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Women’s Retreat: Befriending your Nervous System

Saturday, October 3rd 2026

Register

Retreat Overview

Life moves fast; our bodies often carry chronic stress. This retreat invites you to slow down and work with your nervous system.

You’ll enjoy restorative practices that build awareness, relaxation, and self-compassion: a deep Sound Bath experience, an optional workshop, and a closing Yoga Nidra session.

Between sessions, relax as you wish—read by the fire, journal in the quiet room, explore nature, visit the Ethereal Root metaphysical shop, or connect with other women.

Whether overwhelmed, burned out, or simply seeking reconnection, leave feeling slower, calmer, and more grounded.

A Change of Scenery

This retreat intentionally takes place in North Webster, Indiana, just outside of Fort Wayne. Sometimes the most restorative thing we can do is step away from our everyday routines and familiar surroundings. You don't have to travel across the country to experience a meaningful retreat. A short drive is enough to create space to slow down, reconnect with yourself, and return home feeling refreshed.

Location: Hidden Oak Manor Event Venue
140 EMS T52 Ln, North Webster, IN 46555

Investment

$175 per person

Your retreat registration includes a full day of thoughtfully curated experiences designed to help you slow down, reconnect, and recharge.

Your investment includes:

  • Sound Bath Experience

  • Yoga Nidra Session

  • Lunch

  • Optional Workshop: Nervous System Reset: Understanding Your Stress Response & Cultivating Everyday Regulation

  • Access to all retreat spaces and flexible relaxation options throughout the day

Payment Options

Choose the payment option that works best for you:

  • Pay in Full: $175 due at registration.

  • Reserve Your Spot: A non-refundable $50 deposit is due at registration, with the remaining $125 balance due by September 25, 2026.

Payments can be made through Venmo @Michelle-Hoffschneider or PayPal paypal.me/mhoffschneider

Because space is intentionally limited to 25 people to create an intimate experience, your registration is confirmed once your payment or deposit has been received.

Retreat Schedule

Meet the Providers

  • Michelle Hoffschneider

    RETREAT COORDINATOR

    After more than a decade exploring holistic wellness and personal growth, Michelle founded Empath Exchange to make healing resources and meaningful experiences more accessible for women in the Midwest. She believes that healing begins with community, curiosity, and creating space to reconnect with yourself.

  • SaraJane Herrboldt

    WORKSHOP SPEAKER

    SaraJane, a former educator turned therapist, is the founder of Rising Resilient and the author of Don’t Just Survive, Thrive: A Teacher’s Guide to Fostering Resilience, Preventing Burnout, and Nurturing Your Love for Teaching. She speaks on resilience, burnout prevention, and sustainable well-being, blending evidence-based strategies with real-world experience to equip caregivers with practical tools they can immediately apply. Through every keynote, workshop, and training, SaraJane creates an engaging, inclusive space that empowers audiences to reconnect with their strengths, navigate challenges with greater confidence, and cultivate lasting resilience. 

  • Bekah Rowe

    SOUND BATH PROVIDER

    Bekah is a Board Certified Health & Wellness Coach and Certified Sound Therapy Practitioner. She is passionate about helping others become their happiest healthiest selves, and believes in a whole-person approach to wellness. In her free time you can find Bekah enjoying time in nature with her 3 yr old son, Quinn.

  • Sara Beck

    YOGA NIDRA PROVIDER

    Sara Beck is a mother, yoga teacher, writer and transformational life coach.  Focusing on embodiment practices that deepen our ability to be fully alive and present with ourselves and others, Sara offers guidance gleaned from 30 years as a student and teacher of yoga and meditation, certifications as a breathwork coach, integrative hypnotist, and reiki practitioner, years spent as a journalist for The New York Times, and time exploring the texture of this wild, beautiful and ever-changing life.  She is grateful to be offering the gorgeous practice of yoga nidra, a practice that invites us to both rest deeply and wake up to the wisdom and peace that always resides right here, within us.  

  • The Ethereal Root

    Metaphysical Shop

  • The Pillar

    The Pillar has partnered with Empath Exchange to provide equipment for this retreat.

Explore the Sessions

  • Lead by Bekah Rowe
    A sound bath is a form of sound healing that uses resonant sound vibrations to help shift your energetic state, calm your nervous system, and allow your mind and body to enter a relaxed meditative state. Participants simply sit or lay in a comfortable positive and listen to the immersive meditative sound waves as a practitioner plays crystal singing bowls and various other instruments.

