Coming Back to Balance: A Retreat for Inner & Outer Wellness

Date: Sept 27th - 29th 2024

Location: Seaforest Eco-Retreat in Joyce, Washington (North Olympic Peninsula)

Stepping through the portal of the fall equinox marks a transition into the inner months, the yin months, a season of deeper emotional and intuitive depth. It’s the time of year when Life gathers and condenses its energy, shedding its form so that it may emerge anew in its own time. It is a gentle yet potent time of balance, a generous opportunity to reconnect and re-ground, a call to shift into deep listening with our inner and outer world.

In this retreat, we will connect in slow and deliberate ways with Place—both Self and Surroundings—through movement, mindfulness, journaling, art, ritual, storytelling, and more. In the spirit of balance embodied by the equinox, we pledge to not be one of those retreats that jam-packs it in, leaving you feeling exhausted at the end. Together, we will embody rest, slowness, non-judgment, playfulness, deep listening, and connection with the feminine. This is a container designed for those who wear the identity of woman or who seek intentional nourishment of their feminine Self. 

Who is this retreat for?

This retreat might be for you if you are calling in:

• Intentional time on the Olympic Peninsula

• Preparation for the inward months 

• A community of kindred spirits

• Deeper connection with Self, Place, and Source

• Practicing self-care communally

• Nervous system regulation (who isn’t?)

• A (re) TREAT for yourself <3 

Note: To honor the themes of the retreat and remain deeply present, we will be flexible with the following itinerary, flowing with the energies of the group and individual needs.

Itinerary:

Friday, Sept. 27

1–3 pm: Arrival time

4 pm: Opening circle, altar building, and connection with Place 

6 pm: Wood-fired pizza party

8 pm: Bonfire, storytelling, and tea time with locally foraged herbs

Saturday, Sept. 28

8 a.m.: Breakfast 

9 am: Slow flow yoga

11 am: Guided journaling and group circle

12 pm: Lunchtime 

1 pm: Sacred Sustenance: A Communal Cooking Ritual

• We’ll tap into the simple yet sacred act of preparing a communal meal. Gathering, cultivating, and preparing food has long been our way as women, and it is inherently magical when we gather in the kitchen. Throughout this activity, we’ll incorporate mindfulness-based practices and decolonial discussion to move slowly and intentionally with one another, our ingredients, and the stories we carry. We will enjoy this extra special meal as our candlelight dinner.

3 pm: You Time!

• This is your time—take a nap, journal, read that book you’ve been meaning to crack open, visit the beach, go for a wander…the choice is yours.

• Local bodyworkers will be providing massage and reiki as optional add-ons. Details to follow after registration.

6 pm: Candlelight Dinner

8 pm: Channeling inner wisdom through dreamtime and drumming. Bonfire

Sunday, Sept. 29

8 am.: Breakfast 

9 am: Guided Movement and Dance 

10 am: Guided Journaling and Group Circle  

11 am: The Art of Collage 

• With found natural materials and recycled materials, we’ll create representations of our inner and outer landscapes. 

12:30 pm: Lunchtime

1:30 pm: Closing Circle

TBD: Optional beach hang for those who want to stick around!

To remain fully present, we ask that retreat activities be sober experiences.

All meals are included in the price. Some notes on meals:

• Meals will be made with organic and largely locally sourced ingredients from local women- and queer-owned regenerative farms

• You can share dietary restrictions after registration, and we will gladly accommodate them.

• We’ll have snacks available for nourishment beyond meal times. 

Note on pricing: 

We’ve included a variety of pricing tiers based on lodging to increase accessibility, in addition to working hard to keep expenses low. Additionally, we are offering two work exchange spots for those who may not be in a financial position to pay the full cost. Work exchange requires a flexible schedule with the option to arrive early on Friday, or leave late on Sunday.

About the place:

Tucked between the Strait of Juan de Fuca and Lake Crescent, Seaforest is a 5-acre camping retreat nestled in a Red Alder Forest. Seaforest is fully off-grid, which means we don’t have running water or electricity. We’ll be cooking on our propane grill, wood stove and fire pit. The restrooms are private stalls with composting toilets. We have drinking water, flashlights, and the option for a basic shower. 

We share this land with hundreds of species of flora, fauna, and fungi, including many varieties of berries, Pacific bleeding hearts, bald eagles, bunnies, and so many more. Wide swaths of public land border Seaforest, where salmon, elk, and bear roam as they have for centuries. Seaforest is situated on S'Kallam territories, and we are committed to developing an action plan that goes beyond a land acknowledgement to genuinely honor and support Native peoples.

About us:

We, Abbey Loos and Izzy Zucker, have been friends for over a decade and are thrilled to share this offering with you. We’ll humbly admit—we are just beginning to host retreats, AND we hold with integrity that our years of study, training, and practice ready us to share an experience that is deeply rooted, effective, and authentic. We weave the warmth of our southern roots and upbringing near Atlanta, Georgia, our collective years of travel and study throughout the globe, and our connection with Place along the Salish Sea to create spaces of openness, non-judgement, play, connection, and unconditional love. We look forward to meeting you! Please don't hesitate to reach out to us with any questions. 

Izzy (she/her) is a commitment to the interconnection of the Body, the Earth, and Spirit.* She is a writer, dancer, facilitator, and strategist, with a decade of experience supporting mission-driven organizations focused on systemic change. Her work is centered around the movement between the inner and outer world—weaving ecology, emotions, ancestry, spirituality, somatics, and more into a collective tapestry. Of Ashkenazi and European descent, she grounds her work in ancestral Jewish wisdom and an animist worldview to bridge the gap between the seen and unseen. Port Angeles is her beloved home. You can learn more about her through her Substack.

*Why do I introduce myself as a commitment? Commitments, or rather, declarations, are a core principle of embodiment frameworks. It is a way of claiming something you seek to embody as part of your identity.

Abbey (she/her) is a receptacle of love, descendant of Nordic farmers, and life's humble student. Six years ago, she intuitively found her way to Coast Salish lands in Washington, where she sensed a deep bone knowing that the glacier-fed rivers and towering trees were her home. Her creative life force ignites in alchemizing energy when she is forming connections between plants, animals and humans, contributing to our shared, interdependent web. She is in constant practice of tuning into her inner wisdom and helping others do the same through introspection and expression via song, visual art, ritual and movement. On her path of uncovering relationship between the mind, body, earth, and soul she has become a certified yoga teacher and student of permaculture and psychology. She is currently working toward a Masters in Mental Health Counseling at Seattle University. Outside of Seattle, she spends a lot of time on the Olympic Peninsula at Seaforest, the land which she stewards with her community.