Finding Yourself After Loss Retreat

New DATES Coming Soon | Whispertree Retreat Center

Boonville (Mendocino County), Northern California

Distinct from the Honoring Your Loss Retreat, which gently holds the raw edges of early grief, Finding Yourself After Loss is a restorative experience for mothers who are further along in their grief journey. This retreat is for mothers who have done significant work in honoring their babies, losses, and grief and are now feeling called to the healing land of Whispertree—to slow down, nourish their bodies, turn inward, and reconnect with themselves and community in a new way.

Each year, Finding Yourself After Loss is thoughtfully reimagined with a unique theme, creating a space for alumni to return again and again, while offering fresh layers of support for wherever you are in your journey.

We recognize that grief is not a single chapter but a long, winding path that changes over time. Our goal is to meet you there—year after year—with offerings that feel relevant, nourishing, and deeply attuned to your growth, healing, and becoming.

This Year’s Theme:

Rooted Again: Reclaiming the Body After Loss

This year, we are exploring what it means to gently return to the body after loss. Not through a deep dive into everything that’s hard or painful about our relationship with our bodies—but through spacious, accessible practices that invite kindness, curiosity, and connection.

This retreat is an invitation to come into a more compassionate, embodied relationship with yourself, in a space that honors your story, your pace, and your ongoing healing.

Whether it’s your first time or your third, this year’s retreat will meet you where you are—and help you return more fully to who you are becoming.

Over the course of our days together, you will:

  • Be nourished with delicious, lovingly prepared meals each day

  • Spend unhurried time outside in nature, surrounded by beauty and quiet

  • Move, breathe, and rest through gentle, body-based practices like yoga and sound healing

  • Share authentic connection and heartfelt conversation with other bereaved mothers who understand

  • Laugh, cry, stretch out, let go

  • Relax and receive—no roles to play, no mask to wear

  • Take space away from everyday life to just be

  • Remember what it feels like to be held, supported, and fully human

What to Expect During the Week:

Each day will offer a rhythm of restoration, reflection, and connection, with a variety of optional activities to meet you where you are. You’ll be encouraged to follow what feels good in your body and spirit.

Included throughout the week:

  • Optional yoga and movement classes to support grounding, embodiment, and gentle awakening

  • Restorative somatic practices to soothe the nervous system and reconnect with your inner rhythm

  • Nature-based experiences, including unhurried hikes, time outdoors, and spaciousness to simply be

  • Art-making and journaling to explore personal insight, self-expression, and quiet reflection

  • Small group discussions with other bereaved mothers for deep, authentic connection

  • Delicious, community meals prepared with care—time to gather, share, and be nourished

  • Free time for rest, solitude, and whatever your heart needs most

Every offering is optional. You are invited to participate in the way that feels right for you—this is your time

Community Circle in the beautifully restored Barn

A Glimpse Into a Day at Finding Yourself After Loss

Each day at the retreat is thoughtfully curated to support restoration, reconnection, and renewal, with spaciousness built in and no pressure to perform or push. You are welcome to engage in a way that honors your needs and your energy.

Sample Daily Flow:

Morning
☀️ Ease into the day with the option to sleep in, sip tea quietly, or join a gentle movement or yoga class to awaken the body
🥣 Nourishing community breakfast served with love and care
🌀 Morning circle – a time for connection, reflection, and gentle group sharing
💫 Somatic practices and reflective prompts to explore what’s stirring beneath the surface

Retreat Alumni from our 2024 Finding Yourself After Loss Retreat

Afternoon
🍽️ Delicious lunch shared outdoors
🥾 Group hike or mindful time in nature – slow-paced, spacious, and soul-nourishing
🧘‍♀️ Restorative movement and breathwork to settle and reconnect with your body
🖋️ Time to journal, create, or share – with yourself or in small group
🌼 Free time to nap, hot tub, walk, read, check out the surrounding area, connect, or take part in an optional group offering

Evening
🥘 Warm, nourishing dinner enjoyed in community
🌙 Evening activity – could be art and creative expression, quite connection in community, ceremony, sound healing, movement, or star gazing
💬 Time for laughter, realness, and being together in whatever way the day calls for
🛏️ Drift into rest with a settled body, a full heart, and no alarm clock

And then, we do it again—each day gently inviting you back into your own rhythm, your own truth, your own becoming.

Your Sanctuary for the Week

Comfortable, Private, and Beautifully Designed Spaces to Rest and Restore

Whether you prefer sleeping under the stars or curling up indoors, we offer a range of thoughtfully curated accommodations to suit different comfort levels—all with a sense of peace, privacy, and beauty.

From luxury platform tents where you can fall asleep to the sounds of nature, to private rooms with ensuite bathrooms in a stunning home on the property, to remodeled barn rooms with charm and comfort—every space is a private sanctuary just for you.

Some rooms include private bathrooms, while others share a bathhouse or shared bath, and all are:

✨ Aesthetically beautiful – designed with natural textures, clean lines, and calming colors
🧺 Fresh and modern – with high-quality linens, cozy touches, and thoughtful details
🌿 Comfortable and clean – each space carefully prepared for rest, reflection, and deep sleep

No matter which option you choose, you’ll have a quiet place to land at the end of each day—a space that invites you to exhale, settle, and feel held.

Spots are limited.
Come back to the land. Come back to your breath. Come back to yourself.

*It is highly recommended, but not required, to be at least one year out from your loss and have participated in either a RTZ HOPE virtual support group or in-person retreat.

For questions, email Betsy Winter.

There are 19 total spaces available for this retreat. Register early to reserve your spot.

FAQ

Our goal is to offer unconditional support for all parents who have experience losses on the journey to parenthood, no matter what their age, situation, or stage of their grief journey.

If you have other questions that have not been answered here please email us.

  • Yes. We have had women who are pregnant attend the previous retreats. Pregnancy after loss can be filled with anxiety, and we hope that you can connect with others at the retreat who have walked this part of the journey and can share their experiences with you.

  • Yes. Although the majority of the people attending the retreat have experienced the death of a child during or shortly after pregnancy, we know that grief of a young child is similarly heartbreaking.

  • Yes. We know that if you have terminated a pregnancy, it was the hardest, most painful decision of your life. You are grieving the death of your baby.

  • No. We have had people attend the retreat whose loss was as recent as 3 weeks and as long ago as 35 years.

  • No. The pain from the pregnancy and infant loss never goes away. If it has been a long time since your loss but you feel like it's the right moment to dedicate special time to your healing, please join us.

  • Our goal is to create a space for people of all faiths to process their grief. We do not bring a specific religion into the retreat curriculum, however all participates are free to include their belief system in their own experience. There will be elements of spirituality available in connecting with your self and your loss experience, but it is up to each participant on how they do this.

  • Unfortunately, this is an adults-only retreat.

  • Unfortunately, at this time the retreats are currently for women only.

  • If you have any special requests, please write them in the "Additional Comments" section of the registration page. We will try our hardest to meet your expectations but cannot make any guarantees.