Dancing on the Edge:
Answering Your Soul’s Call for Expansion
A Journey to
western Ireland
with Kimberly Schneider
July 17-24, 2010
|
Crawl on your belly
Don’t the Old ones whisper to you
Don’t the waves crashing against
That even you
That what you declare here
And that who you are
From “I Need A
Sky that Moves” |
Imagine yourself in a fishing village on the west coast of Ireland. You open the door to your thatch cottage in the morning to a view of a horse standing on the shore of Galway Bay. Two swans circle in the water and the sun is breaking through the clouds.
After a strong cup of Irish tea topped off with the richest milk you’ve ever tasted, you relish eggs and brown bread with soft creamy butter and a side of fruit, enjoying conversation with your cottage mates. Soon you will gather in the main cottage with other fun-loving spiritual seekers to have a taste of poetry and reflection and learn about the place you’ll be visiting today.
And what a day! Hiking through some of the most dramatic country you’ve ever experienced, stretching your body and mind, smelling clean Atlantic air. After a rain shower you pull your hat off and watch a rainbow spread across the sky above the ocean. Today, you are remembering how to breathe again. You hadn’t realized you’d forgotten it.
Yesterday when you walked into the village you enjoyed a steaming bowl of fish chowder so full of chunks of fresh fish and vegetables that you couldn’t even finish it. You did, however, somehow find room for that tasty fruit tart before you walked over to Quinn’s store to peruse the local wares. Should you go back tomorrow to get that Irish drum? Or the wool sweater? The linen scarf?
Hearing ancient music at the sacred sites you visit today awakens something ancient and yearning in you. You’re not sure where it is taking you but you know you’ll have a chance to write about it in your journal later. For now, perhaps you will delve into the mysteries of life over conversation and a pint of Guinness at one of Ireland’s most famous pubs. Will those amazing local musicians be back again tonight? The Irish certainly know how to party! Either way, you can walk home from your outing and reflect on the day while staring into the peat fire.
Your pilgrimage with Kimberly to western Ireland is a celebration of the particular way the soul comes alive in the midst of a magical place. Western Ireland is a land of shape-shifters and dreamers. The rocks and the sea, the moving sky, the soaring cliffs exist companionably with horses, sheep and ancient monuments.
This program is not just a tour of sites. It is a spiritual journey, a week-long transformational and enlivening retreat. While you won’t see all or even most of Ireland, you will touch its soul. Or, perhaps it is more accurate to say that Ireland’s soul will open your own soul to something ancient and wild within you.
While your soul will be stretched, your capacity for wonder and fun will expand as well. Our journey together will move easily between awe inspiring treks and toe-tapping music, contemplative moments and laughter over pints of Guinness in the pubs. There will be time for shopping and singing, drinking and dancing, feasting and frolicking, relishing and remembering, walking and wondering…every part of you will be engaged and welcomed.
We will visit ancient sites, get to know local musicians, immerse ourselves in poetry. We will get to know one another and also become more intimate with our deepest selves. We’ll engage in ritual. We’ll laugh and we’ll cry. We’ll enter into silence and we’ll enter into song.
Kimberly will draw upon decades of experience as a group facilitator, counselor, transformational speaker, edge-seeker and creator of ritual, dipping into her own heritage and study of Irish spirituality to create a sacred space for you to be present to your own inner journey.
Questions about the trip:
What Is the Structure of the Program?
Each day will be different, but in addition to our visits to local sites we will also gather as a group at one of the cottages on most days for reflection, processing, poetry and/or music. Kimberly will share her insights about ancient Irish spirituality and how it speaks to every soul, based not only on her prior visit to western Ireland but also 15 years of intense interest and study.
Kimberly will share her own poetry as well as the work of other poets and explore the existential questions of meaning, longing, desire, grief, joy and expansion in the context of Celtic cosmology.
Several of the days will involve journeys outside of the village to visit sites of spiritual and historical interest. There will be time at each place for quiet, to be with the spirit of each spot and what it evokes in you. Kimberly will offer her insights about the places we’ll be visiting and, we will have the assistance of locals who will offer their knowledge and guidance.
Since Irish weather is so variable, some of our plans may be adjusted depending on weather, wind and tide but our general plans include trips to the Cliffs of Moher, The Aran Islands, Coole Park and a few other lesser known, but no less powerful sites.
We will spend a lot of time outside, hiking the trails and woods, moving our bodies and entering into the dialogue between the spirit of place and our own physicality. How does the wind speak to you here? The sea? The moving sky? What message lives in the slippery, cracked grey limestone of the Burren? Or in the swans that swim in the bay just beyond your cottage?
We’ll also be treated to local music, in both ancient and modern styles, by some of Ireland’s finest musicians…a highlight!
Itinerary: (with some flexibility for weather!)
Saturday Initial group gathering. Ritual to set intentions for the week. Visit to The Flaggy Shore, a small area of coastline in Co. Clare near New Quay where the flat stone of the Burren meets the sea. The force of the sea has left a mix of worn, flat stone steps (like flag stones, hence the name) along with lots of beautifully rounded limestone rocks. We’ll return to the village for a late evening welcome feast!
