Blackberry Mountain to host storytelling retreat

Tennessee’s Blackberry Mountain Resort is offering a storytelling retreat in the Great Smoky Mountains, from 5-8 March 2020.

Called ‘Your life as a story’, the retreat will be hosted by author Shauna Niequist and literary agent to the stars, Jennifer Rudolph Walsh.

The programme costs US$900 (€803, £673) per person and is designed to stimulate participants’ creativity. The programme includes guided conversations, writing exercises and curated activities, such as journaling, crystal meditation and storytelling through art.

The wellness philosophy at Blackberry Mountain is five-fold, honouring the wellbeing of body, mind and spirit with nature and art ‘serving as the conduits of connection to ourselves and the world’.

The resort has also scheduled a positive energy yoga retreat for 26-29 January 2020 – called Reset with Leigh Mallis – designed to create space for personal discovery and optimism.

Mallis is a meditation and yoga specialist and founder of Pranic Soul, a yoga teacher training programme.

She said: “I am so honoured to be working with the Blackberry Mountain team. Layering the yoga and meditation with brisk hikes, cooking demos, sensory experiences, fresh food, and cozy fires sounds like heaven to me”.

The event costs US$900 (€803, £673) and will involve yoga lessons guided by Mallis, including the vinyasa, pranayama and kundalini yoga disciplines. To complement the experience the Blackberry Mountain team have arranged mindfulness sessions, sound bathing and cooking demos for guests, to create a well-rounded experience.

Blackberry Mountain is also home to a spa called Nest, which offers traditional rituals such as facials, massages and wraps and extends its selection to offer treatments based on naturopathy and acupuncture and targetting the nervous system. Nest treatments are supplied by three product houses – Kindred, Luzern, and Among the Flowers.

Facilities include a fitness camp and three dining experiences, while the activities schedule includes forest bathing, bouldering, mountain biking, aerial yoga and sound bathing.

Retreat guests can choose from three accommodation options: a ridgetop cabin, stone cottage or a multi-bedroom home.