Art, Movement, Nature- Retreat Recap!
“Pay attention and be astonished.” - Mary Oliver
Friday evening Bryana helped us connect to our root chakra through a grounding practice in the beautiful field at Camp Olson. Geese soared overhead, honking wildly. Luckily for us, Daphne and Bryana spent an hour cleaning up goose poop out of the grass prior to our practice, haha! Retreat preparation is so glamorous, I tell you what.
Friday evening Cat led us through Zentangle and the designs were truly incredible. Some of us enjoyed the sauna and swimming, marveling at the stars overhead. With limited light pollution, the stars are a marvel up north at a YMCA camp.
Coyotes sang the night away.
Saturday morning Stacy led a sunrise hike before morning yoga with Amanda.
Amanda’s practice was challenging and invigorating with an emphasis on our solar plexus! Everyone was up for the challenge! We moved through a mandala flow, or a circle from the front of the mat to the back, then around the other side back to the front.
Daphne led us through a beautiful Inner Goddess writing practice with movement. Helping harness the creative writer within.
Several of us met for a meaningful discussion about the book. We all loved it! 10/10 recommend. Your Brain on Art by Susan Magsamen and Ivy Ross.
We discussed the chapter on flourishing at length. Of note, the elements needed to flourish found on page 170.
curiosity
wonder
awe
enriched environments
creativity
rituals
novelty
surprise
Shurds and Turds! + Death by acorns
Meanwhile, Bryana was off in the Shurds. She led two groups of women for a hike and a paddle. The morning was crisp and beautiful. The swans were majestic and peaceful. The leaves were vibrant. The acorns were PLENTIFUL! The acorns are having a hay-day this year… and they are everywhere on the trail - like slippery marbles. Three of us fell on the trail. Luckily no major injuries. They just laid their…threatening us to go slow - OR ELSE!
I heard they had a fantastic time. They all came back with rosy cheeks and twinkling eyes. I’m not sure what all took place out there but I heard one person describe it as, “the most perfect day,” and another included “shurds and turds” in her retreat highlights. Who knows really…. what happens at the yoga retreat, stays at the yoga retreat.
We all reconvened back at camp.
Stacy led a class focused on the heart chakra out in the field. Retreater Sara reminded us all of the importance of napping! No shoulding all over yourself or anyone else. If what you need is to nap through a yoga class out in the sunlight of an open field, then that’s exactly what you should be doing! Just look at her… clearly she’s living her best life in this photo.
Our final yoga class of the day was focused on creativity. Although we aren’t all able to improvise music, we can all practice improvisation. Improvisation increases the gray matter in our brain.
We worked in small groups to come up with our own creative flow. I had to laugh because when I asked if y’all wanted to go through the flow more than once, almost everyone nodded “nope!” That was a sign everyone was nearing that point of happy exhaustion.
After dinner we had our first, but not last, art walk. We invited everyone to bring some examples of their art and we walked around and admired it. How fun! An art show for amateurs! The paint-by-number masterpiece was a definite crowd pleaser.
Retreater Nora surprised everyone by digging a paper mache loon head out of the costume closet and proudly wearing it around the art walk. It was definitely hand made, and a fine work of art, just created by a different artists long ago at camp. It deserved a moment of appreciation for sure.
Sunday we closed our beautiful weekend together.
I thank you for seeking out a weekend of respite in the woods, for working to discover your own creativity, and for sharing your own unique gifts with the world. We are all on this walk together- reclaiming what is ours.
Creativity is our birthright. We must fight for it. We were born to tell stories to our grandchildren, send letters and poems to our friends, to can tomatoes in the fall and press flowers in the bindings of our books.
Below is a journal prompt suggested in Your Brain on Art that we didn’t have time to tackle at the retreat, but that you might enjoy working through on your own.
Journal Prompt suggestion from the book Your Brain on Art, pg 170
Imagine your best future self then write about your life as if it has already happened. Small, randomized studies have suggested a simple habit such as this increases our optimism and life satisfaction.
