Retreat House Spirituality Center

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Retreat House Spirituality Center

Retreat House is a contemplative community creating space for rest, renewal, and spiritual guidance.

10/08/2026

What happens to us when we spend time outside?

A walk beneath the trees clears something in our minds. Time near water settles us. An afternoon outdoors can leave us feeling more present, creative, and connected than when we began.

We know the feeling—but what is actually happening?

For our October Retreat House Book Circle, we're reading Florence Williams' The Nature Fix: Why Nature Makes Us Happier, Healthier, and More Creative, an exploration of what science is discovering about the relationship between nature and our brains, bodies, creativity, relationships, and overall well-being.

Join us on Zoom as we explore the book together and consider our own relationships with the natural world.

What restores us? Where do we experience connection and belonging? And what might change if time in nature became an intentional part of tending our inner lives?

📖 October Book Circle: The Nature Fix
Monday, October 19
10:00–11:00 a.m. Central
Online via Zoom

Come having read the book and ready for thoughtful conversation, reflection, and connection.

RSVP at www.retreathousecommunity.org/register

10/07/2026

A small practice for today:

Notice something that has your attention.

Not something demanding it—the email, the notification, the next thing on your list—but something you find yourself naturally returning to.

A thought. A person. A question. A book. A place. A song. Something beautiful.

Stay with it for a moment.

Notice what happens within you when you give it your full attention.

You don't have to figure out what it means.

Just become curious about why this particular thing keeps finding its way back to you.

Sometimes the things that quietly hold our attention are also the things quietly forming us.

10/06/2026

What are you in conversation with right now?

Maybe it's a person.

But maybe it's a book you keep thinking about. A piece of music you return to. Something you're creating. A place that feels different every time you visit. A question that refuses to leave you alone.

We are continually being shaped by what we give our attention to.

So notice what you've been returning to lately.

What is it awakening in you?

What is it asking you to notice?

What might change if you gave the conversation a little more attention?

10/05/2026

We sometimes imagine that tending the inner life requires withdrawing from everything around us.

And sometimes we do need silence and solitude.

But the world is also continually forming us.

A tree can slow us down. A piece of music can awaken something we had forgotten. A painting can change the way we see. A conversation can help us recognize something we couldn't see on our own. Even putting words onto a page can reveal parts of ourselves we hadn't heard clearly before.

Perhaps tending the inner life isn't always about turning away from the world.

Sometimes it's about becoming more available to it.

What has been shaping your inner life lately?

10/02/2026

Despite the name, a spiritual director isn't there to direct your life.

They aren't there to tell you what decision to make, hand you the right spiritual answer, or convince you to see the world the way they do.

Instead, spiritual direction begins with listening.

A spiritual director listens for the questions beneath the questions. They notice what you return to. They make room for silence. They may offer a question or reflection that helps you hear your own life differently.

The assumption isn't that the director knows where you need to go.

It's that something can happen when two people slow down long enough to pay attention together.

That's less about having answers.

And much more about companionship.

Learn more at www.retreathousecommunity.org/guides

10/01/2026

The term "direction" can be a little misleading.

A spiritual director isn't there to tell you what to believe or what decision to make. The work is much more about listening, noticing, wondering, and creating space for the questions and experiences that are shaping your life.

At Retreat House, we sometimes describe spiritual direction simply as the practice of paying attention.

Swipe through for an introduction to what that can look like—and if something here resonates, we've created a deeper guide to help you explore whether spiritual direction might be right for you.

www.retreathousecommunity.org/guides

09/30/2026

There are seasons when the answers that once worked for us don't seem to fit anymore.

A belief shifts. A relationship changes. We find ourselves at a threshold we didn't expect. Or perhaps nothing dramatic has happened at all—we simply sense that something within us is asking for attention.

In moments like these, we may not need someone to tell us what to do.

We may need someone willing to listen.

Spiritual direction creates space for that kind of listening. It's a relationship where you can bring your questions, experiences, doubts, longings, and encounters with the sacred without needing to arrive with anything figured out.

Sometimes the most important thing isn't finding the answer.

It's creating enough space to hear what is already stirring within us.

www.retreathousecommunity.org/guides

09/22/2026

What if beauty isn't simply something we enjoy—but something we need?

A favorite song changes our mood. A walk through a garden settles something within us. We lose track of time while making something with our hands. A painting, a story, or a night sky fills us with wonder.

We know these experiences feel good. Neuroscience is beginning to help us understand that something much more interesting may be happening in our brains and bodies.

This October, join us at Retreat House for Arts & the Brain: Why Beauty, Creativity, and Wonder Matter More Than We Think, a four-session exploration inspired by the bestselling book Your Brain on Art.

We'll explore the fascinating connections between art, creativity, nature, movement, awe, the brain, and the inner life—and how these experiences can shape our attention, resilience, relationships, and well-being.

And we'll turn the questions toward our own lives:

✨ Why does certain music move us?
✨ What happens when we create simply for the joy of creating?
✨ Why are we drawn toward beauty?
✨ What might wonder teach us about being more fully alive?

You don't need to be an artist. You don't need to know anything about neuroscience.

You just need to be curious.

🧠 Arts & the Brain
October 8, 15, 22 & 29
2:00–3:30 p.m.
📍 Retreat House Spirituality Center | Richardson, TX

Come see familiar things in a new way.

09/21/2026

What might happen if you gave yourself some time to write, wonder, and listen?

Wild Spirituality: A Contemplative Write-In is an invitation to explore the intersection of earth, spirit, story, and self through gentle writing prompts, quiet reflection, and spacious time to see what emerges.

And here's the important part: you don't have to consider yourself a writer to come.

On Monday, Sept. 28 at 7:00 pm, bring a journal or notebook and your curiosity. We'll spend time listening to the wisdom of the natural world, exploring the wildness within us, and noticing the experiences that deepen our sense of belonging to the Earth and to one another.

The gathering will be facilitated by Gretchen Martens, publisher of the House of book series and facilitator of Retreat House's monthly writers gatherings.

If you're interested in contributing to our upcoming Wild Spirituality community anthology, this can also be a wonderful place to begin or develop a piece—but there is absolutely no requirement to submit anything for publication. You can simply come for the experience.

The natural world doesn't ask us for credentials before welcoming us in. Neither do we.

Come with something to write with, an open spirit, and a willingness to follow the wild invitation wherever it might lead.

09/18/2026

Maybe you've been looking for conversations like this closer to home.

A place to explore spirituality beyond certainty and striving. To talk about intuition, embodiment, creativity, interconnectedness, and the ways we might live with greater compassion and attention.

This fall, a small group is gathering at Retreat House in Richardson to explore the Sacred Feminine with spiritual director Kim Verriere.

You don't need a background in theology or familiarity with the Sacred Feminine. You might simply be someone in Dallas–Fort Worth who has been searching for a different way to understand the Divine, yourself, and how you want to be in the world.

For four Monday evenings, we'll gather in person for teaching, conversation, reflective practice, and the kind of exploration that's simply different when it happens around a table with other curious people.

If you've been looking for your people and your place for deeper spiritual conversation in North Texas, perhaps this is an invitation to come find us.

Four Mondays | Sept. 21 & 28 + Oct. 5 & 12
6:30–8:30 p.m.
Retreat House | Richardson, Texas
$120 for the four-session series

Come curious. Questions are welcome here. Learn more at www.retreathousecommunity.org/register

Address

110 Mimosa Drive
Richardson, TX
75080

Telephone

+19727077591

Website

https://www.retreathousecommunity.org/

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