Writing & Yoga Retreats: What are They? How do They Benefit Writers? GuestBy Stephanie Renée dos Santos

Ever imagined having the opportunity to dedicate a whole week to working exclusively on your writing, with daily guided yoga and writing exercises outside your door, to be amongst other writers, and writing teachers who support your effort? Writing & Yoga Retreats now span the globe in place like: Brazil, Costa Rica, Mexico, Guatemala, Ireland, England, and the United States.

What are some of the benefits from attending this type of writing retreat? These retreats aim to kindle your creative fire and liberate your authentic voice and deepest truths. Writers need dedicated time to connect with the Muse, or to bring concentrated effort to complete a project ̶ time that can be hard to come by in everyday life. Everyone’s standards are raised in a community of writers. And getting outside of one’s everyday writing atmosphere can trigger new perspectives and imagination. A writing retreat combined with yoga offers an ideal space in which to concentrate on writing without interruptions and to help you relax into your work.

Writers often suffer from physical pain in the shoulders, neck, head, lower back, hips and eyes. This stress in the body can inhibit or block creativity. A daily yoga practice helps reverse and relieve bodily tension; when the body is eased, so are the tensions of the mind.

Yoga Benefits to the Writer:

· Open your chest, bring your shoulders back, loosen up your neck, and increase circulation to your head. Improve your posture after long days at the computer and reading

· Stretch your body and awaken your mind

· Open your hips, where creativity, emotions and creative expression often get trapped

· Learn to create and access the state that creativity likes to manifest into: A state of empowerment, focus, grounding, intuition, strength, compassion, staying power

· Learn to set intentions/goals for your writing and visualize/meditate on them

· Create balance, which will increase your ability to focus clearly

· Experience community

· Release your mind and body and open the space for ideas to flow

Participating in a writing retreat is a public declaration of being a writer and demonstrates your courage and willingness to test your ideas ̶ honing, sharing, and readying them for the world. A daily yoga practice aides the writing endeavor.

Writing & Yoga

Writing and Yoga are soul mates. Yoga reveals insights; Writing is the recorder. Yoga balances the rhythms of breath; Writing surfs breath through oceans of language. Yoga taps the unconscious mind; Writing transcribes the wisdom of the unconscious. Writing requires work; Yoga is the assistant. Writing is an offering to the world; Yoga eases the offering’s sacrifice. Writing is a solo act; Yoga provides community.
 

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Stephanie Renée dos Santos is a fiction and freelance writer and yoga instructor. She is currently working on a historical novel set in 18th century Portugal and colonial Brazil. Stephanie leads Writing & Yoga Retreats in Brazil and the United States. For more information please visit: www.stephaniereneedossantos.com or email stephaniereneedossantos@gmail.com.

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