Chronicle of the retreat “Alquímia. Amor i dolor de llengua” ("Alchemy. Language love and language grief", 2024) |
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What was the objective of the retreat? How did it go? |
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ORIGINAL NEWSLETTER IN CATALAN here |
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Note: this newsletter / retreat announcement was originally published in Catalan, because the public of the retreat were minority language speakers of the Iberian Peninsula. It's been translated into English in May 2025 for dissemination purposes |
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The approach: WHAT IS THE POINT of DOING personal work to HEAL LANGUAGE GRIEF? Enric Larreula, in his book Dolor de llengua (2002), explains that “dolor de llengua (henceforth translated as ‘language grief’) is experienced in silence. Despite being very common in our society, it has not been studied much: how does one suffer from a dying mother tongue and why does one suffer? There are several consequences that this supposed language grief, both from an emotional, somatic and social point of view, can produce in affected people”. The emotions that are most common associated with language marginalisation, i.e. everything we feel when we perceive that our language is in the process of extinction, are sadness, frustration, anguish, anger, guilt, helplessness, resentment... When we cannot / do not let ourselves feel and we repress an emotion, it does not go away, it grows. The BODY ACCUMULATES emotional memories of experiences that we have not resolved or integrated, reliving the past in the present, and this makes it difficult for us to live fully and peacefully. The retreats I organise, for both speakers and activists of minoritised languages, are designed to create a safe space where people who suffer from this pain can acknowledge and share it. Through a holistic approach that combines body movement, expression and self-awareness techniques, participants can EXPLORE their emotions and beliefs in a non-judgmental space and CHANNEL THEM towards their well-being and personal development. |
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We suffer, but we don't have to do it in secret. What would it be like to share and heal together with other people? |
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A small, spontaneous, sensitive and welcoming group. Although the intention was to create a larger group, due to organisational problems the retreat ended up being held in a minimalist format. Two activists and a facilitator, coming from different parts of the Iberian Peninsula, representatives of the Basque, Catalan, Occitan and Galician languages, born in different countries, also speakers of other majority and minority languages... in femenine flow, things developed easily, and the pace was slow and adapted to the needs of the group. The space, Isana Macrobiòtica, in the heart of Catalonia, La Segarra, made possible walks in nature, and the discovery of macrobiotic cuisine, which we did not know, along with a very low-impact lifestyle. Lunch and dinner in a low voice, silent walks between the windmills of this particular landscape, rich with agricultural fields and forests, with working moments as a group in the big room, and moments to rest. We came with a calm energy that expanded among everyone and brought attention to where we wanted to put it: the language, and ourselves. |
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Some pics of the cozy “microretreat” |
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Initial activity: grounding objectives and expectations |
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WHAT AM I LOOKING FOR IN THIS SPACE? [TRANSLATION] - Knowing where to go, trying to give up the status quo
- Exchange of opinions, experiences and viewpoints
- What brings me here is friendship
- I feel it will be a safe space to show myself as vulnerable and full of contradictions
- Give support to each other in difficulties and find hope and trust in the collective
- What I want to get out of this space (physical, symbolic) is observing myself and observing my environment better
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Activity “let's question a language belief” |
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THE WORK is a very useful method for identifying and challenging the thoughts that cause us suffering, designed by the North-American spiritual teacher Byron Katie. |
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To familiarise ourselves with the method, we began by questioning an individual belief of a non-linguistic type. Once we understood how the process works, together we sought a linguistic thought which could be valid for all the retreat participants and we examined it. We show you a summary of the activity we did. This is just a sample of the possible (infinite) exercises that can be done to examine our suffering, in this case from the mental sphere. |
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The power of body movement |
