Find your way back to your own aliveness.
October 9-11, 2026
A weekend of story, body, and rewilding
with michael mcray & Lauren russell
Two luxurious nights in Tennessee’s natural beauty to set down an old story and step into a new one. Through movement, breath, storytelling, and ritual—led by Michael and Lauren—you'll come home to your body, your voice, and your own aliveness. Come as you are. Leave lighter.
YOu’re standing at the threshold of a new story.
you can feel it.
You've outgrown the life you've been living—the rhythms, the roles, the expectations, maybe even the version of yourself you became to survive.
You know something needs to shift…but perhaps you don't yet know what.
You're not broken.
You're between stories.
And the in-between can feel disorienting—even when your life looks fine from the outside. But it's also the most alive place there is.
The threshold isn't a problem to fix.
It's a doorway.
If you’re honest:
You're craving clarity about who you are now.
You're tired of performing "okay."
You're longing for a pause — a real one.
You want connection that feels human, not polite.
You want to feel at home in your own body again.
You want to feel alive — awake, expansive, yourself.
This retreat exists for you.
Welcome to the wild way retreat
Hosted at
A three-day immersion into your story, your soul, and the wild in and around you.
Begins Friday early evening, October 9, and ends at mid -afternoon on Sunday the 11th.
Held in the sacred landscape of Bask Retreat Center—42 lush acres of biodiverse healing ground,
flowing streams,
preserved wetlands,
native grasslands,
star-filled skies,
and beautifully crafted spaces designed for inner renewal.
This is not a typical retreat.
It’s a threshold crossing.
A place to shed the old story with tenderness and step toward the truer one emerging beneath your skin.
Past retreatants said…
“Michael is a rare gift of a facilitator, and this retreat was one of the most worthwhile weekends I have ever spent.”
— Julie
“Perfect mix of internal exploration and reflection in small group setting. I can honestly say I will never listen to someone’s story the same way again! My heart grew…”
— Sheri
“A fulfilling and mind-calming retreat. I now know how I can convey my personal story to others and receive and honor others’ stories as a gift from them to me.”
— Sherry
“I came in all bundled up with nerves … I left rested, restored, and restoried.”
— Susan
You don't come to a weekend like this by accident.
You come because something in you has gone quiet—and you're ready to hear it again.
Maybe you've outgrown a chapter and the next one hasn't arrived. Maybe you're good at your life but a little lost inside it. Maybe you just know, underneath all the doing, that you want to feel alive again—awake in your body, at home in your own voice, holding the pen of your own story.
This is for you if:
You're between stories—one has ended, the next hasn't begun.
You're tired of performing "okay."
You want to go deep—but you want it to feel generative, not grim.
You're curious what your body knows that your mind hasn't caught up to yet.
You're longing to feel wild, held, and awake—maybe for the first time in a long while.
You don't need to be in crisis. You just need to be ready.
Come as an individual. Come as a couple and cross the threshold together. Either way—you'll be met, and you'll be held.
Is this for you?
What you’ll receive?
(Book your room below!)
This weekend is designed to offer
clarity, belonging, and transformation without force.
narrative clarity.
On the one you’ve been living.
The one that’s ending.
And the one your life is asking you to write next.
a body that feels at home.
You will breathe differently here.
You will think more slowly.
Your body will remember what calm—and joy—feel like.
genuine connection.
Through beautifully facilitated story circles, you will be seen—the real you—with gentleness and respect.
You’ll leave hearing your intuition again, not the noise of obligation, fear, or performance.
Your own voice, back.
tools for the wild way forward.
Practices that help you live your next chapter: story excavation, narrative reframing, somatic grounding, ritual for transition and return.
What you’ll experience during the three days:
Three days in the woods, shaped less like a schedule and more like a rite of passage.
You'll arrive Friday to a fire, a shared table, and a story told aloud in the old way—the kind that loosens something before you notice it loosening.
Saturday, you'll come home to your body: breath, sound, movement, until the thinking quiets and something older takes over. You'll dance (yes, dance). You'll be led into the story of your own life—and given the rare gift of being fully heard. And there will be time to wander, to sit by the creek, to sweat in the sauna, to do beautifully nothing.
