Root and Gather Weekend Renewal Retreat in Mount Chase, Maine with Julia Capaldi, Mae Corwin, Jim Doble, Emma Freeman, Charlene Lutz, Kariska Puchalski, Marie Robinson, Anne Stires and Elise Voigt.
September 13-15, 2024 at Mount Chase Lodge in Mount Chase, Maine
Root and Gather
Weekend Wellness Retreat
When we step out of the ordinary time and space of our lives, there’s a beautiful opportunity to attune to our own needs, rest, rejuvenate, connect with others and experience joy.
Photo credit Mount Chase Lodge
You are invited to join us in retreat to settle into your own soul, enjoy the simple routines of sunrise and sleep, movement and rest, conversation and quiet, creativity and connection in nature .
*We welcome all participants from diverse backgrounds and careers.
Each day you will choose creative and restorative practices for your time with us. From rising in the morning to surrendering in deep rest each evening, our days will be spacious and unhurried. Nurture your body, emotions, mind, and spirit as you join in both organized offerings and unstructured time for your own silence, star gazing, rest, and connection with each other. We welcome you to bring your whole self and to treat your own needs with the loving responsiveness that they deserve.
We look forward to sharing in practices with you such as yoga, intuitive and process oriented art, meditation, play and expression, kayaking, fireside chats, sound healing, reiki, reflective journaling, hiking, nature connected songs/movement and nourishing, healing foods.
Root and Gather Wellness Retreat
Mount Chase Lodge Mount Chase, Maine
Friday, September 13-Sunday, September 15, 2024
All-Inclusive 3-days, 2-nights shared cabin room $695
Educator 3-days, 2- nights shared cabin room $375
Retreat Only 3-days, 2-nights (Meals included, book your own lodging) $465
.
Photo credits Mount Chase Lodge
Meet Your Hosts
Julia Capaldi, Yoga
Born in Pennsylvania, raised in New Jersey and now a
Delaware resident. Fitness has always been a part of Julia's daily life! She received her first group fitness certification in the early 80's and later began participating in Yoga classes prior to obtaining her certification. She has always had a passion for holistic health, wellness and inner balance. She currently teaches 3 Yoga classes each week and understands the transformative power of the yoga practice. Whether you are a beginner, intermediate or fully balanced yogi, she will lead you to breathe, flow and journey towards wellness.
Mae Corwin grew up on the shores of the Long Island Sound. At sixteen, her family moved to Wiscasset, Maine and traded their skiff for a sailboat and sandy shores for rocky ones. After graduating from Southern Maine College with a major in Science, Mae moved back to New York where she began to expand her movement teaching career. Mae pursued deeper study in Yoga, dance and exercise training across the globe from Manhattan to Kerala, India. Mae holds a License of Massage Therapy and is undergoing ATSI training. Mae now lives in Bath, Maine with her two sons, partner and cat. She opened her successful yoga studio, Sundara Yoga and Wellness in Brunswick, Maine in 2017 with her mother and business partner. It continues to be the home base for her teaching, workshops, trainings and massage. She leads wellness-focused yoga and wilderness retreats and teacher trainings both locally and internationally.You can learn more about her at www.sundarayogame.com
Mae Corwin, Breathwork/Yoga
Jim Doble, Sound Healing
Jim Doble has been and using musical instruments to help inspire creativity and personal evolution for over thirty years. The last 9 years he has been collecting and building a wide and varied assortment of Gongs to help with this work and has been offering Sound Immersions to both groups and individuals.
Jim’s philosophy around the work is based around the view that we all are capable of self-healing. It is the “healers” job to help the client create the environment for healing to take place; and Sound Therapy is a perfect medium to use for creating that environment. The complexity of the sounds of the Gongs, Singing Bowls, and Chimes both leads one into deep relaxation while simultaneously stimulating new kinds of neural activity, creating a great sonic “soup” for transformation and healing to take place. Jim’s approach is grounded with some of the known science in the field but steered with his intuitive sense.
