Hi, I'm Emily Hanlon, creativity and writing coach and novelist. I have been leading my Writing, Creativity and Ritual Retreats for eight years. We have had glorious retreats in places such as Glastonbury, England and Florence, Italy, to name just two.

This year the retreat is going to the lush, tropical rainforest in Costa Rica, Sept. 24-Oct 6. We will be staying at the Samasati Retreat Center, which is on the Pacific Coast. One of the women attending, who has been to Samasati, calls it "as close to heaven as I've ever been." What a recommendation!

The retreat is open to any woman wanting to explore her creativity through the weave of writing, creativity and ritual. My vision of the retreat is that we experience our creative self unfettered by the Inner Critic. It is a week of passion, laughter, freedom, community and creativity.

Our circle of women is a safe, nurturing place to explore your creativity as a visceral journey born of a deep longing for authenticity that carries us inward to a self we often do not consciously know. As creative women, we hunger for this self that dances to a song the outer world cannot hear much less understand.

I invite you to explore the retreat at www.awritersretreat.com
In addition to the retreat itself, we will have four days to explore the rainforest and many sites and adventures in Costa Rica.

Writing, Creativity and Ritual, A Retreat for Women in Costa Rica, Sept. 24-Oct 26, 2006.

emily@emilyhanlon.com

[ March 05, 2006, 01:25 PM: Message edited by: Emily Hanlon ]

I'd love to attend this but I'm afraid I won't be able to this year....lots of "stuff" on my plate as it is....if you ever do a retreat in the beautiful Blue Ridge Mountains though I'm THERE! LOL

A dear friend took her "New Years" vacation in Costa Rica and loved it....she stayed in a resort called Treetops. She'd never been to Costa Rica before but said people were friendly and the scenery was out of this world. I'm sure everyone who can make it to Costa Rica for the retreat will not only have a wonderful time, but will learn a lot from you!

Hi Emily! Welcome to BWS! Interesting retreat! Costa Rica is enticing, indeed.

Taken from Emily's site:

Structure of the Day during the Retreat

The retreat runs for six days. We meet for a three hour workshop in the morning, break for lunch around 12:30 and have the afternoon to write, explore, nap, swim, hike, get a massage...whatever suits your fancy! We come back for a two hour session at four in the afternoon and most evenings after dinner we come back together for open readings and some very fun activities which include a midweek extravaganza (it's a secret!) and our closing night.

We have four days of fun and touring added on to the retreat and then our day of arrival and departure. Of these four days, two are usually interspersed during the retreat and the last two days end our visit at Samasati.

Emily, how many women attend?

I am not at a point in my life that I can get away for this type of thing, but it sounds heavenly.Are you by chance a member of IWWG or NAWW? Both would be great venues to promote your retreat.

[ March 05, 2006, 08:15 PM: Message edited by: Dotsie ]

Oh Emily what a paradise that is! It would be wonderful if a group of Boomers could attend, what fun that would be? What does something like this cost? Is the price all inclusive or are meals, airfare etc. extra? Welcome to the boomer site.

[ March 05, 2006, 08:41 PM: Message edited by: chatty lady ]

Hi Chatty Lady,

Fees vary according to rooms. It's all on the website at www.awritersretreat.com

Prices are inclusive of everything except airfare, but does include transportation to and from airport.

We have a ball. It's a wonderful creative week with a very creative, inspiring circle of women.

If you'd like, I can add you to the mailing list of The Fiction Writers Journey, which gives you updates about the retreat and many other things.
Just let me know.

on the journey,
Emily