Step 1 - Read this blog post. (Buy hey, you’re already doing that. You’re on your way already!)

Step 2 - Think of some challenge you’re facing, some growth you’re wanting, some area of your life that could use a little energy, light, abundance, peace, or healing.

Step 3 - Write a comment below or send an email entitled, “Prayer List” to christine@christinekane.com. State your intention or your request.

Step 4 - Sit back, let go, and be grateful.

“Huh?”

Here’s the deal:

This coming weekend is the first of four 2008 Great Big Dreams Retreats.

At every retreat, I open the weekend with contemplation and intent. At that time I take the names of everyone who has emailed or commented to this post - along with all of their intentions and requests - and I include them in our circle and in our own prayers and affirmations.

I call it a “Prayer List.”

It’s a powerful part of the retreats - and I’ve had many emails from people saying that lots of things changed in their lives after they did this - and that they could actually feel themselves as part of the circle.

If you want to read some of the other posts I’ve written about this, click here, and here.

Believe it. Don’t believe it. You’ve got nothing to lose. So, why not? Get some good mojo this weekend!

Welcome to the second part of the Vision Board Gallery. You can view yesterday’s gallery here.

Some of the women at the retreat chose to do Vision Books, not Vision Boards. That way they can continue to add images throughout the year. This is a handy alternative because it’s portable. (I wrote more about Vision Books in this post.)

Here are a few images of the Vision Books.

Some of these photos are from the same books. I think someone came close to filling her entire book!

Here are a few more traditional Vision Boards…

Below is a poster board folded up for better suitcase stowaway. This one touches me deeply because of the huge awakening this person had about her relationship with horses after she did her board.

One of the participants had come to a retreat two years ago. Her house had just burned to the ground, and she was not only dealing with grief, but she was rebuilding her life. She brought her vision board from that retreat just to see whether or not she had shifted in her vision for herself. I’ll let you decide.

Here’s the vision board from two years ago:

This is the vision board she made this year. As she told us about it, she said she could feel the lightness and the difference in her direction and vision for herself.

So, I host these retreats for women four times a year. (You can read more about them here.) On the second afternoon of the retreat, each participant creates a Vision Board. If you aren’t sure what a Vision Board is, I’ve written two posts about them: Vision Boards: A Quick Story. And How to Make a Vision Board.

For today and tomorrow, I want to share several of the vision boards from last weekend’s retreat. (The retreat was amazing - on so many levels.) The Vision Boards are on full-size poster boards. Some people flew in from far away places like Arizona, Texas and New Zealand (!) and so they made their boards in composition books. Or they folded up the poster boards. I will display a few of those tomorrow!

Vision Boards are not about art. They are about joy and creativity. I’ve heard an occasional visual artist get snooty about the “lay-out” or the “composition” of a particular vision board. And I just want to say, “Dude - relax. No one is trying to threaten you here!”

One person - who has come to many retreats now - told everyone a story of how much she resisted doing a Vision Board when I introduced the activity at the very first retreat. (About five years ago now!) She says that she rolled her eyes and said to her friend, “I didn’t come here to cut and paste things. This is stupid.” She then spent the entire day and night finishing hers at that retreat. She says that her life totally changed for the better, partly because of that board. Now, she looks forward to each new one she creates.

The most amazing thing about Vision Boards is that when it comes right down to it, the desires and visions are usually very simple. Sacred space. Travel. Abundance. Great food. Delightful friends. Sometimes there’s a car. Lots of times there are beautiful homes. But when you think about it, none of it is un-doable. We clutter our lives up and make everything so complicated. And life doesn’t have to be so complicated! (Okay, so I think someone mentioned a fling with Kermit the Frog. And someone else mentioned one with Rod Stewart. Both of which came with the cautionary advice that penicilin should be a precursor to such affairs!)

On the last morning of the retreat, each person can share her board with everyone, and tell its story aloud. I think that adding a voice and witnesses to a Vision Board gives it velocity. And each board came alive as we heard the desires and dreams of each person.

The board below is considered by some to be the very best and most special Vision Board on the entire planet ever in the history of the world! (I promised its creator that I’d write this!)

The board below was created by a woman whose husband died suddenly from a brain aneurysm in October. She has been working with a grief support network as she puts her life back together. An image that continues to help her is from a poem about a tree and how you can cut a branch off a tree, and it might change the shape of the tree, and it might add a scar, but it doesn’t alter the tree itself. The tree keeps growing. When she started sorting through magazines, she found the image of the tree, which is central to her vision board and the healing she is continuing to experience.

One of my most popular past blog posts is Vision Boards: A Quick Story. I wrote it months before the DVD The Secret was released. Then John Assaraf’s story of manifesting his giant mansion by using vision boards (in The Secret) popularized the concept. Many of us, however, have been doing them for years. (I’ve been using them at my women’s retreats for about 5 years now.) And the value of a vision board goes way beyond just mansions and gold watches!

