Mindfulness on the Mountain - Program

Name: May Mindfulness on the Mountain - Program
Start: 2027-04-30
End: 2027-05-02
Location: St. Mary's Sewanee

770 St Marys Ln, Sewanee, TN 37375, USA

Up to 50 in group

Apr 30 - May 2, 2027

Retreat Highlights

- silent reflection
- movement meditation
- sound immersion.
- Qigong mindful movement
- devotional chanting of kirtan

About this Retreat

Your Guides

Ryan

Kenneth

Gordon

Ryan Black

Ryan Black has always had a deep passion for martial arts and their relationship to contemplative practice. As a young man in his twenties, he was stationed in Japan where he served as a Deep-Sea Salvage and Recue Diver in the U.S. Navy for many years. While there he immersed himself in Kendo (Traditional Japanese sword fencing) and Zen practice. Before moving back to the United States, he was the first foreigner in Southern Japan to reach Master-level in Kendo.

In his desire to advance on his contemplative/martial arts path, Ryan spent over a decade training in the original martial art of Tai Chi (t'ai chi ch'üan) under Grandmaster Yang, Jwing-Ming of YMAA in Boston. Ryan also received his formal training in mindfulness facilitation through Vanderbilt’s Osher Center for Integrative Medicine where he has served as a teacher for Osher’s Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction program.

Founder and Master Instructor of Nashville Tai Chi and Wellness, Ryan has been teaching both group and private lessons in Tai Chi, Qigong, and Meditation in the Nashville area since 2017. He regularly does Tai Chi demonstrations and workshops for the Chinese Arts Alliance of Nashville (CAAN).

Kenneth Robinson

Kenneth Robinson has worked for more than thirty years in the healing arts. He began as an addictions counselor, then as director of a family counseling center, and for the past twenty-five years as a body-oriented therapist and teacher. Throughout that time he has been a student of meditation and yoga, and for four years studied Alaya Process, a transpersonal approach to healing.

Kenneth received a Master’s degree in Counseling and Education from the University of Tennessee in Knoxville in 1977. He received his Master’s in Theological Studies from the Divinity School at Vanderbilt University in 2007. He is a member of the Nashville Psychotherapy Institute and past chair of NPI’s Diversity Committee, which offers educational programs for the membership that promote diversity and multiculturalism. He also holds membership in the United States Association of Body Psychotherapy.

Beyond his practice, Kenneth is a poet, musician, and founding member of the music group Chant Ram. The music of Chant Ram leads kirtan, a form of meditation through music that allows participants to move to open-hearted awareness and self-expression through sound.

https://www.kennethrobinsontherapy.com/

Gordon Peerman

The Rev. Gordon Peerman, DMin, is an Episcopal priest and leader of many retreats at St. Mary’s Sewanee. He has been engaged with contemplative practices, including Centering Prayer, mindfulness meditation, yoga, and Qi Gong since 1975. He has taught Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction at Vanderbilt and St. Thomas Health Services, as well as classes in Buddhist Christian Dialogue at Vanderbilt Divinity School. The author of several books including Blessed Relief and The Body Knows the Way, when he is not teaching he makes his home in Nashville.

Details of this retreat

Mindfulness on the Mountain
A time of silent reflection, movement meditation, and sound immersion.
Mindfulness on the Mountain weekend retreats are a long-standing tradition here at the Ayres Center led by Gordon Peerman and his team: Ryan Black, who will lead Qigong mindful movement, and Kenneth Robinson, who will lead devotional chanting of kirtan.
Gordon Peerman is an Episcopal priest, psychotherapist, and mindfulness meditation teacher. He is the author of “Blessed Relief: What Christians Can Learn from Buddhists about Suffering,” and his most recent book, “The Body Knows the Way: Coming Home through the Dark Night.” He leads retreats and workshops at the intersection of contemplative practice and psychological growth. With his late wife Kathy Woods, he led interspiritual gatherings through One River Wisdom School and taught mindfulness practices at Vanderbilt’s Osher Center for Integrative Health. At Vanderbilt Divinity School, he taught courses in Buddhist-Christian Dialogue and Pastoral Theology. He leads meditation retreats at St. Mary’s Sewanee.

Schedule

- dinner 6pm Friday & Saturday
- breakfast 8am Saturday & Sunday
- lunch 12pm Saturday
- program Friday night until 8pm
- program instruction all day Saturday with breaks
- program Sunday morning
- concluding before lunch on Sunday

Note: Schedule is approximate and may change

Getting Here

St. Mary's Sewanee, 770 St Marys Ln, Sewanee, TN 37375, USA

Directions

*From Nashville or Chattanooga, take I-24 to Exit 134 toward Sewanee/Monteagle.

*At the top of the ramp, turn left onto Highway 41A toward Sewanee/University of the South.

*Continue on Highway 41A for 5.5 miles.

*Turn left onto Highway 56/Sherwood Road for .6 miles.

*Turn right onto St. Mary’s Lane for 0.7 miles.

*Follow the signs marked “Guest Registration”.

Accommodation

Anna House Motel Style Room

2 twin beds in each room, private bathroom, sitting area, air conditioning and heat. Please, indicate if a first floor room is requested. There are no elevators to second floor rooms.

SMH - Temp Controlled Room - Roommate Option

Roommate Option - choose this option if you want to split the cost of the room with a roommate of your choice.2 twin beds in each room, shared bathrooms separated by gender use, split unit AC/HeatPlease, indicate if a first floor room is requested. There are no elevators to second floor rooms.

SMH - Temperature Controlled Rooms

bluff view rooms, shared bathrooms separated by gender use, temperature controlled by split AC/Heat units

Merton Hermitage - corner apartment

Corner apartment located in St. Mary's Hall, private bedroom and bathroom, 1 king bed and 1 twin bed, dining area, kitchen, living room, cooling unit in the summer, heated in the winterPlease, indicate if a first floor room is requested. There are no elevators to second floor rooms.

St. Mary's Hall Dorm Style Room - Double Bed

Private room, 1 double bed, shared bathrooms separated by gender use, cooled with box fans in summer, heated in winterPlease, indicate if a first floor room is requested. There are no elevators to second floor rooms.

St. Mary's Hall Dorm Style King Room

Private room, 1 king bed, shared bathrooms separated by gender use, cooled with box fans in summer, heated in winterLocated on first floor

Woodland Hermitage

1 room cabin, queen bed, kitchen, bathroom, sitting area

St. Mary's Hall Dorm Style Room

Private room, 2 twin beds in each room, shared bathrooms separated by gender use, cooled with box fans in summer, heated in winterPlease, indicate if a first floor room is requested. There are no elevators to second floor rooms.

St. Mary's Hall Dorm Style Single Room

Private room, 1 twin bed, shared bathrooms separated by gender use, cooled with box fans in summer, heated in winterPlease, indicate if a first floor room is requested. There are no elevators to second floor rooms.

St. Mary's Hall Dorm Style Triple Room

Private room, 3 twin beds in each room, shared bathrooms separated by gender use, cooled with box fans in summer, heated in winterPlease, indicate if a first floor room is requested. There are no elevators to second floor rooms.