The Dive 

Led by Taber Shadburne, M.A., Creator of "R/evolutionary R/elating,"certified Master Trainer in Radical Honesty, & Founder of Church of Soul

THE WORKSHOP

We are delighted to invite you to spend some time away from the everyday...
We will come together, walk in the countryside, and swim together
in secluded spots -- literally and metaphorically...

Please join us for a deep dive...
into your self... and into the warm waters
of transformational intimacy and conscious community.

Are you hungry for deep, soulful connection — with your loved ones, and with your self?

Do you yearn for truly transformational intimacy?

Do you want to learn the art of creating more love, aliveness, and conscious community in your life?

Are you ready to step outside the workshop and work to create relationships and communities that feel alive, honest, real and authentic?

Let’s face it: We all yearn to give & receive love, don’t we? We want richer
relationships, deeper friendships, more closeness and community in our lives.
We may even notice, in some quiet moments... that we’re dogged by a nagging sense of
separateness. And yet, when we look closely, we find that we, ourselves, are sabotaging
the connection we want — with our own defensive conditioning... old patterns of fear,
dependency, and blame. We find that we are hiding from each other, fighting with each
other...

How are we to drop this rusty armour so that we may, at last, see each other clearly...
hold each other closely?

We want to share with you a way I’ve learned to do just that. I want to help you, as I
have many others all over the world, to:

• Heal close relationships, with full-body forgiveness...
• Let go of shame, fear, attachment to approval...
• Open-heartedly share yourself, & support others to do so...
• Be completely and compassionately honest...
• Go beyond blame & use conflict creatively...
• Ask for everything you want... expanding your ability to give & receive...
• Create deeper love, connection & intimacy.

What's the Program?

We will begin each day with yoga and meditation, followed by breakfast and a morning session of teaching, conversations and paired exercises. We will then have a healthy lunch and an afternoon break.

After the break, we will continue working with “hot seat” work, teaching and more paired and small group exercises. At around 20:00, we will eat dinner. After dinner, we will have an evening session in which one participant at a time will tell his or her life story to the group.

For eight days, we will create an intimate, transformational community. Everyone will occasionally assist the cook and staff members with the cooking, table-setting and cleaning up.

After the fifth day or so, we will all get naked and talk in front of the group about our bodies and what we like and don’t like about them. We will also tell our sexual histories: when we first discovered we were a sexual being; when we first masturbated; whether we prefer doing it with men or women or vegetables, animals, or minerals; how many partners of each gender we have had sex with; our best and worst sexual experiences; and so on. We will often get embarrassed, but with good coaching and persistence and complete sharing of the truth we will move through it all. This is a powerful exercise in healing body image issues and shedding sexual shame.

Who Can Attend

This is an event for anyone thirsty for intimacy and transformation. Are you ready to rise to the challenge of taking the lessons you will learn in this retreat out into your world? To use your new skills in honesty, authenticity and intimacy to help create more aware and alive relationships in your life? No prior experience is required for attending this workshop, just a willingness to learn, grow, and transform your life from the inside out. Participants agree to make the following commitments in the workshop:

• to keep confidentiality
• to tell the truth
• to support others in telling the truth
• to allow the trainers to coach you
• to ask for what you want and to be on time and present in all sessions. 
   

Please note: all workshop attendees will commit to participating in all the sessions, including the naked work and the telling of life stories.

THE LOGISTICS

When: 
The workshop will begin around 18:00 on Saturday, May 5  and finish around 12:00 on Sunday, May 13, 2018

Location and Travel:
Burnlaw Centre, Whitfield, Northumberland, NE47 8HF. Burnlaw retreat centre is set in 40 acres of organic pastures, woodland and gardens in the North Pennine hills. We are lucky to have such a peaceful place to carry out this work and we’ll use both indoor and outdoor spaces as the weather allows. A lovely stone built cottage in quiet and beautiful countryside. We have a large light-filled roof top studio space with views over the countryside and a separate dining area and kitchen. Cozy bedrooms with two or three bunk-beds in each room are included in the price.

Approximately 50 minutes (36 miles) west from Newcastle, the local train station is
Haydon Bridge; pickups can be provided from Durham or Newcastle through prior
arrangement with Fiona (details below). Newcastle airport connects 31 cities across
Europe with direct flights. For those interested in an extended trip, Burnlaw is very well
located to travel further North into Scotland and borders the Lake District and North
Yorkshire Dales.

Food and Drink:
Tasty and nutritious vegetarian and vegan food is included in the price of the retreat.
Our raw deserts are something to behold! We take healthy tasty food very seriously
and imagine this will be a real highlight. We will freshly make slow-pressed green
juices everyday and have a range of teas and coffees available (including many decaf
options). Please let us know in good time if you have special dietary requirements.

Cost:
€750 - €2,750

We will pay using a sliding-scale approach. Whilst these retreats often cost in the region of £2,500, participants for this retreat will contribute what they can, according to a sliding scale from £750 - 2,750. (Your donation will cover all teaching, accommodation, food and drink). So, we simply ask that you pay what you can afford and feel inspired to give; if £750 is the most you can afford, give that (owing to costs, we must collect that minimum), or if funds allow you to give more, please do -- we encourage you to be as generous as you can. The low minimum contribution, however, will give access to people of limited means, folks who wouldn’t ordinarily be able to attend, which is important to Taber, and to us. 

Registration: 
The group is limited to 16 participants. We expect this workshop to fill up fast.

To sign up or to receive more information, please contact Fiona here. 

THE TRAINERS

Taber Shadburne (M.A.) is a cutting-edge counselor and teacher of transformation who has helped thousands of folks transform their lives and their relationships for over 25 years. He has led life-changing workshops in over 50 cities, in 15 countries, on four continents. He studied Zen for 10 years, lived and practiced at the Dharma Rain Zen Center, and has worked deeply with various spiritual teachers.  He has a B.A. in Music and Comparative Religion and an M.A. in Counseling Psychology.  He has worked closely with Dr. Brad Blanton for 20 years, and is the only person ever to be certified by Brad as a Master Trainer of Radical Honesty.  Taber co-authored a book, The Heart of Healing: Inspired Ideas, Wisdom and Comfort from Today's Leading Voices, with notables such as Deepak Chopra. Over the last few decades, Taber  has created a body of work he calls R/evolutionary R/elating, and founded the Church of Soul, in Oakland, California.   Read more about him here, or check out what others have to say here.  

Andrew King
I’ve practiced Radical Honesty (RH) for a number of years now and have seen the changes it’s made in my life – deeper connections, being more real with myself and others and feeling more alive. My experience attending and organizing RH events has informed this year’s Burnlaw; taking the very special work we do in these spaces out into the world is fundamental in creating the kind of world I want to live in. I have recently left a career as an academic to give myself time to feel into what’s next; last year’s event played a big part in that decision. I imagine that this retreat, being longer and going deeper, will be an important foundation in what comes next for everyone who attends.
E: andykingak@hotmail.com

Fiona Gilbertson
I am a human rights activist, mainly around drug policy, sex work and HIV. I feel blessed to be part of these movements surrounded by incredible human beings. However, I watch my community burn or rage out and have done both myself. Revolutionary Relating with Taber has helped me with this as I accept myself more and imagine I am less judgmental of myself and others. Along with Andrew, I organised last year’s Burnlaw retreat, I tell myself it was a moving meditation in compassion, acceptance and honesty. I am excited that Burnlaw 17 will become a starting point and not a fond memory. I imagine the journey will be beautiful, challenging, life affirming, and passionate. Come and join us for the deep dive!
E: fionajg70@hotmail.com