellness Weekend retreat was led by EFT guru Sheryl Stanton. Camp Kanaka belongs to Girls Guides of Canada. Memories of my days as a Pathfinder Guider began to surface as soon as I drove through the gate with the trefoil sign.

Each bedroom at the lodge is designed to sleep up to eight Guides, Brownies or Pathfinders in four bunk beds. We women were expected to sleep only four to a room. Just as my girls used to do, I went immediately to check out my room assignment. "I call the window," I said, and plunked my bedding down.

I'd felt momentarily daunted by the thought of sleeping in the same room with three women I'd barely met; there were empty rooms across the hall. Then I remembered how some girls used to complain about who they had to bunk with, and I looked at the lovely view from the top bunk. "You can do this," I told myself.

Just as at Guide camp, we said grace before tucking into the nutritious home-cooked meals that were prepared for us. We worked in teams to decorate our doors and create skits to entertain the other teams. During the weekend we learned and practiced Emotional Freedom Technique, laughed, sang, danced and enjoyed ourselves.

While we had activities, it poured rain. When we had free time, the sun came out and we took walks in the quiet country atmosphere. One of the camp cooks had a four-month-old baby, a happy child who graciously allowed several women to hold her.

All the other times I attended group camps, I went as a Guider. This weekend, for the first time, I enjoyed the luxury of going as a girl.

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