Publications, Retreats, Etc.


goler with locksRecent Publications

“Love Poems to God: The Contemplative Artistry of Dianne McIntyre,” in The Journal of Dance, Movement and Spiritualities. vol. 1 no. 1 (2014): 73-86. (peer reviewed)

“Reflection on ‘Life While-You-Wait’ by Wislawa Szymborska,” in Teaching from the Heart: Poetry that Speaks to the Courage to Teach. Eds. Scribner, Megan and Sam Intrator. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass 2014

“From the Margins to the Center,” in Let the Beauty We Love Be What We Do: Stories of Living Divided No More. Eds. Hare, Sally Z. and Megan LeBoutillier. Pawleys Island, SC: Prose Press, 2014. 

Recent Retreats and Activities

September 2015 — Omega Institute, Rhinebeck, NY

Center for Contemplative Mind in Society, Contemplative Practices in Higher Education Workshop

A workshop on contemplative practices for educators, staff, and administrators working within all aspects of higher education, led by Daniel Barbezat, Mirabai Bush and Veta Goler. 

gibbs gardens

August 2015 — Celebrating Harvest, Planting Seeds: An Autumn Courage & Renewal Retreat

Autumn is a time to celebrate nature’s bounty. It is also a time to prepare for the dormancy of winter by planting seeds that will sprout in the spring. In this daylong retreat, Celebrating Harvest, Planting Seeds, we will explore what we want to celebrate in our lives and what we need to do now to realize our goals and dreams for the future. 

July 2015 — How Good It Is to Center Down: A Courage and Renewal Retreat for Faculty of Color

The important work of educating young people places intense, multi-faceted demands on college professors. These demands are magnified for faculty of color at predominantly white institutions, who face additional stressors, among them a sense of isolation, the need to justify their research interests, and other ways that their race and culture are devalued or are invisible in the academy. How Good It Is to Center Down: A Courage & Renewal Retreat for Faculty of Color will help faculty of color negotiate these stressors.

fall sedum small

March 2015 — “Are You Sure, Sweetheart, That You Want To Be Well?”: A Contemplative Retreat for Self Healing

Reconnect to the source of your inspiration and gain strength, courage, and tools to live more dynamically despite the challenges of daily life. “Are You Sure, Sweetheart, That You Want To Be Well?”: A Contemplative Retreat for Self Healing will guide you through a lively mix of movement, reflection, and creative art-making to develop a deeper connection with yourself.

September 2014 — Time-Release Renewal

As we say farewell to summer and move into the new academic year, many of us feel excited about the possibilities for the semester—as well as trepidation at the toll our work may take. We wonder if we’ll have the energy to sustain our enthusiasm and drive or if we’ll succumb to burnout. Time-Release Renewal: Tools to Sustain the Fire is a daylong retreat that will provide you with rejuvenating practices to help you maintain your passion and drive for your work throughout the semester.

photo by Germaine McAuley

photo by Germaine McAuley

April 2014 — Conjuring/Creating/Being

Spelman faculty and staff are discovering for themselves what studies are showing: that pausing to engage in reflective practices increases our capacity for effective work in the world. Regular contemplative practices—including short retreats—improve their outlook, motivation, creativity, and productivity. As we move to the big finish of another academic year, I invite you to participate in a contemplative retreat. Conjuring/Creating/Being will enable you to explore your own authenticity and discover the practices that bring you inner peace—practices that you’ll be above to return to again and again.

October 2013 — Seeking: Journey to the Undivided Life

We come into the world as whole human beings, with all our seeds of true self, all our birthright gifts. Over the next decades, too often we begin to get separated from who we are and why we are here. We also come into this world hardwired to connect with others, but such interdependence is often diminished, dampened, distorted, or ignored. By creating a safe, supportive space, national facilitators Veta Goler and Sally Z. Hare and Sandie Merriam invite you into a space to do your own seeking, to make your own hidden wholeness more visible. Join us in a three-day retreat, Seeking: Journey to the Undivided Life, Myrtle Beach, SC, October 2013, grounded in the vision of artist Jonathan Green and in the writing of Parker J. Palmer.

coi pond

August 2013 — How Good It Is to Center Down                                   

How Good It Is to Center Down: A Courage & Renewal Retreat for Spelman Faculty and Staff is a daylong retreat that will help prepare you for the demands of academic life; it is an opportunity to pause, turn within, reflect and rejuvenate. Through silence, poetry, music and other contemplative practices, you can reconnect with the source of your inspiration and gain strength, courage and other tools to live more contentedly despite the challenges of daily life and work. 

April 2013 — Walking with the Wind

The important work of educating young people places intense, multi-faceted demands on college professors. These demands are magnified at HBCUs, where limited resources often require heavy teaching loads, time-consuming committee work, and little support for research and faculty development. This combination can leave HBCU faculty feeling weary and burnt out—surviving, not really thriving. Walking with the Wind: A Courage & Renewal Retreat for Spelman Faculty is a daylong retreat designed to give participants a welcome respite from the demands of academic life.

from cosby 2

Responses to Veta Goler’s Retreats

My mantra before, during, and after the retreat is: “I can’t give what I don’t have.”  Attending the retreat allowed me to find ways to center down and find inner peace, direction, and creativity. These are now things that I can share with my students!

When I signed up for the retreat I did not know what I was looking for. I only knew I needed a ‘reset’ button for myself. I just trusted that in your expert hands, I would receive what I needed. My confidence was justified. Not only did I feel more connected to my own inner self but also to the hearts of the people I work with and labor with. For that I am so very glad and grateful.

…the kind of retreat that should be scheduled at the beginning of the school year so that we establish the good habits of taking time for renewal before the year starts—and again at the end of the school year, so that we decompress and remember to be kind to ourselves.

— Spelman College Professors

 photo of me by Furery Reid