Fall-Winter 2015

It is with such gratitude that I write to all of you from far away countries as well as throughout the United States, to thank you for your support coming in so many different forms from appreciative and supportive thoughts to donations to our building and support­ a­seeker fund. On September 8th 2015, our non­residential, Day Program began with the seekers, their parents and Inner Fire guides and therapists standing in a circle in the garden alongside the Grace Brook. In turn, each shared their wishes for the year ahead. It was very moving as both seeker and family members had been through so much together and finally had found a program which kindled their hope and allowed for and encouraged their proactivity in their healing process which steadily would lead to freeing themselves from the use and influences of the psychotropic medications.

Everything that happens at Inner Fire is intentional and has a therapeutic purpose. Looking closely at our schedule, what you may notice is there is a rhythm and order to the day. There are times when one works outdoors splitting or sawing wood, in the garden or clearing in the forest when we rely on each other and work in company. We have opportunities to appreciate the support and work of the other and also observe an individual’s developing skills and stamina. Other parts of the day are focused on one’s own development. Through the therapies: music, speech arts, artistic, eurythmy or spacial dynamics, massage, biographical work or psychosynthisis the seeker, through their own activity, meet themselves; their strengths and challenges. During these therapies, soul breathing, inner harmony, wonder and courage are kindled. In time, the seekers may grow to appreciate themselves as a work of art, evolving and dynamic.

Many people ask what the day at Inner Fire looks like: Bearing in mind that out of form comes freedom, and that inner order is easier to obtain if outer order is taken seriously…We enjoy a hearty breakfast at Grace Brook Farm at 7am and spend the day engaged in the Inner Fire Program until 8:30 at night. By 7:30am we are washing­up and by 8 we are ready for either a morning walk up the dirt road, through the forest and alongside a field to the dead end, or three times a week, for group eurythmy with Vadim, our therapeutic eurythmist. To have the opportunity to do eurythmy together as a community is such a gift. Our morning circle follows when each seeker and guide gives a glimmer of how he/she is doing and also something for which they are grateful. Then seekers either head outside, to the kitchen to start to prepare the main meal of the day (we are very aware of how fortunate we are to be able to eat such quality local and organic food under the creative guidance of Audrie, our GAPS chef and tutor) or to their one on one therapies.

Tuesdays and Thursday afternoons bring the seekers together to do group work with Biographical Arts or Psychosynthesis. Hours are carved for house cleaning, using biodegradable cleansers and practicing appreciation and attention to details, mentoring and also a house meeting. Each evening we engage in group soul nourishment through learning West African Drumming, singing, knitting while listening to an impressive and inspiring biography, and group discussions on relevant themes. We are even gifted with a Kora concert once a week by an extremely talented musician. Weekends thus far have found us hiking and exploring the green mountains of Vermont and the beautiful Mount Monadnock in New Hampshire.

Though the Inner Fire day program has only been running for three months, it is so heartening to experience already how the seekers have responded to all that has been offered. I am full of admiration, great strides have been taken despite the traumas of their past. Many feel safe for the first time in years and strive to let go of old patterns and forge new gifts and abilities which will lead them with renewed confidence into the inevitable challenges life offers. They grow to recognize the hidden opportunities in these challenges and even begin to entertain the thought that just these challenges, which they once may have shied from, might actually ‘belong to them’ and are necessary for their continued growth.

We close the evenings together with the below verse by Rudolf Steiner:

Quiet I bear within me.
I bear within myself forces
to make strong.
Now will I be imbued with
their glowing warmth.
Now will I fill myself with
my own will’s resolve.
And I will feel the quiet
pouring through all my
being,
When by my steadfast
striving
I become strong to find
within myself the source
of strength,
the strength of inner
quiet.