The Art of Unwinding: A Fall Retreat of Yoga, Pottery, Poetry, and Deep Connection

october 23 - 25, 2026
wunderland resort
448 Curtis Creek Road, Old Fort, North Carolina 28762

A Fall Retreat of Pottery, Poetry, and Presence

As the autumn leaves turn and the Blue Ridge Mountains breathe a crisp, slow exhale, we invite you to step out of the rush of daily life and into a sanctuary of creative reclamation.

Hosted by me and Holly Zajur, we invite you to retreat with us in a safe, quiet space to rest, write, and play with clay surrounded by the beautiful Blue Ridge Mountains.

We’ve designed this intimate gathering to help you slow down and reconnect with nature, with your creative fire, and with the truest parts of yourself.

What if creativity was less about performance and more about remembrance?
What if your hands could help you heal?
What if poetry and clay became pathways home?

Together, we will bridge the tactile wisdom of clay with the clarifying power of the written word.

This immersive weekend is an invitation to slow down enough to hear yourself again—to soften, create, move, write, rest, and gather in community.

Through the grounding elements of earth, body, breath, and word, we will explore what it means to shape and be shaped.

Together, we enter sacred space where all of you is welcome.

The Journey

This is not a rigid, packed itinerary. We believe true transformation requires spaciousness for integration.

Our days will balance deeply intentional yoga, pottery, and poetry workshops with plenty of breathing room to hike, sauna, rest, or simply watch the mist rise off the mountains.

Nestled beneath the forest canopy and within the artful embrace of Wunderland Resort, our weekend together will unfold through a weaving of yoga, pottery, poetry, journaling, discussion, nourishing meals, and restorative stillness.

Each offering serves as a pathway back to yourself.

Root into the Body

Begin each day with grounding yoga practices designed to open your heart, release tension, and prime your creative channels.

Through movement, meditation, and breath, we soften the noise of the mind and return to the intelligence of the body.

Yoga reminds us how to inhabit ourselves fully.

Clay Play

Through tactile pottery sessions, Holly will guide you into the meditative art of working with clay, learning to shape, soften, and let go while making tiny talismans.

Voice & Vision (Poetry & Journaling)

Give words to the unsaid.

Through guided journaling, poetry circles, and reflective prompts, Tara will help you excavate your inner landscapes, using language as a mirror for the soul.

Poetry teaches us to listen closely—to what aches, what blooms, and what longs to be spoken.

Words become vessels for truth.

Sacred Gathering (Discussion & Connection)

This is a fiercely safe space to be vulnerable and bring all of yourself—your grief, your joy, your wildness, and your quiet.

There is medicine in being witnessed. There is healing in being known.

Nourishing the Vessel

Enjoy beautifully prepared seasonal meals that nourish both body and spirit, shared around the table in community.

Between sessions, you’ll have time to rest in hammocks, wander nature trails, warm in the sauna, plunge into cold water, or simply be.

This Retreat is for You If...

You are craving a soft landing place to unplug and reflect.

You long to reconnect with your creative fire.

You are navigating transition, grief, growth, or becoming.

You desire honest connection and sacred community.

You miss yourself.

You do not need to be an “experienced” artist, writer, or yogi to join. You simply need a willingness to show up exactly as you are—ready to play, feel, create, and listen.

Come find your center in the mountains.

Leave with full notebooks, handmade pottery, and a deeply restored spirit.

About Wunderland

Nature’s playground for your soul, Wunderland offers unique accommodation in luxury forest villas and glamping pods that allow you to unplug and connect with the land and each other.

Our time together will include opportunities to nourish yourself with the sauna and cold plunge, wander along the nature trails, and soak up the stars. Tent camping is also available for our guests.

INVESTMENT IN YOURSELF

Fully inclusive rates:
Early bird (through 9/23/26)

~ Single Cabin/Glamping Tent: $1148 (after early bird $1238)
~ Double Cabin/Glamping Tent: $808 (after early bird $888)
~ Camping Spot (pitch your own tent): $648 (after early bird $728)

This Includes —

~ Daily brunch and dinner
~ Shared lodging or a tent camping spot
~ Gathering in circle with community
~ All-levels yoga practices
~ Guided meditations
~ Pottery workshops and clay instruction with Holly
~ Poetry circles and creative writing prompts
~ Journaling and reflective inquiry
~ Group discussion and authentic connection
~ Forest bathing walks
~ Spacious integration time
~ Sauna and cold plunge
~ Coffee, tea, water, and light snacks
~ Select materials and resources for continued creative exploration

This Does Not Include—

~ Airfare/Transportation
~ Gratuities for facilitators
~ Any additional nourishment

All Of You Is Welcome

May you fully occupy this space.
May this space hold you in sacred, loving arms.
May these arms remind you that you are safe here.
And may you rest in surrender, acceptance, and exhale…
All of you is welcome.

