Big Magic

This retreat is designed as a spring renewal for those who long to fulfill their creative potential. As artists and dreamers of every ilk, we must tend to our bodies and spirits and discover the balance between rest, renewal, play, and creative challenge so that we may tap into and channel something larger than ourselves. We must also learn to tune out the voices, both real and perceived, that tell us we can’t in order to allow our genuine, glorious voices to ring out. This weekend will offer opportunities for truly nurturing, restorative, and generative practices geared especially to those who may feel their creativity and/or voice has been stifled and create a sacred space in which the big magic that is our birthright can be reclaimed. Offerings will include yoga, meditation, writing and reading, drawing, music and dance, self care, and time in nature connecting to earth and to self. Come explore what’s possible when you give yourself what you truly need and leave rejuvenated, with tools to sustain a richly creative life.

Poet Mary Oliver wrote that “the most regretful people on earth are those who felt the call to creative work, who felt their own creative power restive and uprising, and gave to it neither power nor time.” In this retreat we’ll give both power and time to the practices that will allow us to not only live without regret, but to cultivate the fierce love, joy, and passion that sustains us.

About the Facilitator

Marin Heinritz, PhD, RYT-500, is associate professor of English at Kalamazoo College where she teaches creative writing, literature, and journalism; and she is senior faculty for Sangha Yoga Institute and an instructor at Kalamazoo Barre in Kalamazoo as well as a consultant for BLND Health Kalamazoo. Writing and the body are inextricably linked in her work on the page and in the classroom, and helping others fulfill their potential through both endeavors is, for her, a spiritual practice.

Registration and Lodging Details

The retreat begins in WindHill at 6:30 p.m. Friday and closes at 1:00 p.m. on Sunday. Early bird registration is $250 before February 1, 2019, and $280 after that. Space is limited, and participants must register for the retreat with a minimum $100 deposit before reserving a cabin at GilChrist, with remaining cost of retreat due by March 1, 2020. 

Lodging fees and reservations are separate, and participants are encouraged to complete a registration form and submit payment early to secure a spot and secure a GilChrist cabin. After you have registered and paid for the program with the facilitator via marinheinritz.com, contact GilChrist to reserve your cabin using the online registration form or by calling the main office at (269) 244-1130.

Participants will check into their cabins between 4:00 and 5:00 p.m. on Friday, March 13 at a time you communicate via your cabin reservation. Cabin check-out is at 2:00 p.m. on Sunday, March 15.