October 17, 2007
Namaste! I hope this letter finds you well. My name is _______________, and I am one of the organizers of regional HuMed retreats, one of the action committees of American Medical Student Association. I am writing to see if you would be able to join our regional retreat. With this letter, I have included a summary from the 2002 Retreat and also a few paragraphs which we posted on the website to publicize this year's Circle of Healers.
Following 2 paragraphs are from letter for 2003 national retreat.
The retreat will take place Martin Luther King, Jr., weekend at Orchard Lodge Quaker Center in Ben Lomond, CA, which is approximately 30 minutes from Santa Cruz. We will welcome the circle and begin a few sessions Friday night (January 17, 2003), have a full day on Saturday, and finish Sunday mid-afternoon. The Circle will be composed of approximately 40-50 medical students from around the country, and we will have a smaller retreat for residents in conjunction.
With this year's Circle, the HuMed leadership is trying to create a medical student retreat which is completely student-run, while drawing on the local and regional experience and wisdom to help develop that experience. We hope to make this national retreat a model for medical students to carry home to their communities so that it can be a sustained, far-reaching, and vital project.
We are inviting physician-mentors to lead sessions throughout the weekend or just to share their presence and compassion in the art of medicine. Possible session topics might include meditation, visual imagery, spirituality in medicine, healing touch, interactions with patients, herbal medicine, CAM topics etc. We invite you to participate in the retreat in whatever capacity would be possible for you and also to make suggestions for a session if you have something in mind. Unfortunately, we cannot offer any honorarium but can provide lodging, hand-prepared meals, and heart-filled connections with medical students!
If you are interested in joining this inspiring weekend, please contact me as soon as you are able. Send along a description of any session you would be interested in leading, or just a few words as to why you would like to join the Circle of Healers. Please contact me with any further questions about the content of the retreat or in general. Thank you so much for taking the time to consider the retreat!
With love,
You name
Your address
INVITATION TO CIRCLE OF HEALERS 2003
The third Circle of Healers is approaching! This national medical student retreat will be held in northern California during Martin Luther King, Jr, weekend in January of 2003.
The Circle of Healers is a group of loving, creative, passionate, healing souls who wish to connect with themselves, one another, and the diverse community of medicine. The weekend will inspire you with activity, heartfelt conversation, meditation, healthy lifestyle practices, music, bonfires, and powerful friendships. During the retreat, you will also learn about alternative modalities and humanistic approaches to patient interactions and meet physicians who have integrated these into their practice.
Participants at the 2001 and 2002 retreats have maintained meaningful friendships, connected with holistic colleagues at numerous conventions and workshops, and gone on to hold national AMSA and HuMed positions. The current President, Vice-president, and Director of Student Programming of AMSA have each nurtured their warm and fuzzy sides at a national retreat.
AMSA has always found community, voice, and passion for the student. The 2003 Circle of Healers will be organized entirely by students, and participants will be encouraged to carry the retreat experience home to their communities. Immediately following the retreat, there will be a day of leadership training for students who are interested in planning regional and local medical student retreats.
RETREAT RECAP
Circle of Healers Retreat, February 1-3, 2002
Imagination, Inspiration, Intuition, and Self-Inquiry: these four words provided the theme for the 2002 HuMed National Retreat. 38 students joined the facilitators and 3 physician mentors at The Montgomery Presbyterian Center in Starke, Florida, during the evening of Friday, February 1, 2002. We were welcomed with the crisp scent of evergreen, strawberries, hugs, and music down on the dock of a peaceful lake.
The weekend was soulful and hilarious, flowing and intense. The retreat formally began with a medicine wheel ceremony Friday evening, where all the participants were welcomed and we honored the earth. We experienced an inspired production of the children's book The Big Orange Splot, shared personal beliefs and a sacred object with the circle, and came to trust one another deeply in that same evening.
Saturday commenced with Tai Chi for the morning crowd, and the day expanded as we paired off to discover healing touch energies and remote viewing abilities. The warm Florida sunshine was the perfect environment for team healing exercises out in nature, and then a few luxurious hours to paddle on the lake, practice yoga on the end of the pier, relax with Frisbee, or carry a blanket and journal out in the grass.
Late in the day we collected in the large meeting room to transform ourselves, cycling through massage, music, gooey chocolate brownies, and finally paint and glitter to alter our faces and expressions. Night's mystery and the tending sounds of nature opened each of us to a shamanic journey, and later we gathered our shadow selves for fierce dancing and freedom from our fears.
Throughout the weekend, we ate like kings and queens, in addition to being the chefs. Plenty of laughter simmered out of the kitchen, as we worked together to cook huge vats and skillets of everything imaginable. Our kitchen was vibrant with colorful, abundant produce and wholesome ingredients to nourish our bodies just as we had found food for the soul.
And Sunday morning we were suddenly back in that same circle, ready to share and grow and be inspired by one another, but this time we had come for closure. We felt a real sense of sadness to be separated from this instant, loving family, but also reveled in having had that chance. There is a peace which comes in knowing that others out there share your vision, so we held tightly to one another and then to our medicine bags for our journey home.