(Friday evening – Sunday, 3 p.m)

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:

“The iron grid of time that society imposes on our psyches keeps us locked into a certain mindset, and locked out of present tense reality. During this weekend, we will use writing, Vipassana meditation, eating exercises, stretching and sharing to peek into living here, now.”

Cost: $90, includes lodging, food and retreat. Please know that no one will be turned away for lack of finances.

Retreat Registration Form

Cobbing Fun at A Greener America workshop

We will continue to build the newest cob building: Sea World, with more emphasis on sculptural furniture, adobe floors and the last of the windows. Expect your building experience to be accompanied by music, whimsy, and dancing. No suffering allowed.

We will also have a guest lecturer for a couple of hours on the weekend days, Richard Herman, sharing his expertise on permaculture.

Our meals will be gourmet vegetarian (from local sources), some of it cooked in solar ovens. Daily yoga classes for those who wish. This is a time to relax, learn, and commune with friends and nature.

Cost:$130., entire workshop, or $40/day includes lodging, gourmet meals, and hands-on experience.

Retreat Registration Form (pdf)

About Richard:

Richard Herman has devoted his life’s work to sustainable agriculture, animal husbandry and medical care, permaculture, and leading youth in wilderness adventures and education.

Trained from childhood on Ozarks farms, Herman has done extensive and varied work on three continents. He served for six years as large- and small-animal veterinary assistant, followed by stints in herd health management for Heifer International and physician’s assistant in schools and clinics in Kenya. His international experience has brought diverse perspectives in agricultural and health customs and traditions.

A certified consultant in permaculture, Herman teaches at community colleges and by invitation for numerous organizations. He served a tour in the U.S. Peace Corps in Lesotho, Africa, assisting schools with agriculture using permaculture principles. In Lesotho, he was member of a permaculture guild which established weekend workshops for teachers.

With the Lambourne charity for troubled youth in England, Herman designed and set up a farm using animals as therapy for young people. A field instructor with Outward Bound in Maine, he led groups into the wilderness for 2 and 3 week treks, orienteering, white water rafting, rock climbing, and canoeing.

Herman lives a low impact lifestyle, harvesting water from rooftops, collecting water in ponds and soil and has transformed a dry stream bed to a near year-round flowing stream. Using permaculture design on his land, Herman has also developed a forest garden, no-till kitchen gardens, intensive grazing systems, and a sustainably harvested forest; grows rishi and shitake mushrooms; and introduced tree grafting (creating a genetic library for scion woodland).

The Great Mother

Saturday, May 1st, 9 a.m. – 4 p.m.

This year we are inviting all the local NWA meditation groups to join us for a day of contemplative meditation focusing on the feminine principles of self-acceptance and unconditional lovingkindness.

We will tour the many Mother/Feminine meditation sites at Wattle (i.e. the Black Madonna, Virgen of Guadeloupe room, the Earth Mother, Gaia, Kuanyin), and silently discover what resonates from within. Meditation will be led by Joy Fox, with accompanying yoga.

Cost: dana/donation. Lunch will be provided.

You must reserve ahead of time, please.

Joy Fox and friends will demonstrate:

*natural healthful cooking
*solar cooking and baking, with a solar oven
*daily yoga classes
*cobbing – the ancient, but recently revived technique of adobe mounding for construction. We will be working on an outdoor project near the cob castle.

This week-long workshop is definitely a hands-on experience! You may join us for any portion of this retreat, but please reserve ahead.

Cost: $200 for everything, or $40/day (Some trades possible.)
Retreat Registration Form

This will be a deeper immersion into silence and mindfulness, utilizing Buddhist meditation, automatic writing, and the practice of yoga.

Led by Joy Fox, founder of Wattle Hollow.
Cost: dana (donation).

Retreat Registration Form

Relax?! The good news is you are hard wired to relax. Learn the basic physiological and biochemical principles of relaxation and how to achieve them through restorative yoga poses.

Participants will also explore a variety of spa therapies including massage and reflexology with plenty of time for journaling, sharing, and strolling through the Ozark woodlands.

This popular weekend workshop returns every year by popular demand so sign up early

Cost: $145. (includes lodging, food and workshop)
Retreat Registration Form

Dharma Day – Sunday, April 19th 9 a.m. – 3 p.m. Meditation and yoga will be guided by Joy Fox.
Cost: by dana (donation)