Harvesting Stillness & Vitality

The Welcoming Place, 21 South 12th St., Akron, PA 17501. Onsite parking is available.

None at all. The retreat is designed for adult beginners and experienced practitioners alike. All sessions are optional and guided entirely by your own comfort level.

Please bring your own yoga mat, a water bottle, and comfortable clothes you can move and rest in. Layers work best; the space and the weather both shift over the weekend. A journal and anything that supports your personal comfort are welcome, and a favorite shawl or blanket is always a good idea. Towels and bedding are provided; personal care products are not. You may also bring vegan foods if you prefer.

Yes. Towels and bedding are provided for your stay. We recommend bringing your own shower gel, shampoo, conditioner, and any other personal care products you typically use, as these are not supplied.

Yes. For shared twin rooms, note your roommate's name on the participant intake form. Each person registers individually. Please reach out at contact@embodiedwisdominstitute.com before registering to confirm twin bed availability.

Vegetarian meals are provided: Thursday dinner, Friday breakfast, lunch, and dinner, and Saturday breakfast. Snacks are available throughout. Vegan meals are not provided, but you're welcome to bring your own food, and each guesthouse has a shared kitchen.

Please note any allergies and sensory sensitivities during registration. Meals are prepared and served in a shared kitchen and dining space, so we can't guarantee any dish is free from allergens, and cross-contact is possible. If you have a severe allergy, we'd recommend bringing your own food and carrying your own rescue medication.

Registration asks about allergies and sensory sensitivities. Anything beyond that is welcome by email at contact@embodiedwisdominstitute.com, and we'd encourage it.

What's most useful to know is anything that might affect how you participate, so we can plan support around it. Sharing is not a screening step and won't be used to keep you out.

One practical note: there are no medical staff on site. Whatever you need for your own care over the weekend, please bring it with you and keep it somewhere you can reach it.

We want to be straight with you about the space. The Welcoming Place is a small campus with walking paths between buildings, and not all areas are wheelchair accessible, including the guesthouse bathrooms. Several sessions involve floor-based practice, though chairs and modifications are offered throughout.

That said, please reach out before you decide rather than counting yourself out. Tell us what you need and we'll tell you honestly what we can and can't support, and we'll adjust what's reasonably within our control. Some things we can change; some are limits of the buildings themselves.

Email contact@embodiedwisdominstitute.com and we'll work through it with you. Requests made at least 30 days ahead give us the most room to arrange support, and later requests are still welcome.

Classes are taught entirely through verbal instruction. Our facilitators don't use hands-on adjustments or postural assistance in any session.

There are two places physical contact might come up, and both are your choice. During sound meditation, an instrument such as a singing bowl may be placed on or near your body, and only if you've agreed to it beforehand. In circle gatherings, participants sometimes choose to hold hands, which is always optional.

You can decline either one at any point, including partway through after you've already said yes, and you never have to explain why. Declining won't affect your participation in anything. If you have an injury or an area you'd rather not have touched, tell your facilitator.

Rissa Miller's Midnight Apothecary session on Friday morning explores calming nervines, dream herbs, and bedtime rituals. It's an educational workshop. If teas or preparations are offered to taste, that's entirely optional, and you're welcome to attend and simply listen.

Worth reading if you take medication: some herbs interact with prescription and over-the-counter drugs. Nothing shared in this session is medical advice, and none of it is intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any condition. If you're pregnant, nursing, taking medication, or managing a health condition, please check with your own healthcare provider before consuming any herbal preparation.

Every attendee receives a discovery bag. Some items come from our collaborators, and some are things we've chosen and purchased ourselves because we thought you'd like them. Collaborators also contribute raffle items, and every attendee is automatically entered at no additional cost.

Everything in the bag is made by someone else. We don't manufacture or test any of it, so please read labels before using or consuming anything, particularly if you have allergies or take medication.

Please don't record. No photos, video, or audio of sessions, facilitators, or other participants without everyone's permission. People share personal things in circle, Pennsylvania law requires the consent of everyone involved before a conversation is recorded, and the weekend simply works better when nobody is wondering whether they're being filmed.

We will be taking photos and video throughout the retreat for our website and social media, and registering means agreeing to that. If you'd rather not be photographed, let us know and we'll do our best, though in a group setting we can't promise you'll never appear in the background. We won't use your image in a way that suggests you endorse a product or a collaborator without asking you separately.

No. This retreat offers holistic and educational wellness experiences. It is not psychotherapy, medical treatment, or crisis support. Any clinical license a facilitator holds in another setting is not being practiced here. If additional mental health or medical support is needed, participants are encouraged to seek licensed clinical care.

Yes. All participants agree to our Participation Agreement and Liability Waiver during registration. It covers what the retreat is and isn't, the risks involved, how consent works around physical contact, our refund policy, accessibility, and the legal rights you're waiving.

You can read it in full before you register. At registration you'll check a box confirming your agreement, which serves as a legally binding electronic signature. If anything in it raises a question, email contact@embodiedwisdominstitute.com before you register. We'd rather answer it now.

Registration closes October 1, 2026, or earlier if the retreat fills. Please note that October 1 falls inside our 30-day window, so registrations made on or after September 30 are not eligible for a refund. Spot transfers to another participant are accepted with prior notice and approval.