StoneWood Sanctuary Retreat

Sunday August 30th - Tuesday September 1st

Join US!

Click here to request Accessible Tiers

The Setting

From your arrival in the Field of Dreams you’ll enter the threshold of the River Forest - nestled alongside a private bend of the turquoise & beloved Green River - and our campsite & retreat base. River and forest keep the area cool from summer heat and buffers the frenzy of society. Adjacent camping spaces and cozy tents are arranged beneath a canopy of Pine and Maple keeping a sense of held community.

The outhouse and shower are sited discreetly, built with attention to comfort, simplicity, and cleanliness. The shower offers a refreshing, nature-connected rinse beneath dappled sunlight; the outhouse is clean, private, and respectfully maintained.

The River Forest creates a protective, cool envelope around the campsite. Mature trees soften wind and sound, offering privacy and a sense of containment. Shade keeps temperatures comfortable and forget-me-nots underfoot lend a quiet, restorative atmosphere. Trails weave through the woods for short reflective walks and a path to the swimming hole. The land at StoneWood holds space where both solitude and connection are honored. The overall setting balances beauty and functionality: a peaceful, secure place designed to support rest, community, and regenerative practice.

Retreat Offerings

• Five Nourishing Meals - Chef-prepared meals featuring seasonal, whole-food ingredients with vegetarian-forward base and protein-rich options. Meals focus on flavor and what’s in season, with accommodations for common dietary needs (gluten-free, dairy-free, nut-aware).

• Snacks & Herbal Teas - A selection of wholesome snacks available between meals; fresh fruit, nuts, and light bites to sustain energy. An herbal tea station offers restorative blends chosen by Angela for the region, season and vibe of the group.

• Camping Accommodations - a mix of tents, camp beds & hammocks are available.

• Intentional Sisterhood - Groups designed to cultivate trust, compassionate listening, and shared reflection. Guided prompts and confidentiality agreements create a supportive container where participants can express insights, hopes, and fears. Emphasis is placed on mutual respect, empathetic witnessing, and honoring individual boundaries. While this retreat is centered around women of color, all women are welcome.

• Integration Guidance - Structured support to help you bring retreat learnings into your life. Options written resources with journaling prompts, and practical tools for creating sustainable daily practices (breathwork, sleep hygiene, micro-rituals).

• Group Reiki provided by certified practitioners to promote energetic balance and deep relaxation.

• Daily yoga movement appropriate for all levels.

• (see below) Herbal Remedies Workshop, Sacred Nature Art, Spaciousness & optional Guided Exploration.

If you'd like to join us, please submit:

Your name, email, phone number, & which tier you hope to register for.

Retreat Exchange

River Tier - $450

(3 spaces available)

Forest Tier - $575

(5 spaces available)

Steward Tier - $700

(2 spaces available)

*The Steward Tier helps support lower cost spaces and future community offerings. 

Facilitators

Angela Highsmith:

In 1999 Angela’s career as a model began after being ‘discovered’ in a mall. This decades-long career facilitated her dream of starting a family and her passion for practical healing, life in balance, and creation as a practice. Since early childhood she’s been creating with textiles, nibbling ‘unknown’ weeds, navigating what others don’t see, and inventing artful solutions with available resources. She’s practiced herbalism for 26 years with a 2010 herbal certification & mentorships with Peeka Trenkle, trainings with David Winston and 7Song, online intensives with Rosalee de la Forêt and David Crow; perpetual research feeds this eternal student. Her focus is on bio-regional medicine, culinary herbs, remedy making, food-as-medicine, herbalism-as-lifestyle, and educating/empowering others. Her herbalism workshop series Empowered Herbalism was created in 2016 for empowering others in the accessibility of herbs, remedy-making, integrating herbalism daily, and considering food as medicine. Reiki has followed her since 2000 and she is certified as a Second Degree Usui Reiki Practitioner. Reiki arrived to carry this mother into cronehood, integrating previously disparate-feeling practices of Ancestor veneration, meditation, intuitive remedy/skincare formulation, & object creation. The structure & repetition of daily Reiki practice allows these integrated active parts to step aside & witness Reiki & it expresses through the channel of Angela for the highest evolution, healing, & relaxation of her clients. She is the steward of StoneWood and the retreat host.

Sunder Ashni:

Ashni, daughter of Cynthia and Allan, is a farmer, at Mumbet’s Freedom Farm, facilitator, educator and Somatic Experiencing Practitioner, born and raised in Brooklyn, NY with rich roots in the island of St.Vincent & The Grenadines. Relating to the earth and our earthly body as the container for our experience and the literal ground that holds the myriad world of feeling, story, sensation and meaning making, Ashni invites clients into a process in which we get to the root of what is calling for healing. Beyond ideas, past the limits of our conditioning, and invite an exploration of the infinite possibility for healing with and through our bodies. While Ashni does not diagnose or provide clinical support she has over 20 years of experience working with individuals and groups to manage stress, anxiety and the effects of trauma utilizing skills cultivated with dedication to our mutual liberation. Movement, music, healing and their expansion through meditation and love are essential keys to Ashni’s being. From early experiences with death, escapades in library stacks to discovering yoga and teachings with Buddhist monks in High school, Spirit has always peaked her curiosity and tickled her heart. From an early age, Ashni has been devoted to learning from and listening to Spirit.