Sedona Women’s Retreat
Sedona, Arizona
August 24 - 28, 2024
We welcome you to a sacred desert immersion for women along the banks of Oak Creek in Sedona, Arizona. Explore the power and potency held in the beautiful red rock canyons of this stunning desert land. Let’s dive into the magick of the desert, singing over the bones of our life experiences and fleshing out our creativity. Expect powerful group circles and movement, swimming and hiking excursions, transformational rituals and ceremonies, oracle card making, animal spirit medicine, and more.
Ready to call yourself home? Keep reading…
Discover: What we’ll do
During this immersion, we will connect deeply with our wild nature, the land, our bodies, and each other.
We’ll play with the deep earth magick of the desert — the heat, sand, and rocks in relationship to the flowing rivers and raging monsoons. We’ll learn to be in relationship to the land and the animals of the desert, while we embrace the hot days, cool nights, and clear skies, perfect for wild stargazing.
Expect the following:
Movement practices, women's circles, and deep guided journeys and meditations
Transformational ritual and creative practices
Crafting your own mini oracle card deck with the desert magick them
Opportunities for cool plunges, swimming hole visits, and stargazing
A hike among the powerful red rock energies and vortexes
Attending a local drum circle
A powerful ceremony guided by indigenous medicine woman Rebecca Cutehands, on sacred land.
This will support a modified solo vision quest amongst the gorgeous red rocks of Sedona
Map It: Where we’ll be
Join us for an immersion along the banks of Oak Creek in Sedona, Arizona in late summer, when the water is warm for swimming and the flowers bloom. Oak Creek is stunning at this time of year, with its lush and green natural landscape due to the summer rains.
After flying into Phoenix or Flagstaff, you’ll make your way to Sedona and settle into the Briar Patch Inn for our luxurious stay.
Thoughtful Lodging: Where we’ll stay
Our home away from home will be The Briar Patch Inn, a series of luxurious and charming cabins nestled on nine acres of sycamore, oak, and fruit trees in the beautiful landscape of Oak Creek Canyon. You’ll be wrapped in Mother Nature with the peaceful forest, flowing waterfalls, and singing birds throughout the canyon.
The Briar Patch Inn participates in sustainability through eco-friendly practices, conservation efforts, and responsible tourism. They also offer a hearty breakfast (with local music), afternoon refreshments, and a labyrinth for walking meditation. Briar Patch is committed to helping you unplug and reconnect to nature, so wifi is limited to help you become fully present.
Here's a peek at your new digs, in the slideshow below:
Circle + Ritual: A Return to the Wilds
Morning circle:
Morning circles will be held after breakfast. They are an opportunity for us to connect deeply with our bodies and with each other at the start to the day. They will always include some form of movement, a sharing circle, and other experiences that may include meditation, journaling, divination and card-pulling, art-making, and more.
The movement style:
Please note that this is not a traditional yoga retreat. While Jen and Titiana are trained in yoga, and much of our movement might have a basis in gentle vinyasa, hatha, or yin yoga, we like to get outside the box. We may incorporate energy medicine practices, qi gong, intuitive movement, and dance into our experience. What we do will depend on the theme of the day and the energy of the group.
Ritual & Ceremony:
We will have two types of ritual and ceremony at this retreat.
One guiding ritual theme is to integrate the medicine of La Loba, as described by Clarissa Pinkola Estes in Women Who Run With the Wolves. We’ll use her tale of singing the flesh back onto the bones of the wolf to reclaim our wild creativity and deep magick we hold within. Throughout the week we will receive information from animal spirits, from the wilderness around us, and from our own souls.
The other type of ceremony on this retreat will be led by an indigenous medicine woman, Rebecca Cutehands. Rebecca is of the Cherokee Nation and will invite us into the practices of her lineage as she leads us in ceremony.
The purpose of ritual is to embody a particular transformation. Whether we are looking to set intentions for manifestation, for healing, for revering an aspect of nature, for protection, or for banishing, we use ritual as a way to “act out” the transformation we are desiring.
Ritual is a very sacred space and I invite you to hold a reverence while in the ritual, including coming to the ritual sober and of clear mind. The nature of group ritual is that we are all holding the energy for each other, and we want our circle to be of deep presence, focus, and integrity.
Vision Quest:
Our ceremony with Rebecca will support you in transitioning into a solo vision quest in nature among the healing red rocks. Titiana is experienced in guiding these solo quests and will steward you through the process to receive a message from this sacred experience of solitude in nature.
New to yoga, circles, or ritual?
You don’t need any experience coming into this container, as long as you come with an open mind and open heart. This will be an intimate and transformative space. The nature of women’s circles and rituals is that it can sometimes invite us to look at aspects of our beings that feel emotional. If emotions arise, that is beautiful. That gifts us with an opportunity to let them flow and allow them to alchemize.
Enjoy some photos below of previous rituals and events led by Jen:
Local Cuisine: What we’ll eat
Meals will be nourishing, nutritious foods. We’ll have breakfast at the hotel, a selection of make-your-own lunch options at our main cabin, and a combination of locally catered meals or dinner excursions.