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In this retreat we incorporated, for the first time, movement dynamics and somatic dynamics. The premise on which movement work is based is that the body preserves emotional memories and that, through physical work, we can access our internal wounds to heal them. |
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The dynamics we did, with movement, voice (free singing), and later integration through drawing (example of a real drawing above), are accessible to all bodies and all levels of experience. The magic of therapeutic and creative work of this type helps to remove attention from the mental space in order to feel the physical sensations that our body has in the present, and to get in touch with what is, without changing it, which makes the presence and calmness that are available to us at any time emerge, leaving the mind still, free and available for psychological work. |
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Body movement: participants' feedback |
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"El que més em va agradar són les activitats de moviment. Solc ser més bé reservada amb aquest tipus d'activitats si no conec tant les altres persones, però en aquest cas va funcionar bé i em vaig sorprendre dels efectes positius que poden tenir." ["What I liked the most were the movement activities. I tend to be more reserved with these types of activities if I don't know the other people that well, but in this case it worked well and I was surprised by the positive effects they can have."] "Em van ajudar molt per a acostar-me emocional i físicament a les persones del grup que no coneixia. En aquestes activitats ressaltaria la llibertat d'emmotllar les dinàmiques segons els límits que cada persona volgués posar. Sempre remarcant que l'objectiu és crear espais segurs." [“They helped me a lot to get closer emotionally and physically to the people in the group that I didn't know. In these activities I would highlight the freedom to shape the dynamics according to the limits that each person wanted to set. Always emphasizing that the goal is to create safe spaces”] "Crec que les dinàmiques van ser molt adequades per al "*mood" en el qual estàvem i la quantitat de persones que érem. M'agradó molt la dinàmica "The Work. Byron Katie" i m'agradó que estigués acompanyat de dinàmiques menys exigents mentalment. Activitats més corporals, sensorials...això m'ajudo molt a relaxar la ment i el cos." ["I think the dynamics were very appropriate for the "*mood" we were in and the number of people we were. I really liked the dynamic "The Work. Byron Katie" and I liked that it was accompanied by less mentally demanding dynamics. More bodily, sensory activities... this helps me a lot to relax my mind and body."] "Efectivament em van agradar, encara que normalment no son "lo meu". Especialment em refereixo a les activitats amb bena (ulls tapats), perquè t'obliga a sentir i escoltar en lloc de mirar. Sovint dependem massa dels ulls i estar bé tenir-los tancats una estona." ["I actually liked them, although they're not usually "my thing". I'm especially referring to the blindfolded activities, because it forces you to feel and listen instead of look. We often rely too much on our eyes and it's good to have them closed for a while."] |
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In June I am going to the international conference Vulnerom in Uviéu, Astúries (Spain), to talk about the experience of the retreats. If you are going, see you there? ;-) |
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Frequently Asked Questions·FAQ Upcoming editions
How many retreats have been held? Will there be more editions of the retreat? When will it be? - The first retreat was entitled “Cuidar l'activisme" (Taking care of our activism”), and was held in January 2023 in Estibialla, Campo, Aragón. You can find information about it here. The next retreat will continue to have as its theme the language love and language grief, and will have a focus on introspection and healing. There will be the presence of an active Gestalt therapist to increase the group's security and be able to go more in depth. Obviously, good vibes and contact with nature will have an important presence (one thing does not take away the other!). The dates will be December 5, 6, 7 and 8 (holiday weekend in the Iberian Peninsula), and the area will be the province of Lleida, Catalonia. More information and registrations open in June/July. |
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IMPORTANT: these retreats are held in romance language intercomprehension. They aren't designed for English speakers. I WOULD LOVE to organise retreats for a more international audience or for a specific language community. I plan on organising online retreats online for an international in the future (I do language retreats + I work a full-time job + studying therapeutic disciplines). If you would like to hire me for in-person retreats (bear in mind such things need to be organised 8-9 months in advance), you can write to me at retirsdellengues@gmail.com / miretmariona@gmail.com. |
