Big Magic: Creativity, Courage, and Liberation

Big Magic is a creative workshop and weekend retreat with author and speaker Elizabeth Gilbert at Kripalu Center for Yoga & Health in Stockbridge, Massachusetts. It is built for anyone curious about creative living, and no one needs to be a professional artist, writer, or maker to take part. You don't even need to be an amateur. Bring a notebook, a pen, and an open mind.

What to Expect

Through simple, playful, and intuitive exercises, and a series of letters written to and from different aspects of yourself, Liz guides the group toward a gentler relationship with its own imagination. The aim is to open the portals of your imagination so that your creativity may find you, and communicate with you. Along the way you explore your dreams and obstacles, learn about the many facets of your creative consciousness, and touch a major emotional component of what it takes to live a more creative life.

The tone is deliberately gentle and unthreatening. Liz has led this workshop with everyone from middle school students to Fortune 500 executives, and the retreat is meant to work for all of them.

The weekend runs three days, with program sessions woven through the rhythms of a Kripalu stay:

- Opening day: check-in begins at 2:00 pm, followed by a Kripalu Yoga class from 4:45 to 6:00, dinner from 5:30 to 7:30, and the first program session from 7:30 to 8:45 in the evening.
- Full day: yoga from 6:30 to 7:45 am, silent breakfast from 7:30 to 9:00, a morning session starting at 8:30, lunch from 11:30 to 1:30, an afternoon session from 1:30 to 4:30, another yoga class from 4:45 to 6:00, and dinner from 5:30 to 7:30.
- Closing day: yoga at 6:30 am, silent breakfast, a final program session from 9:00 to 11:00, then lunch and departure between 11:30 and 1:30.

Actual times and rooms may vary, and the schedule given at check-in has the details.

About Elizabeth Gilbert

Elizabeth Gilbert is the author of ten books, including Eat Pray Love and Big Magic: Creative Living Beyond Fear, which together have sold over 25 million copies worldwide. Born in Waterbury, Connecticut, she grew up on a small family Christmas tree farm and studied political science at New York University, writing short stories by night. After college she spent several years traveling the country, working in bars, diners, and ranches, collecting experiences to turn into fiction. Those years led to her first book, the story collection Pilgrims, a finalist for the PEN/Hemingway award. Annie Proulx called her "a young writer of incandescent talent." She also worked as a journalist for publications including Spin, GQ, and The New York Times Magazine, and was a three-time finalist for the National Magazine Award.

The Setting

Kripalu's accommodations are intentionally simple, meant to help you unplug and feel grounded. You can choose a private room for solitude and personal space, or a community-style shared dorm if you would like more connection with other participants. Rooms are ready by 4:00 pm, and a luggage room holds your bags until then. On the day of departure, room check-out is at 10:00 am, though you may stay on campus and take part in workshops until 2:00 pm.

Before You Go

This retreat welcomes all experience levels, and it is taught in English. Elizabeth Gilbert's book Big Magic: Creative Living Beyond Fear is the recommended reading. Please bring a notebook and pen.

Your stay includes three nutritious meals a day, more than ten yoga classes over the weekend, access to the Kripalu grounds, and all program sessions with Elizabeth Gilbert. Healing Arts sessions and purchases from the Kripalu Shop and Cafe are extra.