Sunday, you'll gather what you found and carry it home—a clearer sense of who you're becoming, and a story worth living into.
For the ADHD skimmers among us, here is a bulleted list:
Live myth and folktale, told aloud by firelight
Somatic awakening—breath, sound, and movement to bring you home to your body
Ecstatic dance and playful, wordless connection
Guided storywork—telling the story of your life, and being deeply heard
Ritual for releasing the old story and welcoming the new
Unhurried time in nature—creek, trails, sauna, cold plunge
Extraordinary, nourishing meals from a private chef
Fireside conversation and real community
Spaciousness—room to breathe, wander, and rest
investment
All-inclusive tickets
start at $1,497
for shared lodging in stunning accomodations.
Private lodging also available.
All options detailed below.
Shared and private rooms in buffalo lodge
SHARED ROOMS // $1,497
PRIVATE ROOMS // $1,797
The site’s epicenter of gathering spans 5,200 sqft and features seven thoughtfully designed bedrooms with a mix of private (king, queen) and shared (double, triple, quad) options.
Buffalo has a fully stocked kitchen with dining for 24, two cozy living rooms, 40 ft stone fireplace, library, massage room, and cozy covered patio.
private geo dome
$1,997
On the west end of the property nearest to the expression space, these moss, clover, and iris geo domes each feature a queen bed for up to 2 guests—luxury glamping under the stars with the creature comforts of a city hotel.
A deck for morning reflection and a gorgeous tiled showerhouse just steps away.
Cozy, colorfully-appointed, and nestled at the forest’s edge. One private queen room downstairs adjacent to the kitchen / living area and an upstairs platform with 3 single beds per cabin – perfect for intimate groups seeking privacy amid nature.
Shared woodland cabin
$1,497 (must book with at least one other person)
Your
Retreat
Leaders
Michael McRay
Founder of Becoming Restoried and author of The Wild WayMichael McRay is your storyteller and narrative guide for the weekend. Through folktales by firelight, guided storywork, and ritual, he helps you name the story you've been living, release what no longer fits, and imagine the truer one you're ready to step into.
-
(he/him/his)
Michael is Nashville-based facilitator, experiential life coach, and story-practitioner. He’s the author of multiple books, including his 2025 release The Wild Way: Navigating the Space Between the Old Story and the New, and I Am Not Your Enemy, which won the 2020 Best Book Award in Social Change from the American Book Fest. His writing has received praise from internationally acclaimed authors, like Ishmael Beah, Pádraig Ó Tuama, Raja Shehadeh, and National Book Award winner Colum McCann.
Michael’s work in storytelling has focused on everything from organizational storytelling, to storytelling for advocacy and social change, to narrative-driven strategy, to storytelling for empathy and connection, to storytelling for entertainment and community cohesion. Michael’s story experience and expertise are sought after by all types of organizations—from VMware and Cigna to Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library and even NASA.
During his graduate studies in Conflict Resolution and Reconciliation, he lived in Belfast, Northern Ireland and fell in love with the transformative power of telling our personal stories. Since 2013, he has produced and hosted Tenx9 Nashville, a monthly community storytelling event that has elevated nearly 1,100 local stories on stage.
His list of credentials is long—with certifications and training in experiential coaching, mediation, public narrative, integrated somatic trauma healing, conflict coaching, and more. And yet, beyond all these lines on a resumé, Michael’s greatest credential is his own human experience of turning his pain into purpose. Out of a story of self-loathing, self-harm, and attempted suicide, Michael has spent a decade healing, digging deeply into what’s buried in his own past so that he can live with radiant contentment.
Michael speaks across the United States on the themes of story, curiosity, and conflict, and was a featured speaker at TEDx Nashville in 2022.
Michael lives in Nashville, TN, pursuing his purpose: to use the power of story to make meaning, heal harm, and repair relationships.
