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| The Inn at Bay Harbor |
Silent Yoga and Meditation Retreat
with Sandra Carden, ERYT 500
(20 Yoga Alliance CEUs or 20 hours toward your UYTT 500 Master Level)
1/02/13 to 1/05/13
The Spa at The Inn at Bay Harbor
There is no way to quite describe the deep peace that is
felt when one is enfolded in the silence of winter in loving, kind, and
meditative support.
Winter is deep magic. Being at The Inn at Bay Harbor, in
early January is all the more profound because we are naturally enshrouded by
this latent time of year. It is a time of year that supports introspection,
self-exploration and self-revelation. How fortunate we are to be able to take
advantage of the celestial timing, to go inward when the universe most supports
it.
As we sit in quiet stillness, we are embraced by the echoing
silence of the lakes and trees, and the soundless circling of the winter birds.
We will spend time out of doors, to marvel at the miracle and message of
soaring eagles and gently falling snow. The sun shines and sparkles, like a
million diamonds, on the icy waves and smooth white drifts.
We might never before have noticed the exquisite taste of
broccoli, or appreciated relaxing in a chair with a simple cup of tea, in quite
the same way. Without distractions, we rest, walk, read, write, and taste. We
listen, sit, breathe and practice, and take to heart the art of nonaction.
We learn a great deal about ourselves in silence. What do I
do when I have nothing I have to do? Who am I when I am not doing? From a
broader, higher, less attached perspective, we see how we are. We notice our
own unique jumble of thoughts, appetites, satisfactions, frustrations,
diversions, resistances, aversions, insights, longings, petitions, prayers,
aches and pains, fears, joys and ah-hahs. All grist for the mill.
We come in one way and leave another. Silence upholds a
shift in awareness, like none other. Ask someone who has taken a silent retreat, and you probably
won’t get much of an answer. It’s too big to wrap words around. Deep peace
cannot be contained.
Schedule:
Wednesday, January 2, 2013
4pm: Hotel Check-In/Arrival
6-8pm: 30 minute introduction and syllabus, 90 minute YOGA
practice.
(Dinner on your own)
*** Please reserve your spa services before Silence begins
Thursday morning.
Thursday, January 3, 2013 – Silence begins upon awakening.
7am: Meditative
Dawn Walk (Optional) | Please pack suitable clothing for
winter conditions.
8am: Breakfast
provided
9am-12pm: 3 hour SILENT YOGA and meditation practice.
12-1pm: Silent
group LUNCH provided.
1-4pm: Open
time. Enjoy the silence and
consider experiencing a spa service.
4-6pm: 2 hour
SILENT YOGA and meditation practice.
6:30pm: Silent
group Dinner provided.
8-9pm: Silent
meditation.
Friday, January 4, 2013 – Silence continues
7am: Meditative
Dawn Walk (Optional) | Please pack clothing for winter
conditions.
8am: Breakfast
provided
9am-12pm: 3 hour SILENT YOGA and meditation practice.
12-1pm: Silent group LUNCH provided.
1-4pm: Open time. Enjoy the silence and consider
experiencing a spa service.
4-6pm: 2 hour SILENT YOGA and meditation practice.
6:30pm: Silent
group Dinner provided.
8-9pm: Silent
meditation.
Saturday, January 5, 2013 – Breaking silence
7am: Silent
indoor walking and seated Meditation (Optional)
8:00-10:30am: 2.5 hour Breaking Silence Ceremony.
11am: Check-out.
Tuition:
$650 / person - Does not inlcude lodging.
This workshop is most suitable for those
with some yoga experience, any level. Includes $100 spa gift card, delicious snacks and meals daily (excludes
dinner on arrival day), and yoga
and meditation direction with Sandra Carden, ERYT500.
Additional $10 / person - for YOGA ALLIANCE teachers
requesting 20 hrs CEUs or those entering UYTT 500 Master (500 hour Teacher Training requires completion of 200 hour yoga teacher certification from any Yoga Alliance approved school).
Register today for the Silent Yoga and Meditation Retreat
located at The Inn at Bay Harbor by contacting Solace Institute at
231-549-7212. Space is
limited! You must register for your room separately.
Upgrade your experience and add lodging conveniently located
at The Inn at Bay Harbor by contacting 800-462-6963. Please mention that you are looking for the GROUP RATE with
the Silent Yoga and Meditation Program.
Deluxe Quarry View = Hotel room with two queen beds, wet bar
with refrigerator, one bathroom and shared balcony = $135/night*
Deluxe Lake View = Hotel room with two queen beds, wet bar
with refrigerator, one bathroom and shared balcony = $149/night*
Master Suite Quarry View = One bedroom suite with king bed
in bedroom, one queen Murphy bed and sofa in living area, gas fireplace,
kitchenette, one bathroom and private balcony = $170/night*
Master Suite Lake View = One bedroom suite with king bed in
bedroom, one queen murphy bed and sofa in living area, gas fireplace,
kitchenette, one bathroom and private balcony = $184/night*
*rooms are based on availability. Taxes and resort fee are additional.
Meals and Snacks:
We have requested vegetarian meals with some chicken and/or
fish. Please let us know of any special dietary needs. Tea will be available throughout the
retreat. If you want specific teas, or other favorite or necessary food items,
please bring them with you.
What to Pack:
Please pack lightly and dress simply. Bring the following:
• Watch / Clock
• Yoga mat and your favorite props (we can provide for you
if desired, please let us know at time of reservation)
• Snacks to share (optional)
• Meditation Cushion or blankets for sitting
• Yoga clothes
• Comfortable clothing for indoors
• Pajamas, underwear, etc…
• Outdoor clothing and gear for hikes, cross country skiing
and snowshoeing (weather permitting)
• Journal and pens/pencils
• Art supplies, if so inclined
• Prayer and meditation aids (mala or rosary beads,
meaningful images, etc.)
