Couples 2 Workshop * Couples Continuation
Written by Lynne E. Sheridan   
Thursday, 31 December 2009 20:00
Happy 2010!

I am imagining that many of you are making resolutions for the New Year and getting crystal clear on what your vision of the future you are actively creating.  I recently read a few articles on the Top 5 New Year's resolutions, and they usually look something like this:

1.  Get out of Debt
2.  Stop Smoking
3.  Get Fit
4.  Lose Weight
5.  Enjoy Life More

Okay, what's missing from the list?
Relationship.
Usually "spend time to with friends and family" makes the top 10, but please!

Think about it -- this year there have been far examples of politicians caught up in affairs and then the whole sag of the Tiger Woods ongoing sexcapades  -- all reminding us that intimate relationships take real work and our patterns do not disappear.  Everything in your life comes from you in relationship -- your job or career is you in relationship with others -- fostering relationships with your children -- being in relationship with others around us to function and be successful in the world.
That is why I am encouraging you to make becoming the best you in relationship one of your New Year's resolutions.  Especially your intimate personal relationship.  Set goals and challenges for yourself.
Gene and I are set to do Vision Boards for 2010, and I am intent on making sure my vision for us is front and center on my Vision board.
I've been reading a lot of intense and beautiful work on relationships, including a list of possible support for the New Year.  As usual, I am amping it up a little.
First suggestion for our relationships:

    1.  Leave the past in the past.

    Stop carrying junk from the back of the boat forward, attempting to recycle it into something shiny and new.  Stop holding my partner and me in some         past idea about us.  Forgive where I have fallen short and where they have missed the mark.
    (This one alone is quite a doozy)

    2.  Declare Big Bold Juicy relationship goals.
    
    What all of us love about the work of transformation is being called outside of our comfort zone.  Risking -- challenging ourselves to go beyond what we         know and is familiar.  Prior to venturing outside our boxes, we are not so excited.  But on the other side -- WOW!  Be Bold in your declarations for you         and your partner.  Once you are Bold in your declarations, find little ways you can move towards accomplishing those goals tangibly each week.  The         declaration isn't occurring later -- it is NOW.
    
    3.  Make your relationship a TOP Priority.
    
    Just about everything else usually ends up coming before our relationships -- especially our intimate partnership.  We have little energy at the end of a         long day of work or kids and often give the person closest to us scraps rather than the full buffet.  Serve up the buffet this year.  Aggressively work on         giving your partner the best of you and making your relationship and growing your relationship a Priority.

    4.  RISK -- try different things and shake it up a little.
    
    Get out of your rut and routines.  Go dancing on a random night.  Book a room at a nearby resort and kidnap your partner with a blindfold.  Pack a             picnic lunch or breakfast for your partner in the park.  Go to Fredericks of Hollywood and buy the sexy get up (double entendre welcome).  Risking             includes in the bedroom as well.  :)  You get the idea.  

Have 2010 be one of the most powerful years for your partnership.

Along that line, I am inviting participants from past Couples Retreats to participate in Couples Continuation.  I have formulated this structure of support based on requests from couples wanting to keep the growth fresh and challenge themselves.

What is Couples Continuation?
It is a six month program of support, to continue to build on understanding your patterns, interrupting the dance and fostering intimacy and love.
This will include 5 monthly Maestro Teleconference Calls, 60-90 minutes in length.  I am generally selecting different days of the week, so that if someone has fixed commitments on a certain day, they can make some of the dates.  I have picked 7:30 p.m. not based on convenience or ideal, but it is usually after the magic dinner hour for parents and kids can be in bed, or heading towards bed.  Dates for the Teleconferences are below:

January 19, 7:30 p.m.
February 11, 7:30 p.m.
March -- Workshop -- see below
April 21, 7:30 p.m.
May 13, 7:30 p.m.
June 8, 7:30 p.m.
March 10, 6:30 p.m.-10:00 p.m. -- Evening Couples Continuation Workshop

For those of you who have not yet participated in Maestro calls, there will be a distinction presented, then opportunity to ask questions, as well as do mini-exercises and dyads with your partner, possibly even in a small group in a break out room.  

Cost of Couples Continuation is $150 -- a steal since that is my normal fee for an hour of coaching.  :)
I am inviting everyone to participate!  
Please enroll on line using a WorldWorks enrollment card -- just mark it Couples Continuation.  Make sure that I have your email addresses correct, since your Teleconference invitations will go through email.  

Again, this is the final day (12/31/09) to enroll in Couples 2 at $1495.  Delighted that Mary Ann and Hans just enrolled, so we are at 10 Couples right now, with another Couple in process.  :)

Congratulations -- I am VERY excited about the work we'll be doing together.
May you grow closer to your partner this year and, at the same time, more solid in your self.

In Peace and Love,
Lynne Sheridan