1 day in-person retreat
The Path Forward retreat is a single day retreat in a peaceful, converted barn, less than 1 hour from the Twin Cities. Providing the perfect scenery for healing, reflection, and hope.
We invite you to gather with other women who are in all stages of grief. Each of us grieving loved ones, coming together to honor, heal, and hear stories of loss and hope. Get ready for real talk about the stages of grief. Learn how those stages look different for women and how to recognize them and cope with each one in real life.
The Path Forward retreat offers the gift of both a welcoming space and a change of scenery; here you can openly grieve, rest, and connect. You will go home with real life tools to help you during your day to day life and when waves of grief hit extra hard.
So many of us are treated as wounded by those we love after we experience loss, leaving us feeling like we're being tiptoed around or excluded altogether. It's hard to speak our truest feelings, fears, regrets, and even hopes to those who know us best.
Others of us are surrounded by people who are also grieving, or those who do not understand our grief at all. It is vital to find a place where you can let your guard down and know you won't be judged by grieving too much or too little, too quickly or too long.
Saturday, October 15, 2022 10am - 4pm.
*Purchase your ticket online now. *Tickets will not be sold at the door, advance online tickets will be required.
The day will include:
- a morning informational and reflective session
- healing art project that even the non-artsy people will enjoy
- delicious lunch provided on site
- guest speaker(s)
- an afternoon speaker session
- a grief journal and time to write.
- walking paths, large oak trees to sit under during breaks. Time to think and feel, reflect, or talk with others.
In person at: The Art Barn Retreat Center
1040 Oak Ridge Dr, Osceola, WI 54020
**Parking is free.
Who is this retreat for?
- Women who have lost a spouse, a parent, a loved one.
- Women who are in any stage of grief and looking for tools to help cope and community to talk with, learn from, and share your experience and hopes with.
- Introverts or Extroverts. We've designed this retreat with all women in mind. There will be no pressure to stand up and talk in front of others, or greet your neighbors. You will have the opportunity during breaks to chat with others or to have quiet reflection time.
- Be open to learning new coping tools; such as breathing techniques, touch points, and more.
Who is this retreat NOT for?
- It is vital that we all be able to hold space for others in the group, women from all walks of life, backgrounds, colors, sizes, ages, and sexual orientation. If you are not able to do treat others as you wish to be treated, then this retreat will not be a good fit for you.
- Men and children - we will have other offerings in the future that will include Men but for now we have tailored this retreat specifically towards women, men may not get as much out of it.
- It is important for all women to feel what they share during a retreat such as this is kept confidential, especially if you know them outside of this space. If you are not able to respect their privacy and confidentiality then this retreat will not be a good fit for you.
About the hosts:
Gwen Wright lost her own husband unexpectedly in 2019. Left with 4 daughters to raise on her own and her busy store she owns in Osceola; Gwen deeply understands the real life balance between sitting in grief while also balancing the ongoing, continued needs of the world and family. She has openly shared her walk with grief, anger, hope, signs, and questions along the way. In 2021 Gwen trained and received her Grief Educator Certification from world renowned grief expert, David Kessler. Gwen is the founder of House of Girls.
Noelle Rollins is an artist, writer, and master dreamer. In 2020 Noelle published her book, Sacred Hellos - messages from Heaven. This book is filled with stories about signs from spirit, her walk with over a decade of grief after losing her mom, and is full of hope for those grieving. Noelle has a line of remembrance ornaments, artwork, and a newly launched hand painted casket and urn line. She infuses creativity and a positive energy into the deepest parts of grief and specializes in helping women pursue their dreams and live authentically.
About our speakers:
Jennifer Putz has always been led to help heal those in need. As a little girl, her great grandma told her she should become a nurse because of her caring bedside manner; as an adult her desire to care for others led her to an Associate's Degree in Early Childhood/Child Development. After experiencing her first massage and conversation with a well known and respected local massage therapist, she found her way to her calling. On the day of her grandmother's funeral, she left the reception early to interview at St Croix Center for the Healing Arts in Hudson, WI.
She has since enjoyed this work for 23 years, 21 of those years at Osceola Medical Center. Her professional practices have been shaped by continuing education and, more impactfully, bearing witness to life. Jennifer has been there to bring a sense of joy to patients on a chemo day, bring comfort to a grieving heart, and hold space and healing touch to a patient as they left this life and crossed into the next. Her personal losses, from the gift of holding her great-grandmother's hand as she took her last breath to the guilt and anger of not getting to say last good-byes to grandparents and feeling helpless during a traumatic pet loss, shaped awareness of the broad experiences of grief.
