Join
us for Creative Writing,
Hatha Yoga and meditation
at the unforgettable Villa
Sumaya Retreat Center, in
Maya Pueblo of Santa Cruz
la Laguna on the shores
of Lake Atitlan, Guatemala.
Includes:
8
days, 7 nights, shared accommodations
(some singles available
for an additional fee);
all meals (& they are
wonderful);
daily writing and yoga sessions;
all instruction and materials;
workshops on the craft of
writing;
individual manuscript critiques.
(does
not include individual
transportation to and
from Villa Sumaya, special
excursions, or gratuities.)
Cost:
$2095 with a discount
of $100 for anyone who
volunteers through Amigos
de Santa Cruz for
at least one week immediately
before or after the retreat.We
require a $500 non-refundable
deposit required to hold
space. Balance due January
5, 2012. Alums of previous
retreats led by Patricia
will receive an additional
$100 discount. Single
rooms are an additional
$300 for the week.
Travel
to Guatemala:
You may find good ticket
prices by contacting Isaac
Hilpman at Exito Travel;
tell him that you are with
the Patricia Lee Lewis Group
and give him the code, ABQYOGA.
The phone number is: 800-655-4053
ext. 8507 and the website
is www.exitotravel.com
Other participants have
found good prices by comparing
airlines at: www.kayak.com
Transportation
& lodging within Guatemala:
You will land at Guatemala
City airport and be responsible
for getting yourself to
Villa Sumaya, approximately
2-3 hours away. We can help
you with your arrangments
for this and assist you
in meeting up with other
participants to share the
journey.We recommend arriving
in Guatemala no later than
February 3rd, the Friday
before the retreat, and
staying in Antigua overnight.
It makes the trip to the
retreat the next morning
much more relaxing.
If you decide to spend
the night in Antigua and
enjoy the beauiful historic
city sights, public transportation
is available from the
airport for about $8.00;
a private taxi is about
$30 and may be shared.
. Ask your hotel, they
might provide transportation.
We will recommend some
moderately-priced hotels
(here)
and the names of a few
other more expensive hotels
at which you may make
your own arrangements.
You will find making arrangements
via email easily done.
Those who arrive on Saturday
should land at the Guatemala
City Airport no later
than 10:00 on Saturday
in order to get settled
at the retreat by late
afternoon on our first
day. Most of us travel
by shuttle van from Antingua
or Guatemala City to Panajachel
on Lake Atitlan, about
2-3 hours away. A private
boat will take you across
the lake to Villa Sumaya.
(Details will follow in
the letter you will receive
after registration).
We suggest that you plan
to stay one or more extra
nights in Villa Sumaya or
Antigua after the retreat.
Most participants choose
to spend their last night
in Antigua so that they
are closer to the airport
for their departing flight
the next day. Extend your
stay and volunteer in the
area - talk to Patricia
about the variety of opportunities
available: patricia@writingretreats.org
If you have to fly out
on Saturday, the day the
retreat ends, we suggest
a departure time after 1
p.m. but later is better,
to give you plenty of time
to get back to the airport.
Private transportation from
Panajachel to Guatemala
City costs about $65; public
transportation is about
$20. The only drawback to
public transportation is
that you are limitied to
pre-determined arrival and
departure times.
On Saturday, February
11, many in the group may
go together via shuttle
van back to Antigua or Guatemala
City. However, you must
be prepared: if you need
to fly out on Saturday,
you may have to arrange
for earlier, private transportation
to get you to the airport
on time for your flight.
All transportation to and
from Villa Sumaya is your
responsibility.
Our retreats include people
with a wide range of yoga
and writing experience,
from beginners to professionals.
We are all enriched by the
diversity. While we will
offer a daily schedule of
suggested activities, writing
and yoga sessions are optional:
your time is your own.
The
yoga is practiced in the
early morning, in a safe,
supportive environment with
a deep respect for individual
strengths as well as for
areas of challenge or difficulty.
