The Yoga of Writing: A Women's Meditation and Writing Retreat

if you are interested in hearing more about this retreat, contact stacythrash@yahoo.com or call 512-484-0811.

The Yoga of Writing: A Women’s Meditation & Writing RetreatMarch 27-29, 2009Alma de Mujer Retreat and Conference CenterAustin, TX

Meditation and Writing
When we give attention to silence, stillness, and present moment awareness we will dive into our inner space and knowing. You’ll transcend your external world, your senses and your thought, and bask in the womb of spaciousness and creativity, then you’ll reemerge to express your story.
Silence
What is beyond the farthest star or inside the smallest quark? More. Infinity. Similarly we also have no limits to our energy fields. Who are we really? With regular practice your sensory perceptions increases – for instance, it’s not difficult to feel someone’s love or anger from across a room or even in the realm of the sixth sense. We’ll explore the unseen yet palpable energy that exists around us. And we’ll explore the expression of it in our writing.
Nature
We’ll be informed and inspired by the natural beauty of the Alma de Mujer retreat property in Austin, TX. Alma de Mujer is a retreat/conference center located in the beautiful foothills at Lake Travis with a fertile valley surrounded by trees and streams. A meditation knoll peeks over a quiet pond. Canoeing, Volleyball, and a Jacuzzi are also available.


Where: Alma de Mujer Retreat and Conference Center
13621 FM 2769
Austin, TX 78726
Phone: (512) 258-3880Website: www.main.org/alma



When: Friday – Sunday, March 27-29

Schedule (subject to changes):

Friday
Check in cabins between 3:00 and 4:00 pm
Program begins at 4:00 pm
Dinner (included in tuition) 6:00 - 7:30 pm, served in the Main Lodge Dining Room
Program 7:30 – 9:00 pm

Saturday
Optional (included) Breakfast in the Main Lodge Dining 8:00 – 9:00 am
Program 9:00 am – 12 noon
Lunch (included) 12 noon – 1:30 pm, Main Lodge Dining
Program 1:30 – 5:00 pm
Dinner Break (on your own)
Optional Program

Sunday
Optional (included) Breakfast in the Main Lodge 8:00 – 9:00 am
Program 9:00 – 11:00 am
Closing 11:00 – 11:30 am
Checkout 11:30 am

Tuition:

q Early registration, 30 days in advance, $475 per person (includes 4 meals and 2 nights lodging)
q Late registration less than 30 days in advance, $495 per person (includes 4 meals and 2 nights lodging)
q Non-lodging option (available after lodging capacity is full) $425 per person, includes 4 meals

Your course fee includes the Meditation and Writing Program taught by experienced facilitators, Sarah McLean and Victoria Nelson. (See their bio’s below.) Tuition also includes dinner on Friday night, breakfast and lunch on Saturday, and breakfast on Sunday. Two nights shared lodging in the Alma Treehouse Cabins included until capacity is filled. We encourage staying in the lodge for the full retreat experience, but will accept non-lodging guests after lodging is full. Dinner is on your own on Saturday evening. There are several area restaurants nearby. Tuition does not include transportation.

Cancellation Policy:
Your deposit is fully refundable less a 20% cancellation fee if you cancel in writing at least 10 days before the retreat. After that date, it is nonrefundable, but is transferable and can be applied in full to another meditation course or retreat with the Sedona Meditation Training Co. within a year. If you cancel less than 48 hours before the retreat, your retreat fee will be forfeited.
What to bring:
Personal bath towel, bath cloth, and toiletries. (Bedding linens are provided.) Paper, pen, an open mind, water bottle, and comfortable clothes. Bring a meditation cushion if you use one. This is a tobacco free retreat. If you smoke, you’ll have to go off-site to do so.

