Soul Sauntering into Connection -- A Journey Toward Wholeness

Itinerary

• Friday -- We will gather for dinner and create a sacred circle and space for holy conversation. 
• Saturday -- We will offer both group and individual Soul Sauntering hikes, as well as time to walk the labyrinth and explore our interior lives using art, writing, silence, and other contemplative practices. In the evening we will reflect on our day in small groups. 
• Sunday -- We will have an optional early morning sunrise hike, followed by breakfast, reflection, and Holy Eucharist. We will end the retreat with lunch.

Thomas Merton knew that the true mentor of the soul was nature itself. The fields, sun, mud, clay, wind, forests, sky, earth, and water are all companions for our own inner journey. --Christine Painter, "Earth, Our Original Monastery"

Cost & Registration

• Single Room and meals: $355 (7 available)
• Double Room and meals: $295 per person (13 available)
• Commuter Rate: $195 (includes meals)

To register, click here. 

About Valle Crucis Conference Center

The Valle Crucis Conference Center--located in Valle Crucis NC, about two hours from the Charlotte Airport--sits on more than 450 acres of mountain woodland and a verdant farming valley. Buildings dating from the late 19th century and early 20th century, nearly all of which are on the National Historic Register, serve as the main buildings for retreats. The conference center overlooks a peaceful, rural valley in the Blue Ridge Mountains. It offers a ministry of hospitality to a diverse range of church and non-profit groups from around the Southeast. Many groups say being at Valle Crucis feels like coming home.

Retreat Leaders

The Rev. Karla Woggon, Rector at The Episcopal Church of the Ascension in Hickory, NC and Director of Soul Sauntering, is an avid backpacker and sea kayaker. She has served as a parish priest for more than 25 years and serves as a spiritual guide for Soul Sauntering pilgrimages in the mountains of western North Carolina, the Rocky Mountains, the Camino de Santiago, Jerusalem, and France.

Dr. Beth Lamb, a licensed Clinical Social Worker, is a psychotherapist in private practice in Nashville, TN, and an adjunct professor at the University of Tennessee (UT) and Boise State University. She has worked with individuals and groups for more than 15 years and has specialty training in eating disorders. Through recent research at UT, Dr. Lamb has become interested in how heightening our awareness within and outside the body can lead to reconnection to ourselves, others, and God. She is originally from Asheville, NC.