Flow for the Weekend

The theme of the weekend is The Returning - a celebration of Spring's arrival, and the ancient human joy of welcoming her back. Throughout the weekend, we will explore what it means to emerge - from the darkness of winter and from the busyness of city life.

​

This is the anticipated schedule, but we are open to all suggestions!

​

Friday, May 8th - Arrival & Opening Ceremony

• 4:34 - 6:36 PM - Train ride from Grand Central to Dover Plains (transportation provided to take us to the retreat home)

• 7:00 - 8:00 PM - Opening meal

• 8:00 - 9:00 PM - Opening ceremony & storytelling

​

Saturday, May 9th 

• 7:00 AM - Flute wakeup 

• 7:15 - 8:15 AM – Breakfast

• Throughout the day we'll slow down and enter a world of:

  • Earth-based crafting - we'll design our own beaded necklaces with the help of Anna Roween, a jewelry designer

  • Nature games to awaken intuition, deep listening and joy

  • Ancestral story work and mother-daughter bonding​

  • Mask making - we'll decorate animal masks with natural fibers, branches, seeds, wool, and found treasures, in preparation for a celebration of Užgavėnės on Sunday

• 12:00 - 1:00 PM - Lunch

• 5:00 - 6:00 PM - Dinner

• 6:30 - 9:00 PM - Ecstatic dance party, bonfire, and storytelling

​

Sunday, May 10th

• 7:00 AM - Flute wakeup 

• 7:15 - 8:15 AM – Mother's Day Breakfast

• Throughout the morning:

  • Nature and mindfulness game

  • ​Finish our animal masks & create a stick effigy to represent Winter

  • Pack

• 11:30 - 12:00 PM - Lunch​

• 12:00 - 1:00 PM - Užgavėnės fire ceremony to say goodbye to winter and welcome in Spring

• ​1:00 PM - Closing ceremony and reflection

• 2:23 - 4:43 PM - Train from Dover Plains to Grand Central​

​

Why a Užgavėnės fire ceremony? 

My friend Aura will be joining the retreat with her daughter, Naya. Aura grew up in Lithuania, where each year they celebrate a festival called Užgavėnės - a joyful, communal ritual to wake the land, call back the sun, and release the heaviness of winter. She remembers it as one of the most alive days of the year: people in handmade masks, dancing, laughing, and gathering around a great fire. When Aura and I began talking about it, we both felt it immediately - this is the energy we want to bring to our weekend together. We’ll create our own animal masks, burn an effigy of winter, and gather around the fire to shed old layers and welcome the joy of spring.