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Audience For whom is this retreat? Can I come if I am not a minority language activist? - The retreats are designed for two types of audience: a) people who speak minoritised languages, and b) minority language activists, that is, people who are professionally dedicated to minority languages, whether through teaching (teachers), research, technical management, outreach, etc. and/or who are not professionally dedicated to language but who in their daily lives give attention and time to language volunteering, to raising awareness about language marginalisation dynamics, creating content for social networks, etc. Can I come if I don't speak a minority language / if I am speaker of a majority language like Spanish? - Yes, that's fine. The retreats are open to everyone, even if they don't speak a minority language. The important thing is that you know what you're coming to, that you respect the intention of the retreat and contribute to creating a safe space for speakers of marginalised languages, and that you come with an open and curious mind. It is advisable that you have a degree of passive competence in understanding other minority languages in order to be able to understand them and communicate without problems. Each person speaks their language Is there a language is used as a communication language / lingua franca? How does communication between speakers of different languages work? - The idea is that there is not a single lingua franca in my retreats. Everyone can speak their own language. This is possible because the retreats are designed for speakers of marginalised languages of the Iberian Peninsula which mostly come from the same language family, Romance languages (Latin origin). We put into practice intercomprehension between Catalan, Aragonese, Occitan, Galician, Asturian, etc. This very simple thing is healing in itself, for speakers of these languages. After the first retreat, we can say that Romance intercomprehension worked perfectly with the exception of Basque (Euskera). We have not found a way to facilitate intercomprehension with Basque speakers, but we are aware of this limitation and we are open / attentive to finding new ways to improve communication and make its speakers feel safe and valued, on a symbolic level, even if they have to use another language of intercomprehension. |
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[We aim at translating the main information into English. Please use an online translator for the next questions] Treball de moviment Els següents retirs també tindran treball de moviment? I si no tinc experiència en treball de moviment, terapèutic o de veu? Em sentiré estrany? No és necessària experiència. Les dinàmiques de moviment no requereixen que sàpigues ballar. Pel que fa al treball amb la veu, si l'utilitzem, farem cant lliure/transpersonal, que és una modalitat que no requereix tècnica ni experiència prèvia. Quant al cos, la mateixa cosa. Tothom sap moure’s, i tothom té una veu. Poder alliberar el cos i la veu és un pas més per alliberar-se també de la vergonya. Tots els cossos, veus i identitats sou benvinguts. Presència d'un psicòleg Quin serà el rol del terapeuta? Què aportarà? Tot el retir està dissenyat per ser un espai segur per als participants. L'experiència d'un terapeuta, psicòleg en actiu, està pensada per aportar l'expertesa d'una persona que coneix com funciona la ment i el sistema emocional de les persones. Posarem aquest coneixement al servei de la llengua i la minorització lingüística. El terapeuta és parlant de català i és sensible a aquest tema, i serà present no només durant el retir, sinó en tot el treball previ de disseny de les dinàmiques. A més, la presència del terapeuta i d'una facilitadora (Mariona) en tot moment, serà útil per sostenir el treball del grup i acompanyar-vos individualment, en cas que sigui necessari. Sabem que la llengua és un tema sensible i lligat al trauma, i per això ens posem a la vostra disposició per qualsevol tema delicat que es pugui obrir. Programa Fareu públic el programa? Voldria saber les dinàmiques que es faran. Habitualment, el programa d'activitats no el revelem fins al primer dia del retir. La proposta i el fil conductor del retir s'anunciarà amb la difusió d'informació. Això és així perquè volem que els participants es relaxin i que puguin deixar-te portar i deixar-se sorprendre per l'experiència. Si tens preguntes, sempre pots adreçar-te a l'equip organitzador i te les aclarirà (retirsdellengues@gmail.com / miretmariona@gmail.com). Preu Quin preu solen tenir els retirs? - Si tornem a organitzar un retir, el preu serà al voltant d'uns 250-290 euros, i aquest preu inclou les nits d'allotjament, tots els àpats durant el retir i les dinàmiques i totes les activitats (no hi està inclòs el transport fins al retir). |
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Thank you for being part of my journey to revitalise languages. Your support is very important for me. Together we are stronger. Mariona Miret |
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MY LAST THERAPEUTIC PROPOSALS |
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Carrer de Sant Hilari
Lleida, 25008, Spain |
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