Ryan Black
https://nashvilletaichiandwellness.com/
Mindfulness on the Mountain Retreats
2024 - May 3rd-5th & December 6th-8th 2025 May 2nd-4th & December 5th-7th
Ryan Black is the Founder and Chief Instructor of Nashville Tai Chi and Wellness. He received his training in the original martial art of Tai Chi (t'ai chi ch'üan) and advanced in the art with YMAA instructors in Boston and then at Dr. Yang's retreat center in California.
His formal training in mindfulness facilitation is through Vanderbilt’s Osher Center for Integrative Medicine. Ryan is currently a co-teacher for the Osher’s Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction program and a regular facilitator for Mindful Mondays.
Tom Camp
Being a Healing Presence Workshop, November 9th, 2024
Yoga instructor for Centering Prayer Retreats, Workshops
Tom Camp is a licensed Marriage and Family Therapist, a Clinical Fellow in American Association for Marriage and Family Therapy, a Certified Yoga Therapist (IAYT) and Registered Yoga Teacher (RYT500), and an ordained United Methodist Elder, with over 40 years of experience practicing and teaching psychotherapy and integrating relationships, Yoga, ethics, spiritual guidance, breath work, and meditation in the healing process.
Bill Combs
Centering Prayer, August 2-4, 2024
Centering Prayer Retreats
A former oral and maxillofacial surgeon, Bill felt a calling from God to drastically change his path in life and do something different. The Rev. Bill Combs graduated from the Virginia Theological Seminary and has served many years in the Episcopal Church. He retired as the rector of Episcopal Church of the Redeemer in Georgia. Bill’s time away from the church is spent largely with his family.
Richard Dube`
The Spirituality of Japanese Gardens Workshop, September 21st, 2024
Richard has spent a number of years studying and creating Japanese Gardens. He has been published numerous times in Fine Gardening Magazine & The New American Gardener. He is the author of the book Natural Pattern Forms – A practical sourcebook for Landscape Design (translated into Chinese in 2000) and co-author of Natural Stonescapes and Landscaping Makes Cents. He sat on the Board of Directors for the Association of Professional Landscape Designers and sat on the National Urban and Community Forestry Advisory Council.
Lisa Ernst
Intimate with Life: Awakening with Breath, Body and Mind, September 13th-15th, 2024
https://onedharmanashville.com/
Lisa Ernst is a meditation teacher, artist and founder of One Dharma Nashville. In her teaching, Lisa emphasizes both transformational insight and everyday awakening as an invitation to embrace all of the path’s possibilities. Lisa has been meditating for over 30 years in the Zen and Vipassana traditions. She received teaching authorization in the Thai Forest/Spirit Rock lineage of Ajahn Chah, Trudy Goodman and Jack Kornfield. Lisa teaches internationally and has led retreats and classes for organizations such as Spirit Rock, InsightLA, Southern Dharma and many more. As a practicing visual artist Lisa incorporates Dharma into contemplative photography and writing.
David Frazelle
Centering Prayer, January 2025
The Rev David Frazelle, Senior Associate Rector, Christ Church, An Episcopal Parish Diocese of North Carolina. Facilitator of centering prayer retreats.
Carolyn Goddard
Chatting with the Divine - A Centering Prayer Retreat, January 24th-26th, 2025
Carolyn Goddard began practicing Centering Prayer in 1986 and quickly became involved with Contemplative Outreach as a facilitator of support groups, a presenter of various workshops, and a retreat leader. She served on the Leadership Team for Contemplative Outreach of Middle Tennessee. Until recently, she wrote for Contemplative Outreach’s Word of the Week, she continues to facilitate Prayer Chapels for that program. Carolyn lives in Nashville with her husband of forty-seven years.
Dr. Joseph Howell
The Spirituality of the Enneagram, September 26th-28th, 2025
https://www.instituteforconsciousbeing.org/
Joseph Benton Howell is the founder of the Institute of Conscious Being, a school for teaching consciousness studies and the spirituality of the Enneagram. ( theicb.org ) A native of Mobile, Alabama, he graduated from Yale Divinity School, The University of Virginia, and was a Fellow in Clinical Psychology at the Department of Psychiatry, Harvard Medical School. Dr. Howell has practiced clinical psychology since 1980. He began teaching spiritual development in the late eighties and has traveled extensively, presenting conferences and seminars on the Enneagram, the levels of spiritual development, and spiritual consciousness. Joe is one of the country's top authorities on the Enneagram and has presented in India, Europe, Egypt, and the United States. He is an International Enneagram Association Professional Member and Accredited Teacher.
