There comes a moment in life when the story you’ve been living no longer fits.

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From the outside, everything may seem fine. You’ve done what you were supposed to do. You’ve learned how to survive, how to perform, how to hold it together. But inside, something quieter and deeper begins to stir... a sense that you are standing between who you’ve been and who you are becoming.

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This is just the space The Wild Way Retreat was created for.

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From April 9 through April 12, 2026, Bask will host The Wild Way, a three day immersive retreat led by storyteller, experiential coach, and author Michael McRay. This experience is a threshold crossing into your story, your soul, and the wild within and around you.

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This is an invitation to step out of familiar patterns and into a slower, truer rhythm of being. Designed for those who feel called toward change but may not yet have the words for what that change looks like, The Wild Way creates space for reflection, release, and renewal.

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Between Stories

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Many of us reach a point where the roles and expectations we’ve carried no longer feel authentic. The survival self we created to get this far begins to loosen. This in-between space can feel confusing, lonely, or quietly painful, especially when nothing appears wrong on the surface.

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The Wild Way honors this tender moment.

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Rather than pushing for answers or quick fixes, the retreat creates room to listen. To rest. To notice what is ready to be shed and what is waiting to be reclaimed. This is not about becoming someone new, but about remembering who you already are.

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A Journey Through Story, Body, and Nature

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Over the course of three days, participants will be guided through a blend of experiential story practices, embodied movement, and nature based reflection. Time is held intentionally between guided sessions and wide open quiet, allowing insights to settle and personal meaning to emerge.

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You will explore your own story not as something fixed, but as something alive and evolving. Through movement and presence, you will reconnect with a sense of belonging in your body. Through time in nature, you will remember that change is not something to fear, but rather something to embrace.

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This retreat is for shedding old narratives with tenderness and stepping toward the truer story waiting beneath your skin.

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Meet Your Guide: Michael McRay

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Michael McRay is a nationally recognized storytelling expert, experiential coach, and narrative guide for the brave and brokenhearted. His work lives at the intersection of story, trauma integration, and conflict transformation, helping people reckon with the narratives that have shaped them and reclaim the agency to shape what comes next.

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Michael is the founder of Becoming Restoried, a life story coaching practice rooted in experiential healing, and the longtime host of Tenx9 Nashville, the city’s longest running storytelling series with over 1,100 true personal stories shared across more than a decade. He also leads certification trainings in narrative intelligence and experiential narrative practice through the Istoria Institute.

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With a master’s degree in Conflict Resolution and Reconciliation, Michael has spent over two decades sitting in story circles across the world, from Cape Town to Kigali to U.S. prisons, and traveling repeatedly to Israel and Palestine to work in peacebuilding and reconciliation. His work has been sought after by organizations such as NASA, TEDx, Cisco, Accenture, and grassroots movements dedicated to healing and connection.

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Michael is the award winning author of I Am Not Your Enemy, winner of the 2020 Best Book Award in Social Change from the American Book Fest, and his newest book, The Wild Way: Navigating the Space Between the Old Story and the New, released in October 2025. His writing has been praised by voices such as Desmond Tutu, Ishmael Beah, Raja Shehadeh, and Colum McCann.

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To Michael, story is not just performance. It is practice. It is how we make meaning, metabolize pain, and build bridges between worlds. This retreat is a living expression of that belief.

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The Significance of Bask

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Set among the quiet woods and open skies of Bask, The Wild Way unfolds in an environment that naturally supports reflection and restoration. Here, the pace of life slows, and the nervous system softens. The land itself becomes part of the experience, offering stillness, beauty, and perspective.

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In this setting, it becomes easier to step out of old patterns and into presence. Being in nature makes it easier to slow down and notice what’s really shifting inside you, without trying to push or fix anything.

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An Invitation

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If you feel yourself standing at the edge of something new, if the life you’ve been living no longer feels like the full truth of who you are, this retreat may be for you.

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The Wild Way is not about fixing what is broken. It is about honoring what is changing. It is about stepping into the next chapter of your story with presence, courage, and care.

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Join us at Bask Retreat Center from April 9 through April 12, 2026, for a three day threshold crossing into your story, your soul, and the wild within and around you.

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Registration is now open. We invite you to take this step with us.

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