Embodied Wisdom Institute LLC

09/04/2026

That’s the courtyard.

Painted geometry on the left, red stucco on the right, an outdoor fireplace under the overhang in the middle. Adirondack chairs already set out in the courtyard.

This is The Welcoming Place in Akron, about twenty minutes up the road from Lancaster, and it’s where we’ll be October 29 to 31.

Now the unglamorous part.

Registration closes October 1, and it closes for a boring logistical reason. The venue needs a headcount to plan meals. They need that information about a month out.

No countdown timer. No last-chance theater. They just need to know how many people to cook for.

So if you’ve been sitting with this one, October 1 is the real line.

What happens across the courtyard and inside those buildings:

🔸️Qigong Friday morning.
🔸️Sound meditation Thursday and Friday night.
🔸️Gentle yoga Friday afternoon.
🔸️An herbalism workshop on nervines and dream herbs.
🔸️A lantern walk.
🔸️Reflection circles.
🔸️A few unscheduled hours after lunch, empty on purpose.

Every practice is optional. No experience needed with any of it. All are welcome.

Sharing in circle is always an invitation. Passing is a full sentence.

$490 for a shared twin, $650 for a private queen. There are eight private queens total, so those go first.

All meals are vegetarian and buffet-style, served in the dining hall.

Three days, two nights, and a chair in that courtyard.

Learn more and register here:

Join our three-day fall retreat at The Welcoming Place in Akron, PA, to slow down, reconnect with your body, and nurture your inner rhythm. Experience somatic practices, sound meditation, gentle movement, and reflective rituals designed for rest, renewal, and mindful presence.

09/02/2026

Something special arrived for Harvesting Stillness & Vitality.

Our reflection cards, created specifically for this retreat, are here.

Renew. Root. Harvest. Release. Samhain.

These words hold some of the themes we’ve been thoughtfully weaving into our time together. The turning of the season. The invitation to pause and notice. To acknowledge what has been, where we are now, and what may be ready to shift.

We have been very intentional about what we are creating for our guests. Every experience, offering, and little detail has been chosen with care and with the people joining us in mind.

Not simply a retreat where you step away from your everyday responsibilities for a few days, but a space where you can arrive Thursday afternoon and feel welcomed. A space to slow down, connect, reflect, receive, and remember that you don’t always have to be the one holding everything.

Even the smallest details matter to us.

These cards are one of those details.

We hope that when you arrive, you can feel the care behind what we’ve created. That you feel considered. That you feel valued. That you feel there is a place for you here.

You belong here.
You were thought of.
There is space for you.

08/28/2026

Today, Elizabeth and I had the chance to visit The Welcoming Place, and we are even more excited for the upcoming Harvesting Stillness & Vitality Retreat.

The video is just a little glimpse of the place we’ll soon get to share together.

We discovered a beautiful little forest tucked into the grounds, with a peaceful walking trail, benches, and even a little creek along the way. Throughout the campus, native plants add to the beauty of the landscape, and the soothing sounds of the waterfall make the whole space feel especially peaceful.

We can’t wait to spend time in this beautiful place together this October.

Harvesting Stillness & Vitality Retreat
October 29–31, 2026
The Welcoming Place | Akron, PA

08/27/2026

At Drift Spa, you can float in their pool while sound fills the room.

Five floors above the noise of Penn Square, Drift calls itself Lancaster's first farm to spa, led by owner Stacey Steffes with more than twenty years in this work.

Organic facial rituals. Oils blended for the person on the table. One signature scent carried gently through the whole visit, so the hour holds together like a single held breath.

Philadelphia Magazine gave them a Best of Philly and admitted, right there in print, that driving eighty miles for a spa sounds a little unreasonable. Then spent the rest of the piece explaining why it isn't.

The accolade is lovely. It isn't the reason we chose them.

We chose them because they treat rest as real work. The team at Drift Spa knows that slowing down is a skill, and that our bodies deserve tending. We love them for that.

Drift shared with us gifts for the discovery bags and an item for the raffle.

Thank you, Drift Spa, for what you tucked into every discovery bag, and for the raffle item. People will leave our retreat fuller than they came, and you helped make that come true.

Harvesting Stillness & Vitality
October 29 to 31 · The Welcoming Place, Akron

Registration closes October 1 · Link in bio

08/26/2026

There’s something really special about gathering in a small group and simply being together.

We had our monthly Qigong + Sound class, and we’re feeling so grateful for the lovely, dedicated participants who joined us. Each person brought such presence and openness to the practice, becoming fully immersed in the experience.

Jason guided the Qigong practice through gentle movement, breath, and mindful awareness, while I accompanied the practice with the sounds of gongs, crystal and metal bowls, chimes, and other instruments.

The movement, breath, and sound came together beautifully, creating space to slow down, listen inward, and be present.

Our movement classes are limited to four participants, creating an intimate experience where we can connect, practice, and share the evening together.

We love these gatherings and the connection that happens when we make space to practice alongside one another.

08/26/2026

Several of our collaborators in this circle are within twenty minutes of us. Essence is in Utah.

We said yes anyway, and here is why.