What is a Vision Board?

A vision board (also called a Treasure Map or a Visual Explorer or Creativity Collage) is typically a poster board on which you paste or collage images that you’ve torn out from various magazines. It’s simple.

The idea behind this is that when you surround yourself with images of who you want to become, what you want to have, where you want to live, or where you want to vacation, your life changes to match those images and those desires.

For instance, before I ever started performing music and I had no idea how I’d ever get a gig, write enough songs, or assemble a press kit, I drew a picture of myself in a bar with people watching me perform (I’m a terrible visual artist, so I actually had to label the people “people!”). And though it wasn’t the only factor in making it happen, I had a calendar full of bar and coffeehouse gigs by the next year.

My drawing was a kind of a vision board. Vision boards do the same thing as my drawing did. They add clarity to your desires, and feeling to your visions. For instance, at the time I did my drawing, I knew I wanted to play in bars and coffeehouses. (I have since left the that circuit, and I’m performing in theatres and at conferences. But in my early twenties, I wanted to play in bars and coffeehouses. I was pretty clear about that!) Taking the time to draw it out, even poorly, made it indelible in my mind.

There are several methods you can use for creating your vision board. I’ve written about each one below. You can choose which one works best for you, depending on where you find yourself on this path of creating your life.

Supplies you’ll need for creating a Vision Board:

- Poster board. (Target sells a really nice matte finish board. I highly recommend it.)

- A big stack of different magazines. (You can get them at libraries, hair salons, dentist offices, the YMCA.) Make sure you find lots of different types. If you limit your options, you’ll lose interest after a while. When I facilitate my women’s retreats, I always make sure we have plenty of Oprah, Real Simple, Natural Home, Yoga Journal, Dwell, Ode, Parenting, Money, Utne, and an assortment of nature magazines.

- Glue. Not Elmers. (It makes the pages ripple.) I like using Yes! Glue or Rubber cement. Glue sticks are my second choice because they don’t last.

Before you begin your vision board:

No matter which method you’re choosing, have a little ritual before you begin your vision board. Sit quietly and set the intent. With lots of kindness and openness, ask yourself what it is you want. Maybe one word will be the answer. Maybe images will come into your head. Just take a moment to be with that. This process makes it a deeper experience. It gives a chance for your ego to step aside just a little, so that you can more clearly create your vision.

Put on soft music. My favorite music for activities like this is Anugama Shamanic Dream I and Shamanic Dream II. I love these CD’s for massage or any activity where you want to keep your mind quiet.

The Five Steps of Creating a Vision Board:

Step 1: Go through your magazines and tear the images from them. No gluing yet! Just let yourself have lots of fun looking through magazines and pulling out pictures or words or headlines that strike your fancy. Have fun with it. Make a big pile of images and phrases and words.

Step 2: Go through the images and begin to lay your favorites on the board. Eliminate any images that no longer feel right. This step is where your intuition comes in. As you lay the pictures on the board, you’ll get a sense how the board should be laid out. For instance, you might assign a theme to each corner of the board. Health, Job, Spirituality, Relationships, for instance. Or it may just be that the images want to go all over the place. Or you might want to fold the board into a book that tells a story. At my retreats, I’ve seen women come up with wildly creative ways to present a vision board.

Step 3: Glue everything onto the board. Add writing if you want. You can paint on it, or write words with markers.

Step 4: (optional, but powerful) Leave space in the very center of the vision board for a fantastic photo of yourself where you look radiant and happy. Paste yourself in the center of your board.

Step 5: Hang your vision board in a place where you will see it often.

Three Types of Vision Boards:

1 - The “I Know Exactly What I Want” Vision Board

Do this vision board if:

- You’re very clear about your desires.
- You want to change your environment or surroundings.
- There is a specific thing you want to manifest in your life. (i.e. a new home, or starting a business.)

How to create this vision board:

With your clear desire in mind, set out looking for the exact pictures which portray your vision. If you want a house by the water, then get out the Dwell magazine and start there. If you want to start your own business, find images that capture that idea for you. If you want to learn guitar, then find that picture. I remember at the last retreat, one woman yelled out, “If anyone finds a picture of a little girl with red hair who looks happy, give it to me!” And someone else yelled out, “I’m looking for a Cadillac!” Pretty soon, a lively trading session began. Following the five steps above, create your vision board out of these images.

2 - The “Opening and Allowing” Vision Board

Do this vision board if:

- You’re not sure what exactly you want
- You’ve been in a period of depression or grief
- You have a vision of what you want, but are uncertain about it in some way.
- You know you want change but don’t know how it’s possible.

