Embodied Wisdom Institute
Harvesting Stillness & Vitality
Three autumn days and two nights for people who spend most of their lives holding things together for everyone else. What if, just this once, you didn't have to?
Arrive Thursday 3:00 PM · Depart Saturday 9:00 AM
Two nights · Five vegetarian meals · All retreat programming included
Shared twin room $490 · Private rooms are reserved, waitlist open
Three weeks left. Registration closes October 1, 2026. Shared rooms are still open; private rooms are now by waitlist.
Who this is for
Maybe you've been the one holding space.
- You're the dependable one, at work and at home.
- Your days are full of caring, tending, solving, showing up.
- Even on time off, your mind doesn't quite know how to stop.
- You'd like to be somewhere you don't have to accomplish anything.
This retreat isn't another thing to do well. Come as you are, participate as much or as little as feels right, and step away whenever you need to. There is no correct way to spend these three days.
We know that because we live on the same side of it. Between the two of us, most weeks are spent tending to other people, and we've watched how rarely anyone in that position gets a stretch of time where nothing has to be fixed, finished, or performed.
So we made one. Once you're there, you don't have to organize, facilitate, cook, solve, or hold anything together. You can simply arrive and let it be held for you.
Vanessa Simmons & Jason Jacobs, facilitators
Why now
Autumn is the season for taking stock.
By late October, most of a year has already gone somewhere. Into work, into other people, into the hundred small things you handled so nobody else had to.
Harvest season is the one time of year organized around looking at what came in. What sustained you. What cost more than it returned. What you'd like to carry into the winter, and what you might be willing to leave in the field.
You can do that thinking anywhere. It may happen a little differently somewhere the meals are already made and nothing is waiting on your attention.
Three days, two nights
Sound · Qigong · Gentle Yoga · Herbalism · Mindful Walking · Seasonal Ritual · Rest
Three days and two nights on a quiet campus in Lancaster County. Mornings move. Afternoons open up. Evenings settle into sound and candlelight.
Nothing here is required. You get to choose what sounds nourishing on the day, and choose differently the next morning.
What you might carry home
By Saturday morning.
Three days won't undo a year. But they can give you enough space to notice what the year has been asking of you.
What you might notice is quieter than transformation: a little more room around your own thoughts. A clearer sense of what you actually need, underneath what you've been managing. A renewed familiarity with what rest feels like in the body. Maybe a practice simple enough to carry into an ordinary Tuesday morning.
And sometimes something else: the recognition that making room for yourself didn't require earning it first.
You may notice all of that. You may notice something we haven't thought of. You get to decide what comes home with you.
The setting
The Welcoming Place, Akron, PA
A small campus of guesthouses and gathering rooms set among native plantings and walking paths, with a fireplace in the guesthouse common room and a lounge that becomes the sound meditation room after dark. Everything is within a short walk. Onsite parking.
21 South 12th Street, Akron, PA 17501
Your three days
Three days, your pace.
Arrival Thursday, October 29 at 3:00 PM · Departure Saturday, October 31 at 9:00 AM
Thursday. Arrive at 3:00 PM, settle in, dinner, a welcome circle, candlelight reflection, and a sound meditation as the grounds go dark.
Friday. Breakfast, Qigong, an herbalism workshop, gentle yoga at sunset, a lantern walk at dusk, and evening sound.
Friday holds one deliberate gap: from lunch until yoga at 3:30, nothing is scheduled. Nap, wander, journal in the Quiet Studio, or sit by the water. Nobody will come looking for you.
That gap is the whole idea in miniature. Spaciousness is easy to write about and much harder to actually hand someone, so we built it into the schedule instead of describing it.
Saturday. Breakfast, a closing circle, departure at 9:00 AM.
See the full hour-by-hour schedule
Thursday, October 29
3:00 PM Arrival and settling in, with tea and light refreshments
5:00 PM Dinner
6:30 PM Gathering the Harvest, a welcome circle with Vanessa
7:00 PM Honoring the Path, a candlelight reflection with Vanessa
8:00 PM Into Stillness, a sound meditation with Vanessa
Friday, October 30
7:30 AM Breakfast
8:30 AM Awakening Vitality, morning Qigong with Jason
10:00 AM Midnight Apothecary, herbalism with Rissa Miller
Noon Lunch
1:00 PM Spacious afternoon, with the Quiet Studio open for journaling, drawing, or rest
3:30 PM Autumn Sunset Gentle Yoga Flow with Elizabeth Swope
5:00 PM Dinner
6:15 PM Lantern walk at dusk with Vanessa
7:30 PM Resonance & Renewal, a sound meditation with Vanessa
Saturday, October 31
7:30 AM Breakfast
8:15 AM Carrying the Harvest Home, a closing circle with Vanessa
9:00 AM Departure
Every session is optional. The Seasonal Reflection Basket in the common area is open all three days.