• Devotional/spiritual reading
• Bring one small item for our community altar
Regarding books: Many words, whether spoken or read,
interfere with silence. Therefore, be prayerful or meditative in your
consideration of reading material. Please bring only those books that will aid
the spiritual atmosphere of your retreat.
Maintaining a sacred space…
This is a silent retreat. Except for specified times when
dialogue is encouraged, we will maintain silence. Silence means silence. Please
avert your eyes from others and avoid communication through sign language, facial expressions, gestures,
etc. Conversation in common areas is discouraged. If talk is absolutely
required, please be sensitive to the retreat experience of others. And, please
leave computers and work at home.
Cell phones MUST be turned off. If you need to make a call, please
step outside or go into a room where you can close a door.
What to expect:
Each day will include yoga, meditation, and pranayama
practice. Sandra will guide a daily reflection on Tantric philosophy from the
Pratyabhijnahrdayam. You will receive a copy of that text.
Each person will have the opportunity to meet privately with
Sandra, should you feel that necessary to your process. She will provide
supportive listening, reflection, and perhaps questions to encourage further
exploration. Both listening for the deeper resonances and invitations of
Spirit. Make appointments for private guidance at the retreat on the posted sign-up sheet.
All meals will be taken in silence. There will be ample time
for walking, napping, journaling, private prayer and meditation.
If you have any questions prior to the retreat, please
contact Sandra Carden 1-888-881-YOGA.
ABOUT THE PRESENTER
Sandra Carden's yoga experience has embraced a wide range of
teachers and traditions, in a way that is best described by philosopher Ken
Wilber as "to enfold and transcend." Her varied Christian influences
throughout early childhood allowed her to appreciate, in the early 1970s, the
inclusive teachings of Paramahansa Yogananda. This non-dogmatic appreciation of
the many facets of yoga was affirmed in her tutelage under Joel Kramer, and
through the writings of J. Krishnamurti. At its inaugural session in 1974,
Sandra and Field Carden attended the Naropa Institute, to study yoga philosophy
under Ram Dass, and Buddhism under Chogyam Trungpa, Rinpoche. Here she was
schooled in Vipassana meditation. From these early influences, Sandra developed
a strong commitment to embracing diversity within the wider yoga tradition.
Early on, Sandra studied with senior teachers of the Iyengar
lineage. In the 1980s, she sought and embraced "meditation in
motion," through the Kripalu movement, as well as with outstanding senior
teachers of the Ashtanga system and other vinyasa styles. The 1990s brought a
transcendent shift toward more therapeutic avenues of yoga, including her
certification in Phoenix Rising Yoga Therapy and Svaroopa Yoga. Viniyoga and
Ayurvedic studies were important additional influences. The first decade of the
21st century has brought deeper study of yoga history, philosophy and
literature through Georg Feuerstein, Ph.D., at Sonoma State University, and
with Cynthia Snodgrass, M.div., of the American Sanskrit Institute. Sandra
Carden graduated Summa Cum Laude from Grand Valley State University, with a
thesis exploring The Human Quest for Liberation.
To "embrace and transcend" is to take in deeply,
embracing the experience as fuel to transform inclusively and from within, as
the sphere of understanding widens. In that way, UNION/YOGA is still growing,
unfolding, and transcending, as we all are.
“It tells animals for example, that there's a universal limit to life, that though they come in different sizes, they have roughly a billion and a half heart beats; elephant hearts beat slowly, hummingbird hearts beat fast, but when your count is up, you are over,” notes NPR science writer, Robert Krulwich. 
three hours in the morning, two in the afternoon and one at night. Without any but inner navigation, we found our way through postures old and sweetly familiar, and some never before explored. We astounded ourselves by what we intuited, and what we knew before we even knew. 
The ancient practice of yoga was elucidated by our study of the Pratyabijnahrdayam, the Splendor of Recognition. In silence one realizes the “recognition” is the remembering that we are each facets of one mighty Divinity. We are aware that we each are the center of our own reality, each seeing ourselves and everything else from our own centered perspective, creating it afresh moment by moment. It is the unified field of consciousness – the whole that we cannot know from the thinking mind, that we glimpse in solitude and silence. It wasn’t and doing that we were doing. It was undoing. It was gaining a new perspective that includes the affinity we are and have. 
The senses- sound, sight, scent, taste, and touch, are all honed and sharpened by the clarity of spacious mind. Sound: We chirpily chanted inwardly, keeping time with and astonishing ourselves at knowing all the words to those Top 50 instrumental Muzak tunes of the !Fabulous 50's!, as they piped mindlessly into the nearly empty dining hall. 
The text for the UNION/YOGA Silent Retreat, to be held at The Inn at Bay Harbor near Petoskey MI from January 2-5, 2013 is the The Pratyabhijnahrdayam from the 10th century. This is a text about enlightenment, through the teachings of the Goddess of Consciousness. It was written by Ksemaraja especially for those not well-versed in the study of yoga philosophy. In just 20 little sutras, we are guided to the heart as the seat of knowing, moved to recognize the Self inside the self, and to know that we know. Please join me at the Inn at Bay Harbor from January 2-5, 2014. Move into Silence and re-Member your Self. 
Sue Dilsworth, Ph.D. (UYTT '08) and I, at her
studio and offices, Heart’s Journey Wellness Center in Allendale, MI. Sue
offers yoga classes and private counseling, classes and workshops. This
amazing woman is a compassionate teacher and yoga therapist combining
Wholistic modalities to meet, see and hear the whole person– wherever
you are on your Heart’s Journey. 
