SPRING EQUINOX RETREAT
Moose Point Cabin, 100 Mile Wilderness, Maine
MARCH 20-23, 2009 (Fri-Mon)
$595* (Deposit: $150)
*$550 for currently enrolled Wild Lotus Yoga students

While the season promises spring and the weather is delightfully warm, it’s still winter in northern Maine in late March. The sparkling beauty of winter and the lengthening days of brilliant light call us to look deep into our own hearts to see what seeds are preparing to sprout.

Join us for this long weekend of cozy indoor practice (yoga, meditation, sharing around the wood stove) and all the outdoor exploration your heart desires, on skis or snowshoes, or just your boots. Outdoors, we'll track lynx and coyote, fox and snowshoe hare, watch for the winter birds and study the winter stars. Indoors, we'll do our practices, play and laugh, have times of silence, share delicious meals and relish the peace of the still-quiet landscape.

We meet in Greenville on the morning of the 20th and will be taken in by snowmobile to the cabin. The cabin has a full kitchen, woodstove and bunkbeds and is tucked into the woods beside Moose Pond.

Limited to 6 participants.

GUIDES: Anne Dellenbaugh, Sharon Sandstrum
MEET: Greenville, Maine-- Fly 2/19 to Portland, depart 2/24

DESERT SPRING RETREAT
Stillwater Canyon, Green River, Utah
Not Offered 2009

Come celebrate spring in the desert! We’ll canoe through spectacular Stillwater Canyon on the Green River, from Mineral Bottom to the confluence with the Colorado River. This is some of the most beautiful canyon paddling in the country. We’ll rise at dawn for meditation and yoga, paddle, hike, rest and swim, do more yoga before dinner, then sit by the fire in the evening and close the day in Noble Silence. Beginners are most welcome and no experience (in canoeing, yoga or camping) is necessary.

We depart from Moab, Utah on Saturday morning, April 19th and return to Moab (up the Colorado from the Confluence, so you’ll see both gorgeous rivers!) on Saturday the 26th. Travel days (to and from Moab) are the 18th and the 27th, unless you choose to extent your trip to allow time for visiting any of the gorgeous national parks that are nearby: Arches, Canyonlands, and Capitol Reef. The trip fee of $1450 covers all river gear (canoes, paddles, life vests, safety gear), all group gear, shuttles, guides, and scrumptious vegetarian meals.

Limited to 8 participants.

[ General Trip Details ]

GUIDES: Anne Dellenbaugh, Sharon Sandstrum
MEET: Moab, Utah -- Fly 4/18, depart 4/27

YOGA IN THE WILD RETREATS:

YOGA IN THE MOUNTAINS
Flagstaff Hut, Flagstaff Lake, Maine
JULY 17-19, 2009 (Fri-Sun)
$225 (Deposit: $100)
Early Registration Discount: $200 (by June 1)

Don't let the word "hut" fool you. While you will be sleeping in a bunk bed, this hut, part of the Maine Huts and Trails system, is really a simple but beautiful, ecologically designed, remote wilderness lodge on a private cove of Flagstaff Lake. You'll enjoy delicious homecooked meals, hot showers at the end (or beginning) of your day and the cozy library that will be our yoga/meditation sanctuary for the weekend.

The weekend will be devoted to the simple, liberative meditation practice of Awareness. While we will do some asana (postures) and pranayama (breathing techniques), our focus is on cultivating meditative awareness. This is the jewel of yoga, the balm for the suffering soul. Yoga is a practice of ease and well-being. Come discover this for yourself on this weekend retreat.

The practice is not just a formal one. On Saturday and Sunday there will be time for you to take your meditation outdoors--hiking, paddling on the lake, or just sitting by the water's edge. You'll leave with a practice you can use daily, in every day life.

The hut is accessible only by foot or boat. We'll arrange carpooling to the parking area and hike the 2.3 miles into the hut together on Friday afternoon. Our first yoga/meditation session will be Friday after dinner.

[ General Trip Details ]

GUIDE: Anne Dellenbaugh
MEET: North New Portland, ME-- Fly 7/17 to Portland, HWS shuttle to trailhead, fly home 7/20

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YOGA BY THE SEA
Knubble Bay Camp, Georgetown, Maine
AUGUST 23-27, 2009 (Sun-Thurs)
$495 (Deposit: $150)
Early Registration Discount: $450 (by July 1)

Join us for Yoga, Meditation, and study of the VijnanaBhairava Tantra;
as well as Kayaking, good friends, and fun at the shore—
the last hurrah of the summer!

This will be a special retreat since it’s the last opportunity to study/travel with Anne before her Sabbatical. The VijnanaBhairava Tantra is a perfect text for outdoor spiritual practice. We’ll use it as the basis of our morning yoga, meditation and pranayama practice, and our outdoor contemplative practices—whether pursued in a rocking chair on the porch or a kayak out at sea. A part of morning asana practices will be specifically designed to support and enhance your kayaking. Some mornings will also include a dharma talk and discussion. For those who want some on-the-water instruction, we’ll translate the yoga into paddling. Paddle near or far or not at all, according to your desires. At the end of the day we’ll gather for dinner and evening practice—chanting, yoga and yoga nidra, meditation, storytelling… There’s paddling suitable to all skill levels. Bring your own kayak.

