Paragraph NYC presents Mindful Writing with BWBH Founder Lara Wilson!

Mindful Writing is experiential, a creative practice of intention and curiosity that leads to momentary sparks of authenticity, allowing us to consider truths that we dare to record. As with mindful living, mindful writing can be eye-opening, humbling and liberating. It is courageous by nature.

This series led by mindful writing instructor, Lara Wilson, invites you to explore your story as well as your writing life with a fresh, inspired perspective. We’ll examine what prompts us to share our stories, why we make particular narrative choices and what we’re truly hoping to elucidate. What do we know, and how do we come to know it? What do we not know that might open a path to curiosity? How may we learn to or perceive anew and write about the discoveries?  

“When you write about what you don’t know, this means that you begin to think about the world at large. You enter dream and imagination. So write about what you don’t know, so that you can bring imagination into play, so you can create and explore.”

- Cynthia Ozick, Is Life Like This

Session One: Reframe Tuesday, January 23 @ 8:00 - 9:30pm
Writing may be a solitary pursuit, but all forms of storytelling are an exercise of connecting with others, entering into a dialogue with an unknown audience. This session invites you to explore the Why of your story. We’ll mindfully unravel how the relationship of the self as writer and our perceptions of the reader influence literary decisions. Here, we thoughtfully examine:

• Initiation – what prompted your current writing project and how this impacts structure

• Intention – why your story and your writing style shift throughout the creative process

• Investigation – what gets in the way of telling the truth and how to relieve this pressure

When we begin to better understand how certain conditions and circumstances shift, a more easeful and authentic creative experience unfolds. To Reframe is to free yourself from expectations or judgment through the open door of curiosity, which is where mindful writing practices become liberating. Challenges becomes our best lesson, inviting us to find new ways to wonder on the page.

Session Two: Refine Tuesday, February 13 @ 8:00 - 9:30pm
Time to revise the concept of revision through artistic Refinement. What does it mean to revisit our work, and how can we establish a mindful process that aligns with the deeper meaning of our story? This session engages the relationship between the meta concept of our Big Picture and the meaningful minutiae of detail (precise rather than trivial). By paying close attention to how we engage with more unwieldy passages in our work, we begin to recognize patterns that can be streamlined to enhance the artistry and clarity of our prose. Here, we mindfully investigate ways to:

• Frame – How to problem-solve by sustaining a cohesive and coherent narrative throughline

• Drain – Fill up and let go to truly sense how less becomes more

• Play Insane – Why a wild and crazy choice can shake up reality and reveal added clarity

Together, we’ll explore the Refinement process as an organizational path to hone structure and language. We’ll also consider factors of what Hungarian-American psychologist Mihály Csíkszentmihályi termed the flow state, when as writers, we get so lost in our creative process that we step away from the concept of time. Join us for this transformative mindful writing experience that shifts us from depletion to inspiration, sparking the depths of our imagination, inviting the flow of new words.

Session Three: Refresh Tuesday, March 19 @ 8:00 - 9:30pm
Begin again, the foundation of meditative practices as well as the writing life. Every day, a new page, a new breath, a new possibility. How might we Refresh our work, feeling refreshed overall by the process? One idea that comes from ancient wisdom: note impermanence. Another idea: seek beauty. This begins within, as we connect with our natural way to simply Be, noting the beauty of existence that is illuminated through an awareness of our common humanity. In this session, we will experiment with mindful practices that Refresh our entire Being to prompt an energetic shift in our writing. Here, we spark our sense of:

• Noticing – boost awareness in all seasons of light, shadow, limbo

• Nature – what feels relevant, what may be resonant

• Nurturing – befriending the self to sense possibility in ourselves and our characters

Together, we will Pause to actually pay attention to what refreshes us in the moment. We’ll notice what disrupts this sense of ease, and with compassion, return to our inherent wisdom for sustenance and support. Begin again in this session to cultivate a simple yet sustainable mindful practice that makes our writing – and our life – luminous.

REGISTER through Paragraph NYC

Lara Wilson, a writer, teacher and 40-year meditator, devotes her life to exploring the intersection of mindful wellbeing, nature immersion and storytelling. Intent to share the meditative practices that helped her through years of breast cancer treatment, she established the mindful wellness educational collaborative Be Well Be Here, a 501c3 nonprofit in Concord, MA. Lara’s short stories have been published in The Kenyon Review, StoryQuarterly, American Fiction, Confrontation, Indiana Review, and the Chicago Tribune Book Section as well as anthologized in Printers Row and Hacks: 10 Years on Grub Street. Her essays have been featured on NPR / WBUR’s Cognoscenti and in a collection honoring her mentor, the late Andre Dubus. Lara holds a master's degree in English and American literature from Harvard and a graduate certificate in Mindfulness Studies from Lesley University; she also earned certification in restorative yoga (RYT-200), Reiki (Level II) and advanced mindfulness trauma training (TSMa). She and her husband are the parents of four beloved adults, two of whom were married last year. Ask about her passion for forest bathing and equine experiential learning – and share your story!

Paragraph NYC presents Mindful Writing with BWBH Founder Lara Wilson!

Mindful Writing is experiential, a creative practice of intention and curiosity that leads to momentary sparks of authenticity, allowing us to consider truths that we dare to record. As with mindful living, mindful writing can be eye-opening, humbling and liberating. It is courageous by nature.

This series led by mindful writing instructor, Lara Wilson, invites you to explore your story as well as your writing life with a fresh, inspired perspective. We’ll examine what prompts us to share our stories, why we make particular narrative choices and what we’re truly hoping to elucidate. What do we know, and how do we come to know it? What do we not know that might open a path to curiosity? How may we learn to or perceive anew and write about the discoveries?  

“When you write about what you don’t know, this means that you begin to think about the world at large. You enter dream and imagination. So write about what you don’t know, so that you can bring imagination into play, so you can create and explore.”

- Cynthia Ozick, Is Life Like This

Session One: Reframe Tuesday, January 23 @ 8:00 - 9:30pm
Writing may be a solitary pursuit, but all forms of storytelling are an exercise of connecting with others, entering into a dialogue with an unknown audience. This session invites you to explore the Why of your story. We’ll mindfully unravel how the relationship of the self as writer and our perceptions of the reader influence literary decisions. Here, we thoughtfully examine:

• Initiation – what prompted your current writing project and how this impacts structure

• Intention – why your story and your writing style shift throughout the creative process

• Investigation – what gets in the way of telling the truth and how to relieve this pressure

When we begin to better understand how certain conditions and circumstances shift, a more easeful and authentic creative experience unfolds. To Reframe is to free yourself from expectations or judgment through the open door of curiosity, which is where mindful writing practices become liberating. Challenges becomes our best lesson, inviting us to find new ways to wonder on the page.

Session Two: Refine Tuesday, February 13 @ 8:00 - 9:30pm
Time to revise the concept of revision through artistic Refinement. What does it mean to revisit our work, and how can we establish a mindful process that aligns with the deeper meaning of our story? This session engages the relationship between the meta concept of our Big Picture and the meaningful minutiae of detail (precise rather than trivial). By paying close attention to how we engage with more unwieldy passages in our work, we begin to recognize patterns that can be streamlined to enhance the artistry and clarity of our prose. Here, we mindfully investigate ways to:

• Frame – How to problem-solve by sustaining a cohesive and coherent narrative throughline

• Drain – Fill up and let go to truly sense how less becomes more

• Play Insane – Why a wild and crazy choice can shake up reality and reveal added clarity

Together, we’ll explore the Refinement process as an organizational path to hone structure and language. We’ll also consider factors of what Hungarian-American psychologist Mihály Csíkszentmihályi termed the flow state, when as writers, we get so lost in our creative process that we step away from the concept of time. Join us for this transformative mindful writing experience that shifts us from depletion to inspiration, sparking the depths of our imagination, inviting the flow of new words.