The writing is done in structured
groups for about 3 hours
each morning or afternoon
and several evenings. You
will have opportunity to
write in an encouraging,
confidential and inspiring
setting, in response to
exercises we suggest. You
will be invited to share
what you have just written,
and to respond to the writing
of others with what is fresh,
what you like, what you
remember. Patricia will
meet with individual writers
to discuss their manuscripts
or issues relating to their
writing life and offer workshops
on the craft of writing.
While Patricia
and Jane will always be
where the schedule calls
them, for you all
activities are optional,
and the entire week should
be considered free time.
Pick and choose from organized
activities to make your
own schedule. Take as much
time each day as you'd like
to set off on your own or
with others. A long veranda
offers handmade lounge chairs
and tasseled hammocks for
resting and reading. Visitors
can swim and kayak in Lake
Atitlan. Explore a nearby
traditional Maya village
or hike the magnificent
lake basin. Villa Sumaya
offers a library, outdoor
hot tub and sauna, as well
as therapeutic body work
and water massage treatments
upon request.
The retreat
is designed and facilitated
by Patricia Lee Lewis.
Combining
Yoga & Writing
The practice of yoga,
the joining of body and
mind, can open pathways
into the feelings, memories,
stories and images embedded
in the tissues. Writing
workshops during the retreat
are designed to help you
shift your awareness and
write from those deeper
levels of consciousness.
Through
Hatha Yoga, we will get
in touch with our kinesthetic
sense of self. We will use
special meditation techniques
to slow the mind and create
a sense of the sacred. No
writing or yoga experience
is required - only a sense
of adventure.
Beginning
and experienced writers
will find a supportive,
encouraging context in which
to write from their deepest
selves. We will write in
response to exercises offered
by Patricia Lee Lewis, MFA.
In a small group, writers
will be invited to read
their work aloud, and the
group will offer simple
affirmations of what is
done well and what stays
in the memory.
Additional
Information on Staying
in Guatemala before
or after the retreat,
Volunteer Opportunities,
Language Schools and
other resources
Lake
Atitlan is a
45 square mile lake in
the highlands of Guatemala,
surrounded by volcanoes.
It is famous for its natural
beauty and ancient Mayan
villages.
Lake Atitlan
has been described by Aldous
Huxley as the most beautiful
lake in the world. Villa
Sumaya is a picturesque
hotel, restaurant, and retreat
center located on the shores
of Lake Atitlan. Staff members
speak English and Spanish.We
invite you to relax and
discover Lake Atitlan's
living and legendary Mayan
landscape.
The
Villa Sumaya Retreat Center
offers a beautiful lake-front
facility that is perfect
for writing and yoga practices.
Two yoga studios provide
a full panoramic view
of the lake and its three
magnificent volcanoes.
Accommodations:
Each double bedroom
is carefully appointed and
fully equipped with an en
suite bathroom/shower with
hot and cold running water,
electricity, and a spacious
veranda where the lake is
a stage. The veranda showcases
the best of Lake Atitlan
and Guatemala's timeless
nature and history. In your
room you'll be surrounded
by flowing fabrics (the
hallmark of Guatemalan artistry),
hand-crafted ceramic tiles,
and wooden furnishings.
Private
rooms may be available for
an additional fee.
Meals:
Cafe Sumaya, the villa's
restaurant, caters to vegetarians
and non-vegetarians alike.
However, adding fresh fish
or chicken to your meal
requires a supplement of
$7 per meal. The cuisine,
created from Guatemala's
cornucopia of fruit, vegetables,
and fresh fish, meat, and
poultry, is available three
times a day. Baked goods
are produced daily. Tea
and coffee are available
all day. Liquor is on your
tab.
Optional
Services: Villa
Sumaya offers a full line
of body work with highly
qualified and experienced
practitioners by appointment.
ABOUT
THE
STAFF
Patricia
Lee Lewis lives
and works at Patchwork Farm
Retreat in western Massachusetts.
She shares the world with
trees and stones, chickadees,
writers and bears, and has
led weekend writing retreats
and weekly workshops in
her mountain cottage at
Patchwork Farm, throughout
the United States, and yoga
and writing retreats at
sacred sites around the
world - Guatemala, Mexico,
Scotland, Ireland, Wales,
Spain, Puerto Rico, and
Costa Rica.
