Glossary
The words we use, in plain language.
Somatic, integration, the Silent Gap: short definitions, with links to read more.
A
- Application
- How you join a Renovo Path retreat. Entry is by application, not open enrolment: a short interest check, then a deeper application that we read personally.
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B
- Body scan
- A meditation in which attention moves slowly through the body, usually from the feet to the head, noticing sensation without trying to change it.
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- Burnout
- Exhaustion that builds from long-term stress, often work-related. It is different from depression, which is a medical condition, and from the Silent Gap. A doctor can help tell them apart.
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C
- Clarity mapping
- A guided reflection that maps the distance between the life you are living and the life you want.
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- Cohort
- The group of people who attend a retreat together. At Renovo Path a cohort is sixteen people, chosen by application so the room is right for everyone in it.
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- Confidentiality covenant
- The shared agreement that what is said in the circle stays in the circle. It is honoured by every participant.
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D
- Discovery call
- A free 15–20 minute call with Dhiraj after you apply, to talk about price, safety and whether the retreat suits you.
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E
- Embodied
- Experienced through the body, not only thought about. An embodied retreat works with breath, movement and sensation as well as conversation.
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F
- Fit check
- An honest list of who a retreat is for and who it is not for right now, so people can decide with good information.
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G
- Grounding
- Practices that bring attention down from the head into the body, for example feeling your feet on the floor and your breath.
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- Guided meditation
- Meditation led by a voice, live or recorded, that tells you where to place attention.
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H
- High-functioning burnout
- A descriptive phrase for the pattern in which you keep delivering at work while the energy and meaning behind it quietly drain away. It is not a medical diagnosis.
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I
- Integration
- The structure that helps you keep what you noticed on a retreat. At Renovo Path it is six months of monthly group calls, a peer partnership and facilitator support.
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M
- Mindfulness
- Paying attention, on purpose and without judging, to what is happening in the present moment.
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- Mirror work
- An exercise in which you reflect another person's movement or words and are reflected back, which shows habits of leading, following and holding back.
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N
- Non-profit initiative
- How Renovo Path describes itself: it does not exist to make a profit for owners. Fees cover the costs of the retreat. A GST invoice is not available.
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P
- Peer circle
- A small group in which each person speaks honestly while the others listen without advising or fixing.
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R
- Retreat
- A concentrated stretch of time away from daily life, with structure, practice and company. It is not a holiday, and it is not treatment.
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- Role reversal
- An exercise in which you speak from another person's position in a situation that matters to you, to understand it differently.
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S
- Silent Gap
- The quiet absence many accomplished people feel after doing everything right: no crisis, but a sense that something important has gone quiet.
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- Somatic
- Relating to the body. Somatic practice means paying skilled attention to breath, movement and sensation as a way of understanding what is going on, in and through the body.
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- Somatic retreat
- A retreat built around body-based practice, with reflection, play and peer circles, rather than around lectures or talk alone.
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V
- Vipassana
- A form of insight meditation, often translated as seeing things as they are, traditionally taught in structured courses. Renovo Path is not a Vipassana retreat.
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