From now until next Thursday the 20th at the hostel there will be hummingbird feeder workshops. Materials, which included glass bottles, small food containers, and decorative/hanging elements such as twines, fake flowers or paint will be provided, but feel free to bring your own materials.

We are curently planning new events to take place at the Hostel over the coming weeks. Details of these will be published very soon.

The Hostel in the Forest, is hosting a yoga retreat on Friday July 18th. and Saturday July 19th. Guest should plan to arrive on Friday evening and enjoy a delicious vegan meal prepared by our talented Hostel chef. The cost for the 2 nights with dinners and brunch will be $55.

Friday Night Campfire Talk – Why Yoga? After dinner on Friday night we’ll gather around the campfire to kick off the weekend with a discussion about “Why Do We Practice Yoga?” Experienced students can share their stories about how yoga has influenced their lives, while new students will have an opportunity to ask questions about the practice and the tradition.

Saturday Morning Yoga Saturday morning will begin with an invigorating vinyasa yoga class, which will be suitable for all levels of students. Vinyasa classes focus on synchronizing the breath with a progressive series of postures that flow together to create a moving meditation. The practice will challenge you to focus your mind while you stretch and strengthen your body. The beautiful glass house in which we will practice will provide the perfect setting for a deep relaxation at the end of the session.

Saturday Afternoon Karma Yoga Project The tradition of yoga includes “Karma Yoga,” which translates as “selfless service.” Saturday afternoon we will join together to fortify the beautiful walking labyrinth built on the forest floor. Attendees will help clean up the pathways or gather found objects to help rebuild damaged or unfinished sections of the labyrinth. Attendees wishing to work on other ongoing projects at the hostel are welcome to do so.

Saturday Evening Labyrinth Walk/Meditation After dark on Saturday we will gather at the labyrinth for a candlelit walking meditation. When walking a labyrinth, you meander back and forth, turning 180 degrees as you enter each new circuit. When you shift your direction in this way, you also shift your awareness from the right brain to left brain. This is one of the reasons the labyrinth is believed to induce receptive states of consciousness. It is also said help to balance the chakras.

Sunday Morning Yoga & Meditation The Sunday morning yoga practice will be meditative and introspective. The teacher will lead the students through a series of postures to stretch and relax the muscles, bringing an awareness to both the body and the mind. After the body and mind have been awakened, students will be led in a sitting meditation.

The instruction will be led by Kate Taylor who began practicing yoga 10 years ago to bring some balance to her hectic life in the software industry. Since then, she has become certified to teach yoga and left the rat race behind. She recently traveled to India to study at the Ashtanga Yoga Research Institute. Her teaching style draws from the Ashtanga tradition of vinyasa yoga, but weaves in plenty of instruction about proper alignment. She currently teaches classes in yoga basics, vinyasa yoga and yoga for seniors.

Yoga Retreat weekend July 18th-19th 2008 more details soon

We are pleased to announce that we are going to be holding our annual Artist’s Retreat from June 13th through the 15th. 2008. The cost for the entire weekend, Friday through Monday morning, is $80 per person. In addition to dinner, this also includes brunch.

Friday Evening – To be announced soon.

Saturday Morning – Sumi-e Brush Painting with Izzy Bush

The expression of simple beauty and elegance along with contrast and harmony are the philosophy of sumi-e painting. Employing the principals of nature’s vitality into its design and execution become the focus of each brush stroke used to create the final work. Participants will be instructed in basic techniques, brush strokes, and use of materials. After a period of practice, we will discuss the essence of sumi-e painting, which is to create a picture in which the artist must grasp the spirit “Chi” of the subject. All materials (bamboo brushes, ink, newsprint paper) will be provided for up to 15 participants. Interested students may purchase special “rice” paper for additional work. I will bring a limited amount of rice paper and provide at cost if desired. – I was born an artist in Birmingham, Alabama, but I think that is something I share with all other human beings. I just happened to be a painter. I have studied art in several places, but earned a BFA from California College of Arts and Crafts. I later earned a BSed and a MAed in Art Education. For the past 27 years I have been making and teaching art mostly around Atlanta, with a brief stint in Eleuthera, Bahamas and Belize. I am truly excited about coming there and being able to share some of my knowledge in such a creatively charged environment. You can see some of my work here.