Sunday Coleman’s Bed, ancient sacred site, to explore the layers of sacredness in your own soul.
Monday The Cliffs of Moher, on the short list for one of the modern wonders of the world! Exploring the edges of Self.
Tuesday The Aran Islands…Inishmore, seat of Irish heritage. Tour the Island by bike or pony cart, meet for a group luncheon feast and then visit the edge of the world at the ancient fort of Dun Aengus.
Wednesday Day of rest & integration. Morning and lunch on your own (with suggested activities to support you). Afternoon with Noirin Ni Riain, world-renowned vocalist and one of the few people left on the planet trained in the ancient Irish way of singing. She will be joined by her sons, Eoin and Moley O’Suillebhain of Size2Shoes, the best singer/songwriters in Ireland. Eoin and Moley will stay with us for a group dinner/party and then perform their own inspirational Irish pop music for us in the evening.
Thursday Hiking through the Burren to visit several sacred sites, accompanied by Eoin and Moley who will mark our visitations with song.
Friday Coole Park. Home of the Seven Woods of Coole made famous by Yeats. We will have a farewell party at a famous local restaurant and enjoy traditional Irish music and dancing whilst eating wonderful food.
Saturday home and/or on to other adventures!
Who Will Be There?
A small group of seekers interested in spiritual exploration, poetry, and Irish culture will participate. In addition, Kimberly’s own family will be there, her Mom, Mary Lou will assist with the program, and her husband David and their two daughters will also be on hand (along with their babysitter, who will be with Bridget when we’re doing adult-only activities or long hikes).
Where Will We Stay?
Our lodgings are a group of rustic thatched cottages on the shores of Galway Bay in North County Clare. Each cottage holds four or five people with a spacious living room and peat fire, and includes a kitchen, bathroom with both bathtub and shower, and laundry facilities. Sleeping rooms are shared with one other person, with a limited number of single rooms available for a supplement of $350.
How Much Physical Activity Will There Be?
No part of the trip is mandatory. (You can opt out of any of the activities).
Several of the outings will require at least some hiking. Please take this into consideration before applying for the tour. (Some 70 year olds hiked through the Burren with us the first time I went; needless to say, they were quite fit and spry. I was inspired!)
We will be staying in County Clare, home to The Burren. The Burren is a vast, ruggedly beautiful area made up of grey limestone, grass and Adriatic flowers dropped by the glaciers that formed the rocks. Walking in the Burren calls for complete attention and moment to moment presence as the ground is uneven and the deep openings in the limestone, often hidden by wild grass, can create surprises (that may be an understatement for the feeling you have when you find yourself thigh deep in rock).
I have certainly hiked more physically challenging trails in terms of cardio-vascular stamina. These trails, however, call for good balance and mobility. Chronic knee and/or hip problems, or issues with balance/vertigo may make hiking in The Burren too difficult for some. Activity will range from short walks to bike-riding round Inishmore (with an option to take a pony cart instead) and one day-long hike at a moderate pace.
Our trip to the Aran Islands includes a tour of Inishmore by bicycle. However, you may opt to ride in a pony cart instead if you prefer.
Are Any Meals Included?
Yes. 14 meals are included. Pantries and refrigerators will be stocked when you arrive so you can eat breakfast in your cottage each day. In addition to breakfast, we will also be providing 7 other meals throughout the week including:
- A “welcome” feast for the first evening
- Dinner as part of our Wednesday evening party at the cottages
- Lunch on Inishmore on Thursday
- Dinner at a world-renowned restaurant on the last evening.
- 3 other meals (lunch or dinner)
You will only need to buy 1 meal each day with your own money. 10-20 Euros per day will cover this expense; I’ve included a range because dinner is generally a little more than lunch and also to account for a range of eating preferences. You could have a huge hearty bowl of fish stew with brown bread and Irish butter that would more than fill you up for 10 euro or less.
What Should I Wear?
Definitely not a high fashion tour (you are welcome to bring your high heels but I’m not sure what you’d do with them….) Choose your clothes with comfort, breathability, ease of washing and wearing in mind. Bring layers as we could experience huge temperature variability on our hikes. Also we recommend good hiking shoes and water proof jackets. You’ll receive a detailed packing list once you have registered for the tour. Washing machines and dryers are available in the cottages.
About Kimberly
Kimberly has studied, taught and written about Celtic spirituality for over ten years. Her first trip to Ireland in 2009 was a coming home and a soul recognition.
In 2009, Kimberly and her Mom Mary Lou fulfilled a decades-old yearning to visit western Ireland. It was a cellular and soul reawakening for them both, a connection to heritage (Kimberly has Irish roots on both sides of her family) and to a way of being in the world that has all but disappeared in modern American culture.