The group
A gathering with room to breathe.
We're bringing together a community of people for three days of shared practice, nourishing meals, conversation, and open time. There will be plenty of chances to connect with the people around you, along with just as much room to step away, wander, rest, journal, or simply be.
Enough company to feel part of something. Enough space to stop being "on."
Your facilitators
The people you'll spend these three days with
Four practitioners, each leading the work they've spent years in, rather than one person covering everything.
Somatic & therapeutic sound practitioner
Vanessa Simmons
Vanessa has spent nearly a decade guiding people back toward their own inner wisdom, with a focus on nervous system support. Much of that work comes down to holding a container steady enough that people can stop efforting inside it, which is exactly what she wanted these three days to be. She created this retreat to offer that kind of space, and to create room for genuine connection. She leads the circles, the sound meditations, and the seasonal rituals.
Certified medical & integral Qigong practitioner
Jason Jacobs
Jason teaches Qigong, breathwork, and meditation, with more than a decade of practice behind it. He started teaching out of his own need for the practice. He leads Friday morning Qigong and keeps things grounded and easy to step into.
Gentle & restorative yoga
Elizabeth Swope
Elizabeth has taught gentle and restorative yoga for ten years. Her classes are slow, quiet, and built around real rest. She leads Friday's sunset flow.
Folklorist & herbalist
Rissa Miller
Rissa is a folklorist, author, and herbalist whose work sits where plant medicine meets story and ritual tradition.
In their words
What people have experienced in our spaces
These are from our classes, circles, and sessions. They're what we can honestly show you.
This experience exceeded my expectations! Such a warm & safe environment to just be.
J.S. · Sound meditation
Jason's expertise is so apparent with each session. It's always a joy to participate and I leave feeling so much more centered, calm and grounded.
L.S. · Restorative Qigong
It was my first yoga class and I felt very safe and comfortable with Elizabeth as the teacher. The space created felt nurturing and supportive. I left with a deeper sense of awareness than what I had entered in with.
M.K. · Restorative yoga with Elizabeth Swope
Such a warm and welcoming space. No matter who shows up, Vanessa has a way to let you feel vulnerable while powering you to embrace your strengths.
H.H. · Collective Nurture Circle
What's included
Everything you need once you're here.
Two nights. Five vegetarian meals. Three days of experiences. Four practitioners. Your room included.
Once you're here, you don't organize anything, facilitate anything, cook anything, or hold anything together. You get to walk into a room someone else has set up, eat food someone else has cooked, and spend three days without being the person responsible for making it work.
Two nights of lodging
A guesthouse room with its own ensuite bathroom. Towels and bedding provided.
Five vegetarian meals, plus snacks and tea
Seasonal, prepared for you, Thursday dinner through Saturday breakfast. Meals are served buffet style, so you take what you want, as much or as little as you want, and go back if you'd like more. Nobody cooks and nobody cleans up.
Sound, Qigong, gentle yoga, herbalism, a lantern walk, and ritual
Offered across the three days by four practitioners, each leading the work they specialize in. Everything is available to you, and you get to choose what feels right.
A discovery bag worth about $75
Gifts from Lancaster County makers and beyond, including a $25 gift card, plus entry in the retreat raffle.
Unstructured time, on purpose
The Quiet Studio, the walking paths, the fireplace in the guesthouse common room, and a Friday afternoon with nothing on it.
A virtual gathering before you arrive
Once you're registered, you're invited to a virtual meetup on Sunday, October 18, so you arrive already knowing a few faces.
Three weeks to decide. Registration closes October 1, 2026, and this is a small gathering by design, so the rooms that are left are genuinely the rooms that are left.
Private rooms are fully reserved. Shared twin rooms are still open, and there is a waitlist if a private room is what you need.
One price, paid once. Once you're here, your lodging, meals, retreat experiences, and everything included are already taken care of.
Your registration covers lodging, five vegetarian meals, the full retreat experience, all workshops and practices, your discovery bag, and everything offered from Thursday afternoon through Saturday morning.
