Ritual Wellness Weekend
September 6 – 8, 2019
We are delighted to be the premiere spa location for the kick off of the 10,000 Buddhas Ritual Wellness tour and pleased to introduce our partnership with McEvoy Ranch and ODE™ Natural Beauty. Join globally recognized artist, yogini, and gifted storyteller Amanda Giacomini, creator of the 10,000 Buddhas project alongside our very own Director of Mindfulness Programming, Nina Smiley, Ph.D. for a weekend of awakening on the mountain. Reconnect with your body, mind, and spirit at Mohonk surrounded by the beauty of nature.
Availability is limited. For reservations, please call .
SCHEDULE OF EVENTS
FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 6
A Ritual Wellness Welcome
5:30pm – 8:30pm
Begin your weekend with an introduction to our partners McEvoy Ranch, ODE™ Natural Beauty, and 10,000 Buddhas at this welcome event. Featuring olives and olive oil tastings with McEvoy Ranch, body and skincare products from ODE™ and 10,000 Buddhas, and a menu of Mindful Mixology cocktails and mocktails available at our cash bar.
SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 7
Greet the Day Yoga Stretch on the Boat Dock
7:30am – 8:15am
Join Mohonk’s Yoga leader Peter Beuf to begin your day with a mindful morning stretch. Yoga mats provided. Layered dress suggested.
Journey of 10,000 Buddhas
10am – 11am
Join celebrated artist, Amanda Giacomini as she shares her journey of painting 10,000 Buddhas around the world. Discover how she turned her personal practice of painting Buddhas into a global street art movement. In this fun and colorful presentation, learn how Amanda utilized the teachings of yoga to guide her path as a painter and through her incredible story. Even awaken to your own creative calling.
*Open to meal and Spa day guests, as well as overnight guests.
Mindfulness in Minutes: Clearing the Mind… Calming the Body…with Nina Smiley
1:30pm – 1:45pm
Learning to bring mindfulness into “real life” is a moment-to-moment opportunity that can change – everything! Nina Smiley, co-author of The Three Minute Meditator and Mindfulness in Nature will help you understand how to create a mindfulness practice that’s dynamic and accessible – as well as playful, practical, and powerful. Learn to enhance wellness, one moment, one breath, at a time as you get ready for the Ritual Wellness Experience to follow. Yoga Mats provided. Comfortable dress suggested.
Ritual Wellness Experience with 10,000 Buddhas
2pm – 3:15pm
Discover the magic of this deeply soulful and rejuvenating, healing wellness ritual. Curated by yoga teacher and celebrated artist, Amanda Giacomini, this ritual wellness experience will allow you to embody relaxation, inspiration, and peace of mind. Coupled with her favorite stories and teachings to inspire, Amanda will guide a series of slow gentle yoga postures (yin); perfect for all levels. These special wellness practices will help heal and bless your body, mind, and heart. Yoga mats will be provided. Comfortable dress is suggested.
Meet and Greet with MC YOGI
3:15pm – 4pm
Following the Ritual Wellness Experience, join us for a Meet & Greet session with MC YOGI, renowned yoga teacher, musical innovator, and author of Spiritual Graffiti. Enjoy complimentary refreshments, tastings from McEvoy Ranch, and product samplings of ODE™ Natural Beauty and 10,000 Buddhas during this book signing event with MC YOGI and Nina Smiley Ph.D., author of The Three Minute Meditator and Mindfulness in Nature.
SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 8
Greet the Day Yoga Hike
7:30am – 8:15am
Join Mohonk’s Yoga leader Peter Beuf to ease into the day with a mindful morning nature hike, paired with a standing yoga practice. Layered dress suggested; comfortable, sturdy shoes required.
Sunday Wellness Classes
Complete this wellness weekend by joining our instructors for fitness, yoga, and meditation classes in our fully-equipped fitness center and Motion Room. For overnight guests ages 16+. Classes limited to 24 participants. Please arrive 5 to 10 minutes prior to start of class.
Barkan Method Yoga
9am – 10am
A non-heated practice to strengthen joints, muscles, tendons and ligaments and internal organs. The intention behind the Barkan method is to balance the body, quiet the mind and nourish the soul.
Core Strengthening
10:15am – 11am
Strengthen your core and tone abdominals and back with mat work.
Meditation
11:15am – 11:45am
Experience the peace of guided meditation with easy-to-learn stress-reducing techniques to bring harmony and peace within.
Pilates
2:30pm – 3:15pm
A form of exercise which emphasizes the balanced development of the body through core strength, flexibility and awareness in order to support efficient, graceful movement.
Mosaic Barre
3:30pm – 4:15pm
Utilizing techniques from yoga, Pilates, and Barre programs, this class offers a full body workout where the focus is on strengthening and elongating muscles while improving postural alignment.
Total Body Conditioning
4:30pm – 5:15pm
Circuit training that is a unique blend of calisthenics, strength and endurance, which can be accomplished with either body-weight or equipment.
