The New Epona Conference Center is in Full Swing!
The Epona Center at Apache Springs Ranch celebrated the New Year with the opening of our state of the art conference and retreat center. Congratulations to Apprenticeship Class VIII for helping us usher in a new era at Epona! Gourmet meals by the Epona Cantina’s new chef and kitchen manager Art Donatelli received rave reviews with selections such as herb poached salmon, prime rib, pan seared duck, fresh salad bar and hot homemade soups each day. Those who stayed in the retreat center enjoyed private rooms overlooking the snow-capped Santa Rita Mountains. Residents also enjoyed watching Rasa cavort with her feisty colt Indigo Moon—the large picture window in the retreat center lounge frames pastures where father Midnight Merlin and herd sister Comet also live and play. Though a cold front moved in later that week, we stayed warm and comfortable in the main conference room, cantina, and small group meeting room. The expanded Epona Center worked beautifully, allowing workshop participants the space and privacy to do their work, while also allowing the barn staff and boarders to continue training horses as well as take people on tours and trail rides throughout the week. Thanks to all the staff for making our maiden voyage such a smooth ride!
The Epona event schedule continues to fill with a variety of exciting new events, with and without horses. Check out the website www.taoofequus.com for continuing updates on events being added weekly, as well as workshops taking place throughout the world courtesy of our Epona Approved Instructors.
The Epona Center at Apache Springs Ranch celebrated the New Year with the opening of our state of the art conference and retreat center. Congratulations to Apprenticeship Class VIII for helping us usher in a new era at Epona! Gourmet meals by the Epona Cantina’s new chef and kitchen manager Art Donatelli received rave reviews with selections such as herb poached salmon, prime rib, pan seared duck, fresh salad bar and hot homemade soups each day. Those who stayed in the retreat center enjoyed private rooms overlooking the snow-capped Santa Rita Mountains. Residents also enjoyed watching Rasa cavort with her feisty colt Indigo Moon — the large picture window in the retreat center lounge frames pastures where father Midnight Merlin and herd sister Comet also live and play. Though a cold front moved in later that week, we stayed warm and comfortable in the main conference room, cantina, and small group meeting room. The expanded Epona Center worked beautifully, allowing workshop participants the space and privacy to do their work, while also allowing the barn staff and boarders to continue training horses as well as take people on tours and trail rides throughout the week. Thanks to all the staff for making our maiden voyage such a smooth ride!
Highlights and Updates
Riding Between the Worlds
One of our most popular events, Riding between the Worlds, will be offered as an advanced workshop April 14 through 21, 2007. Some people have contacted us about wanting to attend this event, yet are concerned that they can’t find a beginning Epona workshop nearby to fulfill their prerequisite before that April date. Facilitators Linda Kohanov and Mary-Louise Gould have agreed to arrange for a 1-day essential introductory supplement to be held Friday, April 13th for those participants who would not be able to attend a beginning workshop in time for that event.
“This is the first year we have offered Riding between the Worlds as an advanced workshop,and we’d really like to keep it that way so we can add a horse riding component to the week. To do this, we must have participants understand some basic Epona concepts ahead of time. Workshop participants will still be interviewed by Mary-Louise to make sure we have a group of people well-suited to take this magnificent journey together. The basic skills supplement is available on Friday for an additional $200, which includes lunch at the Epona Cantina. (The main workshop is $1800, with lunch included each day. Dinner and breakfast are also available at the Epona Cantina, as are rooms at the Epona Conference Center.) I’m really excited about taking Riding between the Worlds to a whole new level this year!” — Linda Kohanov
Starting Saturday, April 14, Riding between the Worlds is a seven-and-a-half day workshop combining experiential activities with horses, basic shamanic journeying techniques, and creativity-boosting experiences. Midway through a week of reflective and active round pen work, horse dancing, reflective trail riding, and energy field work with the horses, participants will also experience the power of Holotropic Breath work, a technique developed by Stanislov Grof, psychiatrist and pioneer in the field of consciousness research, and his wife, Christina, artist, writer, and yoga practitioner. Mary-Louise Gould and Byron Metcalf, both certified breath work practitioners who studied directly with the Grofs, are co-facilitators during this workshop.
The week will include a live journey concert by internationally-renowned composer, recording artist and Epona Center co-founder Steve Roach. Participants will also strengthen their sensitivity to the nonverbal nuances of creative group interaction through musical experiences improvising together with Steve’s guidance.
“It’s really amazing what someone who doesn’t consider him or herself musical can do during this group improvisation,” Linda says. “Steve’s coaching and amazing studio sound processing just draws the music right out of people. The whole process opens up creativity on all levels. We’ve grown up in a culture where we’re discouraged from being creative, and yet in order to really live your life as an art form, in order to find creative solutions to business and family challenges, you must reclaim that creativity from the ‘cult of experts.’ Making music together, doing the breath work, learning how to open up intuition during journeying activities, and some other fun expressive arts activities, combined with powerful interactions with horses, all these activities conspire to fully engage the senses, reawakening talents and insights we never knew we had.” —Linda Kohanov
The week will culminate in an experience of dancing with the horses. Due to the deep emotional, intuitive, creative and holotropic exploration involved, this seminar is not appropriate for people with serious mental health or abuse issues.
People interested in participating will be interviewed by Mary-Louise Gould to determine whether this ambitious program would be beneficial to each individual. Because this workshop also involves significant small-group interaction, prospective participants should demonstrate a sincere interest in practicing the skills associated with authentic community building (described on page 116 of Kohanov’s book Riding between the Worlds).
More Upcoming Events
I’m also excited about some upcoming workshops available for people new to the Epona work. At the expanded Epona Center, we now have the capacity and staff to bring in clinicians with unique talents and areas of expertise. I’ll also be doing some guest lectures and demonstrations as a part of these workshops. This way, I get to meet a lot more people and share some of my ongoing research and insights with them, while knowing they’re in good hands with my horses and with instructors who’ve studied with me, but are now bringing their own areas of expertise to this work. It’s an exciting new development. — Linda Kohanov
Two events in February still have availability, and both cover the basic skills necessary to move on to the apprenticeship program, the Epona Advanced Study Program, and several advanced workshops that Linda herself will be leading in the summer and fall (to be announced soon):
Dancing with Your White Horse: Igniting Chakra Energy, Engaging Your Authentic Self
The most courageous thing we can do is listen to our inner wisdom and design our life based on our authentic self. In doing so, we step into a deeper sense of purpose and passion. During this four-day equine facilitated program you will open, engage and explore the seven primary energy centers (chakras) to access your inner wisdom and ignite the life you truly desire.
The horses support you in your process through their grounding presence and energetic awareness. Learn how to engage your chakra energy through reflective round pen sessions, meditation, mind-body awareness tools, journal activities, movement, expressive arts and key learning components of the Epona approach. The Epona herd will work with you each day to help you open and expand your consciousness in this world and in your spiritual world.
Each chakra center offers a distinct expression of energy, intuition and life theme. You will learn tools and techniques to shift your feeling state, thought processes and behaviors and to access the life of purpose and passion that awaits you. Learn how to manage your energy and ignite your vitality.
The Epona Approach™
Epona’s basic three-day workshop combines horse work, personal reflection and authentic community building skills. To register, please contact Carol Roush at 520-760-4175 or email carolroush@msn.com.