CORINA BENNER August 13 – 16
August 13 – August 16
The Summertime Sweet-Spot: Heathen Hill Yoga Retreat with Corina Benner
Going on retreat is not the same as escaping. Rather than seeking entertainment and distraction to avoid the challenges and difficulties life naturally presents, retreats offer the opportunity to sit with what is so: to feel deeply into one’s experience, contemplate events, understand one’s role in the continuous unfolding, and integrate the lessons. This process allows the release of what has been and empowers you to consciously and creatively contribute to what will be.
This is my fifth time making the pilgrimage up to the whimsical fairyland of Heathen Hill Yoga and I must say each return somehow gets a little bit better.
Yoga Practice: our practices will be a blend of pranayama, yin & slow flow yoga, a few restorative poses, meditation, visualization and deep rest. There will also be two optional opportunities to practice a Holotropic Breathwork Session. Don’t fret if you haven’t been practicing as much as you wish. The grand stage of life has offered so many challenges many of us are simply weary from learning the news. Add to that the unique circumstances each one of us has been navigating and realize there’s never enough time and energy to address it all. This retreat will be a refreshing and revitalizing opportunity to reconnect to your practice and yourSELF so you leave feeling strong, resilient, and fortified to re-enter your life with clarity and grace.
For more details, costs and to register please visit my website: www.corinabenner.com
Our itinerary (subject to tweaks):
Thursday, August 13:
- Arrive at 3 pm or after. Unpack. Relax. Stroll the gorgeous property. Sit in the hot tub. Whatever.
- Meet, Practice, Intention Setting, etc.: 5-7:30 pm
- Dinner: 7:30 pm
Friday & Saturday, August 14 & 15:
- Coffee/Tea, Breakfast is available in the communal spaces
- Practice 8 – 11 am (we may collectively decide to start a little later … but I’m lit up about having ample time to really dive in!)
- Lunch: 12 pm
- Optional Breathwork Workshops Friday & Saturday, 2-3:30 pm
- Practice: 5-7:30 pm
- Dinner: 7:30
- Campfire/Hot Tub/Outdoor Dance Party
Sunday, August 16:
- Practice 9-11 am
- Brunch 11
- Departure by 2 pm
Free Time:
Afternoons are for you to spend as you wish. Nap in a hammock, wander through the labyrinth, swim in the swimming hole, play badminton or horseshoes on the lawn, dive into a puzzle, or walk the gorgeous property.
Meals:
Honestly at Heathen Hill you first come for the yoga but you come back for the food. It is incredibly delicious, healthy in the tastiest way possible, as fresh as fresh can be, and all prepared with devotion and sass by our hosts, Susan “Lip” and Lisa.
Breakfast is self-serve in the kitchen of each house. Homemade breads, spreads, yogurt and fruit are among the offerings.
Lunch, weather-permitting, is served on picnic tables on the lawn, and dinner is served at a massive table in the main house. Lip and Lisa have truly perfected “Garden-to-Table” meals, growing most of what they serve in primarily vegetarian meals. You will probably buy one of their cookbooks and later lament that the food just tastes better at Heathen Hill. Please email with any dietary restrictions or food allergies so that Susan and Lisa can accommodate your needs.
*** Pro-Tip: Heathen Hill is BYOW (*Whatever). Drink, Smoke, Nibble, Chocolates, Gummies … this is a proud ‘judgement free’ zone.
Accommodations:
Heathen Hill boasts two options for accommodation:
The Yoga House is the original house on the property, and it houses the yoga practice room, along with a cozy kitchen, porches and (2) shared bathrooms. There are four rooms in the Yoga House, each has two single beds.
Big Heathen sits up on the hill and is the newest addition to Heathen Hill. Guests here share the huge living room, grand kitchen, and the wrap-around deck which offers stunning views of the garden and property. There are six bedrooms in Big Heathen, some with two single beds and others with queen beds; four of these rooms share (2) full-bathrooms and a powder (pouter) room. Two of the rooms have a private bath: one has a queen-sized bed, the other has 2 single beds.
Sheets and towels are provided.
Yoga House: $ 1085 Double occupancy; + $305 for a single
Big Heathen House: (4) rooms with shared bathrooms: $1200 double occupancy; + $400 for a single
(2) rooms have a private bathroom: $1340 double occupancy; + $425 for single occupancy
*** If you want to enroll for single occupancy you need to create two orders: one for the initial room, and the next as an add-on upcharge for single occupancy. Thanks! ***
(For payment plans please email Corina@wakeupyoga.com; these can’t be set up on the user side. You can pay either via Venmo or I can send invoices payable by credit card. A non-refundable $450 deposit is required to hold your space and the balance must be paid by July 20th. All payments are non-refundable)
Transportation
Driving is the preferred mode of transportation. You can find directions to Heathen Hill here. There is also a bus to Oneonta via Trailways. From Oneonta, you can take a car service to Heathen Hill.
Bio:
Yoga has been a great passion for most of Corina Benner’s adult life and has been her profession since 1999. She sees yoga practice as an incredibly efficient vehicle for vibrant good health on all levels of being, and wholeheartedly believes in the simple, profound power of breath and movement, stillness and silence. When combined with intention, attention, courage and perseverance she’s found this recipe awakens people to vibrant vitality, strength and serenity, clarity and confidence, and the possibility of deeply enjoying their experience of being alive. Her positive energy is contagious; her style is soulful, poetic and philosophical; her sequencing is intelligent and creative, and her instruction is detailed and precise with vivid imagery and occasional laughter.
As an E-RYT 500 she has received certifications in vinyasa yoga (Cyndi Lee); yin yoga (Paul Grilley); mindfulness meditation (Dharma Moon). Her continuing education pursuits have enhanced her teaching toolbox with a refined understanding of the Yoga Sutra of Patanjali; a specialization in yoga for grief; yoga for anxiety and depression, yoga for cancer and end-of-life; fluency in physical anatomy and a deep dive into chakras and subtle anatomy; intensive study of Tibetan Buddhism, and forays into learning Sanskrit and Ayurveda. For 18 years Corina owned and operated Wake Up Yoga, ultimately with three locations in Philadelphia. In that capacity she ran a 200-hour Vinyasa Yoga Teacher Training program each year, which was locally regarded as Ivy League and turned out highly educated, skillful yoga teachers. As a yin yoga teacher, she has collaborated with Yoga International; locally she collaborates with the Philadelphia Wisdom Seat; and she continue to offer public and private classes, workshops, trainings and retreats locally, nationally and internationally.