Solace Farms Highlights Some New Series and the Return of Our Annual Mystic Market in June

by Allison Brunner, LCSW, Somatic Psychotherapist and Andean Spiritual and Healing Arts practitioner “Nervous systems heal in community, not in isolation,” my healing coach reminded me over the past year.

That truth has resounded within me all year.

Like many people, there have been seasons of my life when I withdrew inward while moving through major change, healing, uncertainty, and transformation. And while solitude absolutely has its place, I’ve also come to recognize how much easier it is to move through life when we feel supported, seen, encouraged, and connected to others.

So many of us have fallen into patterns of hyper-independence and disconnection. We carry everything ourselves. We try to heal ourselves by ourselves. We think we need to have everything figured out before we let people truly see us.

But healing shifts when we are in spaces where we can simply be human together.

That is part of the inspiration behind Writing for Healing, a new ongoing gathering at Solace Farms that blends guided journaling, mindfulness, somatic practices, gentle inner parts work, reflection, community connection, and simple rituals for healing and transformation.

For nearly two decades, I’ve practiced The Hakomi Method of Mindful Somatic Psychotherapy, an experiential, body-centered approach to healing rooted in mindfulness, compassion, and nervous system stabilization. My work has also been deeply informed by Emotional Freedom Technique for trauma, apprenticeship in the Andean healing and spiritual arts for nearly a decade, and my own lived experience navigating profound transformations.

In these gatherings, writing becomes a doorway into deeper self-awareness and healing. This is not a creative writing class. The focus is not on writing skill; rather, it's on self-awareness, reflection, and healing. The writing simply helps us to listen more openly to ourselves.

We begin by bringing awareness inward, noticing emotions, body sensations, memories, images, impulses, thoughts, and inner truths that may have been hidden beneath the surface of everyday consciousness. Through guided prompts and mindfulness practices, we begin a compassionate dialogue with different aspects of ourselves.

For example, one part of us may long to move forward into a healthier or more aligned chapter of life, while another part feels frightened and clings tightly to familiar patterns. Rather than forcing change, we slow down enough to understand what those fearful parts need in order to feel safe.

There is something profoundly healing about being in a room where people can be real with each other. We laugh. Sometimes we cry. We recognize ourselves in one another. We remember that transformation does not have to happen in isolation, and that even during uncertain seasons of life, joy, connection, insight, meaning, and laughter are still available to us.

We also get to celebrate in community our breakthroughs, transitions, the moments when something finally clicks, and the realizations that we are growing into fuller, freer versions of ourselves.

The first Writing for Healing gathering will take place on Thursday, June 25th from 6:30 to 8:00pm. at Solace Farms in Chester Springs, Pennsylvania. The group is limited to eight participants in order to create a space that feels connected, supportive, and spacious enough for meaningful sharing.

After this first gathering, my intention is to offer these circles twice monthly on Tuesday evenings. You do not need to attend every session. People are welcome to come as they are, wherever they are in their process.

If emotions have been surfacing lately that you can no longer push aside, if some part of you has been asking to be seen, heard, or tended to more deeply, or if you simply long for a place to exhale in the company of others and remember that you do not have to go through life’s harder passages alone, I would love to welcome you. If you plan to purchase a new notebook for the series, consider instead attending Helena Dominic's new Summer Art Camp for Grownups series. Her second event on Saturday, June 20, allows participants to craft their own journal!

Until then, celebrate June with me at Get-to-Know-You Game Night, Friday, June 12, at 6:30pm. What better way to enjoy Gemini season than by socializing and playing in a meaningful way? Where Should We Begin? A Game of Stories by Esther Perel, facilitates connection, laughter, and heartfelt conversation. Proceeds go to minor aesthetic upgrades at Solace Farms. Please RSVP in advance so that we can set up for the appropriate number of participants.

And back by popular demand, the 2nd Annual Mystic Market features energy workers, artists, and healers on multiple dates from June through October. We'll kick off this year's on June 14, and admission is free. RSVP at SolaceFarmsRetreat.com. Vendor space is still available, so reach out if you'd like to participate.

If you were thinking that the schedule at Solace Farms would lighten for the summer, you were sort or right.—if by lighten you meant brighten. Get ready for some fun, healing, silliness, and inspiration. Following are more June events. Check back in the coming days as we add more.