Saturday Afternoon – Tea Time with Tom

Walk the T trails with Tom Dennard and learn about the history of the hostel. The afternoon will wind up at his treehouse with tea for all.

Sunday Morning – Chakra Painting & Mandala Drawing with Eric Wooddell

This workshop will provide a meditative atmosphere of music relating to each of the chakras (the body’s energy centers), live models, and a space to create art through painting & drawing. We will also have the oppurtunity to create mandalas. Bring a sketch book, art supplies and an open mind. (We will have enough art supplies to share if you did not bring any.) Eric is an artist, figure model, and Ebay recylcer living in Savannah, Ga. He facilitated a painting workshop at The Hostel in the Forest for last year’s artist retreat, and currently has his own art work in a show in Savannah at The Sentient Bean coffee shop.

Sunday Afternoon – Recycled Papermaking Workshop with Marrisa Yurko

A wet and wild workshop on how to make new paper from old fibers. Approximately 1.5 hour hands-on lesson with room for 8 people max. Take home some sheets of your own. Marissa is a lover, explorer and sharer of the arts. She dabbles in a broad range of media usually focusing on decoration, education or environmental themes. She’s currently a high school art teacher near Atlanta but this summer she’s leaving to volunteer in the Peace Corps for 2 years. She loves the Hostel and will always think of it as a home away from home.

There will be a Tie Dye Workshop this Saturday. Bring your old faded tshirts, tshirts with stains, any white tshirts, bandannas, etc that you would like to dye. We also have white Hostel tshirts available for sale for $10. Dye and instructions provided.

Now until April 4th in the art room there will be tie dye and T-shirt renovation workshops. Bring white T-shirts and your old oversized, underloved T-shirts from the back of your closet and give them a makeover. Also continuing in the art room are Tibetan Prayer flag making, paper making and sculpting, bombilla straw making and candle making. All materials are supplied for the projects

This month, the Hostel in the Forest is pleased to announce details on our annual Spiritual Retreat. The retreat will be from Friday March 28th through Sunday March 30th, and we encourage you to stay on through Monday morning to achieve maximum bliss. The cost of the whole weekend, with dinners and brunches as described below is $80.

The schedule is as follows:

Friday evening: The Dark and Light Sides of our Spiritual Journeys with Professor Oops!
Saturday 8am: Yoga with Lucy Lynch
Saturday 10am: Love and the Law of Attraction with Rob Jacoby
Saturday 2pm: Tea Time with Tom Dennard
Sunday 8am: Yoga with Lucy Lynch
Sunday 10am: Sacred Dance with Shakti Rowan
Sunday 2pm: Practical Spirituality 101 with Jonna Rae

An amazing Hostel dinner will be provided each night, as well as a light brunch on Saturday and Sunday. Please call to register for the whole weekend only, which includes three nights, all workshops and the meals mentioned. There also may be a sweatlodge, according to the general enthusiasm and rhythm of the workshops.

Professor Oops! is a gentle jester, and an explorer who communicates important ideas about ecology, psychology, art, creativity and science with wit and whimsy. He is the “World’s Greatest Authority on Misteaks” and has given his keynotes, performances and “Genius Lessons” to over 1000 organizations nationally and internationally. He uses humor, magic, juggling, wacky inventions, slides and his award-winning films to empower all ages to use their curiosity and creativity to the fullest. Besides his school, nature and science programs, he has a repertoire of adult and family programs.

Lucy Lynch has twenty years of experience with both yoga and massage, and will be teaching Shivananda Yoga, a gentle style.

Rob Jacoby’s letters include MS, LPC and NCC, but not XXX. The first hour of his workshop, participants will learn the nature of emotions – specifically Love – as well as finding it and living it, and how to transform pain into personal potential. Directly following will be a one-hour practical application of meditation techniques and processing, through breathwork.

Tom Dennard began to envision the Hostel in the Forest from a thorny patch of swampland over thirty years ago, and has midwifed it into its present incarnation. Spend an afternoon walking the T-trails with Tom, learning Hostel history, and then drink some tea with him back at his treehouse.