Relevant certifications and training:
Masters, Conflict Resolution and Reconciliation, Trinity College Dublin at Belfast
Certified Experiential Coach (Level 2 of 3),International Society of Experiential Professionals
Certificate of Completion, Integrated Somatic Trauma Therapy, The Embody Lab, online, 60-hours
Executive Certification, Public Narrative, Harvard Kennedy School, USA, Online
Certification, Conflict Coaching, Center for Justice and Peacebuilding, Eastern Mennonite University, USA, Online
Certified Mediator, Dialogue for Peaceful Change, Northern Ireland
Training, Psychodrama, International Society of Experiential Professionals, 68 hours
Tent of Seven Doors Summer School with Dr. Martin Shaw, School of Myth, Devon, England
Storywork: A Summer School in Narrative Practice with Pádraig Ó Tuama, Corrymeela Community, Northern Ireland
Lauren Russell is your body and movement guide for the weekend. Through contemplative and ecstatic dance, breath, ritual, and deep relational work, she helps you drop beneath the thinking mind and remember who you are beneath the stories you've carried.
Therapist, Somatic Practitioner, Dance Facilitator, & CeremonialistLauren Russell
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(she/her/hers)
Lauren Russell is a therapist, artist, dance facilitator, ceremonialist, mother, and guide devoted to helping people remember who they are beneath the stories that have shaped them. Blending somatic psychology, experiential therapy, movement, ritual, and deep relational work, she creates transformative spaces where insight becomes embodied and lasting change begins to take root.Drawing from nearly two decades of clinical experience, Lauren integrates trauma-informed, experiential, and somatic approaches that invite people beyond understanding and into lived experience. Through conversation, contemplative dance, embodied practices, and meaningful connection, she helps individuals reconnect with the wisdom of their bodies, the truth of their emotions, and the deeper currents of imagination, intuition, and belonging.
Lauren is especially passionate about helping people remember themselves in relationship by cultivating the courage to lead from authenticity, love with greater presence, and live from a place of wholeness rather than survival. She believes healing is less about becoming someone new than uncovering what has always been waiting beneath layers of protection and adaptation.
With equal parts grounded clinical expertise and reverence for mystery, Lauren brings warmth, curiosity, depth and presence to every space she facilitates. She invites participants to listen not only for the stories they carry, but also for the quiet intelligence of the body and the wild wisdom within that has been patiently waiting to lead them home.
the wild way is calling.
People don’t come to a retreat like this on accident.
You come because your life is whispering: It’s time.
This is your invitation to pause, breathe, release, remember—and come back to your life with clear, grounded, and more alive.
FAQs
what time should i fly in and out?
Check-in on site is between 3-5pm Friday, October 9th. Check-out is 2pm on Sunday the 11th. You will want to fly in no later than October 8th at 2pm and depart no earlier than 6:00pm on Sunday. If you have to book an earlier flight, let us know, and we can talk through it.
Is there an extra cost for meals?
No, the retreat price includes everything—even constant access to coffee, tea, cold drinks, and snacks. Top-notch meals will be provided by a private chef with locally sourced whole-food ingredients. If you have any dietary needs, please include those in the sign-up form.
Will the rooms have private bathrooms?
There are multiple bathrooms in the Buffalo Lodge available for the private and shared rooms. There’s a state-of-the-art bathhouse with private showers and stalls for the Geo Domes, and a full bathroom in each of the cabins. You will have ample bathroom privacy with any booking you make.
can couples come?
Absolutely! You can move through the deep work side by side, or choose to do it separately—we'll ask on intake. For accommodations, the Geo Domes are perfect for this. Book a dome as a couple and your individual ticket price drops to $1,397 instead of $1,997! Other options are available as well. Contact Michael for options.
Is this a religious retreat?
No, though you are most welcome to attend if you are a person of faith! No one will be denied based on religious affiliation.
Do I need dance or movement experience?
None at all. The movement work meets you exactly where your body is. All you have to do is show up and be curious.
Is this a writing retreat?
No. A couple of processes allow for short bits of writing, and there will be some unstructured time when you can write if you wish. The focus will be on our time together and the conversations we have.
Is this therapy?
No. Lauren is a licensed therapist and Michael is a trained trauma-informed facilitator, but this is a guided experiential retreat, not treatment. It's for growth and transition, not clinical care.
undecided?
Schedule a short call with Michael to ask any questions! You will not get a sales pitch.