Jim currently gives private and small group Sound Therapy sessions out of his home in Union, Maine and both indoor and outdoor Sound Immersions or “Gong Baths” throughout the Mid Coast area. You can learn more about him www.elementaldesign.me
Emma Freeman, Intuitive Art and Reiki
Emma Freeman is a heart-led artist, writer, Reiki therapist, Licensed Massage Therapist and teacher. Her passion is soul work rooted in cultivating a deep relationship with the body, heart and mind through touch. She has worked in the arts and arts education for 20 years and has led classes, workshops, retreats and support circles for a wide range of humans from young children to wise elders. She has completed three levels of Reiki certification, a 650+ hour massage therapy program and has a Bachelor's Degree in Philosophy and Studio Art from Alverno College in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Emma lives in Oconomowoc, Wisconsin with her wonderful family. You can learn more about her and what she offers at www.deep-rooted-healing.com.
Charlene Lutz, Healing Visual Arts
Char is an artist, educator, storyteller, and wellness practitioner with over 20 years of experience in public, charter and non-traditional educational settings. She hopes to hold space for others by inspiring creativity in emergent and collaborative ways. She is currently a teaching artist at The Orchard (Katahdin Children and Families Foundation) and at Waterville Creates in Waterville, Maine. She holds art and wellness workshops and retreats in Maine and beyond and is affiliated with multiple organizations, including Antioch University and Inside-Outside Nature-Based Educators.
“My art teaching philosophy is emergent and intuitive allowing loads of space for play, material exploration and experimentation. The healing power of arts is part of my own artistic journey and offering workshops for children and adults is how I hope to bring healing and creativity into the lives of others. Workshop experiences are emergent with an emphasis on slowing down, gratitude, mindfulness, play, process and experimentation.”
You can learn more about her here.
Kariska Puchalski, Nourishing Foods
I am a Maker
of Home, of gardens, of meals, of Jewelry, of Needle Felted objects.
I am a Permaculturer, user of herbs, teacher, maker of woodland playgrounds, mariner. Mother, Grandmother.
I have lived “ off the grid” for much of my lifetime on an island, on houseboats, which taught me ingenuity, integrity.
Working in the Natural Food world for 20 years, I learned that we are responsible to the earth to keep it healthy and chemical free, as it gives us nourishment and medicine.
Marie Robinson, Reflective Writing and Journaling
Marie Robinson, Ph.D., leader, innovator, writer, teacher, nature-lover, wife, mother, sister, and daughter, is passionate about empowering others to live the life they truly want! Serving the public school system for many years, Marie is a public school district superintendent and works to infuse health and wellness opportunities for staff and students. She is one of the founding board members of the Katahdin Children and Families Foundation and is an adjunct professor at the University of Southern Maine and the University of Maine, Farmington. Marie aims to maintain a work-life balance by enjoying outdoor activities, mediation, yoga and writing.
Learn more about her at www.marierobinsonphd.com
Anne Stires, Nature Connected Songs and Movement
Anne Stires, M.Ed. is committed to educational systemic change through community, school, and early childhood initiatives. Founder of Juniper Hill School for Place-Based Education in Alna, Maine, she is now an independent educational consultant working with schools and programs throughout Maine and beyond to support equitable outdoor learning and nature connection. She is a regularly featured speaker at many nature-based and early childhood education conferences. Anne wrote the first chapter for David Sobel’s book, Nature Preschools and Forest Kindergartens: The Handbook for Outdoor Learning (2015) and co-authored the NAEEE/Natural Start Alliance’s Nature-Based Preschool Professional Practices Guidebook (2019). She teaches graduate level courses for Antioch University (in the Nature-based Early Childhood master’s degree and certificate program) as affiliate faculty and serves as an advisor to Inside-Outside: Nature-based Educators’ Network. She also serves on the Board of Directors for Tanglewood/Blueberry Cove 4-H Camps/Learning Centers and Maine GearShare, and chaired the public policy & advocacy committee for Maine Early Childhood Outdoors (MeECO) for the past year. With colleagues, she facilitates nature-based wellness retreats for educators twice a year and co-creates media about nature-based education. She loves to go on outdoor adventures with her son and partner www.annestires.com
Elise Voigt, Play/ Expressive Movement
Elise Voigt is a theater arts educator and classically trained actress with a focus and special interest on introducing improv theater techniques to non-actors. She is the mother of three beautiful daughters and lives in Whitefield, Maine. Her theater outreach with students began in 2009 at the Heartwood Regional Theater Company and expanded from there. She has taught improv theater all over the state with different organizations and enjoys coaching drama after school at the local Elementary school in Whitefield. She offers Improv for Healing the Heart classes in Brunswick through the Merrymeeting Adult Ed program.