I will close with a few inspirational words shared at our retreat. Another great book on this topic is Big Magic by Elizabeth Gilbert.
“Let me list for you some of the many ways in which you might be afraid to live a more creative life: You’re afraid you have no talent. You’re afraid you’ll be rejected or criticized or ridiculed or misunderstood or—worst of all—ignored. You’re afraid there’s no market for your creativity, and therefore no point in pursuing it. You’re afraid somebody else already did it better. You’re afraid everybody else already did it better. You’re afraid somebody will steal your ideas, so it’s safer to keep them hidden forever in the dark. You’re afraid you won’t be taken seriously. You’re afraid your work isn’t politically, emotionally, or artistically important enough to change anyone’s life. You’re afraid your dreams are embarrassing. You’re afraid that someday you’ll look back on your creative endeavors as having been a giant waste of time, effort, and money. You’re afraid you don’t have the right kind of discipline. You’re afraid you don’t have the right kind of work space, or financial freedom, or empty hours in which to focus on invention or exploration. You’re afraid you don’t have the right kind of training or degree. You’re afraid you’re too fat. (I don’t know what this has to do with creativity, exactly, but experience has taught me that most of us are afraid we’re too fat, so let’s just put that on the anxiety list, for good measure.) You’re afraid of being exposed as a hack, or a fool, or a dilettante, or a narcissist. You’re afraid of upsetting your family with what you may reveal. You’re afraid of what your peers and coworkers will say if you express your personal truth aloud. You’re afraid of unleashing your innermost demons, and you really don’t want to encounter your innermost demons. You’re afraid your best work is behind you. You’re afraid you never had any best work to begin with. You’re afraid you neglected your creativity for so long that now you can never get it back. You’re afraid you’re too old to start. You’re afraid you’re too young to start. You’re afraid because something went well in your life once, so obviously nothing can ever go well again. You’re afraid because nothing has ever gone well in your life, so why bother trying? You’re afraid of being a one-hit wonder. You’re afraid of being a no-hit wonder”
― Elizabeth Gilbert, Big Magic: Creative Living Beyond Fear
“Nature has a strong effect on our parasympathetic nervous system, which is the part of our autonomic nervous system concerned with conserving our physical energy. It is also known as the “rest and digest” system. When we come into contact with plants and vegetation, with water and other natural elements, it immediately reduces adrenaline, blood pressure, and heart rate. There is growing research on the role of the natural environment, in particular woods and forests and spaces near water, for mental health.” - pg. 46-47 Your Brain on Art by Susan Magsamen and Ivy Ross
“A 2019 study published in Frontiers of Psychology confirmed that spending just twenty minutes in nature - or in a place where you feel connected to the Earth - significantly lowers the levels of the stress hormone cortisol.” - pg. 47 Your Brain on Art by Susan Magsamen and Ivy Ross
“You don’t need to travel to Newfoundland, or visit a gallery, or take a class with Meg to foster wonder and curiosity. You can actively invoke them by consciously applying an aesthetic mindset. It can wash over you in the most basic moments.” -pg 176
“Art-making is, really, about feeling more alive in your life. The creative path is an unfolding process of becoming ourselves and it’s wonderful journey we get to take.” Nick Wilton, Artist and Founder of Art2Life
Thank you!!
Catherine Cronemeyer for your creative workshops, sharing your skillset, and jumping in to help anywhere and everywhere.
Daphne Ponds for your wonderful creative writing + yoga worshop, helping anywhere and everywhere and for fully committing to goose poo clean-up with Bryana.
Stacy Nightwine - the yogi, the hiker, the loveable gal that truly does it all.
Thank you to our YTT grads for helping with breakfast set-up and sauna stoking.
Last but not least….Thank you to the gooftballs and weird ones that are always down to laugh with us. ;)
