Yoga & Writing Retreat in Massachusetts
October 2-5, 2008 (Thursday-Sunday)
Cost: $665
- Sold Out -
YOGA & WRITING
At
the heart of this retreat is the combination of Hatha Yoga, Meditation,
and Creative Writing. Patricia, Charles and their numerous students
have found this combination to be very powerful. The Yoga serves
to energize participants and creates a sense of physical well-being,
while bringing them back to their body and their senses. Each Yoga
class ends with a deep guided relaxation which calms the mind and
relaxes students into a creative Alpha brainwave pattern. After
we write, often flow of consciousness, with out editing or filtering,
we gather in small, intimate groups and anyone who wishes to, reads
what they have written.
Beginning and experienced writers alike will find a supportive,
encouraging context in which to write from their deepest selves.
The most important aspect of the schedule is that all yoga, writing workshops, and even meals are optional and should be considered free time. We often have a writer who chooses not to participate in the yoga, or a yoga student who chooses not to participate in the writing component. This retreat is for the participants to customize in order to fulfill their needs and expectations.
The retreat starts with dinner on Thursday, and runs through Sunday afternoon.
FACILITIES - STUMP SPROUTS
Yoga
classes and Writing workshops will be held in the old dairy barn which
has been converted into a large multi-purpose space. In summer months,
a unique moveable ceiling exposes the roof timbers thirty feet above
the floor and two lofts, which are reached by a spiral staircase up
through the old silo. The large windows allow for plenty of natural
light. The floors are native hardwood and are great for yoga.
Student accomodations are in the lodge (seen at right). Built and furnished almost entirely from timbers harvested on this land, the lodge is perched atop a high meadow with dramatic views to the south and east. On the top two levels, there are seven bunkrooms and a living room with a fireplace. On the bottom level, there is a dining room and kitchen. There are also four shared bathrooms.
Stump Sprouts is located on West Hill Road, one mile
off Route 8A in West Hawley, Massachusetts.
Visit their site for more information about the facilities at www.stumpsprouts.com
YOGA CLASSES
Hatha Yoga classes will be taught by Charles MacInerney. We will learn a variety of techniques to engage and deepen awareness of the most subtle sensations and movements of mind and body - first in stillness, then through subtle movement, and finally in more challenging and active asanas.
Students will be encouraged to pay more attention to the sensations and signals of their own bodies than to any external authority figures, including the teachers. One of the effects of this style of class is that students become more self-aware, self-confident, and independent. Charles encourages his students to learn from their own experience, from their own sensations, from their own deep awareness of mind and body, and to trust that awareness over any external authority figures.
The overall atmosphere will be relaxed, with the emphasis on enjoyment rather than effort. This does not mean that we will not work hard at times. Students will find that they can engage in difficult and even strenuous poses joyfully, without experiencing the physical and psychological stresses associated with joyless striving.
Charles MacInerney and Patricia Lewis have been collaborating to offer Yoga & Creative Writing retreats since 1995.
Patricia
Lee Lewis is a member of the Austin Writers
League and is a senior partner in Amherst Writers and Artists. Her
poetry, fiction and travel articles have appeared in a variety of
publications, including anthologies and the Boston Sunday Globe. She
has led writing retreats and workshops in western Massachusetts for
a number of years and, more recently, for writers in her home state
of Texas. Patricia has practiced yoga for 15 years. See her web
page for more information about her, this retreat, and other retreats
she is offering in The British Isles, and Mexico. You can send e-mail
to Patricia at: patricia@writingretreats.org
Charles MacInerney has studied yoga and meditation since 1971 and taught since 1989. He has worked with students from around the world and over 10,000 students from his hometown of Austin, Texas. He teaches classes on Yoga, Meditation, Posture, Visualization, Breathing, Balance, Creativity, Concentration, and Biofeedback for a variety of businesses, corporations and institutions. As a professional public speaker he regularly presents at national conferences.
Charles
has presented two years in a row, been a panelist and was on the board
of advisors for the Southwest Yoga Conference. He also presented at the
International Conference on Yoga for Positive Health. He is also a co-founder
and a regular presenter at the Texas Yoga Retreat. He has been
quoted in several articles in Yoga Journal, on creativity, heart disease,
and yoga & writing. He is also featured in the June 2004 Ask The Expert
Column.
