 A Rejuvenation Weekend
Seven of us introduced ourselves around the cozy fire in the rustic lodge on Friday evening. Three of seven participants had previously been to Healing Waters Lodge and had also taken “A Course in Miracles” at Bon Air’s Unity Church. Regardless of background, we all felt immediately comfortable with one another. We discovered that we held in common the ideal of a getaway as a time for mental decompression and soul-searching as well as physical invigoration and relaxation. The weekend at Healing Waters Lodge met these criteria with a combination of mountain hikes, meditation, yoga, massage, excellent vegetarian meals totaling 1,200 calories per day, and challenging intellectual, psychological and spiritual subject matter. Situated on 177 bucolic acres close to the community of Head Waters, the center opened in 2008 as the inspiration of Vernon M. Sylvest, a holistic physician who has practiced pathology in Richmond for more than 30 years, and his artist wife, Anne. They own and operate the facility, not only for their programmed weekends of rejuvenation but also as a retreat for groups and, when not in use for one of these two purposes, as a bed-and-breakfast. The lean-body diet served during the three-night program, Sylvest explained in Freudian terms, helps to “de-program the id so that it doesn’t respond with hunger when the mind is stressed. A lot of us unconsciously program the body to seek comfort in eating. Decreasing food intake, coupled with staying active, helps rejuvenate us.” Mary Mayhew, Anne’s sister and chef for weekend retreats, works with the Sylvests to put together a vegetarian menu that pleases the palates of most meat eaters. The nourishing plan takes into consideration the individual dietary restrictions of participants, including someone during our weekend who was on a 500-calorie-a-day diet, which Sylvest humorously referred to as “breathaterian.” Sylvest’s 1996 book “The Formula: Who Gets Sick, Who Gets Well, Who Is Unhappy, Who Is Happy and Why” has led to lecture tours across the United States and abroad. It lays out, in much greater detail than a weekend can cover, the subject matter for his retreats: an examination of “Who We Are,” “Being Who We Are” and “The Body as a Symbol,” which are titles of three chapters in his book. Sylvest adapts weekends to group needs as gathered from his initial contacts. In his Friday afternoon introductory session with participants, he emphasizes that life events are manifestations of our mostly unconscious emotional energy. He states a necessary, shared goal of openness and spontaneity within the group, especially openness to new ideas. He shares his own personal history whenever relevant, explaining he went through a period following medical school of ignoring religion, using church as a socialization tool and pooh-poohing anything paranormal. He had been a subscriber to The Skeptical Inquirer, a periodical with articles that critically examine claims of the paranormal and pseudoscience. Although his religious background has been Christian since birth (as the son of a Methodist minister), he embraces other major religions when he says, “Love is what all religions of the world have in common.” Sylvest finished his undergraduate studies at Louisiana State University School of Medicine in New Orleans. His post-doctoral experience includes a clinical internship at Parkland Memorial Hospital in Dallas, Tex.; a tour of duty in the U. S. Public Health Service during the Vietnam conflict; a successful emergency practice in a busy Washington, D. C., suburban hospital; a pathology residency at the University of Michigan; and ultimately a move to Richmond in 1974, where he began his pathology practice. He speaks casually of the late Dr. Elisabeth Kubler-Ross, the author of “On Death and Dying” who was the former owner of the conference center – a rustic, pre-Civil War log house – and its property. Prior to Kubler-Ross’s ownership, the property had been owned by Dr. Raymond Moody, author of “Life after Life” and related books. Sylvest, who says, “There are no accidents,” had known Kubler-Ross professionally, though he points out that while she studied dying, he and Anne were focused on living and rejuvenation. The integration of meditation, and yoga—with its emphasis on chakras or energy centers permeating from points on the physical body—makes for a seamless experience with the mental and spiritual aspects of the weekend. While yoga began as an ancient Hindu practice, people of all major faiths presently embrace it in some form as a way of getting in touch with the inner self. Everyone in the group looked forward to yoga before breakfast and to meditation at the end of the day. Yoga instructor Heather Vandermyde assisted my jogging-damaged knees in adapting yoga exercises to a large, inflated ball, something I’ve benefitted from at home. Yoga helps strengthen our core, she explained, and “our core” is that’s what new beginnings are really about. As James Browne said at the end of the program, “This weekend has been not only a time of rejuvenation for me but a time of revelation.” He has worked on “both sides of the stage, always dealing with egos.” Principles previously learned from Sylvest, he said, have helped him cope with egos in the corporate as well as the performing arts world. For information on Rejuvenation Weekends and other aspects of Healing Waters Lodge, email office@healingwaterslodgevirginia.com , or telephone (540) 396-3466. |
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