Patricia
holds an MFA degree in
Creative Writing from
Vermont College of Fine
Arts, and completed her
undergraduate degree at
Smith College, Phi Beta
Kappa, in 1970. She is
a member of the Texas
Writers League, Straw
Dog Writers Guild, the
Berkshire Writers Room,
the American Poetry Society,
and is an affiliate of
Amherst Writers &
Artists. A grant in 2011,
from the Massachusetts
Arts Council, enabled
her to help establish
a writing program at her
local library. Trained
to teach English to speakers
of other languages (TESOL),
Patricia and friends volunteer
in the Maya village of
Santa Cruz la Laguna on
Lake Atitlan, Guatemala,
where Patricia also leads
retreats at Villa Sumaya
Retreat Center.
Her
poetry, fiction and feature
articles have appeared
in a variety of journals
& anthologies, The
Los Angeles Times, Hampshire
Life, and The Boston Sunday
Globe. Her poems have
most recently appeared
in The Berkshire Review,
Upstreet, Sanctuary:
Magazine of the Massachusetts Audubon
Society, and Crossing
Paths: An Anthology of
Poems by Women, Mad
River Press. Her work
has been featured in the
Berkshire Review, which
nominated her poem, "Two
Hundred Wings" for
a Pushcart Prize."
She was supported by a
grant from the Massachusetts
Cultural Council to perform
her work as a benefit
for the Miniature Theatre
of Chester. Her book of
poems, A Kind of Yellow,
won Writer's Digest's
International competition
for self-published books
of poetry andis
available at the Patchwork
Press Shop.High
Lonesome, her latest
collection of poems, was
published in 2011 by Hedgerow
Books of Levellers Press
and is available from
their Store.
Patricia has spent much
of her life as an advocate:
for women, for civil rights,
for peace, for a healthy
environment, for small farms
and rural communities, for
the arts. Born and raised
in Austin, Texas, she moved
north years ago with her
children. She is a business
owner and trail walker,
and has been director of
several organizations, including
women's centers, community
economic development corporations,
district congressional offices,
and served as an elected
county commissioner for
four years. In 1985, when
she joined Pat Schneider's
Amherst Writers & Artists
writing workshop, she finally
found the courage to write
for others to read.
Patricia is
responsible for the writing
program at all retreats
and serves as retreat coordinator.
Jane
Mortifee has
completed the 200 hour
RYT certification. Her
approach to teaching is
to make yoga safe and
accessible for practitioners
of all levels. She has
studied various forms
of meditation, focusing
on Tibetan Buddhism for
the last 17 years. Yoga
is a constant companion.
Photo
by Jane Weitzel
At
various times over the last
35 years Jane has been active
in theatre, film, television,
club-work, studio voice-overs,
animation and jingles. Her
first love is singing and
she has released three CDs,
the most recent being an
R&B CD, Get Ready.
Jane was inducted into the
B.C. Entertainment Hall
of Fame in 2002.
A few years ago Jane
took a creative writing
course and found the process
of writing brings her
the same kind of joy that
she experiences when singing.
Jane has also taken Pat
Schneider’s AWA
training. She is delighted
to be participating with
Patricia in this retreat.
She is currently working
on her first novel and
greatly appreciates the
safe and supportive environment
of the creative writing/yoga
retreats that provide
the opportunity for the
muse to come forward.
Her dream is to continue
to travel the world going
from one such retreat
to another, as she acknowledges
that when she is at home
her level of procrastination
when it comes to writing
is impressive!
“I
am always amazed at how the combination
of leadership, setting prompts and participants
just draws out the writing. A safe and
creative process. The retreat both draws
you into your own writing space and
draws you out to try new approaches
and strengthens your ability to share
your writing in a safe and supportive
group.” Kathleen
“Inventive, playful,
intelligent, strengthening, centering,
enlightening…This is not only
about writing and yoga practice –
it is a life-building experience”
Susan
“I had a refreshing
and creative week. I met extraordinary
people and I can feel that the bonds
we created will last in years to come.
It inspired me to take a 9-month memoir
class with the Univ. of Wash, which
in turn inspired me to go back to school
and complete the degree I started so
many years ago. So a great big thank
you!” Emily
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