storyteller within
Journey into Sacred Expression
Thursday, Sept 10th - Tuesday, Sept 15th, 2020:
Return to Your Sacred Feminine Retreat,
Seven Springs, Smoky Mountains of Tennessee, USA
Breathe in the autumn air of these Tennessee Smoky Mountains as we circle in honor of our sacred feminine. Reconnect with your inner knowing and mystery. Explore the many facets of your feminine nature. Reclaim and remember your wise and wild connection.
During this women’s retreat, we’ll renew our self-trust, explore our depths, honor our expression and validate our embodied intuition. We’ll wake to meditation and yoga, express through writing and movement, and gather for stories around flames.
We’ll immerse in the magic and mystery of sacred feminine myths, focusing on the messages and insights they hold for us as embodied women. We’ll heed the call to honor the wisdom we carry within our stories and voices and bodies, and between each other.
retreat highlights
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Inspiring location with panoramic mountain views
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Daily meditation & yoga practice
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Daily self-exploratory writing circles
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Evening ceremonial sacred storytelling sessions
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Scenic outdoor yoga pavilion
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3 delicious organic vegetarian meals/day
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5 nights shared stay in charming yurts or furnished glamping
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Guided tour of on-site fauna
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Breaks for relaxing, walking, therapies and exploration
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Intimate Women's Gathering: Maximum 10 participants
"She is not to be classified. She is not to be controlled. She is the one who gathers seeds and plants them in the sand as dreams and calls forth rain. She is the one who embodies the Moon, honoring the cycles of life."
- Terry Tempest Williams
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“May we let the stories move through us and whisper, in the vulnerability of our hearts, of the treasures we long to recollect.”
- Melanie Champagne, retreat co-facilitator
return to your sacred feminine
Stories and myths reconnect us to the sacred feminine within: they gift us maps, keys, mirrors, legends and paths back to ourselves. They reflect the multitudes within us. They reveal insight into our deepest longings, greatest conflicts and vivid life energies.
What if our yearnings pull in opposite directions? What if our lives move in cycles and seasons, not only in linear time? What if one long-held desire wanes, while another arises from nowhere? What if we need to get lost and wander? What if integrity means allowing your truth to change and flow with you? What if we run to and away, and still, towards our center?
Myths give universal context to our most personal experiences. They open us to allowing life to flow through us, to recognize the sacred beauty of each moment and to embrace the feminine mystery of regeneration.
As we weave these stories with our own experience, we glean a vaster sense of ourselves and our sacred feminine nature. When we look through the window of a myth, we see both beyond ourselves and deeper within.
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In this women's retreat, you will:
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Gather with a powerful circle of women in rawness, vulnerability and expression.
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Reconnect with your body and intuition through meditation, yoga and movement.
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Experience the sacred rite of sharing stories between women around flames.
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Explore core tensions and themes that carry through our relationships with ourselves, others and our lives.
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Discover your truths moment to moment by connecting to your own voice.
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Rekindle urges within yourself that are aching to be heard and witnessed.
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Reclaim the power in the multitudes and regeneration that is inherent in sacred feminine nature.
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Remember your vastness and the magic that unfolds when women circle together.
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your facilitators
Melanie Champagne, myth-teller and founder of Collective Astrology, and Aimee Hansen, creator of Storyteller Within Retreats, will co-facilitate this women's retreat.
Aimee met Melanie in Guatemala, while playing in an improv group together. After attending an evening storytelling night she hosted, Aimee fell in love with the secrets held by myths for women. Read more about your retreat facilitators.
cradled in the smoky mountains
In the Foothills of the Great Smoky Mountains, and amidst one of the world's most ecologically diverse regions, Seven Springs Holistic Retreat Center boasts seven natural springs on 126 acres of private land, providing spaciousness and inspiration.
Seven Springs offers charming shared yurts & furnished glamping with comfortable beds, panoramic mountain views,
nature walks and delicious Ayurvedic vegetarian meals amidst soul-nourishing landscapes.
retreat flow
Guests may arrive to Seven Springs on Thursday (check in is 3pm) to relax and settle in. After dinner, we will open our circle.
Sept 10th:
3:00 pm Check-In & Relax
6:30- 7:30 pm Dinner
7:45 pm - Opening Circle & Storytelling Circle
Sept 11th-14th:
8:00 - 9:30 am: Medi & Yoga
9:30 - 10:30 am: Breakfast
11:00 am - 1:00 pm: Exploratory Circle
1:00 - 3:30 pm: Lunch & Break
3:30 - 6:30 pm: Exploratory Circle
6:30 - 7:30 pm: Dinner
7:45 pm: Storytelling Circle
Sept 15th:
8:00 am - 9:30am: Medi & Yoga
9:30 - 10:30am: Breakfast
11:00am - 12:30pm: Integration Circle & Close
12:30pm: Final Lunch
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Meditation and yoga will be held in the outdoor yoga pavilion, and we also have an indoor space available. Our sacred circles will rotate between outdoor and indoor spaces. Delicious ayurvedic meals will be served in the fresh autumn air.
You will have many opportunities to relax or walk in nature during our breaks.
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seasonal temperatures
We might anticipate some warm or hot weather during early September. We recommend to bring clothes for fairly warm weather and also comfortable layers in case of chill in the early mornings and later evenings. We will update the group on anticipated temperatures as we draw closer to the event, as the Smoky Mountains can be variable.
photos
See more photos from our retreat event at Seven Springs.
planning your trip
If you have time before or after the retreat, there are many beautiful opportunities to soak up the surroundings. Located less than 25 miles from Seven Springs is the entrance to the Great Smoky Mountains National Park, and several hiking trail options.
Total Retreat Cost (All-Inclusive):
(10 spaces only in total)
(5 nights, 6 days including arrival & departure)
Deposit to Reserve:
$450 USD
Shared Yurt:
$1295 USD
Shared: 2-4 women per yurt. (Furnished, comfy beds, wooden platforms, electricity.)
Private Yurt Upgrade:
+$200 USD
Private Glamping Upgrade:
+$50 USD
Furnished tents, wooden platforms, comfy beds, solar lighting.
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Retreat package includes:
- Morning meditation & yoga
- Morning & afternoon self-exploratory writing sessions
- Evening sacred storytelling sessions
- 5 nights shared or private accommodation at Seven Springs
- Delicious vegetarian breakfast, lunch, & dinner
- Optional guided on-site tour, nearby outing (tbc)
- All taxes
excludes:
- Flights
- Ground transport ($10-$20)
- Optional therapies
- Travel insurance