FEATURED SPA TREATMENT
ODE™ Ritual Wellness Massage
$165 – 50 minutes
We are pleased to introduce our partnership with McEvoy Ranch and ODE™ Natural Beauty and have developed a new massage for Ritual Wellness Weekend. This Swedish massage treatment features invigorating aromatherapy, restorative stretches to complement any level of yoga practice, and luxurious Olive Fruit and Shea Butter hydration infused with refreshing botanical essences. This massage is the perfect enhancement to Ritual Wellness weekend and beyond.
Guests who enjoy this treatment over our Ritual Wellness weekend will receive a 15% promotional savings on the ODE™ + 10,000 Buddhas Ritual Well kits.
MEET OUR PROGRAM LEADERS
Amanda Giacomini
10,000 Buddhas & Co-founder of Point Reyes Yoga
Amanda Giacomini aka 10,000 Buddhas is an artist, yoga teacher and storyteller. Her 10,000 Buddhas project was inspired by a pilgrimage to the Ajanta caves in India where she saw a two thousand year old mural of a thousand Buddhas meditating together. This experience sparked an awakening, which led her on a mission to paint 10,000 Buddhas, spreading a message of kindness, compassion, and connection with her art. Over the course of a decade, Amanda reached and surpassed her goal, making 10,000 Buddhas a highly sought after, worldwide art project, including large-scale public murals, fine art paintings, works on paper, and textiles. Her street art can be found across the United States and in Panama, Costa Rica, Germany and Japan.
Amanda has taught yoga to tens of thousands of people all over the world; from prestigious art museums and yoga festivals, to The White House and the Forbidden City in China. Amanda has been teaching yoga for 20 years, her approach to teaching is gentle and wise, one of her greatest joys is sharing the healing benefits of yin yoga while interweaving mythic stories from the Buddhist and yoga traditions.
She is the co-founder of Point Reyes Yoga, a studio she and her husband, MC YOGI, started in 2001. She has been featured on the cover of Yoga Journal and Mantra Magazine and inside many publications including Yoga International, New York Yoga and Life, LA YOGA, Origin Magazine, Tricycle, and Lion’s Roar.
Amanda lives in Northern California with her husband MC YOGI and continues to paint Buddhas.
Nina Smiley, Ph.D.
Director of Mindfulness Programming
As Director of Mindfulness Programming at Mohonk Mountain House and co-author of The Three Minute Meditator (now in its fifth edition and translated into seven languages), Nina delights in sharing simple and effective mindfulness meditation techniques that can be used by real people in real lives (when they really need it) — one moment at a time!
Nina discovered mindfulness meditation in the 1980s. Developing a practice that has become integrated within her life, rather than “carved out from it,” was life-changing and Nina has been sharing insights on how to do this ever since.
Nina’s work in mindfulness has been seen in publications including The New York Times, O, the Oprah Magazine, Shape, Real Simple, Marie Claire, and Prevention.com. She leads programs and teaches private classes on mindfulness and wellness at Mohonk Mountain House, where she has created special focus sessions that address insomnia, weight loss, relationships, pain, and more. Nina’s presentations are defined by simplicity and practicality, offered with warmth and compassion, making mindfulness accessible for immediate life-enhancing action – anywhere and anytime. Her new book Mindfulness in Nature explores how we can use our relationship with the natural world to explore and deepen our understanding of ourselves, each other, and the world. Nina leads “forest bathing” walks at Mohonk Mountain House that offer a unique sensory experience through wooded trails, alongside timeless cliffs next to a crystal-clear lake.
Along with her focus on mindfulness meditation, Nina received an undergraduate degree at Vassar College and a Ph.D. in psychology from Princeton University. She worked in Washington, D.C. for a number of years, and was Director of Marketing at Mohonk Mountain House for 25 years, using mindfulness IRL (In Real Life) throughout!
Peter Beuf
Mohonk Yoga Instructor
Peter is an Iyengar and Ashtanga trained yoga practitioner. He has studied movement for 35 years and has instructed for 25 years. In addition to instructing at Mohonk Mountain House, Peter teaches yoga along with balance and strength locally in the Hudson Valley. From outdoor yoga sessions overlooking the Catskill Mountains to helping seniors and younger athletes to gain greater stability and range of motion, Peter encourages his students to inhabit the present moment and embrace the many benefits of yoga.
Availability is limited. For reservations, please call .
When you visit for Ritual Wellness Weekend, your overnight package includes:
- Breakfast: Continental Breakfast and Breakfast Buffet with made-to-order omelets, our famous mini-waffles, and more
- Lunch: Chef’s Action Station Lunch Buffet
- Dinner: Surrey Fine Dining or Modern American Menu
- Access to more than 85 miles of the Hudson Valley’s best hiking trails
- Daily Guided “House History” Tours of our National Historic Landmark resort
- Guided Nature Hikes with stunning views of the Catskill Mountains
- Yoga, Meditation, and Fitness Classes
- Indoor Heated Pool with underwater music
- Afternoon tea and cookies in our historic Lake Lounge
- Nightly Evening Entertainment
- Special Events and more! See schedule of activities >
A la carte experiences available to overnight guests:
- A full menu of nature-inspired treatments at our award-winning spa
- The Carriage Lounge, featuring a full bar and handcrafted cocktails as well as hyperlocal draft beer and hard cider
- An award-winning wine list in our Main Dining Room