How to create this vision board:

Go through each magazine. Tear out images that delight you. Don’t ask why. Just keep going through the magazines. If it’s a picture of a teddy bear that makes you smile, then pull it out. If it’s a cottage in a misty countryside, then rip it out. Just have fun and be open to whatever calls to you. Then, as you go through Step 2 above, hold that same openness, but ask yourself what this picture might mean. What is it telling you about you? Does it mean you need to take more naps? Does it mean you want to get a dog, or stop hanging out with a particular person who drains you? Most likely you’ll know the answer. If you don’t, but you still love the image, then put it on your vision board anyway. It will have an answer for you soon enough. Some women at my retreats had NO idea what their board was about, and it wasn’t until two months later that they understood. The Opening and Allowing Vision Board can be a powerful guide for you. I like it better than the first model because sometimes our egos think they know what we want, and lots of times those desires aren’t in alignment with who we really are. This goes deeper than just getting what you want. It can speak to you and teach you a little bit about yourself and your passion.

3 - The “Theme” Vision Board

Do this vision board if:

- It’s your birthday or New Years Eve or some significant event that starts a new cycle.
- If you are working with one particular area of your life. For instance, Work & Career.

How to create this vision board:

The only difference between this vision board and the others is that this one has clear parameters and intent. Before you begin the vision board, take a moment to hold the intent and the theme in mind. When you choose pictures, they will be in alignment with the theme. You can do the Theme Vision Board on smaller pages, like a page in your journal.

Some things to remember about vision boards:

- You can use a combination of all three types of vision boards as you create. Sometimes you might start out doing one kind, and then your intuition takes over and shifts into a whole different mode. That’s called creativity. Just roll with it.

- Your vision board might change as you are making it. I was just talking with a friend of mine who said that she had been making a vision board for the new year. The theme was all about what she wanted in this year. Then, as she pulled pictures and began to lay them out, the theme changed into a simpler one about her everyday life and the moments in each day. It surprised and delighted her to experience that evolution. You might find that you have little epiphanies from making a vision board.

Make a Vision Journal

Another option is to use these same principles in a big sketch book. Get a large sketch book and keep an on-going vision journal. This is especially effective if you’re going through many transitions in your life.

I welcome anyone who has created a vision board to write your own experience in the comments…

Technorati Tags: vision boards, personal growth, law of attraction, creativity

The next Women’s Retreat will happen March 9 - 11, 2007. The theme is Great Big Dreams. Below is random information about the retreats, and about how to register and/or get some further information.

‚Ä¢ I’ve been facilitating these retreats for five years now. This one will be the ninth retreat I’ve done.

• The retreats happen at the Bend of Ivy Lodge in Marshall, NC. Click on the link to see photos and read all about the property and lodging.

• Participation is limited to 18 people.

‚Ä¢ The theme of the next retreat is “Great Big Dreams.” (A line from my song Right Outta Nowhere.) These retreats are not about songwriting, or being an artist, or creativity. (Creativity is included in the discussion and activities, but it is not the focus of the retreat.) Women from all professions and lifestyles have participated.

• Meals are lovingly prepared by a local natural foods chef who uses only organic products, most of which were grown in her own gardens. Unlike so many retreat situations, the food at these retreats is unbelievably healthy and has great energy.

• Massages are available (and encouraged) from one of the best massage therapists in the land. (Really. I do not exaggerate here.) Most of the participants sign up for at least one hour-long massage.

‚Ä¢ One full-scholarship slot is available! This is a new thing. Inspired by a check that was sent to me as a random act of kindness through my blog, I began the Loving Hands Scholarship Fund for my retreats. So many people have written to ask if they could receive discounts for these retreats. Until now, I didn’t see how I could offer discounts to one person without offering them to everyone. The scholarship was started by this one person and has been contributed to by the participants from the last retreat. (Which is why I’m calling it Loving Hands.) Please email me at christine@christinekane.com, and I will send you details on how to apply for the scholarship slot.

‚Ä¢ On Saturday night (the second night of the retreat), I do an “Unplugged Total Request All Truths Revealed” concert for everyone. After the concert, the “stage” opens up and women read poetry, sing their own tunes, or just sit back and listen.

‚Ä¢ If you are wondering if this is right for you, or if you can’t figure out what to do, here’s what to do: Send me an email. (christine@christinekane.com) I will send you all the details you could possibly want! Then you can decide.

• Listen to your heart. Come if this feels like the right thing for you. Let it be an Absolute Yes. The women at the last retreat were so completely in that Absolute Yes mode that they have stuck together for several months, still communicating with each other, making life changes, and improving the quality of their thoughts, actions and life situations.

‚Ä¢ If you know this is the right thing, and you don’t need any more information, here’s what to do: send in your deposit. You can go to my store (on this website) and use your credit card. All of the retreat deposit options are listed. Or you can email me at christine@christinekane.com, and I will send you a PayPal Request-for-Money form, and you can pay through PayPal. If you want to pay by check, please email me as well.

Thanks! I look forward to meeting you!