Breakfasts will be at the Briar Patch Inn, and here’s what they have to say about it:
Included with your stay is a hearty and healthy home-made breakfast, served buffet style in the lodge. It consists of fresh baked breads and muffins, crunchy granola, oatmeal, quiche, hard and soft eggs in the shell, dried plums in an orange sauce, yogurt, fresh cut fruits and orange juice, coffee and herbal teas. These can be enjoyed by the fireplace in the lodge during the cooler months, taken on a tray back to your cottage, or best of all, enjoyed creekside in the warmer months.
Just when you think it can’t get any better, “Music Maestro!” June through mid-September during breakfast, we enjoy the musical gifts of Maryanne Kremer-Ames and Allen Ames, classical guitarist and violinist known as “Lyra.” They have honored the Briar Patch with their expertise since 1989.
Lunches will be self-prepared and packed for our excursions.
We will stock the fridge with a variety of ingredients for sandwiches, wraps, salads, and snacks so that each participant can pack their own lunch for our day excursions. Notify us of dietary restrictions, and we will make sure we have options for you in the fridge!
Dinners will be a blend of group catered meals and free time.
We are excited to offer fresh, locally catered Welcome and Farewell Dinners to all participants in our main cabin.
On two other nights, we will give free time for participants to purchase their own dinners.
One meal will be at an amazing local staple called ChocolaTree and the other will be in a downtown location with various options for your meals!
Connection: The Meaning of It All
Our fast-paced digital lifestyle is draining us more than ever before. Unplug from your daily grind for these four days, and truly recharge your body, mind, and soul. Whether it's with nature, with yourself, or with like-minded people, this immersion offers you the opportunity for true connection.
Here are some photos of previous retreats and events:
Your Retreat Guides:
Jen Wyatt
Jen Wyatt, owner of Wander Free Wellness, is a teacher and facilitator of yoga experiences, women’s circles, moon rituals, and retreats. She has a Master of Arts degree in Teaching, a Bachelor of Arts degree in Psychology, is a certified yoga teacher at the 500-hour level, and is attuned as a Reiki healer. She believes that liberation of the true authentic self - in all its weirdness and wildness - is the key to lasting happiness and fulfillment. Jen guides others to come home to themselves by connecting deeply with the earth, with nature's cycles and rhythms, and with the depths of our often buried imagination and creativity.
She facilitates guided unique experiences that offer a safe space to unravel our layers of conditioning and suppression of the true self, to access the intuitive wisdom within, and to unveil our own limitless creativity. Through movement, ritual, story medicine, and activating imagination, Jen guides you to find freedom and homecoming within your own being. Jen strives always to embrace the magic of the tiniest moments, and vows to never let go of wonder and curiosity. Jen loves to write, make beaded jewelry, create art, and be in nature in all forms. You can find her in her greatest joy talking to the animals around her and singing to snails. May all beings be wild and free.
Titiana Shostak-Kinker
A lover of outdoor adventure, exploration and travel, Titiana is most passionate about rock climbing, dance and swimming in tropical waters and desert canyons. She has a dynamic astrology practice that travels with her plus magical massage hands. Passionate about the stars since childhood, she's had a professional astrology practice since 2012. Titiana has a Master's Degree in Adventure Education from Prescott College in Arizona plus a Bachelor's in Multicultural Education. She taught at Prescott College for 2 decades, worked at Outward Bound for 15 years, guided in the Alps, Rocky Mountains, Grand Canyon, Sierra, Joshua Tree and Hawaii.
Titiana's been a licensed massage therapist since 2001 and she's taught yoga since 1997. Titiana returns to Arizona each year during monsoon season to immerse herself in the desert while it's lush, green and blooming. She believes in aligning with natural cycles, the moon, ritual and sisterhood. She has deep faith in the healing power found in wilderness and the freedom of movement.
What's Included?
4 Nights lodging at The Briar Patch Inn in Sedona
Three nutritious breakfasts and lunches. Breakfast will be included at the Briar Patch Inn and lunch will be a pack-your-own option from a fridge full of groceries that we will supply
A welcome and farewell dinner, locally catered
Movement practices, women's circles, and deep guided journeys and meditations
Transformational ritual and creative practices
Crafting your own mini oracle card deck with the desert magick theme
Opportunities for swimming hole visits and hiking among the red rock vortexes
A powerful ceremony guided by indigenous medicine woman Rebecca Cutehands, on sacred land.
A modified solo vision quest amongst the gorgeous red rocks of Sedona
What's Not Included?
Airfare to Arizona - You can opt to fly into Phoenix or Flagstaff, and will be responsible for getting to the Briar Patch Inn
Transportation from the airport to the Briar Patch Inn (there is an affordable shuttle from the Phoenix airport to Sedona)
Two dinners out in Sedona, one will be at the local healthy restaurant, ChocolaTree.
Alcoholic beverages
Additional excursions, activities, and transport during your own free time
