Practices of Gratitude, Wisdom, and Joy:
Using Poetry and Yoga to Come to our Best Selves
A Women's Retreat @ ZigBone Farm Retreat
Just one hour from DC/Baltimore Areas, in Maryland's scenic Catoctin Mtns
November 3-7, 2025
With award-winning writing instructor Ann Quinn and
veteran yoga instructor and owner of Opus Yoga Studios Sharon Neubauer
Writers and yogis of all levels are welcome!
@taylorsmithphotovideo
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ZigBone Farm's view in autumn by D. Leibman
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ZigBone Lodge by @taylorsmithphotovideo
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@taylorsmithphotovideo
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Both long-time yogis and poets have experienced feelings of gratitude, wisdom and joy that emerge from their practice. This retreat will introduce new practices to expand your abiliity to tap into these feelings, as well as your ability to express them in writing.
Daily yoga practice will be gentle, using chairs, with some challenges offered for more advanced practitioners.
$150 Early Bird Discount before April 1!
Schedule
6:45am: Good coffee (or tea)!
7:00am: Sunrise Yoga with Sharon
8:30am-9:30am: Breakfast Buffet
9:30am-noon: Poetry Craft Session,
including discussion, prompts, free-writes, and sharing
12:30pm-1:30pm: Lunch
1:30pm-4pm: Free Writing Time
Goals for this time will be discussed in morning sessions.
Hikes and naps also an option
3pm-4pm: Yoga with Sharon
4pm-6pm: One-on-Ones with Ann Quinn
6:30pm-7:30pm: Communal Farm Dinner
7:30pm-9pm: Evening readings
Zigbone Farm Retreat is the perfect place to experience Hygge, the Danish word for cozy conviviality, and yoga is the perfect art for keeping our blood and chi flowing as the days shorten.
Your hosts: Sharon Neubauer & Ann Quinn
Where: Zigbone Farm Retreat Center in Sabilasville, MD
Cost: $1850, $2100, or $2400 depending on accommodations (see below)
The retreat is limited to 12 participants. Please contact Ann for retreat questions; Dena with booking questions.
Daily yoga practice will be gentle, using chairs, with some challenges offered for more advanced practitioners.
$150 Early Bird Discount before April 1!
Schedule
6:45am: Good coffee (or tea)!
7:00am: Sunrise Yoga with Sharon
8:30am-9:30am: Breakfast Buffet
9:30am-noon: Poetry Craft Session,
including discussion, prompts, free-writes, and sharing
12:30pm-1:30pm: Lunch
1:30pm-4pm: Free Writing Time
Goals for this time will be discussed in morning sessions.
Hikes and naps also an option
3pm-4pm: Yoga with Sharon
4pm-6pm: One-on-Ones with Ann Quinn
6:30pm-7:30pm: Communal Farm Dinner
7:30pm-9pm: Evening readings
Zigbone Farm Retreat is the perfect place to experience Hygge, the Danish word for cozy conviviality, and yoga is the perfect art for keeping our blood and chi flowing as the days shorten.
Your hosts: Sharon Neubauer & Ann Quinn
Where: Zigbone Farm Retreat Center in Sabilasville, MD
Cost: $1850, $2100, or $2400 depending on accommodations (see below)
The retreat is limited to 12 participants. Please contact Ann for retreat questions; Dena with booking questions.