The grief process that has been the most difficult to navigate (and brought the most anxiety) has been the death of the love of her life. Due to complicated circumstances their relationship had ended and she wasn't there for him the last year of his life, like she had always been during their 14 yrs of knowing one another. But she had never stopped loving him. Through a growing faith, a loving, understanding village, and giving herself permission and grace she continues to heal and grow which gives her the instincts to be a listening ear and hold space for others to heal.
Jennifer will be discussing how therapeutic touch and bodywork can help the body heal and recover from the impact wearing our grief and all the complex emotions that follow in our body can have on us.
Jenn Lutz has always had a fascination with how the human body works. Her favorite book in fourth grade was the American Medical Association’s Encyclopedia of Medicine. This passion continued to grow throughout her academic career where she embraced every science class that came her way. This interest in how the body works, and more specifically, how to heal it, led to a 15-year-long career in functional medicine as a certified health coach and wellness specialist.
Jenn’s true passion came in helping her clients to better understand the often complex physiological processes occurring in their bodies that would present as illness and disease. By understanding what was driving symptom expression, her clients would then learn how to mitigate this expression by making lifestyle changes through nutrition, movement, and integrative health. One of the biggest insights is that our health is a reflection of everything that we experience - both externally and internally. Jenn is looking forward to sharing reflections on how the grief journey is physically different for each individual based on their biology with insights on how to gently support your body during times of loss and beyond.
The Path Forward Retreat is brought to you by:
FAQ's
Q) Is this a church related retreat?
A) No. This retreat will combine a mixture of grief therapies, real life stories, interjections of our own spirituality, and a bit of woo-woo-ness. We have designed this retreat for people of all faiths, religions, and those without any religious affiliations. We respect each of your journeys and beliefs and ask that you do the same of the other attendees as well.
Q) My husband passed away a few years ago, will I still find this relevant?
A) Yes, What we have found is that grief is cyclical. It will loop back and around us in various forms and levels of intensity for decades to come. Our goal is to present information in an open and honest way so you can see what patterns may still be unfolding in your life as well as gain inspiration and knowledge to use your grief to fulfill goals and dreams you may have.
Q) What should I bring with me to the retreat?
A) We will provide lunch, a journal for notetaking and reflection, and a place to feel safe as you explore your feelings, memories, and new learning. Depending on the weather you may want to bring a sweater or shawl, a snack if you'd like, and a bottle of water. The barn is not heated or cooled so while we will be inside and covered, depending on the weather and temperature you should dress appropriately. We chose the date specifically with this in mind and the hopes of non-extreme temperatures. We will supply all art supplies.
Q) I'm not in the United States, Is there an online option to this retreat?
A) No, this is an in-person retreat. We will be announcing an amazing online experience however coming up soon so join our email list here so you will be the first to hear when it's announced. (For those traveling from within the United States, we are happy to provide you with lodging information if you need, email us and we'll send you information.)
Q) Can I bring my guy friend with me to this retreat?
A) This retreat is specifically designed for women, and a safe place for other women to open up and be vulnerable. We will have other offerings coming up that men will be more than welcome to attend.
Q) Can I buy tickets at the door?
A) No, we will not have tickets available at the door. Please advance order your tickets here, online.
Regardless if you attend the retreat or not - you are welcome to join us in our free facebook group.
***Legal notes and disclaimers:
*Your purchase email will be used for communications regarding The Path Forward, to do that in the best way it may be used by either Noelle Rollins Art (Sacred Hellos) and/or House of Girls. Your email will not be shared beyond those two retreat hosts.
Disclaimer:
Please do not attend if you are sick, or been exposed to Covid. Masks are welcome, but optional for those feeling healthy.
Cancellation and Refund Policy:
Please note that there will be no refunds or discounts for arriving late, leaving early, flight cancellations, travel delays or illness. If you cancel your participation in a retreat for any reason more than 30 days before the beginning of the retreat, your payment will be credited towards a future event we offer. If you cancel less than 30 days before the retreat you will receive a 50% credit towards a future event and forfeit the other 50%. We wish we could compensate people for unforeseen circumstances (injury, family emergency, etc), but we have costs already incurred when reserving retreat centers, meals, supplies, speakers. To protect yourself further, if you're traveling from out of state we strongly encourage you to purchase travel insurance.
If We Cancel the Program
In the very unlikely case that the Path Forward retreat is cancelled, we will refund to you your retreat payment you have paid. We cannot however compensate you for airfare or travel costs incurred.