Our Previous Retreats
Photo Credit: Anne Stires
Poem by Shannon Gallagher, previous wellness retreat participant
Photo Credit: Anne Stires
Photo Credit: Anne Stires
Photo Credit: Anne Stires
Photo Credit: Anne Stires
Retreat Experiences
Yoga
Breathwork
Meditation
Intuitive Art Processes
Rest
Writing Reflection and Journaling
Play and Expressive Movement
Kayaking
Fireside Chats
Sound Healing
Reiki
Hiking
Nature Connected Songs/Movement
Nourishing/Healing Foods
Renewal in Nature
Photo Credit: Mount Chase Lodge
Mt. Chase Lodge was established in 1960 as a recreational sporting lodge catering to sportsmen, hikers, family vacationers, snowmobilers and other outdoor oriented folks who appreciate the adventure and tranquility of the north Maine woods. Today it also serves as a retreat space.
Situated on the shore of Upper Shin Pond, in a quiet wooded setting, comfortable lodge and private cabins offer excellent accommodations. Full bathrooms, automatic heat and electricity.
Photo Credit: Mount Chase Lodge
Photo Credit: Mount Chase Lodge
Photo Credit: Mount Chase Lodge
Knife’s Edge is a beautiful, rustic sanctuary that serves as a dining and gathering space. Located about 40 feet back from waters edge, you can't beat the morning sunrise on the porch. Watch the loons, beavers, otters and maybe, if you're lucky, the occasional moose, right out your window.
Retreat to a beautiful cabin space for rest and relaxation. The lodge layout includes 4 suites with attached baths and 1 cozy lodge room with a private bath down the hall. In-room coffee makers, microwaves, and small refrigerators provide guests the flexibility to have the interaction or privacy they desire (2 breakfasts, 2 lunches and 1 dinner are included).
Katahdin, Roaring Brook, South Branch, and North Traveler all have spacious, updated rooms with luxurious bedding and ensuite bathrooms.
The Pamola lodge is slightly smaller than the other suites, offering a double bed, a twin bed , and its own private, unattached bathroom located down the hall.
Mount Chase Lodge and the surrounding wilderness offer an abundance of outdoor activities. Close to Baxter State Park, Katahdin Woods & Waters National Monument, and Penobscot River Trails and nearby Seboeis River Trail. Mount Chase Lodge offers biking and hiking trails on their property.
History of the Land
Northern Maine, particularly the area around Mount Katahdin, holds significant historical and cultural importance for the Wabanaki tribes. The Penobscot people have inhabited the region for thousands of years, living off the land and waterways for sustenance and trade. Mount Katahdin, the highest peak in Maine and the terminus of the Appalachian Trail, holds spiritual significance for the Penobscot and other indigenous peoples in the region. Today, the Penobscot Nation continues to advocate for their sovereignty and stewardship of the land, including Mount Katahdin and its surrounding areas. They engage in cultural preservation efforts and work to ensure the well-being of their community while also participating in broader economic and environmental initiatives in the region.
We respectfully acknowledge that the land on which we are gathered is the traditional territory of the Wabanaki people, including the Penobscot Indian Nation. We recognize their enduring relationship with this land and express our gratitude for their stewardship throughout generations.
All-Inclusive 3-days, 2-nights shared cabin room $695
Educator 3-days, 2- nights shared cabin room $375
Retreat Only 3-days, 2-nights (Meals included, book your own lodging)
Mount Chase Lodge Mount Chase, Maine
Friday, September 13-Sunday, September 15, 2024
RETREAT INCLUSIONS:
All Retreat Experiences
Acres of Nature
Accommodations
Daily Meals - Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner
Campfire + S'mores
Daily Housekeeping
Fresh Linens, Towels, Blankets
Internet Wi-Fi
Check-In After 3PM
Check-Out By 11AM
We hope you can join us for the Root and Gather Wellness Retreat this September!
-Julia, Mae, Jim, Emma, Char, Kariska, Anne, Marie and Elise
