October 5 - 8, 2023

Where the Light Enters 2023 Yoga East Festival at Gray Bear

Gray Bear in partnership with Yoga East invites you to join us for our Yoga Festival:

Where the Light Enters: A Journey Celebrating the Joy of Life Thursday Oct 5- Sunday Oct 8

Sometimes we schedule time just to remind us of exactly why we want to create a beautiful life well worth living. This is one of those times!

Our Aim for our time together:

  • Drop in to our deepest Self
  • Honor the Journey
  • Dance, Play, Create, Engage
  • Savor the Pause: Moving into Gentle Stillness
  • Listening to Nature as Guide: Exploring Sacred Moments

Featuring:

  • Kirtan with Grammy-Nominated Artist Dave Stringer. Amy Barnes and Patrick Richey will accompany.
  • Sound Journey: Jeremy Arndt & Nancy Greszak
  • Daily Yoga with Yoga East Teachers
  • Workshops: Afro-World Music & Dance
  • Poetry, Eco-Wisdom, Connecting with divine Story-Telling, Ayurveda and more! ** Massage, Thai-Massage, Watsu and Meditation

    Retreat Details below (scroll down)

Workshop discounted at $760 if paid in full by Aug 21st 2023 (final payment date). Space is consciously limited. To reserve your place please register by sending your payment to: Gray Bear Lodge, PO Box 682, Hohenwald, TN 38462. Price includes tuition, lodging, meals and full use of facilities. Late registration fee, if space remains, increases to $825 with full balance due upon registration. Check is preferred, all major credit cards and PayPal accepted. Confirmation letter and additional information (including directions to Gray Bear) will be sent following final payment. Payment deposit option can be arranged if desired.

Cancellation Policy for this retreat:
Cancellations from August 5 to September 21, there is NO REFUND, but Gray Bear will credit payments made toward another workshop in the same or following year. From September 22 and on, NO REFUNDS AND NO CREDIT WILL BE GIVEN. YOU MAY TRANSFER YOUR WORKSHOP TO ANOTHER PERSON. Cancellations must be received by Gray Bear in writing: Gray Bear PO Box 682 Hohenwald TN 38462

We’ll begin with guests arriving Thursday Oct 5th between 2 to 5:45; dinner served at 6:00. Orientation and opening circle will follow. We finish our retreat on Sunday with brunch ; checkout at 11:00. (*) Gray Bear is a two hour drive from the Nashville airport, so please plan arrival time/ departure time with this in mind.

(*) All prices include tuition daily yoga class, retreat activities, meals, and full use of facilities. Massage/bodywork additional: pay therapist directly.

Our Main lodge: Our main lodge hosts all shared lodging spaces. Rooms are clean, spacious with hand chosen quilts, comfortable and cozy. Restrooms are on same floor, just outside of room. Rooms upstairs; walk down spiral staircase in your pajamas to b’fast or meditation.

Double occupancy: Located in our main lodge; large rooms, both feature queen sized beds

Summer Cottage: Artist’s Way: Our original artist retreat cabin, located just outside our lodge has a full private bath with claw-foot bath tub, luxurious bamboo outdoor shower immediately outside, sitting room, 3 twin beds upstairs/ loft.

Signature Private Cabins: Lovely, modern with artisanal design, mindfully nestled into our natural campus creating privacy while still a very short stroll to our main lodge, hot tub or bodywork facilities. Large bay windows, private 1/2 bath, queen bed. Can be shared with friend or enjoyed solo.

Deluxe Private Cabins: Elegant simplicity, floor to ceiling windows bring the forest to you, private full bath, deluxe queen bed, organic splendor, spacious and silent. Bath robes provided.

Premier: Falling Leaf Temple Our newest addition: A one-of-a-kind portal to pure bliss. Dedicated to sacred rest it features: hand cut artistic creation with 16 mediation bays, queen sleeping, full shower, priv bath, amazing light, copper ring of balance. Sweet silence. Bath robes supplied.

Forest Haven: Shared /two person cabins: Two twin beds, sink and drinking water, large windows, lovely forest view. Short walk from our main lodge. Our fully equipped bath house is very close and shared by these two cabins. Designed for two kind friends to share a cabin together with separate beds.

Tent camping: Bring your own tent, set up enjoy the simplicity. Bath house nearby. Base rate of retreat.

Open to all levels; all are encouraged to attend.



Dave Stringer
Dave Stringer is a producer, musician and songwriter who has been widely profiled as one of the most innovative artists of the modern Yoga movement. Bhakti Without Borders, an album he produced, was nominated for a Grammy in 2016.

He is currently nominated in 2023 as an artist in the Best New Age, Ambient or Chant Album category for Mantra Americana, along with his collaborator Madi Das. He's both an inspiring singer and a compelling public speaker, resolving neuroscience, yoga philosophy and art into a participatory theatrical experience. He is featured in the documentary films Mantra: Sounds into Silence and The Power of Mantra and has toured extensively, leading concerts, workshops and retreats all over the world.



Laura Spaulding

I began my serious yoga practice as a teenager in 1967. I grew up in a small Tennessee town, and my yoga experiences were limited to practicing Sivananda Yoga from a book and Ananda yoga via a friend’s correspondence course.

I moved to Washington, D.C. after graduating from Sewanee, The University of the South, with a degree in Fine Art. I took a job in an art supplies store in Washington, D.C. in 1971. At age 34, in 1986, I took my first trip to India by myself, exploring northern and western India, and married my husband, Victor, after I returned.

I left my art supplies job to attend law school at Georgetown University. After law school I moved to Louisville in 1989 to practice law with my father-in-law.

After a few months in Louisville I looked up “yoga” in the Yellow Pages and found Yoga East and Maja Trigg. Maja introduced me to Iyengar yoga and her guru, the Siddha Yoga master Gurumayi (Swami Chidvilasananda). My Siddha Yoga practice over the past 32 years has been my foundation and inspiration.

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Gray Bear is home to 400 acres of rolling hills, thick forest, natural springs, and even a waterfall. You can experience the wonders of nature while sitting in a hand-built wood fire sauna; hear the silence of nature's symphony lying on a hammock while curled under a blanket; and revel in clear air and water while using shower outdoors.

With all of this nature we have some suggestions to consider when packing:

  • Working flashlight ...it gets dark with only the light of the stars to guide you!
  • A bathing suit ... good for the hot tub, sauna, and Watsu massage pool
  • Water bottle ...Gray Bear does not use disposable cups. Purified water is available in the Main House and the Yoga Room
  • A bath robe/sarong
  • House slippers or socks to wear indoors ...no shoes inside please
  • Comfortable walking shoes/sandals for an inspired nature hike
  • Warm clothing ...mornings & evenings can be cool
  • Comfortable clothes for exercising/yoga

Please do not bring any drugs, alcohol, or pets. Gray Bear is a non-smoking, pet-free and alcohol-free facility.

Read more about Gray Bear.

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