Shakti Rowan has studied Middle Eastern and African Dance, Authentic Movement, Danskinetics Sufi circle dancing, and yoga. Following the spark of their bodies’ desire to dance, move, and share stories, visions and song, participants in her workshop will practice listening and opening to the sacred movements all around, exploring the progression of dance from self, to spirit, to other, and finally to community.

Jonna Rae has been a lifelong intuitive and professional spiritual advisor for over three decades. In her workshop, participants will focus on meditations to open the heart chakra and tune in to their own true wisdom. Her website is here.

Now in the art room, Monday the 25th through Sunday the 9th, there will be spiritual origami and Tibetan prayer flag making. Materials will be supplied, but we would love some donations of nice origmai paper or any colored construction paper. Printmaking and Dreamcatcher making will also be continued in the art room.

Our friendly candle-maker Chris Collard (‘Woodchip’) of Campfire Candles
will be holding a workshop on making Hand Candles for those interested in participating all you have to do is show up prepared to watch as candles are molded into interesting shapes and designs as its poured into your willing hands. All materials will be provided for you and the workshop is free with a paid nights stay at the Hostel. To learn more about Chris and the candles he sells you can go to website Campfire Candles

“The Travelin’ Medicine Show” Will facilitate sing-a-longs of peace, social justice, and inspiration, provide presentations and training in Compassionate, Nonviolent Communication www.cnvc.org, Reiki, Meditation, and preparation of healthy, nutritional meals.

Pita Bread Making Workshop with our kitchen manager Trey.

An element since early human history, a mask conceals and disguises the wearer, usually as another person, creature, or spirit. Worn ceremonially for communicating with supernatural forces believed to rule the universe or purely as a diversion from genuine self, masks continue to remain prevalent amongst socialization. Especially since Halloween is approaching!

Of long ago folk art origins, paper mache is an eco-friendly medium. Shredded paper waste from our consumer lives (such as newsprint, egg cartons, copy paper, junk mail, etc) is reused in conjunction with a paste of water and over-processed, void-of-nutritional-value white flour from the maybe-it-will-disappear pantry stash. Three approaches — layered, pulped, and sculpted — will be introduced as we simultaneously delve into the exploration of paper mache and the creation of masks.

Please join us Saturday, October 27th throughout the afternoon in the Screen Porch

Americans remain largely in the dark about millions of pounds of toxic chemicals being used, shipped, discharged, and spilled in communities. Many are also unaware of the lifestyles and industrial processes that are disrupting the self-sustaining balance of the profound and complex interactions amongst all organisms on Earth. Our objective now must be to increase awareness, minimize impact, and replace questionable processes with those that honor sustainability of nature’s cycles.

Mainstream household cleaners typify American consumerism. Capitalizing on insecurities, manufacturers and marketers transform synthetic cleaning agents, anti-redeposition agents, bleaches, builders, enzymes, and optical brighteners into an $18 billion market. The products work under more varied conditions, against more forms of dirt, in colder water, require less time and effort than ever before, and introduce a plethora of chemicals whose presence in homes raises serious health and environmental concerns.

Please join us Saturday, October 13th at 2pm for our discussion-based workshop, Opt for Clean ‘n Fresh, instead of Annihilation ‘n Toxic Consequence. Focus topics will include the Greener Clean tactics in motion at the Hostel, home application of these methods, the global toxics and destruction dilemma, biodegradability verses bioaccumulation, eco-friendliness, and nature’s cycles.

We will be hosting a garden party in our Secret Garden in celebration of the end of the summer harvesting season. Observing the Chinese Mid-Autumn Festival, we will gather together to admire the bright mid-autumn harvest moon and celebrate the abundance of the summer’s harvest.

The Global Mala Project is a call for a global gathering to unify consciousness and action through yoga. On Friday, September 21st (UN International Peace Day) and Saturday, September 22nd (autumn equinox) a mid-morning sounding of the Conch Shell of Manifestation will summon those interested to gather at the Glass House. We will unite in a circle for a moving meditative form of the mala. Breathing deep with intentions of peace in action and raising awareness, we will offer 108 sun salutations. As Shiva Rea wrote, “This activates individuals and communities to experience the power of a mala, which supports collective consciousness and empowers the individual to go beyond the limits created by our mind.”

Please join us in this collective effort.

For more information visit the Global Mala Project and/or read Rise! by Shiva Rea.