Upcoming Writer’s Workshops at the Highland Lake Inn

Writing Retreat: How to Write More, Write Better, and Be Happier
Aug. 21 – 23 and Sept. 18 -20, 2011

Workshop Facilitator: Joni Cole http://www.jonibcole.com/

Location:  Highland Lake Inn, Andover, NH

$530 per person double occupancy,
$705 per person single occupancy, all inclusive.

This retreat is designed for writers who are looking for an intensive period to write, share their work for quality feedback and instruction, and make progress on a new or existing project. Writers of fiction and creative non-fiction are welcome. Participation is limited to six to assure personalized attention.

Aptly named “How to Write More, Write Better, and Be Happier, the retreat takes place at the beautiful Highland Lake Inn Bed and Breakfast, located in Andover, New Hampshire. Conveniently situated in the center of northern New England, the inn offers spacious guest rooms with full bathrooms, distinctive furnishing and amenities, and private television and Wi Fi access. Innkeepers Gail and Pecco Beaufays offer old-school hospitality and personal touches. Meals are included in the retreat package.

Workshop facilitator Joni B. Cole is the author of the acclaimed book Toxic Feedback: Helping Writers Survive and Thrive (“strongly recommended” by Library Journal), and Water Cooler Diaries: Women across America Share Their Day at Work ((“both fascinating and eye-opening,” Publisher’s Weekly). Her creative nonfiction has been nominated for The Pushcart Prize, and will be featured in her fall 2011 book Another Bad-Dog Story: Tales of Life, Love, and Neurotic Human Behavior. Joni runs the Writer’s Center of White River Junction, Vermont, and is a frequent speaker and teacher at writing conferences across the country.

to register please contact Joni at joni.cole@alum.dartmouth.org
or (802) 295-5526.

Sunday Evening
Welcome reception at 5 PM
Dinner at 6:30 PM

Monday
Morning and afternoon workshop sessions
Plenty of free time to write or consult

Tuesday
Morning workshop session
Depart after lunch

Program Fee Includes:
• Lodging
• Writing workshops
• Welcome reception
• All meals (Friday dinner through Sunday lunch)

Writers are encouraged to bring:
• Up to 10 pages of your manuscript to share (whether it’s a rough draft, a few scenes, or just the germ of an idea)

The workshop sessions will focus on:
• Narrative drive
• Voice
• Conflict and tension
• Character emotional development
• Deeper meaning of story
• How to get inspired and stay inspired

Read Full Post »

Latest Tripadvisor Review: “Best Location for a Retreat Ever!”

Date of review: Mar 15, 2011

I’ve run numerous small (5-15 participants) writing retreats at various inns and hotels around the country. My most recent 3-day event at the Highland Lake Inn was exceptional, fulfilling the expectations of a “retreat” in every way. The accommodations were luxurious yet homey. Each room was spacious and spotless, repleat with fluffy bedding, TV sets, lovely amenities, and comfortable working spaces. We felt pampered from the first sip of delicious coffee in the morning to the incredible dinner our hosts invited us to share with them in the evening. Equally important, the Highland Lake Inn afforded our writing group the privacy and space we needed to meet and/or write individually. Last, but hardly least, our hosts Pecco and Gail were fantastic! This is where I intend to host many more writing retreats in the future!

• Reviewer ratings for this hotel:
  • Value
  • Rooms
  • Location
  • Cleanliness
  • Service
  • Sleep Quality

• Date of stay: March 2011
• Visit was for: Business
• Traveled with: Clients/Customers
• Member since: March 15, 2011

• Recommended by this reviewer? Yes

http://www.tripadvisor.com/ShowUserReviews-g29727-d79158-r100273734-Highland_Lake_Inn_Bed_and_Breakfast-Andover_New_Hampshire.html#CHECK_RATES_CONT

Read Full Post »

A lovely poem from a recent writers retreat guest

Highland Lake Inn – The Write Place

Words flow like wine, hither and fro

The glass of merlot give my cheeks a glow.

Gail welcomed us with a big smile

And tales of romantic parties of a bygone style

Candlelight reflected in goblets fine,

The tuna Pecco cooked was just divine.

As were the berries, red and black,

To Highland Lake Inn, I will come back

It’s winter now and snow abounds.

I imagine Spring fields full of bird sounds.

Summer will come next with lazy days,

Spent writing in the evening haze,

Of red, purple, gold, and blue

Joni and Marjorie to their heart’s remain true

This writer’s group who met in March

Shared words and stories

Surrounded by pine and birch

Mountains green and clouds of white

Highland Lake Inn is a beautiful site.

Copyright 2011 All rights Reserved                      Denise M. Simpson                                   20 March 2011

Read Full Post »

Sunday, May 8 -Tuesday, May 10, 2011 Writing Retreat: How to Write More, Write Better, and Be Happier

Workshop Facilitator: Joni Cole
Location: Highland Lake Inn, Andover, NH
$530 per person double occupancy, $705 per person single occupancy, all inclusive.
This retreat is designed for writers who are looking for an intensive period to write, share their work for quality feedback and instruction, and make progress on a new or existing project. Writers of fiction and creative non-fiction are welcome. Participation is limited to six to assure personalized attention.

Aptly named “How to Write More, Write Better, and Be Happier, the retreat takes place at the beautiful Highland Lake Inn Bed and Breakfast, located in Andover, New Hampshire. Conveniently situated in the center of northern New England, the inn offers spacious guest rooms with full bathrooms, distinctive furnishing and amenities, and private television and Wi Fi access. Innkeepers Gail and Pecco Beaufays offer old-school hospitality and personal touches. Meals are included in the retreat package.