  • Flexible Time, Your Way.

    This retreat isn't about doing more—it's about giving yourself permission to do what you need most.

    During our afternoon flex time, you're invited to spend your time in whatever feels most restorative. Curl up with a book in the Quiet Room, journal by yourself, knit by the fireplace, wander the grounds, browse the Ethereal Root metaphysical shop, or enjoy meaningful conversation with a new friend on the patio.

    There is no expectation to fill every moment or participate in every activity. This retreat is an opportunity to slow down, listen to yourself, and recharge in the way that feels right for you.

    For those who want to deepen their understanding of stress and well-being, an optional workshop, "Nervous System Reset: Understanding Your Stress Response & Cultivating Everyday Regulation," will be offered during this time. Whether you choose quiet reflection, connection with others, or continued learning, the choice is yours.

  • Lead by SaraJane Herrboldt


    Nervous System Reset: Understanding Your Stress Response & Cultivating Everyday Regulation

    Our nervous systems are constantly responding to the demands of daily life, often without us realizing it. In this interactive workshop, you'll gain a foundational understanding of nervous system states, learn how they influence your thoughts, emotions, and behaviors, and explore how greater awareness can support self-regulation and resilience.

    Together, we'll reflect on your own patterns and identify practical ways to respond to stress with intention rather than reactivity. You'll leave with a collection of simple, evidence-informed practices—including breathwork, grounding exercises, mindful movement, and other "micro practices" that can be woven into everyday life. Whether you're looking to better navigate stress, prevent burnout, or simply cultivate more presence, this workshop will provide both insight and practical strategies to support your wellbeing long after the retreat ends.

    *Note this workshop is optional, We value your time and want you do what’s best for your personal needs during this retreat.

  • Lead by Sara Beck

    Yoga Nidra is often translated as the yoga of sleep. This guided rest meditation offers an opportunity to lie down and receive the medicine of non-doing, non-striving and rest.  In this practice, we learn to receive restoration rather than effort our way into being and doing better. Conscious breathing practice, guided visualization, body awareness and scanning as well as long stretches of silence shift the body into a deeply relaxed, near-sleep state.  In this state of bliss, the deep self is restored, tended to, nourished, uplifted, and refreshed.  It is physiologically and psychologically profound. 

Frequently Asked Questions

  • This retreat was created for women who are ready to pause after years of pouring into others.

    Whether you're raising children, caring for aging parents, supporting your family, or simply carrying the mental load of everyday life, it's easy to lose touch with yourself in the process.

    If you've been craving a day to slow down, breathe deeply, reconnect with your body, and simply be—this space was designed with you in mind.

    You don't need experience with Sound Baths, Yoga Nidra, or holistic practices. All that's required is an open mind and a willingness to give yourself permission to receive the same care you so freely give to others.

    What's included in the retreat?

    • Sound Bath

    • Yoga Nidra

    • Lunch

    • Optional Workshop

    • Flex time

    • Community

  • Absolutely! Many women attend retreats on their own. Empath Exchange is designed to be a welcoming environment whether you come by yourself or with a friend. You'll have opportunities for connection, but there is never pressure to socialize.

  • Not at all. This retreat is designed for beginners and welcomes women at every stage of their wellness journey. Simply come with an open mind and a willingness to slow down.

  • Yes! There will be catering provided by Hidden Oak Manor with an array of sandwiches, salads, chips, cookies and lemonade. Please share any dietary restrictions when you register so we can best serve you.

  • Since this is a day retreat, most things are provided. You’re welcome to bring a favorite book, a journal, a current craft, or a blanket for flex time. Would recommend wearing comfortable, breathable clothing, there is an outdoor patio so dress accordingly to the weather.

  • Yes! During the afternoon there is flex time, rest as you wish: read in the Quiet Room, journal, knit by the fire, wander the grounds, browse the Ethereal Root shop, or chat on the patio. No pressure to attend everything. Slow down, listen to yourself, and recharge.

    An optional workshop, "Nervous System Reset: Understanding Your Stress Response & Cultivating Everyday Regulation," will be offered for those who want to learn more. The choice is yours.

  • The $50 deposit is non-refundable. Cancellations made before September 25, 2026, will receive a refund of any payments made beyond the deposit. Unfortunately, we cannot offer refunds after September 25th due to venue and catering commitments.

“Reflection practices strengthen our connection to self.”

Deb Dana