Empowered Writing: Using Yoga & Meditation to Awaken Your Creativity

Announcing a special 2-night weekend retreat from March 1-3, 2019!

We’re partnering with Yogi and Author Cathleen Kahn for an interactive retreat that combines yoga, meditation, and creativity. You may already know how the controlled movement within yoga flows and the stillness in meditation can provide benefits to physical and mental health, but they can also widen and deepen our connection to our own creativity, that force within us that longs for acknowledgement.

Cathleen will lead a series of basic yoga and meditation workshops to help us explore how being present in body and mind can flow into a more concerted presence in our writing. We’ll also experiment with the art of journaling and how to use it to open a new dialogue with our inner creative world. Join us as we discuss new ways to increase our capacity for creativity and enhance our relationship with writing.

As an educator and compassionate healer, Cathleen Kahn teaches people to see physical fitness as a path to positive change in their lives. Working as a yogi, wellness expert, and the founder and co-owner of CatFit Yoga, she helps her clients find sustainable paths to health, happiness, and self-love. She’s always loved yoga, but it wasn’t until Cathleen survived a battle with breast cancer that it became central to her life.

She says, “After cancer, I lived yoga. When I lost my hair, yoga didn’t care how I looked. When I felt betrayed by my body, the yoga mat welcomed me. Yoga was therapeutic and a place of acceptance and healing for me during and after my diagnosis.” When she’s not teaching, writing, or speaking, Cathleen loves to travel, volunteer, and savor a great glass of red wine. She enjoys learning as much as teaching and strives to make a lasting and positive difference in the lives of everyone she meets.

The Schedule (tentative)

Friday, March 1, 2019

4:00 to 6:00 pm – Check in and settle in. You’ll be given a short tour and we’ll show you to your assigned room.

6:00 p.m. – Dinner, Introductions, Overview of Retreat

7:00 p.m. – Writing Workshop – Empowered Words: Intro to Journaling

8:00 p.m. – Guided Meditation and Breathing Workshop – Breathing exercises can reduce stress, improve mood, and help you feel energized. They are simple, easy, and can be done anywhere. In this workshop we will look at focusing your attention on your breathing and learn some breathing techniques that can benefit your writing practice. We will also look at meditation in this workshop. Meditation is an age-old practice that can help relieve a host of challenges brought on by the fast pace of modern life. Meditation can help you learn to slow down.

9:00 p.m. – Free time / Bedtime

Saturday, March 2, 2019

6:30 a.m. – Coffee Ready!

7:00 a.m. – Breakfast is available

8:30 a.m. – Yoga Basics Workshop – This workshop is beneficial for yogis and potential yogis. Learn how yoga can benefit you, basic yoga terms and poses, proper alignment in the poses and how yoga can be fun.

10:00 a.m. – Free Time for Writing

12:00 p.m. – Lunch

1:00 p.m. – Writing Workshop – The Empowered Voice: Interview with a Writer

2:30 p.m. – Free Time for Writing

6:00 p.m. – Dinner

7:00 p.m. – Mudras and Calming Mudra Flow Workshop – Yoga’s hand expressions are called mudras, which are said to shift energies from what we might be experiencing to how we want to feel. In this workshop we will look at some mudras (hand yoga) that may benefit your writing. This will be followed by a mudra flow yoga class.

8:30 p.m. – Reading – Share your Writing (Sharing is optional; however, we ask that you attend whether you read or not, in order to support other writers.)

10:00 p.m. – Free Time / Bedtime

Sunday, March 3, 2019

6:30 a.m. – Coffee Ready

7:00 a.m. – Breakfast is available. Come any time you’re ready

8:30 a.m. – Writing and Sacral Chakra Workshop – The Empowered Self: Awakening Creativity and Confidence – The sacral chakra symbolizes our creative potential. As a creative person, we may feel blocked or discouraged at times. In this workshop we will explore writing and yoga poses that help to engage the sacral chakra.

10:00 a.m. – Free Time for Writing

12:00 p.m. – Checkout and Goodbye

Cost Breakdown:

$340.00 – Room, meals, and workshops: Includes a private bedroom/bathroom for 2 nights, 5 meals (wine at dinner), snacks, 2 yoga/meditation workshops, 2 writing workshops, 1 combined writing and yoga workshop.

$ 46.75 – Applicable Taxes

$386.75 – TOTAL

Additional Notes: Each attendee will need to bring a yoga mat (and blocks/straps if desired)

Registration: Please fill out this form on Submittable and answer all questions. Please only complete the registration if you are sure you are able to attend. We will accept and notify everyone on a first-come, first-served basis. If the event is full, we will notify you and add your name to the Waiting List. If you have further questions, you may email Sandy at sandy.rockvale@gmail.com.