Upcoming Events – 2023 Retreats – 2023 Festivals
Upcoming Events
Guided Shinrin-yoku: Relax & Restore in Nature
First Thursday of Every Month throughout 2023
6-7:30pm, at Blandford Nature Center, Grand Rapids, MI
Join our guide Katie & explore the relaxing wellness practice of Shinrin-yoku at Blandford Nature Center on the first Thursday of every month throughout 2023! (No program in Sept or Dec). These programs will begin with a brief introduction to the background and research of Shinrin-yoku (translated in English as “forest bathing”), how it differs from a hike in the forest, and why it’s recognized as an international tool for stress release. From there, you’ll be guided in a unique Shinrin-yoku experience while exploring the forests and meadows at Blandford; helping you relax, reconnect, and enjoy time in nature in a new way. Join us just once for a taste of the experience or sign up for three programs at one time to explore this practice long-term and enjoy a $5 discount. We hope to see you there!
Single Session Blandford Members/Non-members: $18/$23
3-Program Discount, Blandford Members/Non-members: $49/$64
Uncovering the Breath of Life
A Workshop Glimpse into the One Beautiful Life Women’s Retreat
Wednesday, June 21, 6:30-8:30pm, at the Wittenbach Wege Center, Lowell, MI
We take 20,000 breaths a day.
What if every breath offered you access to the well of wisdom that you carry within, while connecting you to life in new & powerful ways?
Join One Beautiful Life retreat facilitators Katie Venechuk (of In Your Element Wellness) and Tina Derusha (of Breathe Luna Zen) for an expansive women’s workshop at the Wittenbach Wege Nature Center in Lowell, Michigan – where you’ll explore the power of your breath and the peaceful sanctuary available to us in natural spaces. Beginning with time on a balcony deck overlooking a beautiful forest scene, this workshop will launch with a guided relaxation exercise and build toward a transformative breathwork practice, stimulating the rest, digest, and relax response of your nervous system, fueling your sense of personal power, and transforming mental roadblocks and emotional burdens. Following our breathwork practice, we’ll move into the forest for time in a beautiful nature sanctuary, where you’ll be offered space for personal reflection, a journaling prompt, and more to help you integrate your experience and connect deeply to the life that exists within you and around you.
If you’re curious about the One Beautiful Life Women’s Retreat, this workshop is a wonderful first step toward learning how to work with your breath as a powerful self-care practice + exploring the gifts of slowing down through a personal sit spot practice. If you just want to experience an evening of soulful exploration alongside other females, we’d love to have you join too!
Registration: $30 per participant
ALL identifying females are welcome at this experience. Ages 18+
$5 Monthly Community Sit Spot Gathering
Hosted at diverse times & locations!
Join us for our community sit spot gatherings, which will be hosted once monthly in 2023! These experiences focus on coming together and enjoying the peace of the forest by our powers of observation, and include: an opening circle to introduce ourselves, a brief sensory opening meditation led by our guide Katie, 20-30 minutes to enjoy a solo “sit spot” invitation in the forest, which is a core forest bathing invitation for reducing stress and reconnecting to nature, and a closing community circle with an opportunity to share what we each noticed in our unique morning experiences. These $5 offerings will be hosted during diverse timeframes and at changing locations each month, as we explore accessibility and making our nature-based wellness experiences available to more people. We hope you head outside with us this month!
Dates announced on a pop-up basis. Check out our class calendar for upcoming opportunities.
Just $5 to join!
2023 Retreats
Spring Wellness Retreat, with Wellness Retreat Michigan
June 2-4, 2023, Howard Christensen Nature Center, Cedar Springs, Michigan
Join us for our seventh retreat with Wellness Retreat Michigan! These retreat experiences are a wonderful way to expand your community and are offered at incredibly affordable rates; made possible by the generosity of hosts, facilitators, and volunteers. We’re excited to embrace the shift into SUMMER at this retreat with unique, grounding, and playful workshops and activities, including an immersive nature experience led by our guide Katie. This retreat also includes: chef-curated meals, restorative time at a private nature area, the opportunity to attend wellness workshops led by different local West Michigan instructors, and the option to camp indoors (community bunks) or outdoors.
All-inclusive ticket: $315 for the full weekend experience
One Beautiful Life: A Women’s Retreat
Explore Your Inner Roadmap to Wellbeing
August 11-13, 2023, Alto, Michigan
with Katie Venechuk from In Your Element Wellness & Tina Derusha of Breathe Luna Zen
One beautiful life. What does this mean for you?
In a world that makes it hard to cut through the noise and find your center, can you still cultivate a heart-centered roadmap for personalized wellbeing? And when you do, can you easefully fit these new rituals or routines into your busy life, in a way that supports you on a day-to-day basis?
Join Tina Derusha of Luna Zen Breathwork and Katie Venechuk of In Your Element Wellness for a weekend dedicated to answering these questions. During this retreat, you’ll be invited into a beautiful West Michigan forested setting and held in an experience that will help you relax deeply, access your center, and uncover the power of your personal compass and roadmap to wellbeing.
Weaving together a variety of wellness modalities, as well as art, time in nature, space for personal reflection, and so much more, this phase in your wellness journey is more than just a weekend away. You’ll walk back into your life with realistic tools that align with your own heart-centered roadmap, helping you honor your daily wellbeing long into the future.
…what does it mean to you to be well in this one beautiful life?
Join us and discover the answer.
Limited spaces are available for this intimate retreat.
2023 Festivals
Wild Zen Yoga Fest
July 21-23, 2023, Smiling Acres, Trufant, MI
We’re excited to join the amazing Wild Zen Yoga Fest for the second time this summer! This festival is a wonderful weekend of yoga, time in nature, mindfulness, meditation, movement, music, community, vendors, and a whole lot more. Our guide Katie will be leading a foraging & wild tending walk during the festival and enjoying the rest of the weekend alongside you. We hope to see you there!
Adult Weekend Ticket: $125
Adult Saturday Ticket: $125
Teen Ticket (13-18): $80
Frequent Offerings
Learn more about our frequently offered events and workshops below and check out our Calendar & Events page to register for upcoming events!
Forest Therapy Walks
If you are interested in a deeper immersion into the world of forest therapy, a forest therapy walk (also known as “Guided Shinrin-yoku“) is for you. During these events, you will be offered a sequence of forest bathing invitations to help you relax and connect to the natural world. Events also include hot tea and time among community.
Journaling in Nature: Writing Workshops
Grab your journal and join us in the forest during these special 1.5-hr workshops, which blend journaling prompts and forest bathing techniques for relaxation, reflection, and connection to yourself and the world around you.
Stay tuned for more opportunities, to be announced soon!
Forest Therapy & Henna Workshops
Join us as we team up with professional henna artist, Danielle Nienhouse from Henna By Design MI, for these 2.5-hr workshops, which include a guided forest therapy experience and henna workshop among the trees.
Stay tuned for more opportunities be announced soon!
Forest Yoga: 4-Week Series
This series is structured to introduce you to the practice of forest bathing and feature one of the beautiful parks in Grand Rapids, hosted once yearly with the City of Grand Rapids Parks & Recreation.
Join us for this series again in 2023!
