Contentment Retreat: Yoga, Writing and Forest Bathing in Maine's Mountains

A typical day starts with pranayama and yoga before breakfast, then a second class later in the morning. Meditation runs twice daily, and there is a dharma talk most nights. The rest of the schedule is yours to fill from the activity list: forest bathing, foraging, cycling, hiking, mindful cooking sessions and writing time in the dedicated writers' space. The pace is deliberately slow — this is a retreat about doing less, not cramming more in.

What sets Hillholm apart is the combination. Most yoga retreats do not have a working farm-to-table restaurant and a Prohibition-era cocktail bar on site, and most writing residencies do not run three yoga classes a day. Here you get both, plus a river at the bottom of the grounds and real mountains around you. The mansion itself is a Gilded Age property, so the rooms and common areas have period detail rather than the usual white-box retreat aesthetic.

The food is a big part of the week: four local, organic meals daily, with snacks available between them. Cooking is on the activity list too, so you can get into the kitchen rather than just eat what comes out of it. Winter's Table & Lounge is the on-site farm-to-table restaurant, and the bar serves craft cocktails and mocktails.

Maine's western mountains give you the Carrabassett River on the doorstep, forest trails for hiking and foraging, and quiet roads for cycling. The grounds are spacious enough that you can find a corner to yourself with a book or a notebook. If you want a retreat where the schedule is full of classes but the atmosphere is calm, and where writing is treated as a real practice rather than an afterthought, this is the one.

What's included

- Accommodation in the Gilded Age mansion - Four local, organic meals every day - Snacks between meals - Three daily yoga and pranayama classes - Twice-daily meditation - Nightly dharma talks - Access to the dedicated writers' space - Forest bathing, foraging, cycling and hiking on the grounds and nearby - Mindful cooking sessions

What's not included

- Travel to and from the retreat - Travel insurance - Personal expenses - Alcoholic drinks from the bar - Optional healing arts treatments - Airport transfers (not stated)