Knubble Bay Camp, run by AMC, is located in Georgetown, Maine, an hour's drive from Portland, and is accessible by car. Yogi's are encouraged to come for the whole retreat, and preference will be given to those enrolling for the entire time. Those who can only come for a shorter time, are welcome to apply. Please plan to stay for at least two nights.

Knubble Bay Camp has a full kitchen, and we'll all share in the cooking.

Space is very limited. Please register early to reserve your place.

[ General Trip Details ]

GUIDE: Anne Dellenbaugh
MEET: Knubble Bay Camp, Georgetown, ME

CARIBOU BASE CAMP
Gates of the Arctic National Park, Alaska
Not Offered 2009

Spend 7 days living in the extraordinary wilderness that is the Gates of the Arctic National Park. Just to the west of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, Gates includes most of the central Brooks Range. Our base camp beside a shallow river high in the mountains, close to the continental divide will afford us long days of spectacular wildlife viewing and picture perfect trail-less hiking in the gorgeous colors of the late fall tundra. We've scheduled this trip to coincide with the migration of the western caribou herd through the Brooks Range.

We’ll meet in Fairbanks, take a bus up the Dalton Highway to historic Wiseman, where we'll spend our first night in the old dance hall-turned-B&B. We leave early the next morning to go down to Coldfoot where we'll meet our bush pilot for the trip into Gates of the Arctic. We'll spend the next week wildlife tracking, birding, hiking, and just being in this stunning country. The landscape is huge and wild, like nothing I've ever seen before coming here. The caribou migrate through the high passes and along the river corridor; there are bears and wolves and eagles and foxes and ptarmigan and more. We will also follow loosely many of the practices that are part of all Wild Song trips: times of silence, daily yoga and meditation, evening gatherings. In late August, the arctic summer with its long hours of daylight and stunning, prolonged sunsets is already giving way to autumn--the land is blazing crimson and there's just enough dark for the first of the aurora borealis. This means the weather can be warm and sunny or downright cold. The bugs are gone.

We meet in Fairbanks on the 20th for orientation, gear check, last minute shopping if necessary and leave on the bus early the next morning. We are scheduled to fly back to Fairbanks on the 28th. Trip fee covers all transportation from Fairbanks, guides, all group gear, including meals, snacks and safety equipment. You bring your own clothes, sleeping bag, tent and personal gear. Some gear is available for rent.

A river trip will be scheduled for 2009. Let us know if you want to be on the list to hear details as soon as they're out.

Limited to 6 participants.

[ General Trip Details ]

GUIDE: Anne Dellenbaugh, Sharon Sandstrum
MEET: Fairbanks, AK -- Arrive Fairbanks 8/19/08, depart 8/29/08 (or later: it is best to schedule your return flight a day or so after the trip in case we can't fly out as scheduled)

FALL RETREAT
Attean Pond, Jackman,Maine
Oct 17-20, 2008 (Thur-Sun)
$575($150 deposit)

Come celebrate this holiday weekend with HER WILD SONG.

Tucked away in the western mountains, with Bigelow Mountain rising from its southern shore, Flagstaff Lake is one of Maine’s gems, especially wonderful at this time of year when bright colors are seeping into leaves and yet it is still warm enough to enjoy a swim in these beautiful clear waters. This is a base camp retreat, perfect for those who want or need wilderness with little strain. We will meet in Kingfield and drive together to the put-in where we’ll load canoes and paddle to one of Flagstaff’s secluded campsites. From there, we will find plenty to do, or plenty of time for doing nothing. There is Bigelow (one of Maine’s premier mountains, 4,090’) for those who want to hike, islands and coves to explore, wildlife to sit in stillness and observe, and abundant beauty to be enjoyed without ever leaving the campsite.

In addition to our dawn practice of yoga, meditation and chanting and evening fire circles, this trip offers participants the opportunity to delve more deeply into the teachings and practices that form our retreats (Anusara-Inspired Hatha Yoga, Body-Mind Centering, and meditation, or QiGong, for instance), and to reflect together on how these experiences inform our lives.  This retreat is appropriate for women facing life challenging illnesses.

[ General Trip Details ]

GUIDES: Anne Dellenbaugh, Sharon Sandstrum
MEET: Jackman -- Fly 10/16 to Portland, HWS shuttle to motel and put-in; fly home 10/21

GENERAL TRIP DETAILS

WHERE WE MEET
All trips begin early in the morning of the first day listed. Usually we will meet you at a designated motel in the rendezvous town. We recommend that participants arrive the night before and stay in that motel. Lodging for that night is not included in the price of the trip. In the information given for trips "HWS shuttle" indicates that we will arrange for someone to meet you at the airport and return you there on the last day of the trip. There is an additional fee for the shuttle. Detailed information about logistics and gear is sent upon receipt of your reservation.

WHAT WE PROVIDE
HER WILD SONG provides all canoes and camping gear, including tents and tarps, cook set, stoves and food. Our mostly vegetarian meals are delicious, hearty and nutritious. We use local, organic food as much as possible, and natural sweeteners. Even backpacking trips include cakes or fresh breads baked right in camp. You need only provide your own personal gear, including sleeping bag and backpack (if necessary).