Unforgettable Retreats!
Experience the cozy charm and warm hospitality of our Laurel River Club BnB Bed and Breakfast. We offer comfortable accommodations, delicious breakfasts, and a relaxing atmosphere. A wonderful place to plan your next retreat! We offer many experiences through the WV School of Traditional Skills.
Team Work
Cooking
Nothing brings people together quite like preparing a meal and breaking bread together. Studies show that teams who cook together feel more socially connected and creative.
Cooking and baking as a form of a stress relief is now recommended for people dealing with a wide range of health conditions, including depression, anxiety, chronic stress, eating disorders, ADHD and addiction.
How can cooking relieve stress? According to a 2018 review, some of the many ways in which cooking (and baking therapy too) can help to reduce anxiety symptoms and perk up your mood include; by giving you a sense of control, accomplishment and providing (for yourself and for whomever else you cook), while having a positive influence on socialization, self-esteem and overall quality of life.
Therapy Animals
There is extensive research on whether animal-assisted therapy works, and compelling data shows that pets have the ability to relieve stress, anxiety, and provide comfort to patients. However, it has been shown that the positive effects of playing and petting an animal are also measurable in people without underlying clinical conditions. In general, the interaction with a pet decreases distress and improves mood.
Hiking
Gregory Bratman, an award-winning scientist, found in a recent study that, as compared with an urban walk, taking a 50-minute walk in a natural setting resulted in decreased anxiety, rumination and negativity, and preserved overall positivity, as well as improving performance on memory tests.
Digital Detox
Unplugging from technology for just one day can markedly increase productivity. A digital detox allows staff to de-stress and recover from the endless barrage of social media notifications, emails, and news. This type of retreat is particularly transformative for a virtual team or anyone in the tech industry.
Crafts
Crafts can be soothing and healing, even if there is little original expression. With many crafting activities there are ways to do the activity that allow for originality and freedom of choice. Embroidery, for example, may follow a pattern, but the client is still able to make personal choices about what design they want to do, what colors to use, changes they may wish to make, etc. In addition as someone gains confidence with a skill, they can go beyond the structured patterns and create more fully original works if they wish.
Birds of Prey
The Falconry / Bird of Prey presentations are tailor made for the intended audience. Whether you want to learn what the art of falconry is, the ecology of raptors and why they are so important to the environment, or can an owl really turn it’s head all the way around, we have the material and live birds to keep any age audience fully engaged in the learning process and separate fact from fiction.
Mountain Medicine Trail
The Mountain Medicine Trail is a collection of destinations throughout Pocahontas, Randolph, and Tucker Counties in West Virginia that celebrate the medicinal plants native to our West Virginia forests.
Horticulture Therapy
In a recent study published in the Journal of Nursing Care, researchers found that Korean women living in a rural area benefitted significantly from horticultural therapy. The women who underwent 12 weeks of therapy (two 90-minute sessions a week)—including numerous activities such as viewing flowers, growing sprouts and making crafts with natural materials—experienced significantly improved psychological well-being and an improved sense of hope, as compared with a control group. The women also developed interpersonal relationships, reported positive sentiments and improved self-expression during the course of therapy
Horticulture Therapy for Children
Several studies point to the positive effects of gardening on children. In 2011, researchers in Ohio learned that a gardening program at a juvenile rehab center helped kids see themselves in a better light and helped them better manage behavioral and emotional problems. Most of the children involved in the study said they wanted to continue gardening after the program ended.
Working Farm
At its core, care farming allows people to connect with nature, which has its own mental and physical health benefits, but also allows for a range of activities. Some studies suggest participating in nature-based tasks like gardening and farming, especially done with other people, can improve the mood and reduce anxiety
Stargazing
Findings in psychology research demonstrate that time spent in nature has positive effects on mental wellbeing, such as decreasing stress and increasing attention span. Additionally, psychology research findings also show that an experience which elicits a sense of awe increases altruistic behavior in humans Astronomy lies at the intersection of these two phenomena—stargazing is a way for people to be exposed to natural environments, and perceiving and/or learning about the vastness of the universe is very often accompanied by an experience of awe. .