Becca Impello & Kim Drye
Beyond the Five Senses, March 14th-16th, 2025
Becca is a certified yoga instructor through Yoga Alliance, a member of the International Association of Yoga Therapists, and has done specific training in pre-natal yoga, therapeutic yoga and studied the teachings of Gary Kraftsow, T. K. V. Desikachar, Doug Keller, Suzi Hatley, and Timothy McCall, among others. Becca currently works with clients one on one for individualized yoga instruction to address acute or chronic issues, learn modifications for safe entry into community classes, or develop a personal practice. She also teaches yoga classes, therapeutic focus yoga workshops, and anatomy trainings.
Kim is a skilled and knowledgeable yoga instructor who specializes in alignment, therapeutic and restorative yoga. She teaches at HereNowYoga and is the owner of West Asheville Yoga Studio. She has trained primarily with instructors in the Iyengar tradition including Asheville, NC teachers Lillah Schwartz and Cindy Dollar, as well as nationally recognized master teachers Matthew Sanford, Roger Cole, and Aadil Palkhivala. Her certifications include a 200 hour certification from the Asheville Yoga Center with Stephanie Keach (2008), and a 500 hour Yoga Therapy certification from Lighten Up Yoga with Lillah Schwartz (2009-2013).
Janka Livoncova
Awakening Joy Meditation Retreat, May 15th-18th, 2025
Janka Livoncova has been a dedicated student and practitioner of meditation since 1994 and started sharing her practice with others in 2004. Janka has been practicing and studying the dharma for over three decades. Initially in the Soto Zen tradition and, since 2010, under the guidance of her Vipassana mentors Kittisaro and Thanissara. She is a graduate of Spirit Rock’s Community Dharma Leaders program and the Sacred Mountain Sangha two-year Dharmapala training with Kittisaro and Thanissara. Janka leads the Chattanooga Insight Meditation Community and retreats in Chattanooga area.
June Mays
Grace in Gardens, May 10th, 2025
June Mays enjoyed a 31year career as a financial advisor in Birmingham with Merrill Lynch and UBS. Since 2009 she enjoyed a second career as a garden designer, writer, and lecturer. She spent a year studying garden design at the English Gardening School in London and has designed or consulted on over 100 gardens. Although she has retired from garden design, she continues to speak and to write about gardens. She has spoken at Tryon Palace in New Bern NC, Longvue House in New Orleans, the Chattanooga Nature Center, Callaway Gardens, the Augusta Georgia Garden Festival, the Festival of Flowers in Mobile, the Herb Society of America in Austin, TX, the Homestead Resort Garden Symposium in Hot Springs Virginia, the Birmingham Botanical Garden, Aldridge Gardens, St. Mary’s Retreat Center in Sewanee, the University of the South in Sewanee, and at numerous garden clubs and master gardener groups throughout the country. She has written for Fine Gardening, Southern Accents, Flower, Lowe’s Creative Ideas, Birmingham Home and Garden, The American Gardener, The Alabama Gardener, and the DIY Network website. June and her husband Joe live in Birmingham and in Sewanee Tennessee.
Carrie Newcomer
The Beautiful Not Yet: Sustainable Hope, March 28th-30th, 2025
https://www.carrienewcomer.com/
Carrie Newcomer is a songwriter, recording artist, performer, educator and activist. She has been described as a "prairie mystic" by the Boston Globe and one who "asks all the right questions" by Rolling Stone Magazine. Carrie has 20 nationally released albums on Available Light & Concord/Rounder Records including A Great Wild Mercy, Until Now, The Point of Arrival and The Beautiful Not Yet. Newcomer has released three books of poetry & essays, A Permeable Life: Poems and Essays, The Beautiful Not Yet: Poems and Essays & Lyrics, and Until Now: New Poems by Carrie Newcomer. Her song "I Should've Known Better" appeared on Nickel Creeks' Grammy-winning gold album This Side, and she earned an Emmy for her PBS special An Evening with Carrie Newcomer.
Gordon Peerman
Mindfulness on the Mountain Retreats
2024 - May 3rd-5th & December 6th-8th 2025 May 2nd-4th & December 5th-7th
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 chi 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. He lives in Nashville.
Dr. Robbie Pinter
Writing Retreats
Dr. Robbie Pinter recently retired after teaching English at Belmont University for forty years. She now enjoys what was once her “career within a career” as she offers Spiritual Direction, writes, and facilitates retreats and Centering Prayer groups. She attempts to open further to Spirit, and wants to stand with others in Presence. After a nudge to dwell more fully in the world of metaphor, symbol, ritual and social justice, she converted to Catholicism. Raised in the Baptist tradition, Robbie believes she now speaks two spiritual languages.
