Forest Therapy for Anxious Hearts
Ecolove can see and hold it all
Sunday, May 3rd, 2026
Lexington Lake Park,
DeSoto KS
Gathering of adults who want to find a grounded peace
bigger than the global nervous wreck we're in.
Forest Therapy for Anxious Hearts
May 3rd, 2026
Sunday 1230pm-5pm
Investment:
$85 Early Bird rate until April 1st,
$100 Regular rate April 2nd-30th :)
Co-hosted by the Resilient Activist.
Registration deadline: April 30th
Register via Humanitix and fill out the NEW CLIENT INTAKE form.
Directions and prep instructions will be emailed after your registration.
Description:
Worried about ecodiversity vanishing, our beloved animal friends disappearing, or our grand/children not having a good life?
Dreading the take over of AI and living in a hyper tech world?
This is for you.
Root in the life that's present here and now.
Ground in the Bigger Love that nature exudes through the continuing force of propagating life.
Laugh, cry, play, and sing in the woods- as they are- with invasives, natives, and beauty to offer.
You may have heard "no mud, no lotus," which means lotus flowers (representing joy & peace) grow from thick mud (the difficulties of life). By knowing suffering, we also know happiness~ by composting suffering into beauty. We will attune to Kansas' native cottonwood, learning from how it survives and thrives in mud. Know mud, know cottonwood.
Activities include:
Sharing the eco-landscape of our hearts
Deep listening
Forest Therapy (shinrin-yoku)
Earth Nidra for whole body restoration
This retreat is for you if:
-
you want communal sharing and individual space to de-stress
-
you need time set aside to slow down & recenter
-
you want to get off the screen and into the wild
-
the political atmosphere has stirred up angst and you want inner-heart guidance
Our bodies house both stifling stress and a deep knowing of the path forward. By placing our collective bodies back in the heart of nature, we invite our re-webbing into interbeing.
This retreat is not for you if:
-
you have big, unhealed trauma from politics or nature (let's work individually!)
-
respecting others' diverse relationships with their ultimate beliefs in the Divine or no Divine (Spirit, Godde, energy) is hard.
-
being outside for 4.5 hours is too much. We won't be hiking or doing strenuous activity, but this event is rain or shine. If there's heavy rain, we'll be under a picnic shelter.
"Like the Peony"
Like the peony that opens
and opens and opens,
this is how I want to meet life—
surviving the cold
then returning to bloom
again. Again.
That vibrant. That many-petaled.
Embarrassingly fulsome,
as if life just can’t
get enough of itself.
Truth is, life cuts you to the ground
and you lose all but the roots.
Sometime you lose those, too.
How is it, then, comes
the chance to bloom again,
to be less master of life,
and more servant to the life
that pushes through.
I want to be fluent in blooming.
I want to trust the possibility
of sweet spring perfume
as much as I trust
the inevitability of frost.
I am so grateful for beauty,
albeit brief,
for the chance to be naked,
tender, soft.
OPTIONAL: Join an excursion to the luxurious Jalu Bathouse from 7-8:30pm. Just 10 minutes east of our retreat, we'll soak in the healing traditions of the Himalayas (cedar mineral tub, salt cave, sauna, cold plunge, and herbal tub). In Tibetan, Jalu འཇའ་ལུས། means “Rainbow Body,” which refers to the transcendence of physical suffering, uniting the five elements in perfect balance. We'll have dinner beforehand. Write in your intake form if you want to add the Jalu Bathouse (at our special private retreat rate of $70/person). Limit 8 people.
Lodging:
If you are coming from out of town, there are airbnbs and hotels within a 15 minute drive.
Photo: Rev. Denise Ellen Hill (ACPE supervisor and UCC minister), mentor of Rev. Shannon Gorres.
Pre-retreat Experiences
Curious what this might be like? Sign up for a free hour intro session via zoom on March 25th. There will be guided meditation, info, and time for Q&A.
I highly recommend you consider a pre-retreat Sacred Listening session with me 1-4 weeks before the retreat. This will help you contemplate where you are at and what you seek in your spiritual journey, and likely deepen your retreat experience. You could also schedule a post-retreat Sacred Listening session to help you integrate the experience. For everyone who signs up for this retreat, I'll give you a code for 30% off a Sacred Listening session.
Shannon offers regular in person and online forest bathing sessions, as well as yoga classes with breathwork and nidra meditation (and asana). You can check these out here.
