i'm leading my first week-long sleepover retreat! sign up...fast. (Patreon)

(patron-only)

hallo loves.

before i take this news out to the worldwide internet & social media, i wanted to give y'all patrons a chance to sign up. it's going to take place in RHINEBECK, NY, about 2 hours north of new york city on the hudson, from JUNE 30th (arrival date)-JULY 5th (departure date).

TL;DR, omg, run to sign up, here. 

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and if you have stories of yoga, meditation, retreats...here's a good place to spill them to enlighten others.

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as many of you know (especially if you've followed me for a long time and/or read "the art of asking"), i'm a fully un-closeted fan of yoga, mindfulness, and the tradition of doing retreats.

i don't care who calls me fuckin' woo or a fuckin' hippie. yoga and meditation and my mindfulness practice have been the cornerstones of my success as a human, and i ain't gonna let anyone convince me otherwise. 

i went on my first meditation retreat when i was in my early twenties, to a wonderful place in western massachusetts called IMS (insight meditation society), and there, surrounded by a hundred or so strangers, i spent a week in silence: meditating, listening to talks, eating in silence, and getting away from cell phones and the mundane world. that retreat was a gift from anthony, and it still pays me in spiritual dividends that are priceless.

i can tell you from the bottom of my heart that that week changed me, and i went back for more. throughout my twenties and early thirties, i went on a handful of other retreats: silent meditation retreats, yoga retreats, places and spaces where i was able to let go of my ego and just spend time with my fellow, seeking, lost human brothers and sisters, getting at the heart of things. if you've ever done anything like this, you know what i mean.

some of the most profound realizations i've had about my life, work, self and art have happened on those retreats. some things just don't occur unless you give them space.

we are all so busy, all the time, and there is nothing like taking a few days of offline self-care to take sabbath, unplug, share, ponder, reflect, and dig into what makes us truly human.

the song "in my mind" was written during a retreat: i was far away from humanity at a yoga retreat near sydney, australia, and i wrote the song as a funny little ukulele offering to the other 50 yoga-doers who i thought would dig it. it was so hippy and embarrassing.....i never had any intention of playing it outside the retreat (turns out, i lied).

anyway.

i've wanted to lead my own retreat for a long time, but....when? i've always been busy, i've always been touring, i've always been go go go go and on on on on to the next project. 

when neil and i moved to woodstock, i became aware of a historic retreat center near our house called The Omega Institute. it's a singular joint: it was founded in the late 70s by a bunch of classic idealist hippies and seekers hoping to create a better world, and it's turned into a summer spot that gathers teachers and students of all kind: yoga, meditation, mindfulness, empowerment, getting over grief, political action and change, you name it.

then it turned out that the co-founder of omega, elizabeth lesser, lived up the street from us. she's not only an enlightened ass-kicking feminist, she's also an author, and i picked up her book, "broken open: how difficult times can help us grow". my god you guys...you need to read this book. it's not your average wishy-washy self-help book, it's gritty, true, real, funny...hardcore. highly recommended.

she writes so beautifully about her divorce and how the bottoming-out of her own life broke her open into a place of self-love and empowerment. here is a woman speaking my language. (bonus: i'm going to be interviewing elizabeth for my podcast soon, hooray).

anyway....

i told elizabeth that i'd always wanted to lead my own amanda-style retreat and she said: DO IT. 

and here we are. 

i decided not to do it on my own this first round: leading a group-retreat is a ton of work and preparation for one person, and i've never done this before. (SCARY).

so i invited two of my friends with retreat experience to co-lead with me: first off, wayne muller (i've blogged about him here before), he's actually my PERSONAL therapist....and he's written some really beautiful best-selling books of his own...and as a human, you just can't beat him. he's a therapist, an outlaw-minister, a writer, a mindfulness expert, and an all-round weirdo that you can't pin down. he's just awesome. 

here's one of wayne's amazing books, "sabbath", 

and second, i tapped my pal leslie salmon jones...

....she's an old friend of mine from boston who used to be my personal trainer when i was living in the cloud club and trying to get my body and soul in shape. she's an incredible woman on so many levels, and this kind of work is her life. she's going to kick the shit out of our souls. 

you can read this NY times piece about her fusion of african dance and yoga here...her work is just jaw-dropping.

together, we are going to lead a retreat from june 30th-july 5th called ......

"REAL COMPASSION: 

living our truths in our daily lives, work and art".

WHAT WILL THIS BE LIKE?

well...i'm glad you asked.

if you've never been on retreat, it's hard to explain, but it's basically FIVE DAYS AND FIVE NIGHTS OF GROWN UP AWESOME SUMMER CAMP.

it's "arts week" at omega. there are lots of other retreats going on at the same time at omega, and the meals are communal, so you'll be surrounded by like-minded weirdos.

my really good friend chris wells (aka "the QUEEN REAPER") is running a workshop the same week about writing and memoir, so we'll probably do some playing with him and his group. 

there will be yoga and moving around. 

there will be sharing of stories. 

there will be hard, deep therapeutic moments.

we will become a little family for five days.

the place ITSELF is worth hanging out in. here are just a couple pictures of omega in summer pulled from the web, but it's really, really gorgeous up here.....nature aboundin'....

and, yeah.....this is a Trust Me moment: just trust me that it will be awesome.

the cost is $300 for the week-long workshop ($270 if you're an omega member) and anywhere between about $500-over $1k+ for accommodation (you can camp or get a luxx cabin with all fancy amenities). food is included in everything...and the food is amazing....healthy, veggie-heavy, organic, all that good stuff.

(here's a pic of the omega dining hall):

there will be free moments where you can hike, swim, galavant, and what not. this isn't a silent monastic retreat where you have to be super-disciplined and just eat kale and stay silent...though we may do a period of silence at some point. you're gonna have to trust us to lead you.

as for me: i'll be making and playing music and trying to write something FOR THE PATREON during this week, we will all be collecting our souls into one weird pile for me to song-out. i'll want thoughts and feedback and love and help. i need this week away from the world as much as you do.

we are limiting this first workshop to ONLY FIFTY PEOPLE in order to make it feel intimate and cozy, so i suggest you think FAST and sign up before spaces are gone.

just do it. this is gonna be awesome.

if you've never done anything like this before and you're like...ughhhhh....i wanna but....uhhhhhh...this is weird....

just DO IT. trust me. do it. it's gonna be fun and deep and....awesome.

i'll be reporting on this whole experience to the patreon don't you worry. i plan on interviewing both wayne and leslie for the podcast, and hopefully i'll get a good song outta this.

ok my loves.

go sign up here.

i'll be posting about this to the worldwide internet on wednesday, so if you think you wanna go, you’ve got 48 hours to get in there before the rest of the world.

..... namaste motherfuckers.

xx

a