Option one
Available now
Shared twin room
A little more togetherness. Two twin beds shared with another participant, with your own ensuite bathroom.
A limited number of shared rooms remain, and registration closes October 1.
$490 per person
Option two
Fully reserved · waitlist open
Private queen room
Our private rooms are now reserved. We know private space matters to some people, so we've opened a waitlist instead of simply closing the door.
If enough people ask, we'll open additional private rooms for the retreat. Email us and you'll be first in line if we do. The waitlist closes when registration does, on October 1.
$650 per person, if opened
Arrival is Thursday, October 29 at 3:00 PM and departure is Saturday, October 31 at 9:00 AM. Registration closes October 1, 2026, or earlier if we fill. Full payment at registration, processed securely through Stripe.
Questions
Anything you're wondering about, ask.
Email contact@embodiedwisdominstitute.com and you'll hear back from a person. The essentials are below.
What are the actual arrival and departure times?
Doors open Thursday, October 29 at 3:00 PM and we close Saturday, October 31 at 9:00 AM after the final circle. Three days and two nights.
For most people that means taking Thursday and Friday off work, which we know is a real ask on top of the cost. If the dates are the only thing standing in your way, tell us. It helps us plan the next one.
Can I still get a private room?
Our private rooms are reserved. Shared twin rooms are still available, and each one comes with its own ensuite bathroom.
If a private room is what you need, email contact@embodiedwisdominstitute.com and we'll add you to the private-room waitlist. With enough interest we'll open additional private rooms, and waitlisted guests get first offer. We'll know by the time registration closes on October 1, so the sooner you tell us, the better the odds.
Do I need any experience?
None. Every session is designed for first-timers and longtime practitioners alike, and all of them are optional.
What should I bring?
A yoga mat, water bottle, comfortable layers, and your own personal care products. Towels and bedding are provided. A journal and a favorite blanket are never a bad idea.
What about meals and allergies?
Five vegetarian meals, Thursday dinner through Saturday breakfast, served buffet style, with snacks throughout. Registration asks about allergies and sensory sensitivities. Meals are prepared in a shared kitchen and served from shared dishes, so cross-contact is possible. With a severe allergy, please bring your own food and your own rescue medication.
Will anyone touch me during sessions?
Classes are taught by verbal instruction only, with no hands-on adjustments. Two exceptions are entirely your choice: an instrument placed on or near your body during sound meditation, and hand-holding in circle. You can decline either at any point, including after saying yes, and no explanation is needed.
Is the space accessible?
Honestly, partly. It's a small campus with walking paths between buildings, and not all areas are wheelchair accessible, including the guesthouse bathrooms. Several sessions are floor-based, with chairs and modifications offered. Email us before you count yourself out and we'll tell you plainly what we can and can't support. Thirty days' notice gives us the most room to arrange things.
Is this therapy?
No. This is an educational and wellness experience. It is not psychotherapy, medical treatment, or crisis support, and there are no medical staff on site. Anyone seeking clinical care is encouraged to work with a licensed provider.
Cancellations and refunds
On or before September 14: full refund, less a $75 administrative fee.
September 15 through September 29: 50% refund.
September 30 or later: no refund, for any reason.
Registering after September 29 means your spot is non-refundable from the moment you pay. Spot transfers are accepted with prior notice and approval. Travel insurance is encouraged.
Before you register: the Participation Agreement
Registration includes a checkbox confirming you've read and agree to our Participation Agreement and Liability Waiver, which serves as a legally binding electronic signature. It covers what the retreat is and isn't, the risks involved, consent around physical contact, refunds, accessibility, and the rights you're waiving.
Photos and recording
Please don't record sessions, facilitators, or other participants. We do photograph the retreat for our website and social media, and registering means agreeing to that. Tell us if you'd rather not be photographed and we'll do our best, though we can't promise you'll never appear in the background.
October 29 – 31, 2026 · Akron, Pennsylvania
Perhaps this is your season to slow down.
Three days.
Two nights.
A quieter rhythm.
You don't have to arrive knowing what you need. You don't have to participate in everything. You are welcome to come exactly as you are.
Three weeks left. Shared rooms are still open; private rooms are by waitlist.
Registration closes October 1, 2026. This retreat offers educational and wellness-based experiences. It is not psychotherapy, medical treatment, or crisis support. All participants agree to our Participation Agreement & Liability Waiver at registration.
Our collaborators
Discovery bag gifts and raffle items, with thanks to these local businesses and beyond. Every attendee is entered in the raffle.