Session Three: Refresh Tuesday, March 19 @ 8:00 - 9:30pm
Begin again, the foundation of meditative practices as well as the writing life. Every day, a new page, a new breath, a new possibility. How might we Refresh our work, feeling refreshed overall by the process? One idea that comes from ancient wisdom: note impermanence. Another idea: seek beauty. This begins within, as we connect with our natural way to simply Be, noting the beauty of existence that is illuminated through an awareness of our common humanity. In this session, we will experiment with mindful practices that Refresh our entire Being to prompt an energetic shift in our writing. Here, we spark our sense of:

• Noticing – boost awareness in all seasons of light, shadow, limbo

• Nature – what feels relevant, what may be resonant

• Nurturing – befriending the self to sense possibility in ourselves and our characters

Together, we will Pause to actually pay attention to what refreshes us in the moment. We’ll notice what disrupts this sense of ease, and with compassion, return to our inherent wisdom for sustenance and support. Begin again in this session to cultivate a simple yet sustainable mindful practice that makes our writing – and our life – luminous.

REGISTER through Paragraph NYC

Lara Wilson, a writer, teacher and 40-year meditator, devotes her life to exploring the intersection of mindful wellbeing, nature immersion and storytelling. Intent to share the meditative practices that helped her through years of breast cancer treatment, she established the mindful wellness educational collaborative Be Well Be Here, a 501c3 nonprofit in Concord, MA. Lara’s short stories have been published in The Kenyon Review, StoryQuarterly, American Fiction, Confrontation, Indiana Review, and the Chicago Tribune Book Section as well as anthologized in Printers Row and Hacks: 10 Years on Grub Street. Her essays have been featured on NPR / WBUR’s Cognoscenti and in a collection honoring her mentor, the late Andre Dubus. Lara holds a master's degree in English and American literature from Harvard and a graduate certificate in Mindfulness Studies from Lesley University; she also earned certification in restorative yoga (RYT-200), Reiki (Level II) and advanced mindfulness trauma training (TSMa). She and her husband are the parents of four beloved adults, two of whom were married last year. Ask about her passion for forest bathing and equine experiential learning – and share your story!

Paragraph NYC presents Mindful Writing with BWBH Founder Lara Wilson!

Mindful Writing is experiential, a creative practice of intention and curiosity that leads to momentary sparks of authenticity, allowing us to consider truths that we dare to record. As with mindful living, mindful writing can be eye-opening, humbling and liberating. It is courageous by nature.

This series led by mindful writing instructor, Lara Wilson, invites you to explore your story as well as your writing life with a fresh, inspired perspective. We’ll examine what prompts us to share our stories, why we make particular narrative choices and what we’re truly hoping to elucidate. What do we know, and how do we come to know it? What do we not know that might open a path to curiosity? How may we learn to or perceive anew and write about the discoveries?  

“When you write about what you don’t know, this means that you begin to think about the world at large. You enter dream and imagination. So write about what you don’t know, so that you can bring imagination into play, so you can create and explore.”

- Cynthia Ozick, Is Life Like This

Session One: Reframe Tuesday, January 23 @ 8:00 - 9:30pm
Writing may be a solitary pursuit, but all forms of storytelling are an exercise of connecting with others, entering into a dialogue with an unknown audience. This session invites you to explore the Why of your story. We’ll mindfully unravel how the relationship of the self as writer and our perceptions of the reader influence literary decisions. Here, we thoughtfully examine:

• Initiation – what prompted your current writing project and how this impacts structure

• Intention – why your story and your writing style shift throughout the creative process

• Investigation – what gets in the way of telling the truth and how to relieve this pressure

When we begin to better understand how certain conditions and circumstances shift, a more easeful and authentic creative experience unfolds. To Reframe is to free yourself from expectations or judgment through the open door of curiosity, which is where mindful writing practices become liberating. Challenges becomes our best lesson, inviting us to find new ways to wonder on the page.

Session Two: Refine Tuesday, February 13 @ 8:00 - 9:30pm
Time to revise the concept of revision through artistic Refinement. What does it mean to revisit our work, and how can we establish a mindful process that aligns with the deeper meaning of our story? This session engages the relationship between the meta concept of our Big Picture and the meaningful minutiae of detail (precise rather than trivial). By paying close attention to how we engage with more unwieldy passages in our work, we begin to recognize patterns that can be streamlined to enhance the artistry and clarity of our prose. Here, we mindfully investigate ways to:

• Frame – How to problem-solve by sustaining a cohesive and coherent narrative throughline

• Drain – Fill up and let go to truly sense how less becomes more

• Play Insane – Why a wild and crazy choice can shake up reality and reveal added clarity

Together, we’ll explore the Refinement process as an organizational path to hone structure and language. We’ll also consider factors of what Hungarian-American psychologist Mihály Csíkszentmihályi termed the flow state, when as writers, we get so lost in our creative process that we step away from the concept of time. Join us for this transformative mindful writing experience that shifts us from depletion to inspiration, sparking the depths of our imagination, inviting the flow of new words.

Session Three: Refresh Tuesday, March 19 @ 8:00 - 9:30pm
Begin again, the foundation of meditative practices as well as the writing life. Every day, a new page, a new breath, a new possibility. How might we Refresh our work, feeling refreshed overall by the process? One idea that comes from ancient wisdom: note impermanence. Another idea: seek beauty. This begins within, as we connect with our natural way to simply Be, noting the beauty of existence that is illuminated through an awareness of our common humanity. In this session, we will experiment with mindful practices that Refresh our entire Being to prompt an energetic shift in our writing. Here, we spark our sense of:

• Noticing – boost awareness in all seasons of light, shadow, limbo

• Nature – what feels relevant, what may be resonant

• Nurturing – befriending the self to sense possibility in ourselves and our characters

Together, we will Pause to actually pay attention to what refreshes us in the moment. We’ll notice what disrupts this sense of ease, and with compassion, return to our inherent wisdom for sustenance and support. Begin again in this session to cultivate a simple yet sustainable mindful practice that makes our writing – and our life – luminous.

REGISTER through Paragraph NYC

Lara Wilson, a writer, teacher and 40-year meditator, devotes her life to exploring the intersection of mindful wellbeing, nature immersion and storytelling. Intent to share the meditative practices that helped her through years of breast cancer treatment, she established the mindful wellness educational collaborative Be Well Be Here, a 501c3 nonprofit in Concord, MA. Lara’s short stories have been published in The Kenyon Review, StoryQuarterly, American Fiction, Confrontation, Indiana Review, and the Chicago Tribune Book Section as well as anthologized in Printers Row and Hacks: 10 Years on Grub Street. Her essays have been featured on NPR / WBUR’s Cognoscenti and in a collection honoring her mentor, the late Andre Dubus. Lara holds a master's degree in English and American literature from Harvard and a graduate certificate in Mindfulness Studies from Lesley University; she also earned certification in restorative yoga (RYT-200), Reiki (Level II) and advanced mindfulness trauma training (TSMa). She and her husband are the parents of four beloved adults, two of whom were married last year. Ask about her passion for forest bathing and equine experiential learning – and share your story!

Deepen your prose and enlighten your process at BWBH’s mindful MasterCraft Writing BEtreat® on Saturday, September 30 at 9am - 5pm. Join us at our serene space on 12 acres in Concord, MA for top-notch writing workshops, literary inspiration, wellBEing practices, nature engagement and compassionate conversation. Masterful mindful writing teachers Whitney Scharer and Lara Wilson share insights that inspire authentic storytelling and lend clarity to your writing process. Lara also guides nature immersion and mindful creativity practices to boost wellBEing.

TENTATIVE ITINERARY

Saturday, September 30:

9:00-9:30am Warm Welcome

9:30-10:00am Mindful Moment with Lara

10-11:30am The Inspired Writing Life with Whitney

11:30-12:30pm Catered Gourmet Lunch from Concord Market

12:30-1:00 Nature Walk with Lara

1:00-2:30 Your True Story: Trust Your Writerly Intuition with Lara

2:30-3:00 Mindful Break and Snack

3:00-3:30 Choose Writing Time or Compassionate Conversation

3:30-4:15 Restorative Yoga for Creativity with Lara

4:15-4:45 Closing Mindful Practice for Writers

5:00 Fond Farewell

Invest in your writing process, sense possibilities and cultivate your flow state as you to learn, explore, write and restore.

$280. Limited to 8 participants.