What to expect:
- A five-day, four-night poetry writing and yoga retreat in Maryland's Catoctin Mountains with up to 12 like-minded yogis and poets
- Nature as our muse in this incredible 100-acre setting of mountains, fields, hedgerows, forest and gardens
- Optional yoga sessions twice daily
- Plentiful time and space to write at your own desk or in a cozy nook
- Gatherings each morning to discuss craft elements of poetry, including form, voice and sound
- Ideas to stimulate lots of writing and sharing of poetry
- Unparalleled silence to work on your creative projects, but also a chance to share other activities such as hiking, yoga and art
- Homemade meals prepared with produce from ZigBone Farm with access to fruit, snacks, coffee and tea throughout the day
- Coming together at dinner to discuss your day´s work and experience
- Developing a supportive community of writers
About Ann:
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Ann Quinn has taught poetry for nearly a decade and as a late-comer to the art form, is especially interested in working with developing poets with their own rich life experiences. She is on the faculty at the Writer’s Center in Bethesda, is a teaching artist for Yellow Arrow Publishing in Baltimore, has led workshops in Delaware, Maryland, Colorado, Washington, D.C., and Washington State, and has a dedicated following of students on Zoom! Her students have won contests, published books and chapbooks, and had poems featured in a great variety of literary and professional journals. https://www.annquinn.net/good-news-from-my-students
Ann’s work has been published in journals such as Poet Lore, Potomac Review, and others, and has been twice nominated for a Pushcart Prize. She is the author of Final Deployment and co-wrote a book with one of her classes: Poetry is Life. She holds an MFA in poetry with a certificate in teaching from the Rainier Writers Workshop at Pacific Lutheran University. More information about Ann Quinn can be found at her website: https://www.annquinn.net/ |
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What past participants have said about their experience:
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"The balance between lesson, community, and time to write was really perfect! I had the ability to use the quiet and nature of the space with some hours in between “class” and dinner, which brought a balance to my own mind and writing. Ann Quinn was magical in every way, and the group brought more compassion and energy to the week than I could have imagined. I loved every moment, from relaxing communal mornings over coffee, to finding books and crannies to write, to poetry meditations and lessons, to exploring and then dinner with each other. The evening readings were my favorites and what a safe space it was."
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"Ann is the kind of teacher who is so good at what she does that her the seams don't show- she guides us so capably that everything feels natural, and we fell like brilliant students and natural generators of camaraderie. But really - the rhythm of these days, and the way we've settled into respectful, joyful conversation and confidence in our own voices - she should take credit, at least a little."
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"“Just listening to our chef speak so lovingly about the food he created for us was like hearing the poetry adore come to life! I adored the fresh tomatoes (so much better than store-bought!), homemade sourdough, eggs in their shells cooked to semisoft perfection in the mornings, homemade butternut squash and tomato soups (heaven!), and the salmon and asparagus for our final dinner was delicious!"
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"What a magical venue! I half expected to see little fairies peeking out from behind the farm's surround of lovely flowers. I loved all the different places available to hang out and write, whether with someone or alone."
"Lovely rooms! Bathrooms! Common spaces! The amount of art and creativity and variation and valuing of old things in this house is a perfect setting for Art and Writing." "I loved my shared room, I left the windows cracked open, it created the most peaceful environment to wake up to. The communal rooms and land were incredible to pick and choose where to meditate, write, walk, stretch. I loved it. It ended to soon." |
"Our writing retreat was fabulous. I could not have asked for a more generous, interesting, engaging group of poets to share this retreat with. And, of course, our instructor rocks. The word witches, as Dena so lovingly called us, will be back! Thank you, Dena, for your incredible hospitality and for participating with us—you, too, are a poet!"
"I would come back in a heartbeat, I can’t thank the hosts enough, as well as the poet lead and fellow writers. I’ve never felt more peaceful." |
About Sharon Neubauer |
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Sharon Neubauer, E-RYT 500, has been teaching Yoga since 1999. She holds a certification in Anusara Yoga and has completed many teacher and therapy trainings as well as workshops and classes in a variety of styles. Her teaching incorporates influences from many yoga leaders as well as her study of pranayama, meditation, dance, Kabbalah and Feldenkrais Method.
Sharon’s specialty is in exploring breath and isometric actions at all angles to balance joints and grow comfort and support for the body, mind and spirit. Her playful, compassionate and explorative teaching style empowers each student to be their own teacher. |
