On Sunday, July 14, from 9 a.m. to 12 p.m., Asheville Salt Cave presents a relaxing morning of art, nature and wellness with a Flower-Pounding Workshop and Salt Cave Session. Artist Alicia Cardina will guide participants in the craft of flower pounding to create individually designed canvas bags. A private group meditation will follow in the salt cave, and afterwards, participants will have an opportunity to sample herbal teas and walk the newly constructed labyrinth in the gardens.
“We are excited to welcome anyone local or visiting who is interested in taking a morning to connect more deeply with themselves and nature,” says Cardina. “Through our merging of creativity and stillness, we hope guests will leave feeling inspired and grounded, while also, perhaps, making a few new friends—plant and human—in the garden.”
The labyrinth at Asheville Salt Cave was constructed last fall, and is free and open to the public. “To walk a labyrinth can be, in essence, to make a pilgrimage of discovery about our deeper or higher selves, and to gain the ability to look at things with a larger world view,” says Jodie Appel, co-owner of Asheville Salt Cave. “This meditative journey can provide profound insights into one’s life, foster self-reflection and cultivate peace within oneself. It’s an internal voyage of discovery that reveals more about ourselves than our immediate surroundings.”
Crafting with the hands to create something tangible helps slow busy minds to “a positive state of flow,” Cardina says. “In using natural elements that are so inherently beautiful, our intuitive creative nature can unfold with ease. There are specific techniques of flower-pounding that will help guide participants, but the experience of communing with the flowers and others at the workshop is as much part of the experience as the final product.”
Asheville Salt Cave is located at 16 North Liberty Street in Asheville. Book online at AshevilleSaltCave.com. The nonrefundable tickets are $80. If the session is full online, you’re welcome to call to be added to the waitlist.