Be Well Be Here offers scholarships and subsidized fees to mindfully include ALL

ABOUT LARA

Lara Wilson, BWBH’s Founder, is a writer, teacher and 40-year meditator who devotes her life to exploring the intersection of mindful wellbeing, inclusive storytelling and nature immersion. Her fiction has been published in The Kenyon Review, StoryQuarterly, American Fiction, Confrontation, Indiana Review, and the Chicago Tribune Book Section as well as anthologized in Printers Row. She was awarded a 2010 Massachusetts Cultural Council Fellowship in Fiction as well as scholarships from the Bread Loaf and Sewanee Writers’ Conferences. For several years, Lara served on the board of the Friends of the Concord Free Public Library and at GrubStreet, where she taught master fiction workshops for over a decade. Since 2019, she has served as the Curator of the Concord Festival of Authors.

ABOUT WHITNEY

Whitney Scharer is the celebrated author of The Age of Light, based on the life of pioneering photographer Lee Miller, which was a Boston Globe and IndieNext bestseller and named one of the best books of 2019 by Parade, Glamour Magazine, Real Simple, Refinery 29, Booklist and Yahoo. Internationally, The Age of Light won Le prix Rive Gauche à Paris, was a coups de couer selection from the American Library in Paris, and has been published or is forthcoming in over a dozen other countries. Whitney holds a BA in English Literature from Wesleyan University and an MFA in Creative Writing from the University of Washington. She has been awarded residencies at the Virginia Center for the Arts and Ragdale, a St. Botolph Emerging Artists Grant, and a Somerville Arts Council Artists Fellowship. Her short fiction, essays, and interviews have appeared in numerous publications including Vogue, The Telegraph, The Tatler, and Bellevue Literary Review. Whitney teaches fiction in the Boston area and is a co-founder of the Arlington Author Salon. She serves as Be Well Be Here’s co-president.

Join us in BWBH’s Fresh Air Studio for this relaxing hour-long crystal bowl sound bath with meditation, brought to you in collaboration with Rachel Munyard of Rachel’s Space. Rachel will guide sensory and somatic meditation to calm the nervous system before sleep. Comforting tea will be provided as well. Show up to Be at ease and feel connected as your entire Being is surrounded by relaxing sound.

$44. Includes all props and tea service - just show up and choose your comfy space.

Be Well Be Here offers scholarships and subsidized fees to mindfully include ALL

WRITE and shine this summer! Explore ways to deepen your prose and enlighten your process at BWBH’s 3-day mindful MasterCraft Writing BEtreat®. Join us to ILLUMINATE YOUR STORY at our serene space on 12 acres in Concord, MA with top-notch writing workshops, literary inspiration, compassionate conversation and nature engagement. Be inspired by BWBH mindful mentors, bestselling authors and master instructors, Marjan Kamali (The Stationery Shop), Maryanne O’Hara (Little Matches), Michelle Hoover (Bottomland) and Jenna Blum (Woodrow on the Bench). BWBH founder Lara Wilson will guide Meditation for Creativity, restorative Nature Walks and personal Mindful Writing consulting sessions.

Please note: this is an in-person day retreat, not a residential program. For lodging recommendations, email info@bewellbehere.org

MASTERCRAFT WRITING TENTATIVE SCHEDULE

Friday, July 28:

7:00-9:30pm Fire Up Your Writing! Be Inspired by Fire Pit Practice

Kick off the BEtreat® with fun writing exercises by the fire.

Saturday, July 29:

9:00-9:30am Welcome

9:30-10:00am Mindful Moment with Lara

10-11:30am How the Shadowside Ignites Your Story with Michelle Hoover

11:30am - noon Nature Walk with Lara

12:00-12:45 Catered Lunch from Debra’s Natural Gourmet in West Concord, MA

1:00-3:00 Story Kintsugi: Writing to Heal and Restore with Maryanne O’Hara

3:00-3:30 Mindful Break

3:30-4:15 Meditation for Creativity with Lara

4:30-5:00 Closing Mindful Practice

Sunday, July 30:

9:00-9:30 Welcome

9:30-10:00 Mindful Moment with Lara

10-11:30 Maintain Joy and Stamina in Your Writing Practice with Marjan Kamali

11:30am - noon Nature Walk with Lara

12:00-12:45 Catered Lunch from Debra’s Natural Gourmet in West Concord, MA

1:00-1:30 BLAZE Your Writerly Intentions with Jenna Blum

1:30-5:30 Tarot for Creatives with Jenna / Mindful Writing with Lara

Take time to write, reflect or wander AND sign up for 30-min. 1-with-1 meetings:

Mindful Writing Your Way with Lara Wilson

Tarot for Creatives with Jenna Blum

$777 per person. Limited to 8 participants - Register today! BEtreat details, directions and info about sharing your 3-page excerpt will follow.

Be Well Be Here offers scholarships and subsidized fees to mindfully include ALL

ABOUT JENNA

Jenna Blum is the New York Times and internationally bestselling author of novels Those Who Save Us, The Stormchasers, and The Lost Family; the novella “The Lucky One” in the collection Grand Central; and the memoir Woodrow on the Bench, about her senior black Lab and what his last seven months taught her, available now from Harper Collins.

Jenna is one of Oprah’s Top Thirty Women Writers, with her work published in over 20 countries, and cofounder/CEO of literary social media marketing company A Mighty Blaze. Jenna’s New York Times and internationally bestselling first novel, Those Who Save Us, won the Ribalow Prize, awarded by Hadassah Magazine and adjudged by Elie Wiesel; Jenna interviewed Holocaust survivors for the Steven Spielberg Survivors of the Shoah Foundation for five years. Jenna is a sought-after public speaker, traveling nationally and internationally; for her 1st novel, she visited over 800 book clubs in the Boston area alone.

Jenna is based in Boston, where she has been running master fiction and novel workshops for over 20 years. She earned her M.A. in Creative Writing from Boston University and was the fiction editor for AGNI Literary Magazine. For more information about Jenna and to share her real-time adventures, please follow her on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.

ABOUT MARYANNE

Maryanne O’Hara’s deeply moving story has been featured in The New York Times, TIME Magazine, The Boston Globe and Psychology Today. Her memoir Little Matches: A Memoir of Finding Light in the Dark is a People Magazine Book of the Week and led to a New York Times story. Since the release of Little Matches, Maryanne has spoken to hundreds of general readers, medical professionals, and students, and has been hosted by Harvard Medical School’s Author Series as well as other universities, bookstores, libraries, and hospitals. Maryanne is also the author of the novel Cascade, which was the Boston Globe Book Club’s inaugural pick, a Massachusetts Book Award fiction nominee, and a People Magazine Book of the Week. Her story collection was a finalist for the Flannery O’Connor Award for Short Fiction and the Iowa Short Fiction Award. After volunteering as an end-of-life volunteer at care facilities in Boston and Pittsburgh, Maryanne trained as a certified end-of-life doula at the University of Vermont’s Larner College of Medicine in 2019.

Maryanne earned her MFA at Emerson College, where she taught creative writing and spent many years as the Associate Fiction Editor for Ploughshares, the award-winning Boston literary journal. In addition to teaching at Clark University, she won grants from the St. Botolph Club and the Massachusetts Cultural Council.

ABOUT MARJAN

Marjan Kamali is the award-winning author of The Stationery Shop (Gallery Books/Simon & Schuster), a national bestseller, and Together Tea (EccoBooks/HarperCollins), a Massachusetts Book Award finalist. She is a 2022 recipient of the National Endowment for the Arts Creative Writing Fellowship.

Kamali’s novels are published in translation in more than 20 languages (19 languages for The Stationery Shop and 8 languages for Together Tea). Her essays have appeared in the Wall Street Journal, Literary Hub, and the Los Angeles Review of Books. 

Kamali holds a bachelor’s degree in English literature from the University of California, Berkeley, a Master of Business Administration from Columbia University, and a Master of Fine Arts in creative writing from New York University. Born in Turkey to Iranian parents, Kamali spent her childhood in Turkey, Iran, Germany, Kenya, and the U.S.  She currently teaches creative writing at GrubStreet and lives in the Boston area with her family.