Directions:The Alma de Mujer Retreat and Conference Center is located a few miles past Hwy 620 and FM 2222 intersection near Lake Travis.
From the airport, take Hwy 71 West about 8.6 miles, bear right onto TX 360 North and follow 9.9 miles to FM222 Exit. Go West (left) on FM 2222 and follow 5.2 miles, cross 620 intersection and road becomes Bullock R. for 3.1 miles. Bullock Rd. dead ends into FM 2769. Turn right. Alma Retreat Center entrance is 1/2 mile on the right. (approx 45 minutes)
Coming from North or South Austin: Take Mopac (Hwy 1) and exit FM 2222/Northland Dr. Go West on FM 2222 and follow about 8.5 miles, cross hwy 620 intersection and road becomes Bullock Hollow Rd. Follow Bullock Hollow Rd. until it dead ends into FM 2769 and turn right. Alma Retreat Center is ½ mile down on the right.Your Facilitators:Sarah McLean
Along with my 19-year daily meditation practice, my experience in spiritual work includes serving as the founding education director of Deepak Chopra’s Center for Wellbeing, and as director of Byron Katie’s School for the Work, and assistant to Seat of the Soul author, Gary Zukav. Not only were each one of these pioneers great company, each was a best-selling author.

My aim is to make meditation accessible to anyone who wants to learn, and to integrate it with creative practices and everyday life. I’ve explored world spiritual traditions: I was a 2-year resident in a Zen Buddhist monastery, lived in an ashram in India, bicycled along the Silk Route through Pakistan, and trekked the Golden Triangle in Asia. I wrote about each experience and continue to express myself in the practice of writing – and am informed by meditation.

I now teach meditation throughout Arizona and wherever I am invited. I am also an avid writer of personal stories and have worked professionally as an editor. My columns on mind/body health are featured regularly in the Green Living Magazine, the Four Corners Magazine, and various online newsletters. I look forward to being with you, tapping into creativity, and expanding our awareness together. I love spending time writing with my writing partner Victoria, you’ll love her too.
Victoria Nelson
Whenever I find myself in museums or reading a great book, I become alive in ways I had never experienced in board rooms or business gatherings. After my mother died at the age of 59 in 1993, I followed my secret ambition to learn to paint and write fiction. Her death gave me the courage to quit a successful business career to become a full time artist. It was her final gift to me. And since 1994, I’ve given my heart and time to both endeavors equally.

I was born in the Dominican Republic, an Island in the Caribbean Ocean. My father was extremely political, and in 1972, his career led my family to migrate to the United States. Two years after we settled in New Jersey, my father died unexpectedly of heart attack at the age of 43, leaving my mother, me, and my three siblings to figure out how to navigate this foreign country on our own. I focused on achieving the American dream of material success, and in 1985 I graduated with a B.S. in Economics from Arizona State University in Tempe. I successfully climbed the corporate ladder in the computer industry for ten years. When I quit my high powered job to pursuit painting and writing, my family and friends thought I had lost my mind. In a way I had. My soul demanded that I pursue my dream of becoming an artist.

It’s been 14 years since I took that leap into the unknown. I plan every day around meditating, spending time in nature, writing and painting, and my life as an artist has exceeded all my expectations. In the fall, winter, and spring, the light and the contrasting colors of Sedona are a daily source of inspiration to me. In the summers, the sea and the dramatic light of Monhegan Island in Maine are my muses. I am a self taught painter and writer. In 2007, my poem “Ancient Elements” was published in the Northern Arizona Poetry Anthology Collared Piccary and my paintings were exhibited at the University of New England Museum’s “On Island” show featuring women artists of Monhegan Island. My paintings are shown at the Lupine Gallery in Monhegan Island and by appointment in Sedona. A book of short stories will is due to be published this year.

Sedona Meditation Training & Retreats
PO Box 1178, Sedona, AZ 86339
(928) 254-0064 Cell , (928) 204-0067 office, (866) 654-1705 fax, info@sedonameditation.com, www.SedonaMeditationTraining.com