2025 Winter Wellness Weekend

🌟 Revive, Reconnect, Rejuvenate! 🌿❄️

Treat yourself to ONSC's Winter Wellness Weekend, a transformative retreat focused on relaxation and restoration. 🧘‍♀️✨ Enjoy sessions in yoga 🧘, meditation ✨ , forest bathing 🌲, Rosen movement 💃, mindfulness 🌟, acupuncture, and more—all surrounded by the breathtaking beauty of our secluded campus near Huntsville and Eureka Springs.

Take a step toward wellness and immerse yourself in nature this winter! 🌿💚

Ticket Options

• To attend the workshop, purchase one of three options of workshop tickets (below): Weekend Ticket - includes all classes, activities, and meals from Saturday lunch through Sunday lunch plus snacks and beverages; Saturday ONLY Ticket - includes all classes, activities, and meals (lunch and dinner) on Saturday; or Sunday ONLY Ticket - includes all classes, activities, and meals (breakfast and lunch) on Sunday.

• To add lodging, choose a room in a lodge, glampsite, or campsite. When you purchase a room with multiple beds, you are welcome to add other workshop guests to your room at no extra cost.

• This event is intended for adults, however we will make exceptions for mature and interested teenagers. Please email liz.hill@onsc.us for more information.

• Some ONSC trails are rocky and steep, and there is a 3-minute walk from the parking lot to the Ewing Event Center. If you need accessible parking or any other accommodations, please let us know.

  
  

  All proceeds go to support research, citizen science, and education at Ozark Natural Science Center.

Tentative Weekend Schedule

Saturday, Feb. 15, 2025

• 8:15-9:15 am - Arrival, check-in, & lodge move-in

• 9:30-10:45 am - Rosen Movement with Sally Wimberly

• 11:00 am-12:00 pm - The Journey Flow (Yoga) with Azalea Toliver

• 12:00-12:45 pm - Lunch in Ewing Center Dining Hall

• 1:00-3:00 pm - Forest Bathing with Emmie Brenzel

• 3:00 pm - Snack and ONSC Store Time, followed by break/down time

• 3:45-5:15 pm - Introduction to Acupuncture Class and Group Acupuncture Session with Meredith Nile 

• 5:30-6:30 pm - Dinner in Ewing Centre Dining Hall 

• 6:45 – 7:30 pm - Herbal Medicine-making Class with Meredith Nile

• 7:45 – 8:45 pm - Campfire with Music (Please Bring Instruments!)

• 9:00-9:30 pm - Optional Astronomy Viewing in Meadow

• 9:30 pm - Return to Lodges

Sunday, February 16, 2025

• 7:45-8:20 am - Light Flow and Morning Meditation with Azalea Toliver 

• 8:30- 9:15 am - Breakfast in Ewing Dining Hall

• 9:30 – 10:30 am - Rosen Movement with Julie Brandt

• 10:45 - 11:45 am - Mindfulness & Nature with Liz Hill

• 11:45 am - Group Photo

• 12:00-12:45 pm - Lunch in Ewing Dining Hall

• 1:00-3:00 pm - Forest Bathing with Lori Carter

• 3:00-3:30 pm - Nature Journaling with Liz Hill

• 3:45-4:35 pm - Qigong with Lauren Gordon

• 4:45-5:00 pm - Final Check-out & Departure

Class Descriptions

The Journey Flow (Yoga)

This will be an active flow yoga class with a little Qigong mixed in, linking the breath with your movement and keeping our thoughts in the now.  Accessible to all.

Light Flow and Morning Meditation

A slow nurturing flow to wake up the body, ending in a guided meditation, with connecting with nature as the main intention.

Rosen Movement

Marion Rosen, a physical therapist, in the 1950’s was often asked by clients “what can I do at home so I don’t have to keep coming back to see you” and “how can I keep my joints flexible and avoid injuries”? Based on physical therapy, Marion gave them specific movements to do at home and at one point started inviting clients to her home to move to music. Classes began and now Rosen Movement classes take place all around the world. Music makes us want to move, movements are gentle and results profound - moving all joints, increasing flexibility, while moving to great music. It’s a “ work in” not a “workout”.

Forest Bathing

“Forest Bathing” or Shinrin-Yoku, is a Japanese practice which uses immersion in nature to

enhance health and wellness. The terms Forest Bathing and Forest Therapy are used interchangeably most of the time.  The practice is a slow wander in nature with gentle guided invitations to enable participants to connect with the natural world, awaken their senses, and activate their imaginations. There will be opportunities for silence, observation, listening, and optional group sharing. It's a way to “remember”. Remember that we are all nature, and we are all interconnected–the human world and the more than human world. This outdoor adventure concludes with a forest tea gathering to celebrate our time together and with the land. Participants are encouraged to dress for the winter weather with layers of clothing recommended, keeping in mind that temperatures will feel cooler when seated or moving slowly.

Acupuncture:

We will talk about how acupuncture works and what it can do for you. If you are interested in receiving acupuncture you can stay and do a group healing. There will be sound bowls and drums as well.

Medicine Making:

We will connect with the wisdom of comfrey leaf and then learn about the benefits of building a relationship with this herb. We will make a salve to soothe the skin that you can take home to continue to build a relationship with this herb and discover the benefits yourself.

Mindfulness and Nature

Mindfulness is the act of paying attention in the present moment, on purpose, and without passing judgment.  There are plentiful research studies showing the wide array of benefits to our health and overall wellness from both mindfulness activities and being in nature.  These Mindfulness and Nature activities strive to combine the two, to provide experiences that help us to be especially mindful of the elements of nature within and around us.

Qi Gong

Qi Gong is a Traditional Chinese Medicine based practice which involves moving meditation, coordinating slow-flowing movement, deep rhythmic breathing, and a calm meditative state of mind. Benefits of Qigong include lowered stress and anxiety, increased focus, and improved balance and flexibility (Wear loose, comfortable clothing, and bring a water bottle.)

• Intentional movement: careful, flowing balanced style 

• Rhythmic breathing: slow, deep, coordinated with fluid movement

• Awareness: calm, focused meditative state

• Visualization: of qi flow, philosophical tenets, aesthetics

• Chanting/Sound: use of sound as a focal point

About Ozark Natural Science Center 

ONSC offers a unique, immersion-based approach to learning about nature and the natural sciences. Students visit us for authentic science learning experiences that are correlated with national and state science learning standards and provide in-depth education in biology, ecology, geology, social studies, and nature art – all while students have fun hiking and experiencing nature. Camp activities include  hikes, team-building, games, art, and small-group activities.

About the Instructors

Learn more about our guest instructor here

Ticket Refund Policy

• Refunds up to 1 week before the event: Tickets are refundable minus any applicable fees (processing, administrative, etc.) until 7 days before the event.

• Refunds within 1 week of the event: For refund requests made less than 7 days prior to the event, a 50% refund will be given.

• No refunds within 24 hours of the event: Refund requests made within 24 hours of the event are not permitted, except in exceptional circumstances and only with approval from ONSC administration.

*Please note that all refund requests must be submitted in writing to jill.bowman@onsc.us. Refunds will be processed within 7-10 business days.

Questions? Please email Education and Community Program Manager, Liz Hill at liz.hill@onsc.us.