ABOUT MICHELLE

Michelle Hoover is a 2014 NEA Fellow in fiction. She has been the Fannie Hurst Writer-in-Residence at Brandeis University, a Writer-in-Residence at Bucknell University, a MacDowell Fellow, and a winner of the PEN/New England Discovery Award. Her debut, The Quickening, was a 2010 Massachusetts Book Award “Must Read,” and her novel Bottomland was the 2017 All Iowa Reads selection. Michelle co-created and now leads GrubStreet’s year-long Novel Incubator program, with many students experiencing publishing success as well as lifelong literary camaraderie due to Michelle’s dedication, encouragement and leadership. A native of Iowa, Michelle divides her time between Cypress and Boston.

ABOUT LARA

Lara Wilson, BWBH’s Founder, is a writer, teacher and 40-year meditator who devotes her life to exploring the intersection of mindful wellbeing, inclusive storytelling and nature immersion. Her fiction has been published in The Kenyon Review, StoryQuarterly, American Fiction, Confrontation, Indiana Review, and the Chicago Tribune Book Section as well as anthologized in Printers Row. She was awarded a 2010 Massachusetts Cultural Council Fellowship in Fiction as well as scholarships from the Bread Loaf and Sewanee Writers’ Conferences. For several years, Lara served on the board of the Friends of the Concord Free Public Library and at GrubStreet, where she taught master fiction workshops for over a decade. Since 2019, she has served as the Curator of the Concord Festival of Authors.

WRITE and shine this summer! Explore ways to deepen your prose and enlighten your process at BWBH’s 3-day mindful MasterCraft Writing BEtreat®. Join us to ILLUMINATE YOUR STORY at our serene space on 12 acres in Concord, MA with top-notch writing workshops, literary inspiration, compassionate conversation and nature engagement. Be inspired by BWBH mindful mentors, bestselling authors and master instructors, Marjan Kamali (The Stationery Shop), Maryanne O’Hara (Little Matches), Michelle Hoover (Bottomland) and Jenna Blum (Woodrow on the Bench). BWBH founder Lara Wilson will guide Meditation for Creativity, restorative Nature Walks and personal Mindful Writing consulting sessions.

Please note: this is an in-person day retreat, not a residential program. For lodging recommendations, email info@bewellbehere.org

MASTERCRAFT WRITING TENTATIVE SCHEDULE

Friday, July 28:

7:00-9:30pm Fire Up Your Writing! Be Inspired by Fire Pit Practice

Kick off the BEtreat® with fun writing exercises by the fire.

Saturday, July 29:

9:00-9:30am Welcome

9:30-10:00am Mindful Moment with Lara

10-11:30am How the Shadowside Ignites Your Story with Michelle Hoover

11:30am - noon Nature Walk with Lara

12:00-12:45 Catered Lunch from Debra’s Natural Gourmet in West Concord, MA

1:00-3:00 Story Kintsugi: Writing to Heal and Restore with Maryanne O’Hara

3:00-3:30 Mindful Break

3:30-4:15 Meditation for Creativity with Lara

4:30-5:00 Closing Mindful Practice

Sunday, July 30:

9:00-9:30 Welcome

9:30-10:00 Mindful Moment with Lara

10-11:30 Maintain Joy and Stamina in Your Writing Practice with Marjan Kamali

11:30am - noon Nature Walk with Lara

12:00-12:45 Catered Lunch from Debra’s Natural Gourmet in West Concord, MA

1:00-1:30 BLAZE Your Writerly Intentions with Jenna Blum

1:30-5:00 Tarot for Creatives with Jenna / Mindful Writing with Lara

Take time to write, reflect or wander AND sign up for 30-min. 1-with-1 meetings:

Mindful Writing Your Way with Lara Wilson

Tarot for Creatives with Jenna Blum

$777 per person. Limited to 8 participants - Register today! BEtreat details, directions and info about sharing your 3-page excerpt will follow.

Be Well Be Here offers scholarships and subsidized fees to mindfully include ALL

ABOUT JENNA

Jenna Blum is the New York Times and internationally bestselling author of novels Those Who Save Us, The Stormchasers, and The Lost Family; the novella “The Lucky One” in the collection Grand Central; and the memoir Woodrow on the Bench, about her senior black Lab and what his last seven months taught her, available now from Harper Collins.

Jenna is one of Oprah’s Top Thirty Women Writers, with her work published in over 20 countries, and cofounder/CEO of literary social media marketing company A Mighty Blaze. Jenna’s New York Times and internationally bestselling first novel, Those Who Save Us, won the Ribalow Prize, awarded by Hadassah Magazine and adjudged by Elie Wiesel; Jenna interviewed Holocaust survivors for the Steven Spielberg Survivors of the Shoah Foundation for five years. Jenna is a sought-after public speaker, traveling nationally and internationally; for her 1st novel, she visited over 800 book clubs in the Boston area alone.

Jenna is based in Boston, where she has been running master fiction and novel workshops for over 20 years. She earned her M.A. in Creative Writing from Boston University and was the fiction editor for AGNI Literary Magazine. For more information about Jenna and to share her real-time adventures, please follow her on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.

ABOUT MARYANNE

Maryanne O’Hara’s deeply moving story has been featured in The New York Times, TIME Magazine, The Boston Globe and Psychology Today. Her memoir Little Matches: A Memoir of Finding Light in the Dark is a People Magazine Book of the Week and led to a New York Times story. Since the release of Little Matches, Maryanne has spoken to hundreds of general readers, medical professionals, and students, and has been hosted by Harvard Medical School’s Author Series as well as other universities, bookstores, libraries, and hospitals. Maryanne is also the author of the novel Cascade, which was the Boston Globe Book Club’s inaugural pick, a Massachusetts Book Award fiction nominee, and a People Magazine Book of the Week. Her story collection was a finalist for the Flannery O’Connor Award for Short Fiction and the Iowa Short Fiction Award. After volunteering as an end-of-life volunteer at care facilities in Boston and Pittsburgh, Maryanne trained as a certified end-of-life doula at the University of Vermont’s Larner College of Medicine in 2019.

Maryanne earned her MFA at Emerson College, where she taught creative writing and spent many years as the Associate Fiction Editor for Ploughshares, the award-winning Boston literary journal. In addition to teaching at Clark University, she won grants from the St. Botolph Club and the Massachusetts Cultural Council.

ABOUT MARJAN

Marjan Kamali is the award-winning author of The Stationery Shop (Gallery Books/Simon & Schuster), a national bestseller, and Together Tea (EccoBooks/HarperCollins), a Massachusetts Book Award finalist. She is a 2022 recipient of the National Endowment for the Arts Creative Writing Fellowship.

Kamali’s novels are published in translation in more than 20 languages (19 languages for The Stationery Shop and 8 languages for Together Tea). Her essays have appeared in the Wall Street Journal, Literary Hub, and the Los Angeles Review of Books. 

Kamali holds a bachelor’s degree in English literature from the University of California, Berkeley, a Master of Business Administration from Columbia University, and a Master of Fine Arts in creative writing from New York University. Born in Turkey to Iranian parents, Kamali spent her childhood in Turkey, Iran, Germany, Kenya, and the U.S.  She currently teaches creative writing at GrubStreet and lives in the Boston area with her family.

ABOUT MICHELLE

Michelle Hoover is a 2014 NEA Fellow in fiction. She has been the Fannie Hurst Writer-in-Residence at Brandeis University, a Writer-in-Residence at Bucknell University, a MacDowell Fellow, and a winner of the PEN/New England Discovery Award. Her debut, The Quickening, was a 2010 Massachusetts Book Award “Must Read,” and her novel Bottomland was the 2017 All Iowa Reads selection. Michelle co-created and now leads GrubStreet’s year-long Novel Incubator program, with many students experiencing publishing success as well as lifelong literary camaraderie due to Michelle’s dedication, encouragement and leadership. A native of Iowa, Michelle divides her time between Cypress and Boston.

