Retreats

Since 2009, I’ve been facilitating these unique retreats each Winter to help change-makers start their new year in a soulful, energized and intentional way to create the change they dream of.  Even though they delightfully evolve annually with a new theme, the core intention remains: to help you align with your unique truth - the truth of who you are now, the life you’re craving, and the truth that you hold the power to make it happen.

2025 Theme: root

It takes time for each year’s theme to come through... But somewhere in the last week it took hold. Maybe the dull darkness of the inversion here in my home of the Columbia River Gorge helped, contrasted with the rejuvenation I felt skiing in the bright sun on the mountain. Or maybe it was reflecting on the sacredness of how growth begins in the dark... like the sacred growth in the womb, or deep in our soil, among trees, fungi and the like, supported by a strong web of nutrients, communication, and interspecies interdependence, and with the pull of gravity and our primal urge to evolve, live our purpose and grow toward the light.

“Darkness deserves gratitude. It is the alleluia point at which we learn to understand that all growth does not take place in the sunlight.”

-Joan Chittister

As change-makers in your life, your family, your community and the world, I want you to grow your roots deep, deep into something substantial. Deep enough to feel you can stand strong rebelling against the superficial, to rebel against what you might believe darkness brings to our lives and instead be rooted in your curiosity and grow to the light of love.

I want you to dig in deep to the rich soil of your unique life, so deep that you know exactly what direction you want to grow in and why. What the world needs is for you to be in love, to root yourself in love for your life. That is what brings us to our knees, recentering our hearts and souls. The more we reflect on what moves us, what brings us to tears, the more we root. The more we feel rooted, the more we can feel energized to unleash our passion and determination for growth.

I want you to grow your roots so deeply that you’re unshakeable. I want this for us all. I also want us to not have to do this, to have an easy-breezy-abundant life that doesn’t have to ask so many hard questions, but such is any life. It's my belief that humans are inherently powerful and resilient and built for the times we are born into.

Being rooted is being present. Dropping into the here and now and listening to your divine guidance.

From this place, everything is possible.

About the Retreat:

This day is about meaningful reflection - a chance to let go of the past and discover the energy that pulling you forward. It's called a "retreat" because even though it's just a day, we create a cocoon to:

• Deconstruct whatever perspective you've walled yourself in with

• Reframe your reality to align with who you are today

From this place of truth, beliefs shift, courage materializes and new paths emerge. Let's acknowledge there's a whole mess of things that hold us back from actualizing what we desire: habits, hurts, fear, illness, overwhelm, unhealthy ties, trauma, the list goes on... Diamonds are formed under pressure, with a skilled hand we can intentionally shape ourselves with the many faceted potentials we hold. 

There's magic when conscious change-makers gather with intention.

Treat yourself to a circle of diverse and curious people that offer a deeper dive than we're able to do alone, be inspired by sharing of personal challenges, celebrations and real desires. Bring levity to what weighs you down and take more seriously what lifts you up.

Get real with yourself for a day to activate the future that's calling you forward.

Register Here

What to Expect

All retreats include:

• Small group sizes

• Reflection prep workbook and retreat packet

• Quarterly Check Ins: 90 minute workshops held in April, July and October

What do we actually do at this thing?

Through a mix of curated exercises, we:

• Honestly reflect on the past year—what you overcame, are proud of, your priorities, impact and accomplishments and what lit you up with joy. 

• Make peace with challenges and define the lessons learned.

• We celebrate ourselves and let go, with honorable closure and allowing the actual light of our life in

• With renewed energy, envision a future that guides you forward.

• Using Visual Goal Setting, you draw your dreamy future and see the bold steps to get there.

Using tools like journaling, meditation, and visual goal setting, you’ll dig deeper than we can alone to:

• Release limiting beliefs.

• Connect with your higher self.

• Gain clarity on your highest goals and life intentions.

• Develop practical steps for growth and achieving your vision.

• Feel lifted within a supportive, inspiring community.

And yes, there will be laughter, yummy chocolate and treats, and connection with amazingly good, inspiring, regular people

Benefits of the process:

• Deepen your self awareness through guided journaling and exercises.

• Connect with your higher self through guided meditation and presencing exercises.

• Gain clarity on your goals and life intentions, (and the bold steps needed to get there).

• You might see that who you are "being", has everything to do with how you can create what you seek.

• Feel into the path forward and finally believe in your ability to walk it.

• Release limiting beliefs and self-doubt.

• Craft a vision that ignites your inner fire and momentum.

• Develop practical steps for achieving your vision.

• Connect with a supportive inspiring community.

