We Won’t Regret the Past: Writing Our Recovery
October 3-6, 2024
A 4-day retreat at the Collina House in Port Gibson, Mississippi
With health coach Claire Layrisson and writing guide Valley Haggard
Writing is a powerful antidote to shame. When we share the truth about our lives, we transform our personal histories into universal narratives, allowing our past to find its place in the world of art. Through writing, our most painful experiences can become our greatest treasure.
In this generative retreat, we will explore our lives and our recovery through our origin stories, archetypes, and timelines. We will unearth the themes we most want to release and call in the lives we most want to live.
Moving away from the traditional workshop model based on dissection and critique, we will create a safe and sacred space for expression that centers gentle, strength-based feedback. Each participant will leave with a handful of original micro-nonfiction pieces, personalized mantras and affirmations, a portfolio of prompts, and a deeper understanding of the healing arcs that shape our lives.
Join Valley Haggard and Claire Layrisson for this intimate 4-day retreat amidst the beautiful rolling hills and woodlands of the Collina House. Between small group writing sessions, we will enjoy bonfires, star-gazing, and nature walks as well as delicious mocktails, smoothies, and gourmet meals hand-prepared by Claire, a certified health coach.
All interested in the healing expressive path are welcome. No previous writing experience is required.
Pricing:
EARLY BIRD SPECIAL:
Register before June 1, 2024 and receive a private one-hour writing Zoom session with Valley Haggard prior to the retreat!
Price for a single room (king bed) - $1399
Price for a shared room (2 queen beds) - $1099
Collina House can provide a rollaway or air mattress to provide additional double occupancy
Registration may be broken into 2 payments: the deposit and the remainder. For inquiries about special payment plans please email hello@valleyhaggard.com
Itinerary
Thursday
3-5 pm: Arrival
5-6 pm: Welcome Circle + Intention setting
6-7 pm: Dinner
7-9 pm: Writing Rituals: Guided Meditation to Invoke the Muse
Friday
9-12 pm: Origin Stories (writing the dynamic mythology of our childhoods)
12-1 pm: Lunch
1-3 pm: Break (options for nap, read, walk, write, yoga)
3-5 pm: Building the Arc
(exploring the narratives of hurt, helper, and healing in our lives)
6-7 pm: Dinner
7-9 pm: More or Less (Release what no longer serves and call in what you’d like to manifest)
Saturday
9-12 pm: Timelines (mapping the chronology of our lives)
12- 1pm: Lunch
1-3 pm: Break (options for nap, read, walk, write, yoga)
3-5 pm: Sacred Circle Writing Oracle
(we will explore prompts from Valley’s deck)
6- 7 pm: Dinner
7-9 pm: Fast Alchemy
(creating mantras and affirmations to write our way into our future lives)
Sunday
9-11: Integration and Closing Circle
11:30 am: Departure
**No previous writing experience required. Collina House is an alcohol and smoke-free facility. We expect persons to abstain from alcohol, tobacco, and all mind-altering substances. Collina House requires participants to respect the privacy and anonymity of other guests. Collina House reserves the right to dismiss any persons from the retreat should they disrupt the event in any way.
Included in cost of registration:
4 days and 3 nights of accommodations at Collina House
Snacks, meals, and non-alcoholic beverages
Linens
Optional biomat sessions
Workshop instruction and materials
Not included in cost of registration:
Transportation to Collina House
Any outside food or purchases
Claire Layrisson
A certified health coach, associate interventionist, and peer support specialist, Claire Layrisson is the founder of Collina House, a multi-use retreat center in Port Gibson, MS, with a focus on wellness, creativity, and recovery. Claire has a background in writing and worked for the Washington Post, MTV, was editor in chief of Playgirl magazine in New York and Southern Woman magazine in New Orleans, and has an MFA in creative writing from Sarah Lawrence College. With 13+ years in recovery, Claire understands firsthand the challenges, needs, and blessings inherent on this continuous journey. Nature, nutritious food, gentle movement, and inspirational programming make Collina House a serene, supportive, and nurturing atmosphere for those looking for rest, relaxation, and rejuvenation.
Valley Haggard is an author, teacher, and energy worker with twenty-five + years in 12-step recovery. A Reiki master and Shamanic Reiki practitioner, she combines energy work and other healing modalities with expressive writing in sacred circles and healing narrative workshops both locally and internationally.
The author of The Halfway House for Writers, Surrender Your Weapons: Writing to Heal, There’s No Accounting for the Strangeness of Things: a memoir, and an oracle deck called The Sacred Circle Healing Oracle. Valley has received Richmond Magazine’s Theresa Pollak Prize, Style Weekly’s Women in the Arts Award, and the James River Writers’ Emyl Jenkins award. She writes a weekly blog on substack called, Skip the Small Talk, and has just launched More: A Scrapbook of Addiction.
Valley Haggard
Questions? Email valley@valleyhaggard.com or claire@collinaretreathouse.com.