ABOUT LARA

Lara Wilson, BWBH’s Founder, is a writer, teacher and 40-year meditator who devotes her life to exploring the intersection of mindful wellbeing, inclusive storytelling and nature immersion. Her fiction has been published in The Kenyon Review, StoryQuarterly, American Fiction, Confrontation, Indiana Review, and the Chicago Tribune Book Section as well as anthologized in Printers Row. She was awarded a 2010 Massachusetts Cultural Council Fellowship in Fiction as well as scholarships from the Bread Loaf and Sewanee Writers’ Conferences. For several years, Lara served on the board of the Friends of the Concord Free Public Library and at GrubStreet, where she taught master fiction workshops for over a decade. Since 2019, she has served as the Curator of the Concord Festival of Authors.

WRITE and shine this summer! Explore ways to deepen your prose and enlighten your process at BWBH’s 3-day mindful MasterCraft Writing BEtreat®. Join us to ILLUMINATE YOUR STORY at our serene space on 12 acres in Concord, MA with top-notch writing workshops, literary inspiration, compassionate conversation and nature engagement. Be inspired by BWBH mindful mentors, bestselling authors and master instructors, Marjan Kamali (The Stationery Shop), Maryanne O’Hara (Little Matches), Michelle Hoover (Bottomland) and Jenna Blum (Woodrow on the Bench). BWBH founder Lara Wilson will guide Meditation for Creativity, restorative Nature Walks and personal Mindful Writing consulting sessions.

Please note: this is an in-person day retreat, not a residential program. For lodging recommendations, email info@bewellbehere.org

MASTERCRAFT WRITING TENTATIVE SCHEDULE

Friday, July 28:

7:00-9:30pm Fire Up Your Writing! Be Inspired by Fire Pit Practice

Kick off the BEtreat® with fun writing exercises by the fire.

Saturday, July 29:

9:00-9:30am Welcome

9:30-10:00am Mindful Moment with Lara

10-11:30am How the Shadowside Ignites Your Story with Michelle Hoover

11:30am - noon Nature Walk with Lara

12:00-12:45 Catered Lunch from Debra’s Natural Gourmet in West Concord, MA

1:00-3:00 Story Kintsugi: Writing to Heal and Restore with Maryanne O’Hara

3:00-3:30 Mindful Break

3:30-4:15 Meditation for Creativity with Lara

4:30-5:00 Closing Mindful Practice

Sunday, July 30:

9:00-9:30 Welcome

9:30-10:00 Mindful Moment with Lara

10-11:30 Maintain Joy and Stamina in Your Writing Practice with Marjan Kamali

11:30am - noon Nature Walk with Lara

12:00-12:45 Catered Lunch from Debra’s Natural Gourmet in West Concord, MA

1:00-1:30 BLAZE Your Writerly Intentions with Jenna Blum

1:30-5:30 Tarot for Creatives with Jenna / Mindful Writing with Lara

Take time to write, reflect or wander AND sign up for 30-min. 1-with-1 meetings:

Mindful Writing Your Way with Lara Wilson

Tarot for Creatives with Jenna Blum

$777 per person. Limited to 8 participants - Register today! BEtreat details, directions and info about sharing your 3-page excerpt will follow.

Be Well Be Here offers scholarships and subsidized fees to mindfully include ALL

ABOUT JENNA

Jenna Blum is the New York Times and internationally bestselling author of novels Those Who Save Us, The Stormchasers, and The Lost Family; the novella “The Lucky One” in the collection Grand Central; and the memoir Woodrow on the Bench, about her senior black Lab and what his last seven months taught her, available now from Harper Collins.

Jenna is one of Oprah’s Top Thirty Women Writers, with her work published in over 20 countries, and cofounder/CEO of literary social media marketing company A Mighty Blaze. Jenna’s New York Times and internationally bestselling first novel, Those Who Save Us, won the Ribalow Prize, awarded by Hadassah Magazine and adjudged by Elie Wiesel; Jenna interviewed Holocaust survivors for the Steven Spielberg Survivors of the Shoah Foundation for five years. Jenna is a sought-after public speaker, traveling nationally and internationally; for her 1st novel, she visited over 800 book clubs in the Boston area alone.

Jenna is based in Boston, where she has been running master fiction and novel workshops for over 20 years. She earned her M.A. in Creative Writing from Boston University and was the fiction editor for AGNI Literary Magazine. For more information about Jenna and to share her real-time adventures, please follow her on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.

ABOUT MARYANNE

Maryanne O’Hara’s deeply moving story has been featured in The New York Times, TIME Magazine, The Boston Globe and Psychology Today. Her memoir Little Matches: A Memoir of Finding Light in the Dark is a People Magazine Book of the Week and led to a New York Times story. Since the release of Little Matches, Maryanne has spoken to hundreds of general readers, medical professionals, and students, and has been hosted by Harvard Medical School’s Author Series as well as other universities, bookstores, libraries, and hospitals. Maryanne is also the author of the novel Cascade, which was the Boston Globe Book Club’s inaugural pick, a Massachusetts Book Award fiction nominee, and a People Magazine Book of the Week. Her story collection was a finalist for the Flannery O’Connor Award for Short Fiction and the Iowa Short Fiction Award. After volunteering as an end-of-life volunteer at care facilities in Boston and Pittsburgh, Maryanne trained as a certified end-of-life doula at the University of Vermont’s Larner College of Medicine in 2019.

Maryanne earned her MFA at Emerson College, where she taught creative writing and spent many years as the Associate Fiction Editor for Ploughshares, the award-winning Boston literary journal. In addition to teaching at Clark University, she won grants from the St. Botolph Club and the Massachusetts Cultural Council.

ABOUT MARJAN

Marjan Kamali is the award-winning author of The Stationery Shop (Gallery Books/Simon & Schuster), a national bestseller, and Together Tea (EccoBooks/HarperCollins), a Massachusetts Book Award finalist. She is a 2022 recipient of the National Endowment for the Arts Creative Writing Fellowship.

Kamali’s novels are published in translation in more than 20 languages (19 languages for The Stationery Shop and 8 languages for Together Tea). Her essays have appeared in the Wall Street Journal, Literary Hub, and the Los Angeles Review of Books. 

Kamali holds a bachelor’s degree in English literature from the University of California, Berkeley, a Master of Business Administration from Columbia University, and a Master of Fine Arts in creative writing from New York University. Born in Turkey to Iranian parents, Kamali spent her childhood in Turkey, Iran, Germany, Kenya, and the U.S.  She currently teaches creative writing at GrubStreet and lives in the Boston area with her family.

ABOUT MICHELLE

Michelle Hoover is a 2014 NEA Fellow in fiction. She has been the Fannie Hurst Writer-in-Residence at Brandeis University, a Writer-in-Residence at Bucknell University, a MacDowell Fellow, and a winner of the PEN/New England Discovery Award. Her debut, The Quickening, was a 2010 Massachusetts Book Award “Must Read,” and her novel Bottomland was the 2017 All Iowa Reads selection. Michelle co-created and now leads GrubStreet’s year-long Novel Incubator program, with many students experiencing publishing success as well as lifelong literary camaraderie due to Michelle’s dedication, encouragement and leadership. A native of Iowa, Michelle divides her time between Cypress and Boston.

ABOUT LARA

Lara Wilson, BWBH’s Founder, is a writer, teacher and 40-year meditator who devotes her life to exploring the intersection of mindful wellbeing, inclusive storytelling and nature immersion. Her fiction has been published in The Kenyon Review, StoryQuarterly, American Fiction, Confrontation, Indiana Review, and the Chicago Tribune Book Section as well as anthologized in Printers Row. She was awarded a 2010 Massachusetts Cultural Council Fellowship in Fiction as well as scholarships from the Bread Loaf and Sewanee Writers’ Conferences. For several years, Lara served on the board of the Friends of the Concord Free Public Library and at GrubStreet, where she taught master fiction workshops for over a decade. Since 2019, she has served as the Curator of the Concord Festival of Authors.

Your WellBEing BEtreat

BWBH’s first in-person WellBEing BEtreat of 2023!

Let your new year project Be YOU! Commit to your wellBEing with a day of creative workshops, inner exploration, compassionate conversation and restorative practices that enhance wellBEing. Be present at BWBH’s beautiful, calming BEtreat space in rural Concord, MA on Sunday, January 22 at 1 - 4 p.m.