Join us to see what magic is ready to unfold for you (but kindly leave your limitations at home)

Retreat Investment Options

1. Full Experience Bundle: Includes a Retreat, seasonal group sessions and 90-minute private integration session  

$675 (save $100)

2. Reflection Retreat + Seasonal check ins: Includes a Retreat and 3 seasonal group support sessions

$500

Special Offer: $100 savings for 2nd-year participants and 2024 Foundational Clients

Questions? I offer a free call to connect  or you can email me here

This yearly retreat is a meaningful and fun experience to have with friends or teams!

Enquire about private group options in person in the Pacific Northwest or virtually.

If you've worked with me privately, you already know you're amazing. (That’s never said lightly) Life is also curiously amazing and it quietly awaits us every day to grow, to heal, to accept and to delight in the possibilities it offers us.

Register Here

In Others’ Words:

If you are stuck and looking for a jump start or if you are in a season of momentum and want to keep it going, this retreat is an amazing way to set yourself up for success in the coming year(s). It provides ample resources, time and value for reflection on the past, present and future. The understanding for where you are at and where you are looking to go offers a sense of clarity we don’t often feel in the chaos of life. It is a refreshing way to start the year.

-Maddie Spoto

This was my 10th year taking this workshop -it's an important start to my year for both my personal and professional goals. Melanie truly understands how one leads to the other.

-Emily Reed, Network Director, Columbia Gorge Tourism Alliance

The Reflections Retreat is a powerful way to complete the previous year and create a new future for the year(s) ahead. Melanie invites a supportive group that allows for the vulnerability needed to have an authentic experience that lights you up. There are key practices that stay with you long after the day is over. I already have it in my calendar for next year!

-Stefany Muller

Melanie was able to pull together an amazing talk for our work conference attendees as an optional event and she was a big hit. Everybody who attended her workshop felt that she was able to create space for calm and real life tools and strategies for creating that calm in our every day lives.

-Megan Nugant

In a time of flux and uncertainty, Melanie's retreat was invaluable for tuning into my core self. I've spent a lot of my life in hustle-and-bustle mode, which means the reflection and envisioning pieces of life sometimes get rushed or just skimmed.

As I build a business, I want to stay true to my values and ensure I'm using my talents in a way that will lead me to fulfillment. It would be so easy to fall into a daily grind of habit and hustle without intention-- which wouldn't honor my long-term fulfillment. By putting the personal work into Melanie's retreat, I was forced to take a step back and look at my decisions and actions holistically and with less bias. The gain in clarity from even just one day is amazing!

Experiencing Melanie's retreat made me rethink the way I process experiences and look towards the future. She asks questions that guide us to way deeper insight, and she finds connections that we never before considered. I appreciate the "slow and steady wins the race" vibe-- we leave inspired to take action and make subtle shifts every day, which I know will serve me greatly over time.

-Angie Madsen - www.TheHormoneHacker.com

Be careful what you wish for because this*t works!! Melanie is an incredibly skilled life coach. She is able to create a space that instantly feels safe, inspiring, and authentic. She is able to adeptly cut right through your habitual stories and patterns to get at the heart of what is holding you back from your dreams. She keenly senses when to push you to set your sights higher, or gently remind you that you don't have to do it all. Melanie is truly gifted at this craft.. The only word of caution is to be careful what you wish for, because once you start working with her, Melanie will set you on the course to make it happen - and then some!

-JK

Such an incredible, transformational experience. I walked in eager but unsure, and I walked out with more confidence and clarity about the direction I want to go in life.

-Amanda, Portland, OR

Thank you so much for an incredible, inspiring, and delicious retreat (uh, yeah those choco's were yummy!). I have been rogue because things are falling into my lap on the home front and work stuff is happening too!  

You are so amazing. Thank you for pouring your energy into souls like mine. Your name has come up lots in the last weeks as friends come to me with life questions and whatnot and I say "well my life coach gave me this great advice of... .(usually "communicate boldly" - the most relevant piece!)... " :-)  You've absolutely helped me change my life and also have impacted that of many others. Please do keep doing what you're doing... it's changing the world for each of us one at a time. We need more Melanies. Thank you! 

-KT

As an executive coach and business consultant, I am used to being the sounding board and safe place for business owners and leaders to work through beliefs and behaviors that aren’t serving them. To keep yourself emotionally healthy, every good coach also has a coach. And I’m eternally grateful to have worked with Melanie. Her warm approach and grounding presence have helped me stay calm and self assured in both garden-variety stressful times and the most treacherous of seasons. Her thoughtful questions and keen ability to sense what’s not said are natural talents. I highly recommend her annual retreats and one-on-one coaching.