A three time graduate of Shalem Institute (The Spiritual Guidance Program, Transforming Community and the Soul of Leadership), Robbie has been growing her Spiritual Direction practice over the past 15 years. She is active on the Board at St. Mary’s Sewanee and Penuel Ridge Retreat Center. She also serves as the point person for Contemplative Outreach of Middle Tennessee. Robbie works with Wisdom Tree Collective as a Mentor in the Spiritual Direction program, as the Group Supervision facilitator, and as a presenter.
Kenneth Robinson
Mindfulness on the Mountain Retreats
2024 - May 3rd-5th & December 6th-8th 2025 May 2nd-4th & December 5th-7th
https://www.kennethrobinsontherapy.com/
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.
Sister Hannah
Heart and Soul Health Workshop February 8th, 2025
https://www.communityofstmarysouth.org/
Sister Hannah Winkler, CSM has been a member of the Community of St. Mary, Southern Province, for the past nine years. She made her life profession in January 2021 and became Prioress of the Community in January 2023. She helps manage the Community's website, social media, and online gift shop and promotes convent events online. She has been active in preaching at a variety of Episcopal churches and schools both in-person and online, and travels out of state (and out of the country) to preach, give retreats, and teach adult forums at various churches.
Prior to entering Community, she graduated with her bachelor’s and master’s degrees in nutritional sciences in 2008 and 2011 from North Carolina State University and the University of North Carolina at Greensboro, respectively. She became a licensed registered dietitian in 2011. She began her career as a clinical dietitian first at Albemarle Hospital in Elizabeth City, NC then at Wesley Long Hospital in Greensboro, NC. There she worked in the oncology, surgical, and psychiatric units. She graduated from the University of the South with a Master of Arts in Theology in December 2020. She is looking forward to the ways God will use her diverse backgrounds as part of the Community's various ministries.
Anneli Virkhaus
Sound Healing Workshop, July 13th, 2024
https://www.highvibeshealing.com/
Anneli Virkhaus is a local favorite here on the mountain. Owner of and teacher at High Vibes Studio in Monteagle, Anneli has been on her own spiritual journey most of her life. “I am a firm believer that you can heal from anything and become anything you desire, and know that you are worthy of doing so.” She is a musician, yoga instructor, teacher, and business owner. Anneli's passion is to help people gain awareness of themselves and habits and to develop self-care practices that enhance their daily lives.
Tom Ward
Centering Prayer Retreats
Since he retired as chaplain of the University of the South in Sewanee, Tom has dedicated his time to teaching others the method of Centering Prayer. He has served on the St. Mary’s Sewanee Board and been a presenter/facilitator of retreats and workshops for decades. His passion for sharing the spiritual gifts of the Centering Prayer practice are extraordinary.
Eboni Webb
Body and Soul: Writing Your Way Home - Women’s Writing Retreat, June 26-29, 2025
A licensed psychologist and renowned speaker who serves as an advisor to the Dialectical Behavior Therapy National Certification and Accreditation Association (DBTNCAA). She has practiced in numerous community settings including clinics that treat underserved communities of color, clients with developmental disabilities, and clients suffering from severe and persistent mental illness. She worked at the largest mental health clinic at the time in the Minneapolis/St. Paul area and has practiced Dialectical Behavior Therapy in community mental health centers and developed two special DBT-oriented treatment programs. Dr. Webb currently resides in Nashville, TN where she has been serving clients in her private practice, Kairos. She continues to specialize in individual and group DBT as well as cognitive-behavior strategies that address a myriad of clinical issues.
Amy-Lyles Wilson
Body and Soul: Writing Your Way Home - Women’s Writing Retreat, June 26th-29th, 2025
Amy-Lyles Wilson, M.A., M.T.S., believes it is the sharing of our stories that saves us. Toward that end, she helps people get to the heart of the matter through words. A Mississippi native who calls Nashville home, Amy-Lyles works as a writer, story coach, spiritual director, and communitybased teacher. She has hosted several creative retreats at St. Mary’s Sewanee, and is affiliated with such local organizations as Wisdom Tree Collective, Day 7, and The Porch. She has been published in a variety of magazines and co-authored or contributed to eight books. Amy-Lyles is a former board member and program committee chair for St. Mary’s Sewanee. She has served as adjunct professor and writer-in-residence at the Earlham School of Religion, and led workshops across the South, as well as at the Chautauqua Institution. Amy-Lyles is a trained spiritual director and facilitator of both Amherst Writers & Artists and SoulCollage® workshops, and holds degrees in English, journalism, and theology. She recently earned a certificate in narrative healthcare from Lenoir-Rhyne University as part of her commitment to continued education and training.