1:00 pm  Welcome!

1:15 pm   Release and refresh with Mindful Movement with Molly

2:00 pm   Discover Your Way to Meditate for wellBEing with Lara

2:45 pm   Learn to Trust Yourself through intuitive exercises with Heather

3:30 pm   Gather to clarify your Personal WellBEing Program and begin right away!

4:00 pm   Fond Farewell

Space is limited to 8 participants to provide personalized attention.

Half-Day BEtreat for $124. Invest in Your WellBEing today!

Be Well Be Here offers scholarships and subsidized fees to share practice with ALL.

Please Be in touch if you have questions by emailing Jen at info@bewellbehere.org

Your BEtreat Guides

Molly Delehey is the founder and facilitator of Wellness Workshops, playful somatic experiences that rejuvenate the spirit and spark our natural “flow state.” With a long career as a creative dramatics teacher and as a former member of ImprovBoston, Molly introduces the concept of mindful wellness through creative movement and engaged playfulness. Her unique approach invites us to be in the moment with curiosity, compassion and fun for optimal well-being. Molly has taught in corporate, education and community settings in the greater Boston area. She is also a Kripalu-certified Shake Your Soul® Yoga Dance instructor. For more info, visit mollydelehey.com

Heather Maguire has a motto for us all: Trust yourself. As the Unconventional Intuitive, she invites us to listen mindfully to our inner voice and intuition as we step forward on the path. As Heather puts it, “I am an intuitive, which means I’m super sensitive. Through training and experience, I’ve developed practices that help us gain awareness of our inner world, to relax and trust that we are exactly who we are meant to be. My work helps people sense and trust their intuition, a super powers that helps us feel more confident, open to possibility and aligned with our purpose.” For more info, visit unconventionalintuitive.com

Lara Wilson is the founder and executive director of Be Well Be Here. Her experience as a lifelong student of meditation, a storyteller, a writing teacher, a collaborator, and a devotee of holistic health inspire her to share her expansive mindful wellness methodologies with a broader community. Her mission to compassionately connect and co-create mindful wellness practices with people of all ages and backgrounds continues to inspire the collaborative offerings at Be Well Be Here. For more info, visit BWBH’s FAQ page and scroll to Why We Do What We Do

Sensing a season of stress? Pause… and care for your own wellBeing in order to show up for others. BWBH’s BEtreat for WellBeing on November 6 invites you to release stress through joyful movement and gentle meditation, discover your intuitive gifts, and relaaaaaax in a Sound Bath in the Fresh Air Studio.

Space is limited for personalized attention at the BWBH BEtreat space on over 12 acres of natural beauty in rural Concord, MA. Register today to Be Present for WellBeing and Source What Serves You!

BEtreat for WellBeing Itinerary for Sunday, November 6

1:00 - 1:15 Welcome!

1:15 - 2:00 Move with Joy, a movement experience designed to recalibrate your nervous system while energizing the body. Join us as we move, groove and awaken our innate sense of freedom, expression and joy! Led by Molly Delehey, Kripalu-certified Shake Your Soul™ and Wellness Workshop instructor.

2:00 - 2:15 Meditate for WellBeing to experience a deep sense of ease through gentle guided meditation that honors your way of Being. Led by BWBH founder, Lara Wilson.

2:15 - 2:30 Tea Time Snack Break - Enjoy healthy treats from Debra’s Natural Gourmet in West Concord.

2:30 -3:30 Sense Your Intuition invites you to open your awareness to the deeper levels of communication that your physical senses have to share with you. Led by Heather Maguire, the Unconventional Intuitive.

3:30 - 4:45 Crystal Bowl Sound Bath. Wrap yourself in comfort as you soak up the healing energy of crystal bowl resonance and beautiful overtone singing. Led by Brian Russo of Be Sound Now.

4:45 - 5:00 Closing Mindful Practice

Space is limited for greater wellBEing and to provide personalized attention.

Half-Day BEtreat for $148. Just a few spaces remain - Register today!

Be Well Be Here offers scholarships and subsidized fees to share practice with ALL. Please Be in touch if you have any questions by emailing Jen at info@bewellbehere.org

Writing from the Inner Life

BWBH Creative Writing Workshops

in collaboration with Louisa May Alcott’s Orchard House!

Join us for mindful writing workshops in the Concord School of Philosophy at

Orchard House 399 Lexington Road     Concord, MA  01742

BE Inspired to Write through Wisdom from the Alcotts 

How may the wisdom of the past inspire us to creatively tell our story today? Join Be Well Be Here founder, author and writing instructor Lara Wilson for this creative writing workshop inspired by the words of Concord’s Alcott family. We’ll experiment with ways to engage the observational mode and wisely choose expressive language that resonates. Discover writing techniques that open the mind, ease the intellect and ignite your inner wisdom. All levels welcome!

Compelling Characters: Jo March’s Words of Wisdom Wednesday, September 21 at 7:00 – 8:00 pm

Be inspired by the writerly longings of Jo March from Louisa May Alcott's Little Women:  “I want to do something splendid before I go into my castle—something heroic, or wonderful—that won’t be forgotten after I’m dead. I don’t know what, but I’m on the watch for it, and mean to astonish you all, some day. I think I shall write books…” 

Mysteries of Imagination: Louisa May Alcott & Mary Oliver Thursday, September 29 at 7:00 – 8:00 pm

Discover the literary mysteries that spark your imagination as we consider the creative process as described by poet Mary Oliver and Louisa May Alcott, who wrote “Human minds are more full of mysteries than any written book and more changeable than the cloud shapes in the air.” — from The Abbot's Ghost: A Christmas Story

Space is limited at the Orchard House School of Philosophy

Register through LouisaMayAlcott.org

Writers & Creative Friends - do you seek deeper inspiration and clarity for your work-in-process? Trying to start a new project or choose between multiple storytelling options? Struggling with writer doubt (who isn't)?

The Signs, Synchronicities & Storytelling BEtreat is for you! Join us for a day of literary inspiration through creative workshops, nature exploration, compassionate conversation and Tarot power — and enjoy time to write in a beautiful, calming space.

This BEtreat offered by Be Well Be Here in collaboration with Blaze Tarot features New York Times / international bestselling author and co-founder of A Mighty Blaze, Jenna Blum, who specializes in Tarot readings for creatives and their projects, especially books! Jenna will share writing wisdom with the group and offer personal Tarot sessions to help guide you toward inspired next steps in your writing life.

Jenna will be joined by celebrated memoirist, speaker and healthcare activist, Maryanne O’Hara, author of Little Matches: A Memoir of Finding Light in the Dark. Maryanne’s Mindful Storytelling Session will explore how the synchronicities that we humans experience help us find meaning and purpose in our lives. Using images and reflections that speak to universal themes, Maryanne will share her story of finding light in our darkest hours and offer suggestions for discovering one’s purpose.

The Signs, Synchronicities & Storytelling BEtreat invites you to Be inspired, boost your creativity and come home to your natural way of wellBeing!

Sunday, September 25 at 9 am - 5:30 pm in Concord, MA

Choose the half- or full-day program on Sunday, September 25:

9:00-9:15 MORNING PROGRAM WELCOME

9:15-9:30 Meditation for Creativity with BWBH Founder, Lara Wilson

9:30-11:00 Synchronicities & Storytelling with Maryanne O’Hara

11:15-12:00 Inspiration in Nature, an outdoor experience with Lara Wilson

12:00-12:45 LUNCHTIME TRANSITION (Lunch included for morning program*)

12:45 - 1:00 AFTERNOON PROGRAM WELCOME

1:00-1:30 Creativity and Tarot Talk with Jenna Blum

1:30-5:00 Tarot & Time to Write

Tarot Readings with Jenna (30 minutes)

Afternoon time to write, chat about the writing process, walk in nature and Be present

5:00-5:30 Closing Mindful Practice

Space is limited to 8 participants for greater wellBEing and to provide personalized attention.