Workshop facilitator Joni B. Cole is the author of the acclaimed book Toxic Feedback: Helping Writers Survive and Thrive (“strongly recommended” by Library Journal), and Water Cooler Diaries: Women across America Share Their Day at Work ((“both fascinating and eye-opening,” Publisher’s Weekly). Her creative nonfiction has been nominated for The Pushcart Prize, and will be featured in her fall 2011 book Another Bad-Dog Story: Tales of Life, Love, and Neurotic Human Behavior. Joni runs the Writer’s Center of White River Junction, Vermont, and is a frequent speaker and teacher at writing conferences across the country.

For more information or to access a registration form for the retreat, visit: www.thewriterscenterwrj.com or  www.highlandlakeinn.com. Or contact Joni at joni.cole@alum.dartmouth.org or (802) 295-5526.

Read Full Post »

News from the World of Health Coaching

Where does health coaching ‘come from’? Who or what are the institutions that stand behind the professionals in this business and where is evidence to be found to support the true value of coaching?

Health Coaching is relatively new, composing a small percentage of the coaching industry’s biggest trends; life coaching and business coaching. Health coaching is a sector in growth that is consumer driven because the clients make the shifts they need to make to get sustainable habits into their lifestyle, all according to personal pace, preference and priority.

The new Highland Lake Inn wellness weeks are developed in harmony with BodyVision SL health coaching company and embrace the state-of-the-art processes in coaching today. This blogpost features a video from the Harvard Medical School Institute of Lifestyle Medicine on ‘Good Morning America’ show. BodyVision SL, the host of the wellness weeks, is a representative of the Wellcoaches Co. system featured below.

Click on this link and enjoy!

All information about the wellness weeks at the Highland lake Inn are found HERE and the direct link to the private client website of BodyVision SL is found HERE. Questions, suggestions and comments are welcome! Click HERE.

Read Full Post »

What is Health Coaching and How can it Help You?

A JOURNEY OF GROWTH

by Tatiana Abend and Wellcoaches, Co.

In these challenging times, when the complex health care system is tough to navigate, the demands of everyday life have never been greater. We face a bewildering array of health and wellness guidelines, products and services, making it difficult to create a personal formula. Change is challenged by obstacles such as resistance and ambivalence. Many of us have histories of repeated failure. Most of us do not believe that we can master our health and well-being. Becoming the boss of one’s own health is a complex matter!

Mastering health and well-being is a journey of personal growth, rather than the typical model of getting patients to comply with expert advice. Carl Rogers, a leader in humanistic psychology, taught us that human beings are innately designed to grow and develop. But there are certain preconditions. People are most successful at growth when they have a passion for the outcomes of change and they are free to choose it. In addition, these studies show that people grow best through relationships – growth promoting relationships that energize and inspire, while preserving autonomy and choice.

Today, patient interactions in the medical world primarily focus on numbers and deficits – blood pressure, LDL, alc, etc. – with little time spent building a relational dynamic that promotes personal growth. In other words, instead of selling the benefits of healthy behaviors, it is better to fish for the patients’ perspectives on the benefits to them. People are better persuaded with their own words and thoughts and, in almost all cases, resist being changed by others.

The coaching relationship is the growth promoting relationship critical for the future success of individual health and sustainable change. The emerging industry of professional coaching has, in the past 5 years, included health care as a field of specialty to optimize health and well-being, founded upon evidence based theories and fields. The health coach/client relationship includes: personal responsibility, self-awareness, self-efficacy, peak performance, personal growth and lasting change. Coaches dig out positive emotions, happiness, appreciation, and strengths from the noise and clutter in our lives.

How does this translate into a program for the client? While clients define and decide where they want to go and what they want to work on, their coaches direct the process to get there. The reason we want to get to the ‘top of the mountain’ is because something we care about in our lives is not going to be at its best, or not going to work, if we don’t have optimal health and wellness. Creating a Personal Health Vision, connecting to it on a deep level, and keeping the inspirational fire burning lead the client to the ‘best self’ at the top of this mountain, regardless of how the client has defined his ‘best self’. Coaches help people to be their best self!

Read Full Post »

Welcome to the Highland Lake Inn’s New Blog

The Highland Lake Inn and Tatiana Abend, Health and Wellness Coach owner of Bodyvision SL are pleased to offer a series of Health and Wellness Retreats starting February 21, 2010.

• For More Information please visit http://www.highlandlakeinn.com/wellness.htm

BodyVision Health and Wellness Coaching:

BodyVision health coaching services provide the structure, the resources, and the support you need to design your individual, durable ‘Foundation of Wellness’, step by step successfully incorporating healthy habits into the everyday for an improved life quality and the freedom and peace of mind that underlie the ‘greater you’.

Highland Lake Inn:

East Andover, New Hampshire is ideally located for all four seasons of recreation and relaxation.  Savor the vistas of neighboring Highland Lake, Kearsarge Mountain, and enjoy the Inn’s own 7-acre grounds which adjoin a 21-acre nature preserve. Highland Lake Inn is located at the trail head of the Northern Rail Trail, a perfect place to snowmobile and cross-country ski in the winter months and walk and bike in the spring, summer and fall.

Whatever your purpose for travel to this area, rest assured you will enjoy the peace, tranquility, beauty and comfort of our inn and its surroundings.

Read Full Post »