Charles has led aproximately 60 yoga retreats since 1992, including 12 retreats in Mexico and 4 in Costa Rica. In addition to his experience with Yoga, Charles has also been writing with Patricia for 8 years, and has been published in numerous magazines, including Yoga Journal, and Black & White (National Chess Magazine of India).
Charles is registered with the Yoga Alliance at the 500 hour level
(the highest registration currently available), and is a co-founder and
on the faculty of the Living Yoga Teacher Training Program. For more information
about Charles Yoga experience, please see his Biography.
Charles is also a professional public speaker with the National Speakers Association and has presented numerous times on Mind Mapping; Stress Management; Meditation; Visualization; Breath Work, and Self-Awareness Tools for Self Transformation; at Regional and National Conferences, including the prestigious National Wellness Conference. For more information about Charles MacInerney's speaking career, please visit his website at ExpandingParadigms.com
REGISTRATION
- Sold Out -
I hope you will be able to join us for four days and three nights of Hatha Yoga, meditation, and creative writing. Limited registration is accepted on a first-come, first-served basis, so register early to ensure a space at the retreat.
To register please make check out for $665 per person, ($605 if post marked prior to August 1st, 2008) and made payable to Charles MacInerney, and return with your:
Name
Work & Home Phone Numbers
E-Mail Address
Mailing Address and Zip Code
and send to
Charles MacInerney
Expanding Paradigms
5803 Westmont
Austin, TX 78731.
If registering for more than one person, please include their contact information as well.
For Alumni who have attended Charles and Patricia's Yoga/Writing retreats in the past we offer a $30 discount in addition to the early registration discount.
Fee includes: Lodging, meals, classes, workshops, handouts, and materials/supplies.
Fee does not include: Travel expenses.
Refund Policy: Registrants who have paid in full are entitled to a 75% refund with a minimum of 7 days notice of cancellation. The remaining balance of 25% can be applied towards a future retreat.
Registration is limited so be sure to register ASAP.
To check on space availability or other information, please send e-mail to charles@yogateacher.com
More Info: A complete information package (including map, directions, instructions, lists of what to bring and what to expect, etc.) will be provided a couple of weeks prior to the retreat.
QUOTES FROM PREVIOUS RETREATS
"I realize that I am filled with fear about
how to take steps to move on with my life and take it in a different
direction. Last weekend helped me to recognize that and to get on the
path of facing my fear head on. It will be very difficult but I now
have more confidence that I can find that third path."
Jerri Flatten - Texas
"It has been weeks since I attended Charles MacInerney's yoga and meditation retreat, but I still feel deeply affected by it. Charles always speaks from his heart. And his heart is so wise, so sweet, and so funny! Everything about the retreat was extraordinary."
Terry Masters - Owner/Director of Master School, Texas
"Combining the physical limbering of Yoga genuinely stretched my creativity. I touched parts of my talent I was not able to reach before."
Ron Seybold - Editor of a professional newsletter, Austin Texas
"The mindset that the retreat promoted and created stayed with me during subsequent weeks, making me more open to others and myself..."
Carol Mackay - Professor of English at the University of Texas, Austin
"My self consciousness and inexperience with yoga did not matter a whit. I found a quiet slow pleasure in the movements."
Gayle Miller - Artist & Writer, Austin, Texas
"As an M.D., having practiced medicine for 25 years, I have become acutely aware of the critical importance of integrating body, mind and spirit if one is to achieve wholeness and lasting health. This body-creative mind experience was a wonderful opportunity for me personally to work toward the goal that I have long tried to stimulate in my patients but have often not been able to achieve myself. This workshop was for me a magical experience and indeed a sacred endeavor."
Dr. Don Charles Wukasch - Thoracic Surgeon, Houston Texas.
"Even with no experience, I felt completely at ease in the same room with others who had been involved in yoga for years. I left the weekend with confidence, energy, and a new group of friends!"
Ruth Kline - Austin, Texas