Within weeks of returning Kimberly knew that the trip was not just a personal awakening but also another dream coming to fruition: a dream to journey to sacred places around the world with other spiritual seekers. She wanted to offer her gifts of poetry, presentation, group facilitation, ritual and meaning-making in some of the globe’s most magical places. In Ireland, she knew she’d found the place she wanted to start.
Kimberly is popularly known as “The Manifestation Maven.” She hosts the Conscious Manifesting Radio show on WebTalkRadio.net and is a regular contributor to Great Day St. Louis television show. Author of Beyond Abundance, a home study course on her Cornucopia Method of Manifestation™ and the forthcoming book MORE: Shattering the 5 Illusions that Keep You Stuck, Kimberly awakens entrepreneurs, spiritual adventurers and other extraordinary individuals to the power of Conscious Manifestation and the joy of meaningful work. Kimberly is a poet, world traveler, lawyer, counselor, edge-seeker, transformational speaker, group facilitator, business coach, wife and mother to two extraordinary children. www.KimberlySchneider.com
Getting There:
Arrival: Our first group activity will begin late afternoon on Saturday, July 17.
Plan for your flight to arrive at SHANNON airport (not all carriers fly into Shannon, be sure to choose one that will take you there) by 2:00pm Saturday, July 17th. For North Americans, this means departing on July 16th.
GETTING TO the village…We suggest that you arrive a day or two early if possible to get acclimated to the time zone difference and dip your toe into Ireland before our experience begins (but that is up to you!) I will send you some suggestions for places to stay and things to do before and after the tour if you want to extend your trip. Cabs are readily available at Shannon airport and can be hired to take you anywhere you want to go. You are welcome to rent a car if you like but you will not need one during the week of the tour. We will have transportation for our group to all of the activities, and the pubs shops and eateries of the village are a 5-10 minute walk from the cottages.
Departure: You will need to make your own arrangements to return to the airport or continue your trip after our tour is over. The Cab driver who brings you to the village may be happy to make prior arrangements to come get you at the end of your stay; otherwise you can contact one of the services directly.
PA S S P O R T
Each participant needs a valid passport. If you already have a passport, please check the expiration date, since passports need to be renewed periodically. Also ensure that there are enough blank pages for exit and entry stamps. Blank pages can be added to a still valid passport at the places where passports are obtained. For United States residents, there is currently a significant back-log of passport applications, so you should apply immediately.
V I S A
No visa is at present needed for entry of U.S. citizens into Ireland.
Tuition:
Total cost for the tour is $3,300. You can pay by check, credit card or money order.
Payment Schedule:
Deposit due with application: $ 700
1st payment due April 15, 2010: $ 1,500
Final payment due May 15, 2010: $ 1,100
What the trip price includes:
- Kimberly’s services as seminar leader, speaker and group facilitator.
- All accommodations for the nights of July 17-23.
- Admission to all sites.
- Bikes or pony cart rides on Dun Aengus
- Ferry Ride to Aran Islands
- 14 meals
- Entertainment by world class musicians, including Noirin Ni Riain
- All transport to destinations on the tour
- Local guides
Not included: Airfare, 1 meal per day and transportation to/from the village.
Cancellation Policy:
If, after you are accepted on the tour, you should need to withdraw your application prior to February 7th we retain 10% of the trip cost, or $330. After February 7th, any refund depends upon our ability to find someone to fill your place.
Currency/Spending Money
Plan $40 US Dollars per day for a meal, drinks etc. - more if you wish to buy local crafts, wool sweaters, gifts, jewelry and the like, or if you plan to dine at higher end restaurants.
The currency in Ireland is the Euro. You can change money or traveler's checks at Shannon Airport, which also has an ATM. There is only a traveling bank in Ballyvaughan, with rather unpredictable days and hours. Many, but not all, of the restaurants and shops in the village accept credit cards.
Important:
Please obtain insurance to cover baggage loss/damage, accidents and trip cancellation in case of last minute illness or injury which might cause you to lose your payments.
CSA Travel Protection is a well-known company. Their toll free number is 800 348 9505, email info@csatravelprotection.com, or ask your travel agency who they recommend.
Applying for the Experience:
I have traveled to many parts of the world, including Hawaii, the Caribbean, western Europe, Brazil and all over the U.S. No experience has captivated my soul as much as my visit to this magical part of the world. I am absolutely thrilled to be bringing a group back with me. I look forward to opening a door to the Otherworld for you on the wild
western coast of Ireland! To apply for the tour, please return the application and deposit. Space is limited.
Reserve Your Spot on this Magical Journey Today!
Option #1: Pay deposit by
Credit Card
Click here to continue
To make arrangements to pay on 2 different credit cards, please contact us
via email at
support@kimberlyschneider.com
Option #2: Payments by check
please mail your deposit $700
Kimberly Schneider Communications
1324 Clarkson/Clayton Center, Suite 177
Ellisville, MO 63011
AND contact
support@kimberlyschneider.com to obtain application and secure your
space in the program
For payment by check, please email support@kimberlyschneider.com to let us know you'll be sending a check and then Click Here to download the application.
Slainte!