Half-Day BEtreat for $144 (choose morning or afternoon)

Full-Day BEtreat for $288

Be Well Be Here offers scholarships and subsidized fees to share practice with ALL. Please Be in touch if you have any questions by emailing Jen at info@bewellbehere.org

*Lunch options from Debra’s Natural Gourmet will be shared after registration.

ABOUT JENNA

Jenna Blum is the New York Times and internationally bestselling author of novels Those Who Save Us, The Stormchasers, and The Lost Family; the novella “The Lucky One” in the collection Grand Central; and the memoir Woodrow on the Bench, about her senior black Lab and what his last seven months taught her, available now from Harper Collins.

Jenna is one of Oprah’s Top Thirty Women Writers, with her work published in over 20 countries, and cofounder/CEO of literary social media marketing company A Mighty Blaze. Jenna’s New York Times and internationally bestselling first novel, Those Who Save Us, won the Ribalow Prize, awarded by Hadassah Magazine and adjudged by Elie Wiesel; Jenna interviewed Holocaust survivors for the Steven Spielberg Survivors of the Shoah Foundation for five years. Jenna is a sought-after public speaker, traveling nationally and internationally; for her 1st novel, she visited over 800 book clubs in the Boston area alone.

Jenna is based in Boston, where she has been running master fiction and novel workshops for over 20 years. She earned her M.A. in Creative Writing from Boston University and was the fiction editor for AGNI Literary Magazine. For more information about Jenna and to share her real-time adventures, please follow her on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.

ABOUT MARYANNE

Maryanne O’Hara’s deeply moving story has been featured in The New York Times, TIME Magazine, The Boston Globe and Psychology Today. Her book Little Matches: A Memoir of Finding Light in the Dark has been a People Magazine Book of the Week and led to a New York Times Magazine cover story. Since the release of Little Matches, Maryanne has spoken to hundreds of general readers, medical professionals, and students, and has been hosted by Harvard Medical School’s Author Series as well as other universities, bookstores, libraries, and hospitals. Maryanne is also the author of the novel Cascade, which was the Boston Globe Book Club’s inaugural pick, a finalist for the Massachusetts Book Award, and a People Magazine Book of the Week. Her story collection was a finalist for the Flannery O’Connor Award for Short Fiction and the Iowa Short Fiction Award. After volunteering as an end-of-life volunteer at care facilities in Boston and Pittsburgh, Maryanne trained as a certified end-of-life doula at the University of Vermont’s Larner College of Medicine in 2019.

Maryanne earned her MFA at Emerson College, where she taught creative writing and spent many years as the Associate Fiction Editor for Ploughshares, the award-winning Boston literary journal. In addition to teaching at Clark University, she won grants from the St. Botolph Club and the Massachusetts Cultural Council.

Learn more about Maryanne’s literary journey on Instagram and Facebook, and sign up for occasional updates, doses of optimism and more.

Writing from the Inner Life

BWBH Creative Writing Workshops

in collaboration with Louisa May Alcott’s Orchard House!

Join us for mindful writing workshops in the Concord School of Philosophy at

Orchard House 399 Lexington Road     Concord, MA  01742

BE Inspired to Write through Wisdom from the Alcotts 

How may the wisdom of the past inspire us to creatively tell our story today? Join Be Well Be Here founder, author and writing instructor Lara Wilson for this creative writing workshop inspired by the words of Concord’s Alcott family. We’ll experiment with ways to engage the observational mode and wisely choose expressive language that resonates. Discover writing techniques that open the mind, ease the intellect and ignite your inner wisdom. All levels welcome!

Compelling Characters: Jo March’s Words of Wisdom Wednesday, September 21 at 7:00 – 8:00 pm

Be inspired by the writerly longings of Jo March from Louisa May Alcott's Little Women:  “I want to do something splendid before I go into my castle—something heroic, or wonderful—that won’t be forgotten after I’m dead. I don’t know what, but I’m on the watch for it, and mean to astonish you all, some day. I think I shall write books…” 

Mysteries of Imagination: Louisa May Alcott & Mary Oliver Thursday, September 29 at 7:00 – 8:00 pm

Discover the literary mysteries that spark your imagination as we consider the creative process as described by poet Mary Oliver and Louisa May Alcott, who wrote “Human minds are more full of mysteries than any written book and more changeable than the cloud shapes in the air.” — from The Abbot's Ghost: A Christmas Story

Space is limited at the Orchard House School of Philosophy

Register through LouisaMayAlcott.org

Writing from the Inner Life

Creative Writing Workshops

in collaboration with Louisa May Alcott’s Orchard House

In person at the Concord School of Philosophy on the grounds of Orchard House

399 Lexington Road     Concord, MA  01742

BE INSPIRED TO WRITE through Wisdom from the Alcotts! 

How may the wisdom of the past inspire us to creatively tell our story today? Join Be Well Be Here founder, author and writing instructor Lara Wilson for this creative writing workshop inspired by the words of Concord’s Alcott family. We’ll experiment with ways to engage the observational mode and wisely choose expressive language that resonates. Discover writing techniques that open the mind, ease the intellect and ignite your inner wisdom. All levels welcome!

Be Inspired to Write – Louisa’s Words of Wisdom

Thursday, August 4 at 7:30 – 8:30 pm

Be inspired by beloved author Louisa May Alcott's own observation that wishing to believe can often be enough:"Far away there in the sunshine are my highest aspirations.  I may not reach them, but I can look up and see their beauty, believe in them, and try to follow where they lead." 

Be Inspired to Write – Bronson’s Words of Wisdom

Thursday, August 11 at 7:30 – 8:30 pm

Be guided in new directions by the encouraging words of A. Bronson Alcott—educator, philosopher, social reformer—about conflict in storytelling: "Our bravest and best lessons are not learned through success, but through misadventure."  

REGISTER TODAY – Space is limited for these in-person writing workshops!

Writing from the Inner Life

Creative Writing Workshops

in collaboration with Louisa May Alcott’s Orchard House

In person at the Concord School of Philosophy on the grounds of Orchard House

399 Lexington Road     Concord, MA  01742

BE INSPIRED TO WRITE through Wisdom from the Alcotts! 

How may the wisdom of the past inspire us to creatively tell our story today? Join Be Well Be Here founder, author and writing instructor Lara Wilson for this creative writing workshop inspired by the words of Concord’s Alcott family. We’ll experiment with ways to engage the observational mode and wisely choose expressive language that resonates. Discover writing techniques that open the mind, ease the intellect and ignite your inner wisdom. All levels welcome!

Be Inspired to Write – Louisa’s Words of Wisdom

Thursday, August 4 at 7:30 – 8:30 pm

Be inspired by beloved author Louisa May Alcott's own observation that wishing to believe can often be enough:"Far away there in the sunshine are my highest aspirations.  I may not reach them, but I can look up and see their beauty, believe in them, and try to follow where they lead." 

Be Inspired to Write – Bronson’s Words of Wisdom

Thursday, August 11 at 7:30 – 8:30 pm

Be guided in new directions by the encouraging words of A. Bronson Alcott—educator, philosopher, social reformer—about conflict in storytelling: "Our bravest and best lessons are not learned through success, but through misadventure."  

REGISTER TODAY – Space is limited for these in-person writing workshops!

Summer…time to heat up your creativity! Are you seeking deeper inspiration and clarity for your work-in-process? Trying to start a new project or choose between multiple storytelling options? Struggling with writer doubt (who isn't)? The Signs, Synchronicities & Storytelling BEtreat is for you!

Join us for a day of literary inspiration through creative workshops, nature exploration, meditation, compassionate conversation and Tarot power — and enjoy time to write in a beautiful, calming space.

This BEtreat offered by Be Well Be Here in collaboration with Blaze Tarot features New York Times / international bestselling author and co-founder of A Mighty Blaze, Jenna Blum, who specializes in Tarot readings for creatives and their projects, especially books! Jenna will share writing wisdom and offer personal Tarot sessions to help guide you toward inspired next steps in your writing life.

Jenna will be joined by celebrated memoirist, speaker and healthcare activist, Maryanne O’Hara, author of Little Matches: A Memoir of Finding Light in the Dark. Maryanne’s Mindful Storytelling Session will explore how the synchronicities that we humans experience help us find meaning and purpose in our lives. Using images and reflections that speak to universal themes, Maryanne will shares her story of resilience, of finding light in our darkest hours, and offer suggestions for discovering one’s purpose.