Michael DeLeeuw was a financial advisor who spent his life on airplanes. Flying to Dallas one week, he was seated beside someone he simply could not breathe around. On the flight home, it happened again. He came back and went looking for something that would help, and found nothing waiting for him but a strip meant for snoring.

So he kept looking. At a manufacturing convention, he found a silicone that holds essential oils and releases them slowly. He built Essence in 2018 with his wife Tami and her brother Judah. Made in the USA. Reusable thirty times over.

Nurses found it first. Then everyone who spends their days somewhere that has impactful smells.

Breath is the shortest road home to your own body. We will return to that for three days, and then everyone drives home to a life that did not pause while they were gone.

Something you can carry into that life outlives the retreat itself. That felt worth a shipping label.

Essence sent something for every discovery bag.

Thank you, Essence, for filling every discovery bag from two thousand miles away. Everyone who comes will carry a little of your work home in their pocket.

Harvesting Stillness & Vitality
October 29 to 31 · The Welcoming Place, Akron

Registration closes October 1

Register here:
www.embodiedwisdominstitute.com/harvesting-retreat

08/25/2026

Who can relate? 😬🙋🏾‍♀️

I’ve definitely done this myself. There’s something I really want to do, but I’ll tell myself, “I’ll decide later.” Sometimes I’m waiting for the right moment, gathering more information, or simply giving myself time to feel into the decision.

And then, sometimes, by the time I’m ready to say yes, the particular option I was hoping for is no longer available.

I’ve noticed that when that happens, it can become surprisingly easy for me to talk myself out of the whole thing. "Maybe it wasn’t meant to happen.” “I guess I don’t really need to go.” When underneath all of that, I know I was genuinely looking forward to it.

I’m sharing this because I wonder if you might relate.

So this video is simply a gentle nudge for anyone who has been considering Harvesting Stillness & Vitality. If you already have a sense that you’d like to join us and you have a preference for a private or shared room, both options are currently available.

You’re welcome to take the time you need and make the choice that feels right for you. And if you have questions that would help you make your decision, you can email me at [email protected] or leave a comment here.

If you’re ready to join us, you can find the retreat details and registration here:

https://www.embodiedwisdominstitute.com/harvesting-retreat

The link is also in our bio. 💜

08/25/2026

Harvesting Stillness & Vitality is getting closer, and we couldn't be more excited!

Join us October 29–31 for three autumn days and two nights at The Welcoming Place in Akron, PA, created for rest, connection, and a slower rhythm.

Throughout your stay, you'll have opportunities to experience sound meditations, Qigong, gentle yoga, herbalism, mindful walking, seasonal reflection, nourishing vegetarian meals, and unstructured time to simply rest or explore the grounds.

Choose the space that feels right for you with a shared twin room or private room. Your lodging, meals, and all retreat programming are included.

If you've been curious, we'd love to invite you to explore the retreat details and see if this weekend feels like a good fit.

Learn more:
https://www.embodiedwisdominstitute.com/harvesting-retreat

08/25/2026

Sometimes a mother goes looking for something, cannot find it anywhere, and builds it herself.

Cynthia May's daughter was living with Lyme disease. Searching for gentler ways to ease the symptoms, she found infrared and light therapy, and then discovered there was almost nowhere in the country to receive it.

So in 2020, she opened a room. Warm, quiet, private. A place where you could close a door and let your body do what it already knows how to do.
That room became many rooms. One of them is a short drive from here.

We said yes to beem Lancaster because heat and light do slow work on a body that has been bracing for months. It softens what has been held. It asks nothing of you while it happens.

That is the same work we do in the practice room. It simply arrives through a different door.

Forty minutes in the warm dark is a real practice.

Beem Light Sauna Lancaster shared a fantastic raffle item for the retreat, and every person who registers is entered.

Thank you Melissa and beem for the raffle item, and for building a room where people are allowed to do nothing. Someone is going home from this retreat with a room already waiting.

Harvesting Stillness & Vitality
October 29 to 31 · The Welcoming Place, Akron
Registration closes October 1

Register here:
www.embodiedwisdominstitute.com/harvesting-retreat

08/24/2026

Some businesses begin with a plan. This one began with soap.

Heather and Nathan Kreider started making soap to take the edge off long days, then kept making it, and made far more than two people could ever use. That is usually how it goes. You tend to something small because it steadies you, and one day you look up and it has become the work.

Their work eventually grew into Hempfield Botanicals, named for the corner of this county where h**p grew in the fields until the last crop came off in 1958.

They bought their first h**p from Kentucky. And they said out loud, to anyone listening, that they hoped to be buying it from Pennsylvania within five years.

They are.

We keep returning to that. A quiet intention, said plainly, then tended season after season until it came true. That is the same patience this retreat is built on.

Hempfield gifted an amazing item (We can't share more to keep it a surprise.) to our raffle, and every person who registers is entered.

Thank you, Hempfield Botanicals, for the wonderful raffle item, and for the years of tending that made it possible. Someone's Friday is going to get a little brighter.

Harvesting Stillness & Vitality
October 29 to 31 · The Welcoming Place, Akron

Registration closes October 1 · Link in bio