Once again, the annual confluence of Ashtanga yoga, taught by Mark Cain, within the container of Vipassana meditation and silence, guided by Joy Fox.

No experience necessary beyond the desire to see what is possible. Thus, being where you are.

Mark Cain, of Dripping Springs Garden, has been practicing ashtanga vinyasa yoga for 12 years, weaving the practice into his full time work as an organic market gardener.

Mark has studied extensively with certified teacher Louise Ellis; with senior teacher Richard Freeman; and with root teacher Sri K.Pattabhi Jois of Mysore, India.

Joy Fox, of Wattle Hollow, has been practicing and teaching Vipassana meditation for decades.

Joy’s primary teachers have been Sri Goenka, Jack Kornfield, Amita Schmidt, and Ruth Dennison.

Cost: $100 (talk to us if you wish to come, but lack the funds.

No one will be turned away, if we’re not already full.)

Retreat Registration Form

The theme for this weekend silent meditation retreat will be:
“Time Out”

Joy Fox, Wattle Hollow owner, therapist, and retreat leader, will guide us in exploring our concept of time:

Once again we will explore and examine the nature of present-moment reality versus our culture’s conceptual use of chronological time, and how we may re-orient ourselves, given a choice. We’ll use writing, sharing, creativity exercises, meditation and yoga to sink down into “this.”

Cost: $100, includes lodging, food and retreat. Please know that no one will be turned away for lack of finances.

Retreat Registration Form

This Spring Retreat fills early so please register soon.

Anna Cox, founder and director of 'Compassion Works for All'

We are blessed again, to have this wonderful teacher, Anna Cox, come up from Little Rock, where she counsels maximum security and Death Row prisoners, among her many functions.

Anna Cox is a practicing psychotherapist in Little Rock, Arkansas. She is also a trainer, lecturer and consultant on psychotherapy, meditation, the expansion of consciousness, subtle healing, death and dying, living spiritual lives and lives of compassionate service. She offers talks and workshops that encourage individuals to conceptualize their life as a spiritual journey rather than as an ordinary life of accomplishing goals that promise worldly happiness.

A practitioner of Vajrayana Buddhism since 1980, Anna has lectured and taught classes extensively on Buddhism. Anna helped to found the Ecumenical Buddhist Society in Little Rock, which supports a variety of Buddhist traditions by bringing lineage masters from around the world to offer teachings and retreats.

Since 1993, Anna Cox has offered volunteer psychotherapy and spiritual counseling, group psychotherapy, and meditation classes with incarcerated individuals on and off death row in a maximum-security prison. She has written and published the free monthly newsletter, Dharma Friends, since 1997. Anna Cox also presents lectures frequently on the abolishment of the death penalty in Arkansas and in other states.

For over twenty years, Anna has traveled the world extensively in pilgrimage to holy sites of all religions, places of human suffering, and to places of great transformation. Anna feels deeply that ours is one human family and that no one should be excluded.

Cost: $125, includes meals and lodging. You may also offer dana (Pali word for “donation”) to Anna for the teachings.

Retreat Registration Form

Susan Drouilhet has been studying Zhineng Qi Gong with a master named Mingtong Gu.  We will combine silent Vipassana meditation with a weekend of sinking down into the Qi Gong practices.

Susan Drouilhet, MS, LMT is a Wellness and Life Coach with a background in Integral Health Care and Energy Medicine. A member of the International Coach Federation (ICF), Susan offers individual and group coaching to a national audience. Susan is also a Massage Therapist, a Yoga Instructor and holds a Master’s degree in Energy Medicine, offering bodywork and teaching stress management and yoga classes in Northwest Arkansas. Starting in 2012, Susan will begin leading international wellness retreats.

Susan is currently working on a book (affectionately titled, “I’m Not Dead, Yet!”) which describes her own healing-through-cancer adventure: the gritty, the humorous, and the numinous. As part of this journey, Susan began studying Zhineng Qi Gong with Master Mingtong Gu. Realizing she had just dipped her toe into a very vast ocean, Susan now delights in sharing the practice of qi gong as she continues her studies toward teacher certification.

Cost: $100, plus a donation to Susan (to contribute to her further studies with Mingtong Gu.)
Retreat Registration Form

May 18-20, 2012 – Songwriters Creativity Weekend

Spend three days in the Heart of the Ozarks
and experience an eclectic, organic approach to creating music
in a provocatively creative atmosphere.
A weekend of musical exploration and growth.

Registration fee of $250 per person
includes rustic lodging, healthy gourmet meals, and…

* An intimate concert by Jack Williams and Still On The Hill
* Nature walks
* Open mics, song swaps, quiet time to write and create
* Inspiration and camaraderie
* Catering by Chef Tuesday
* Work

Space for the weekend is limited to 20-24 people – if you are interested please don’t wait to sign up. For more information or to make your reservation, contact Judy by phone at (205)572-0056 or email judysmith221@gmail.com

More info available at www.jackwilliamsmusic.com/retreat.html

Some of you may remember a couple of decades ago we used to meet for dancing at Wattle Hollow followed by a potluck sharing. It was magical and it is missed.

You are invited to bring all kinds of CD’s (African, reggae, ballet, belly-dance, gospel) and we’ll move joyfully and fearlessly, as we feel the music. Instruments are also welcome.

Join us – 5:00 p.m. dancing, potluck supper around 7 p.m.

A week of in-depth Vipassana meditation, supported with yoga, writing exercises and sharing….. We will be exploring our various levels of self-identity…..an intensive investigation of the layers of stories (familial, tribal, national, archetypal, gender) that we have wrapped around ourselves.

Joy Fox will be your guide on this adventure.

Cost: by donation
Retreat Registration Form

This is an annual celebration of our lives. You can come early and stroll around, see the newest installations or hike in the creekbed, and join us back in the main hall for a potluck supper at 5 p.m.

We’ll start our circle around 6 p.m., giving thanks via song, poem, dance, drama or speaking….. however you’d like to express your gratitude for this life. Spontaneous music and dance has been known to erupt in former years, so bring your instruments and/or favorite CD’s.

No charge, friends, and no need to notify me. Carpooling is a great idea…Directions here. Bring your flashlights, and a dish to share.