Course Description
Self-care is essential to the nurturing of your soul. What if you shifted your language and thinking from self-care to self-nourishment? Does that shift help you choose from a place of love rather than duty? What if each time you gave attention and energy to your soul it was a way of loving yourself - a love that you could then turn and offer God and others?
Nourishing the soul from the inside out is a powerful way to reconnect with your true self and how you were created by God to live, and move, and have your being in this world.
Jesus taught that the second greatest commandment is to “love others as we love ourselves.” When you invest in the inner workings of your soul through self-care practices, that self-care is then reflected in how you connect with God, yourself, others, and creation. You cultivate those connections through the intentional love and care of your soul.
If you’ve been thinking about your own self-care for awhile, but haven’t made much progress, consider taking some “time away” for a retreat in the comfort of your own home.
Self-care as Spiritual Practice is a 28-day guided retreat where you are invited to explore:
- four key areas of intentional self-care
- what your unique and specific areas of self-care are
- how to nurture them
- and how to create space for them
- all within the context of personal conversation with God.)
You will also receive the encouragement and support of a compassionate and caring guide, teacher, and trained spiritual director, Tracy DePue, who will provide teaching moments before each week’s daily prayer guide.
Spiritual Direction (via Zoom) or Phone Consultations may be added to the retreat experience to provide additional personal support throughout the retreat.
This retreat includes: Teaching Moments prior to the beginning of each week of the four-week journey, a closing word of encouragement, and the 28-day Retreat Prayer Guide to engage you in conversation with God about self-care and self-nourishment as a spiritual practice.
Retreat Guide and Companion
The retreat Self-Care as Spiritual Practice, was created, and is led by spiritual director and Level 1 IFS Practitioner, Tracy DePue.
Tracy DePue resides in central Arkansas where she serves as a trained Spiritual Director, walking alongside individuals from many parts of the United States as they seek to deepen their relationship with God and experience God's love more fully. She received her Certificate in Spiritual Direction from the SMU Perkins School of Theology. She completed her Level 1 training in Internal Family Systems as a non-therapist Practitioner in January 2023, and works with individuals and couples using the PartsWork method for unblending, unburdening, and ultimately healing which is at the heart of the Internal Family Systems model.
Prior to becoming a spiritual director, Tracy served for over 30 years in music ministry at Memorial Drive Presbyterian Church (Houston, TX) Grace Presbyterian Church (Plano, TX) and St. James United Methodist Church (Little Rock, AR).
Tracy's ministry in the church has deepened her listening skills over the years as people would make their way to her office to share their sacred stories. Due to her previous work in church ministry, many of Tracy's spiritual directees are pastors or church musicians.
Course curriculum
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1
Welcome to the course!
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Welcome & Introduction
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Before we begin...a Pre-Retreat Survey
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2
Week 1 - The Call to Mutuality: God calling you + You calling God
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Week 1 - Teaching Moment
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Week 1 - Instructions & Daily Retreat Guide
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3
Week 2 - Your Connection with God
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Week 2 - Teaching Moment
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Week 2 - Daily Retreat Guide
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Mid-point Survey
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4
Week 3 - God + You: Collaborative Co-Creators
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Week 3 - Teaching Moment
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Week 3 - Daily Retreat Guide
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5
Week 4 - Your Covenant with God
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Week 4 - Teaching Moment
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Week 4 - Daily Retreat Guide
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6
Closing & Final Words of Encouragement
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Post-Retreat Teaching Moment
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What's Next?
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Final Words of Encouragement from Tracy
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Post-Retreat Survey
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Reviews
Daily Prayer Guide was so Valuable
I signed up for the retreat because I was curious about self-care and if/how the retreat could help me develop a deeper relationship with God. The daily prayer guide was valuable because it kept me on track, creating a framework about real, daily relationship with God.
I've attended Sunday school classes and church for many years and felt more empty than full. I had knowledge but not the faith I wanted. I feel like this course truly showed me how I could incorporate God into my life.
I learned how to talk with God, and while I still have a long ways to go, I feel that my trust in God hearing me and wanting to share my life is much more real to me. If you're seeking to learn more about yourself and how to relate to God, then this is a good retreat to start you on that path.
Insight Into Self-care Practices
"I signed up for Self-Care as Spiritual Practice because I hoped to gain a deeper appreciation for which forms of self-care are most meaningful and helpful for me to practice.
The most meaningful part of the course was taking time to list self-care practices and reflect on what graces and gifts they bring to my life and how they connect me with God and others was very helpful. It provided me with some amazing insights into which self-care practices actually feed my soul and which ones do not.
The meditations helped me to discern the unreasonable, as well as reasonable, fears that were keeping me from getting back to the joy of bicycling. That discernment has led me back into cycling and I’m really enjoying the self-care that is coming from it. It also helped me to see the difference between the practices that I called self-care, but that were really just activities, versus the ones that are actually self-care.
I recommend this retreat for anyone who desires deeper insight into authentic ways to refill their emotional, physical, and spiritual tanks. It’s not only a great way to spend time with God in prayer, but it offers some practical paths to self-care."
Everything About This Retreat was Helpful
I signed up for this retreat because I was interested in learning more about what self-care as spiritual practice could actually look like on a daily basis. Everything about this retreat was helpful, but the most meaningful piece was the daily prayer practice. I loved the scriptures that were selected and the guided reflection helped me focus each morning.
I had a few “aha” moments over the course of the 28 days. in particular, I grew in my awareness of the importance of rest and also in my understanding of what rest looked like for me. It has changed how I view my days off work each week.
I would highly recommend this to anyone – whether they want to begin a new practice, or be inspired for something new.