Mother-Daughter Bonding Over Ayurvedic Weekends in Vermont

Vermont may be most famous for its colorful fall foliage, but the Green Mountain State is equally glorious in summer, when its many pastures and meadows take on a lush, velvety green hue. Mothers and daughters looking to enjoy this pastoral setting while bonding over Ayurvedic wellness treatments can make the most of a series of retreats at The Fan House Bed & Breakfast in Barnard, Vermont. The property is located in the popular lake community, not far from Woodstock in central Vermont.

Barnard, Vermont. Photo: Sherman Cahal – Dreamstime.com

The Ayurvedic Retreats run May through August and focus on ancient practices that aim to promote health and balance of mind, body and spirit through attention to food, movement and mindfulness.

There are three retreats scheduled for spring and summer, kicking off with a Full Flower Moon Ayurvedic Retreat, May 17–19; followed by a Full Strawberry Moon Ayurvedic Retreat, June 14–16; and a Waxing Moon Ayurvedic Retreat, Aug. 9–11.

The May workshop theme is Honoring Feminine Tradition, and the retreat includes five organic, vegetarian or vegan, gluten-free meals, an Ayurvedic Himalayan salt scrub with essential oils and seven workshops that embrace Pranayama, Gentle Movement, Guided Meditation and Mantra for Healing and Female Empowerment. Moms and daughters will learn mindful movement, guided meditation, mantra chanting, hand mudra practices and aura therapy focusing on healing with acupressure.

Taking advantage of the beauty of the countryside, the workshop also gets participants outside to forage for ingredients to make their own wildflower essence, followed by a session of making their own Ayurvedic Himalayan salt scrub with essential oils.

Finally, everyone gets a chance to bond and share memories with a celebratory bonfire.

The June retreat offers similar components with the addition of a Chakra cleansing workshop and optional yoga and paddle boarding on nearby Silver Lake with a yoga and paddle-fit teacher, Mike MacDonald, from Manchester, Vermont. The add-on is priced at $44.

The August retreat, themed Manifesting Abundance, adds a workshop in crystal ball sound healing therapy with Jonathan Carl, a Manhattan-based sound healing therapist.

Cassie Reed, a graduate of Kripalu’s School of Ayurveda, a division of the Kripalu Center for Yoga & Health in Stockbridge, Massachusetts, and a student of cookbook author Kate O’Donnell, an Ayurvedic practitioner and yoga teacher, will lead the retreats.

Reed also studied Mindfulness Meditation with Michael Denmeade, director of the Therapeutic Recreation Department at Mt. Ascutney Hospital and Health Center in Windsor, Vermont, where she volunteered leading guided meditations with traumatic brain-injured patients, and taught safe cooking skills to patients and staff.

She holds a bachelor of science degree in Environmental Science with an emphasis in Ecology from Hampshire College in Amherst, Massachusetts, and served for 10 years on staff as a Wilderness Technician/Ecologist with the USDA National Forest Service.

The Fan House Bed & Breakfast is an 1840’s Vermont-licensed inn and kitchen located on two acres and boasting an heirloom perennial flower, vegetable and herb gardens and an orchard of fruit trees.

The per person rates for the retreats are $272.50 for May and June and $292.50 for August.

Optional two-night lodging packages for Friday and Saturday nights at The Fan House are available at $327 per person, double, with a $50 single supplement. The house is a three-minute walk from Silver Lake and hiking trails.

To book a retreat, contact Reed at mtngirlgardening@gmail.com.