Words Gone Wild: A Woodland Writing Retreat

Cherryville Heartsongs, Sandy, OR

Saturday, September 8, 2012

10am - 5pm

How do we locate and define “wildness” in today's highly-technologized world? How do we interface with earth's primal places to reclaim a piece of our animal selves? All cultivated lands have wild roots, as do our cultured minds. It's time to dig into old foundations, pull up what was long ago buried, and reclaim our wild souls. Please join me in the lushly-forested foothills of Mt. Hood for a wild romp of imagination, breath, and words. We'll discover and explore our own wilderness of spirit through freewriting, sharing, and related readings and discussion, plus breathing and meditating with the land and trees.*

*We will do some walking on trails, but it will not be strenuous.

Instructors: Lyssa Tall Anolik with special guest, Betty Esthelle (who will lead the meditation portions of the retreat)

Cost:  $100 (sliding scale available)

To register, email or call Lyssa:  lyssa@flashdog.com or 503-313-5707 (50% deposit requested to reserve your space)

Overnight accommodations available. Details will be sent at a later date to those who register.

About the Instructors:

Lyssa Tall Anolik holds a B.S. in Forestry from the University of Washington and an M.F.A. in Writing from the Vermont College of Fine Arts. She taught environmental education for ten years, was a ranger naturalist for the National Park Service, and has written watershed curriculum materials and interpretive signage for state and local parks. Lyssa's recent nature writings (essays and poetry) have appeared in The Wild, EarthSpeak, EarthVision, ViceCatcher, and Drash. She teaches in and around the Portland area.

Betty Esthelle is a registered nurse who became a psychotherapist, then a healer, then a teacher of healers. In 1984, as a result of her involvement in healing herself after a diagnosis of lymphoma and a near death experience, Betty was inspired to expand her work and originate Body Enlightenment. Betty turned 85-years-young this April. As a birthday gift from the universe, she developed a deeper and more dynamic identification with Mother Earth. To learn more about Betty and her work, visit: http://bodyenlightenment.webs.com/aboutbetty.htm