Give Yourself Permission
A Restorative Winter Retreat for Writers
The Fairmont Château Le Frontenac
Quebec City, Canada
Wednesday, March 5 - Sunday, March 9, 2025
Introducing Our Guest Presenters
Alexandra Soiseth
Alexandra Soiseth, MFA, Transitional Coach, Writing Instructor and Author. Soiseth’s memoir, Choosing You: Deciding to have a Baby on My Own, is a deeply honest memoir about her decision at the age of 39 to brave pregnancy and motherhood alone. Alexandra was the Associate Director of the MFA writing program at Sarah Lawrence College for 15 years and has taught fiction, memoir and publishing courses since 1997 to a wide variety of populations from children to seniors citizens, in formal and informal settings such as schools, undergrad and grad programs, prisons and nursing homes. She is a recipient of a Canada Council grant and an Ontario Arts Council grant and has published essays and stories in publications in Canada and US.
Instagram: @alexsoiseth
Dr. Kimberly Grocher
Dr. Kimberly Grocher, PhD, MA, LCSW, ACC, RYT, earned a BS in Psychology from Towson University in Baltimore, MD, MSW from Howard University in Washington DC, and PhD in Social Work from Fordham University in New York City. She completed post-graduate training in Psychodynamic Couple Therapy at the Training Institute for Mental Health in NYC and received coach training through the Institute for Professional Excellence in Coaching (IPEC). She completed yoga teacher training at Yoga Haven in Scarsdale, NY and she is a qualified Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) teacher, as well as a graduate of the Mindfulness Meditation Teacher Certification Program facilitated by Tara Brach and Jack Kornfield. Her research focuses on mind-body therapies to improve health outcomes for Black women. She was a fellow in the inaugural Media & Medicine program at Harvard Medical School where she focused on creating content addressing health disparities in Black women using yoga. Dr. Grocher also has extensive experience as a trainer and educator. She is a Senior Lecturer at Columbia University School of Social Work and Clinical Assistant Professor of Social Work in Psychiatry at Weill Cornell Medical College, and has presented on topics related to health, wellness, anti-racism and cultural humility in health care, academia, and clinical practice. Trained in Psychotherapy, Yoga, Mindfulness Meditation & Reiki, Dr. Grocher will integrate elements of these practices into her presentations.
Instagram: @drkimbgrocher
Judyth Hill
Judyth Hill, a Poet and Provocateur and Author of the poem Wage Peace, was Educated at Sarah Lawrence College. She studied with Robert Bly, Galway Kinnell, and Deep-Ecologist, Dolores LaChapelle. Her nine published books of poetry include Hardwired for Love, Dazzling Wobble and Writing Down the Moon, and her new collection of poems, The Supper I Sang For, is currently out for consideration. Hill is Chair of the PEN International Women Writers Committee, Managing Editor of the hybrid publishing company, Wild Rising Press, and an Anusara Yoga Special Subjects instructor. Originator of the poetry process, WildWriting, Hill conducts poetry and memoir workshops at conferences world 'round and on Zoom; she leads Muse on the Move literary/culinary adventures in Taos, NM, Ireland, and Mexico. She is the recipient of grants from the Witter Bynner Poetry Foundation, McCune Foundation, and New Mexico Endowment for the Humanities. Judyth has authored poetry curriculum for the O’Keeffe and Folk Art Museums in Santa Fe, NM and served from 1994 to 2000 as Literary Projects Coordinator for New Mexico Arts, a division of the NM State Office of Cultural Affairs.
Instagram: @judythhill
Reflect. Restore. Create.
A Glimpse Into Your Journey
Begin and end each day on the mat with Angela. The Morning Gentle Yoga, Meditation and Breathing practice will offer the opportunity to find presence in the body and move from the mat to the page with an open heart and mind. Yoga Nidra before bedtime will help seal the practices of the day.
In their daily Key to the Castle Workshop Generative Writing Sessions, Pat & Kathy aim to demystify the generative process, offering you a chance to look both inward and outward and see where the paying attention - to body, mind and soul - leads. And, helping you locate your own key to your own castle, no matter where that castle lives. Is it in a physical space? Or, an emotional one? Perhaps, in a place that holds room for both? Additionally, Pat & Kathy will make themselves available for one-to-one sessions throughout the retreat.
Through WildWriting, Judyth will guide you through a unique, exciting process of writing from Passionate Center, combining deep inner listening with the luscious, sensuous stuff we know, see, feel, hear, remember, (forget!), taste, imagine. Literally, everyone produces - instantly - juicy, vivid writing! In her Dynamic Literary StageCraft session Judyth recognizes that you’ve given your writing your best, and offers you the skills to take it from the page to the stage - to not just read your work aloud, but to perform it with verve and passion - at our open sharing sessions and in your future creative adventures. THIS is when you give yourselves total permission to SHINE!
Kimberly's session: Taking Yourself Seriously as Writer / Creative Person - aims to help you identify those underlying conflicts and mindsets that may get in the way of owning and investing in your identity as a writer/creative, and give you some practical tools to shift your mindset, to help craft a vision for your writing and creative life.
In Alexandra's session, We are Always in our Bodies, you will begin the process of tuning into your physical self, listening to your body’s guidance at the moment of writing - dispelling the notion that writing is solely a brain-based activity - to consider and commit to specific practices to help you take precious care of your body, your valuable writing instrument. Alexandra helps explore some of the feelings and thoughts that can rise and derail us, and how, in paying attention to them, we might actually be able to DO something to overcome The Dreaded Writer's Block.
Your Stay at the Château
The Fairmont Château Le Frontenac, Quebec City, Canada
Standing high on a bluff overlooking the mighty St. Lawrence River, Fairmont Le Château Frontenac is not merely a hotel located in the heart of Old Québec - it is the heart of it. At Fairmont Le Château Frontenac, guests are guaranteed a memorable and inspiring stay in one of the most beautiful cities in the world with easy walking access to all of the wonderful sites and experiences that Old Québec has to offer.
Key Information
ITINERARY:
Wednesday, March 5, 2025 - Arrival day. Check into your Fairmont Gold level accommodation by 4pm. Welcome event 7pm-9pm.
Thursday, March 6, Friday, March 7 and Saturday, March 8 - Morning Yoga, Writing Sessions, Group Lunch, Afternoon Guest Presenters/Sessions, Dinner on your own, Story Sharing, and/or Opportunities for One-to-One Session with Kathy or Pat.
Sunday, March 9, 2025 - Farewell Brunch at Champlain
RETREAT REGISTRATION FEES:
Registration Fee $95 deposit to hold your place (due when this form is filled in)
Early Bird Pricing EXTENDED — pay in full by October 15, 2024 - $2995 (less $95 deposit)
Beginning October 16, 2024 - $3495 (less $95 deposit) payable in two (2) installments
WHAT'S INCLUDED:
Four (4) nights: check-in Wed. March 5 / check-out Sun. March 9, 2025. Lodging in your own Fairmont Gold level guest room and all included hotel amenities - including access to the pool/ hot tub facilities.
Access to the Fairmont Gold lounge (including breakfast each morning) throughout your stay.
All Key to the Castle Workshop programming as noted in the itinerary, inclusive of Group lunches on Thu. March 6, Fri. March 7 & Sat. March 8 and Champlain brunch on Sun. March 9
WHAT'S NOT INCLUDED:
Transportation to, from, throughout the program.
Dinners, any meals other than as indicated in the itinerary.
Any services not already included in hotel amenities.
Any service(s) / One-to-One Sessions you may book with our guest presenters.
HELPFUL LINKS