Have a scene or section of your work that feels stuck? Be Well Be Here founder Lara Wilson, longtime writing teacher, short story author and curator of the Concord Festival of Authors will guide you through an inspirational editorial exercise with 3 pages of your work to help you Process your Process. Lara will also share popular BWBH practices: meditation for creativity and a mindful Nature Walk.

The Signs, Synchronicities & Storytelling BEtreat invites you to Be inspired, boost your creativity and come home to your natural way of wellBeing!

Here’s the tentative schedule on Sunday, June 26:

9:00-9:30 Welcome

9:30-10:00 Meditation for Creativity

10:00-11:30 Mindful Storytelling Session with Maryanne O’Hara

11:30-12:00 Nature Walk with Lara

12:00-12:45 Catered Lunch from Debra’s Natural Gourmet in West Concord, MA

1:00-1:30 Creativity & Tarot Talk with Jenna Blum

1:30-5:30 Time to Write, Walk, Contemplate

30-minute Process your Process Editorial Sessions with Lara

30-minute Individual Tarot Readings with Jenna (booked separately)

5:30-6:00 Closing Mindful Practice

$330 per person. Limited to 8 participants. BEtreat details, directions and info about sharing a 3-page excerpt for your afternoon session with Lara will follow.

Tarot Reading with Jenna for an additional $50. Book your 30-minute personal Tarot Reading by emailing your preferred time between 1:30 - 5:30 pm to info@bewellbehere.org

Be Well Be Here offers scholarships and subsidized fees to share practice with ALL.

ABOUT JENNA

Jenna Blum is the New York Times and internationally bestselling author of novels Those Who Save Us, The Stormchasers, and The Lost Family; the novella “The Lucky One” in the collection Grand Central; and the memoir Woodrow on the Bench, about her senior black Lab and what his last seven months taught her, available now from Harper Collins.

Jenna is one of Oprah’s Top Thirty Women Writers, with her work published in over 20 countries, and cofounder/CEO of literary social media marketing company A Mighty Blaze. Jenna’s New York Times and internationally bestselling first novel, Those Who Save Us, won the Ribalow Prize, awarded by Hadassah Magazine and adjudged by Elie Wiesel; Jenna interviewed Holocaust survivors for the Steven Spielberg Survivors of the Shoah Foundation for five years. Jenna is a sought-after public speaker, traveling nationally and internationally; for her 1st novel, she visited over 800 book clubs in the Boston area alone.

Jenna is based in Boston, where she has been running master fiction and novel workshops for over 20 years. She earned her M.A. in Creative Writing from Boston University and was the fiction editor for AGNI Literary Magazine. For more information about Jenna and to share her real-time adventures, please follow her on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.

ABOUT MARYANNE

Maryanne O’Hara’s deeply moving story has been featured in The New York Times, TIME Magazine, The Boston Globe and Psychology Today. Her book Little Matches: A Memoir of Finding Light in the Dark has been a People Magazine Book of the Week and led to a New York Times Magazine cover story. Since the release of Little Matches, Maryanne has spoken to hundreds of general readers, medical professionals, and students, and has been hosted by Harvard Medical School’s Author Series as well as other universities, bookstores, libraries, and hospitals. Maryanne is also the author of the novel Cascade, which was the Boston Globe Book Club’s inaugural pick, a finalist for the Massachusetts Book Award, and a People Magazine Book of the Week. Her story collection was a finalist for the Flannery O’Connor Award for Short Fiction and the Iowa Short Fiction Award. After volunteering as an end-of-life volunteer at care facilities in Boston and Pittsburgh, Maryanne trained as a certified end-of-life doula at the University of Vermont’s Larner College of Medicine in 2019.

Maryanne earned her MFA at Emerson College, where she taught creative writing and spent many years as the Associate Fiction Editor for Ploughshares, the award-winning Boston literary journal. In addition to teaching at Clark University, she won grants from the St. Botolph Club and the Massachusetts Cultural Council.

Learn more about Maryanne’s literary journey on Instagram and Facebook, and sign up for occasional updates, doses of optimism and more.

Holiday Half-Day BEtreats

In Person with Be Well Be Here

*Due to the recent Covid surge, this event has been postponed. Stay tuned for spring BEtreats!

Wrap up 2021 with personalized mindful wellness practices at Be Well Be Here’s glorious retreat space in rural Concord, MA. Each Holiday Half-Day BEtreat offers soothing mindful practices compassionately co-created for you by expert guides to inspire and rejuvenate. BEtreat yourself, a love one and a friend for optimal wellbeing!

Write for WellBEing Tuesday, Dec. 28 at 1:00 – 5:30 pm

Writing is a mindful practice that helps us shed burdens, gain perspective and reframe old stories to inspire new possibilities. Join mindful writers and wellness professionals Nina Englander, owner of Englander Chiropractic in Lexington, and Lara Wilson, founder of Be Well Be Here in Concord, MA for this Mindful Writing and Wellness Workshop – and inspire your inner storyteller!

1:00 pm    Mindful Arrival – Welcome to your Write for WellBeing BETreat!

1:30 pm    Journaling for WellBeing

Join author, chiropractor and compassionate community builder, Dr. Nina Englander, to practice the art of mindful journaling and meditation. Learn methods of self-expression through visualization that inspire creativity and confidence. Create an energetic foundation out of which self-esteem and wellBEing grow.

3:00 pm   Enjoy a Mindful Moment

3:30 pm   Mindful Writing Workshop

BWBH founder, author and master writing teacher Lara Wilson shares techniques that help you break through writing barriers, boost storytelling skills and explore creative possibilities through writing exercises. Sense the magic as you discover a mindful process that ignites your work and deeply engages readers.

5:00 pm   Mindful Meditation – Celebrate your creative nature with this relaxing guided meditation in the sunny BWBH Fresh Air Studio.

 5:30 pm   Fond Farewell

Healing & WellBEing Wed., Dec. 29 at 9:00 am – 12:30 pm

Shake off a year of stress and Be Present! BWBH mindful wellness professionals guide master-level experiential practices that are compassionately co-created to calm the nervous system, re-energize the body and cultivate peace of mind. 

9:00 am    Mindful Arrival – Welcome to a beautiful Healing BETreat space! 

9:30 am      Mindful Yoga & Pranayama (breath work)

Join certified yoga therapist Nicole Grant for yoga practice that integrates and harmonizes all bodily systems –musculoskeletal, cardiorespiratory, neurological, digestive, endocrine and immune – and brings the whole of your being into energetic alignment. Transition from resistance to renewal and take a mindful step on your new path of wellBEing.

11:15 am    Energy Medicine 101

What is energy medicine and how can it help improve your health? Join certified Biofield Tuning expert, Julie Ramsdell, to learn a series of mindful wellness modalities that move and boost energy. Together, we’ll explore wellness concepts such as Meridian-Point Tapping, Grounding with Nature, Energy Recalibration, Frequency Modulation and Sound Healing through Biofield Tuning. Discover elegant and efficient ways to heal your own body and reduce pain, enhance a sense of calm and reach a state of inner balance.

12:00 pm    Mindful Meditation

Engage your innate wisdom to acknowledge all that has brought you to this moment and feel revitalized sensing your new way to Be Well. Meditation led by BWBH founder Lara Wilson.

12:30 pm    Fond Farewell

Give yourself the gift of Mindful Wellness at
BWBH Holiday Half-Day BEtreats,
and take the first step on a new path to natural wellBEing.

$124 for each Holiday Half-Day BEtreat with master mindful practitioners in rural Concord, MA

$224 for both Holiday Half-Day BEtreats on December 28 and 29, 2021 (a 20% discount!)

POSTPONED

Space is limited to 8 participants for greater wellBEing and to provide personalized attention.

Must provide proof of vaccination against Covid19, wear masks and practice social distancing. BWBH follows all local, state and federal health guidelines.

Thanks to our generous donors, we offer a limited amount of scholarships for these events. Please be in touch if you require subsidized pricing by emailing info@bewellbehere.org