#writers-retreat

#writers-retreat

Sammy, a three-and-a-half-foot-long ball python, is beautiful with deep brown and gold patches. His skin is cool and smooth, providing a unique experience during yoga.

Milton is a picturesque location along the west side of the Hudson River, halfway between Albany and New York City, known for its pretty parks and river views.

The immersive five-day retreats invite participants of all backgrounds—not just professional artists—to step into a world where art, nature, and personal reflection intersect.

A true wellness gathering is something far more ancient and far more urgent: it's any intentional space where humans are invited to arrive whole, body, mind, spirit, and leave more alive than when they walked in. That's it. That's the whole definition.

Canvas Cafe offers a relaxed painting session honoring Frida Kahlo, featuring guided art-making and conversation, scheduled for March 21 at Fort Washington Library.

Get the inside story of the infamous Bay Area wellness cult OneTaste and its founder, Nicole Daedone, at an intimate live conversation in the historic Redwood Room, featuring Bloomberg journalist and author Ellen Huet, followed by an audience Q&A. The event will be live-streamed and includes mature subject matter with sexual references.

Researchers tracked 355 adults over 13 days using daily diary surveys and found that professional artists tend to experience negative emotions the morning after their most creative days, even though creativity, while in the process of making art, reliably improves their moment-to-moment feeling states.

Luxury desert resorts here aren't just places to stay; they're destinations in their own right, with trails that invite sunrise meditation hikes to spas drawing on indigenous botanicals and healing rituals inspired by centuries of Native American tradition. According to recent tourism data, nearly 44 percent of high-end visitors to Arizona choose 5-star hotels or resorts, and a significant number of travelers list relaxation and wellness experiences - including spa time and desert recreation among their top holiday motivations.

Rural Middleville is far from a bustling metropolis, best known for the Herkimer Diamond Mines, which are only open seasonally. But solitude is the allure in this town and at this Airbnb; it's a place to unwind and relax with no agenda. Cohosted by For The Love of Upstate, a host with a collection of restored properties in the area, the listing promised a private in-home spa, thoughtful details with comfort at the helm, and stunning river views.

Cupid gets his main-character moment this weekend. We asked New Yorker staffers to help build a playlist befitting his romantic mission. For a classic piece of nineties Brit pop, Oasis's " Slide Away" is basically an absurdly romantic ballad of plain devotion and yearning-which "Wuthering Heights" has established as the emotions of the season. May your Valentine's Day be all about both!- Noreen Plabutong

Some are engaging and transformative, while others are incredibly boring. What exactly sets apart the ones where participants say, "Wow, we need to have these more often!" from those where participants are scrolling through their email, feeling pulled away from "real work?" While well-intended, there are subtle yet significant differences between mediocre retreats and those that truly deliver. Over the last decade-plus, I've designed and facilitated hundreds of retreats and training programs.

The Guest Cabin at Wondernut Farm, Big Oak Flat Wondernut Farm's quaint one-room cabin (Courtesy of Nic Castellanos via Hipcamp) Overlooking the property owners' 115-year-old barn and garden, the guest cabin at Wondernut Farm is, perhaps, the perfect minimalist retreat for those seeking a bit of respite from our electronic devices. Glampers who choose to spend an evening or more underneath the tin steel roofed cabin can expect a cacophony of chorused musings to help wake them up everyday.

If you are single, such a reminder can be good if you don't like paying double what you normally would pay for essentially the same food at a restaurant. But it can be challenging even if you are happy being single for most of the year. You may be wondering what you can do to occupy yourself during Valentine's Day when you are not part of a couple.

Tom Layward, the narrator and main character of Ben Markovits' new novel, The Rest of Our Lives, introduces himself in a curious way: On the very first page of the book, he talks, matter-of-factly, about the affair his wife, Amy, had 12 years ago, when their two kids were young. Amy, who's Jewish, got involved at a local synagogue in Westchester; Tom, who was raised Catholic and is clearly not a joiner, remained on the sidelines.

The question of whether mental health retreats allow social media access does not have a universal answer. Different facilities approach digital connectivity in varying ways, reflecting their treatment philosophies and therapeutic goals. Most mental health retreats limit or completely restrict social media use during the initial phases of treatment, though specific policies can range from total digital detox to supervised access at designated times.

"I have been reading your book The Lonely City: The Art of Being Alone and I wanted to write and say how very good it is," "I discovered Henry Darger's work about 15 years ago. I am so interested in how you write about him and [Edward] Hopper, [Andy] Warhol and [David] Wojnarowicz."

Remaining present in the modern world includes noticing the good. We're not talking toxic positivity here. We're referring to a simple commitment to also noticing what's good in the world even as you navigate what's not. Whether you find these reminders burrowed in a news story, the feeling of being on your mat or out on a run, or the eyes of a loved one doesn't matter. Noticing them does.

At the end of November of 2011, I saw my dad take his last breath. I came back to the United States after participating in all the death-related rituals that helped organize my pain in México. New York City was not a place to live my mourning, and right around December of the same year, I felt an intense longing to become small again. I needed to work with children.

Lying in my bed, I listened to what sounded like a woman screaming outside in the dark. I picked up my pen. A month of living in this Icelandic village and I was still unaccustomed to the impenetrable January gloom and the ferocity of the wind; its propensity to sound sentient. I had started to feel like the island was trying to tell me something, had a story it wanted me to write.