Fill out this Google form to reserve your spot

Your Guides

Holly Zajur

Holly is your creative wellness sidekick, dedicated to helping you slow down, tap into your creative spirit, and live with intention. A ceramic artist, wellness educator, founder of Connect Wellness, and host of the How The Wise One Grows podcast, Holly has led creative wellness retreats around the world, creating transformative spaces for people to reconnect with themselves and nature.

Currently pursuing her Master’s in Mental Health Counseling at William & Mary, Holly integrates clinical insight with grounding practices like pottery and yoga to help others navigate change and build resilience. Her relationship with clay began at age 15, leading to over a decade of teaching ceramics at the Visual Arts Center of Richmond. Her pottery, designed to bring intention and ritual to everyday moments, can be found at Zojo’s, a local marketplace where she is a founding maker.

Holly believes creativity is a vital tool for anyone looking to cultivate joy, meet life with curiosity, and intentionally shape a more connected world. She is honored to bring her global retreat experience to the mountains to hold space for you to rest, play with clay, and remember who you are.

tara eschenroeder

Tara (Becky) Eschenroeder(she/her)— a 500 hour E-RYT, RCYT, YACEP, CTA Certified Coach, and self-published author —is an accomplished yogi who as been voted as one of the top three yoga instructors by Richmond Magazine.
With some teachers, the lessons are planned. They are practiced. They are rehearsed, and they are perfected to a tee, but Tara Eschenroeder offers a different experience. Teaching was Tara’s Dharma long before she realized it. She grew up with a bow and arrow in her hands, learning to pull back with just enough aim and control to send her arrow into the abyss, knowing and trusting it would hit its intended mark. And so she enters each class, each workshop, each lesson, each experience…having prepared her body and mind to become that bow - that vessel - that lesson…letting that arrow fly... weaving its way into the provided space and landing wherever it is intended.

Tara felt that call in 2007 when she first felt the spark of a tiny flame. And instead of approaching that flame fearing the heat, she chose to approach it with love, stoking the fire that was burning within for her passion of yoga. By the end of 2009, she received her 200 hour RYT under Arlene Bjork and Grace Yoga Training Systems. She continued to follow what she knew and trusted her path to be, and she obtained her 500 hour RYT through Om On Yoga under the guidance and wisdom of Jennifer Elliott.

When practicing with Tara, no two classes, workshops, or experiences are ever the same. Students are not told what to do, they are empowered to listen to their own bodies. And while there are general cues throughout of “warrior” and “downward dog” (sometimes accompanied by their Sanskrit name), one is also just as likely to hear cues of “listen to the animal within,” “move through honey, “ride the wave of your breath,” or, simply, just an encouragement to “dance.” Her mentoring and life coaching sessions follow a similar pattern. Mentees are not told what to do but instead empowered to listen within with offered guidance- never forced, and always an open-minded invitation to explore. Tara’s Psychology degree from James Madison University, Elementary Education License from Mary Baldwin College, and coaching certification from Yoga2Life give her a studied foundation for helping others, but it’s her natural instincts and open heart that help students see the best in themselves.

Asheville, NC is Tara’s hOMe where she has the honor of teaching, guiding and presenting throughout the community. She also spends much of her time around the country and outside of holding workshops, retreats, classes, and presenting at festivals. She has also received additional teaching credentials with Project Yoga Richmond and YoKid Stretch Your Limits, as well as served as an Ambassador for Lululemon Athletica. Yet, so much of her teaching is done off of the yoga mat. Tara openly and outwardly lives the teachings has been inspired to share. Just as she would encourage a student falling out of a pose to take themselves lightly, she does the same as she navigates through challenges. And just as she would encourage a student to trust themselves as they spread their wings into something new on the mat, she is a living example of trusting what she knew was her calling as she spread her own wings. She approaches life with that same love that she used to approach that initial flame, and she encourages each person with whom she comes in contact with to do the same. And by doing so, she is living out her truth and her Dharma of being a vessel of blessing.