I don\u2019t know about anyone else, but I need a break. Going from online last year to in-person has been overwhelming at best, illness-inducing at worst.<\/p>\n
Enter SoulScape<\/a>: Syracuse University\u2019s free<\/strong> overnight mindfulness retreat at Minnowbrook Conference Center<\/a><\/span> in the Adirondack Mountains. Instead of spending your Saturday night studying, stressing or making otherwise questionable decisions, you can relax and unwind at a rustic-chic lodge with 28 acres of woodland on the shores of a picturesque mountain lake\u2014yes, please!<\/p>\n Beyond its beautiful setting, SoulScape is an opportunity to connect with oneself and one\u2019s peers beyond the surface level. Attendees have the opportunity to engage in discussions and group activities in hopes of inspiring introspection and vulnerability. You know it\u2019s working when you feel an overwhelming sense of gratitude, purpose and belonging\u2014or so I\u2019ve heard.<\/p>\n Getting personal, I\u2019ve wanted to go on the SoulScape retreat since my freshman year. Now, as a junior, I still have not gone. What\u2019s held me back, you ask? Well, COVID-19. Sadly, SoulScape could not be held as usual last year due to the pandemic, so its return in 2021 is exciting if you\u2019re anything like me.<\/p>\n See, I stay introspective, constantly asking: who am I? What are my likes? Dislikes? How have my preferences changed? How have I grown as a person? SoulScape can help answer these questions or, at least, begin to consider them.<\/p>\n To gain more insight into the inner workings of SoulScape, I spoke with peer educator and active campus community member Alexandra Nicole Santiago ’22, about her experience at the retreat in 2019.<\/p>\n \u201cI think it was about two years ago, before COVID [Fall 2019].\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI was already a peer educator, and I knew about SoulTalk<\/a><\/span> [weekly gathering to discuss life\u2019s \u2018big questions;\u2019 Thursdays from 7 to 8 p.m.]. I wanted to meet more people, and I wanted to have conversations\u2014meaningful, deep conversations that would make me feel more connected to campus.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWe discussed different topics like authenticity, meaning. We did yoga. We did a walking meditation where we walked along a trail in silence\u2026 in a group and\u2026 just admired nature [and] appreciated where you were and who you were with.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI realized that there are other like-minded people on this campus. There are people who want to have these conversations and are open-minded. They don\u2019t shy away from topics that can be deemed controversial. I felt like I was \u2018in company\u2019 for the first time since I\u2019d been here at Syracuse University.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThat they will get out of the experience what they put in. It\u2019s not a vacation or a place where you just take a break from the university\u2014you have to engage in mindfulness for it to feel like it was fruitful. The fact that this [program] is free is something that we really have to get out there for people to know.\u201d<\/p>\n As mentioned earlier and by Alexandra, SoulScape<\/a> is free for Syracuse University students to attend, including transportation, food and lodging!<\/p>\n In a time where everything is \u201cgo, go, go,\u201d sometimes it\u2019s nice to take it slow. Slow it down this fall at SoulScape: Saturday, Oct. 23 to Sunday, Oct. 24. Applications close at 11:59 p.m. on Sunday, Oct. 10, on the Wellness Portal<\/a><\/span>. SoulScape is only open to SU students.<\/p>\n For more information on SoulScape or to request accommodations, visit the Soul Series webpage<\/a>, or contact the Barnes Center at The Arch health promotion team by calling 315.443.8000<\/a> or emailing healthpromotion@syr.edu<\/a>.<\/p>\n Written by Cecelia Kersten ’23, S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" I don\u2019t know about anyone else, but I need a break. Going from online last year to in-person has been overwhelming at best, illness-inducing at worst. Enter SoulScape: Syracuse University\u2019s free overnight mindfulness retreat at Minnowbrook Conference Center in the Adirondack Mountains. Instead of spending your Saturday night studying, stressing or making otherwise questionable decisions,…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":319,"featured_media":2599,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[23],"tags":[40,65,70,16,24,202,201],"class_list":["post-2550","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-health-and-wellness","tag-barnes-center","tag-mental-health","tag-mindfulness","tag-peer-educator","tag-soul-series","tag-soulscape","tag-soultalk"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/experience.syracuse.edu\/the-peel\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2550","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/experience.syracuse.edu\/the-peel\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/experience.syracuse.edu\/the-peel\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/experience.syracuse.edu\/the-peel\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/319"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/experience.syracuse.edu\/the-peel\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2550"}],"version-history":[{"count":9,"href":"https:\/\/experience.syracuse.edu\/the-peel\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2550\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2610,"href":"https:\/\/experience.syracuse.edu\/the-peel\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2550\/revisions\/2610"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/experience.syracuse.edu\/the-peel\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2599"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/experience.syracuse.edu\/the-peel\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2550"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/experience.syracuse.edu\/the-peel\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2550"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/experience.syracuse.edu\/the-peel\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2550"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}Snippets on SoulScape with Peer Educator Alexandra Nicole Santiago:<\/h2>\n
When did you attend SoulScape?<\/h3>\n
Why did you decide to sign up for SoulScape?<\/h3>\n
What types of activities did you participate in at SoulScape?<\/h3>\n
Did you have an experience or realization at SoulScape that was particularly profound or impactful for you?<\/h3>\n
What is something you think students should know if they\u2019re considering attending SoulScape?<\/h3>\n