-Stephanie Hartman, www.catalyst-consultingllc.com

In the beautifully supported time together we reflected deeply on the past year which help me refine my vision for this coming year. I feel like I've returned back to my life and work with extra fuel and a clearer focus. I look forward to what my super-charged self might create this coming year. Melanie, in her amazing gifts, makes this whole process enjoyable, natural and light-hearted. Thank you!

-Bonnie

I walked away feeling inspired and supported by a fabulously impressive group of local business women. This was much more fun than I expected it to be!

-Christine F.

Worth every penny and every minute spent.

-Anon.

Melanie is great for creating an environment where you can really be still, and present, where you can sit with the things that you know, and the things that you dream of, and make connections between them that you probably would not get around to on your own time. She attracts thoughtful, soulful, capable characters (like herself), who strive towards good things, and who encourage others do the same. She somehow makes it seem possible and wise to simultaneously shoot for the stars and give yourself credit for small achievements. She combines worksheets and mindfulness exercises to accommodate both the pragmatic and the mystic inclinations of the brain, and getting both sides on board.

...and the snacks are fantastic.

-Solana Joy, SolanaJoy.com

It was even more powerful the 2nd time around. I think this is one of the absolute necessities that I must invest in annually. It's an investment in my business and my personal development. I went with ideas and left with an absolute vision of where I'm headed for the year to come.  I can now offer even more value to my customers and team. INVEST IN your personal development and watch yourself have an amazing year!!

-Lori Lishan

Diamond Wellness Advocate, doTERRA International, www.lorilishan.com

While I came to retreat to "figure out" my next business incarnation inspired by the animal sanctuary.. I left with so much more. Melanie crafted a thought-provoking experience that allowed me to recognize my deeper truths. Now, I feel like I'm on fire and have formally stepped into my next dream. To get onto a TedX stage with a mission that I believe in dearly. I went home and took my first steps within 24 hours! Thank you Melanie, for helping me birth my new business baby.

-Feroshia Knight, www.Feroshia.com

Melanie is a terrific coach. In an all-day experience with her, she helped me dig deeper into how I see myself and helped me think further and deeper of how to get to where I want to be in life - with gentleness, insight, and professionalism. I'd absolutely recommend her and look forward to working with her again.

-Lori

Being on the brink of a major life change, I was easily swayed when Melanie told me there was still space in her retreat.  Honestly, I was a little critical when she asked us to spend some time reflecting on the past year. My inner voice was like, "Wait.  I don't want to waste time thinking about the past year. I want to get busy manifesting the year ahead!" Come to find out, Melanie has serious coaching superpowers and knew exactly what she was doing.  After going through the reflection of the past year, I felt super-charged. By rooting in the strength and power of my past year's accomplishments I really feel completely capable of stepping into the year I have manifested ahead of me.  In short, I came to the retreat holding a spark and left with a glowing flame. 

-J.K. 

I just attended the day retreat with Melanie and usually rarely spend time to self-reflect. I came with an open-mind, eager for the camaraderie and perspective on my life. I left with a warm heart and a drive to challenge myself and be daring.  The process, including doing the preparatory homework, gave me a new lens on my life. Thank You!

-Ruth Berkowitz, writer and mediator

Biggest learning experience was to actually let people see me and working intimately with a group. I went into the retreat uncomfortable sharing my accompishments and really exposing myself. I was called out on it and then realized that people really do want to see me, my achievements, failures, joys and fears. so...I've got some homework to do.

-Charlotte Gregson

I have been taking this amazing retreat for four years now and recently came across my notes from the first year. I was just starting the process to become a non profit and remember some of the steps that I had listed (there were many-and they seemed totally overwhelming) to get to our status AND to grow the organization. Above it I wrote "arrrrghhhh! This is never going to happen" then I had crossed it out and wrote "This WILL happen".  

I am delighted to report that today, we are not only a non profit but a growing, thriving, self sustaining one at that! Melanie helped me get 'unstuck' to pursue this dream......thank you Melanie for seeing my unlimited potential, even when I can't!

-Suzi Cloutier

Zebs Wish Equine Sanctuary, zebswish.org

I felt profoundly peaceful about all this relationship turmoil and inner turmoil that's been getting to me lately. The interaction with the animals was deeply moving and I was surprised at what I learned just by observing them and by Suzi's education about them.

-Marcia Powell

The best part about the solopreneur retreat for me was the way in which really taking a moment out to be guided and supported proved to be invaluably nourishing to my sense of accomplishment. Had I not invested my time in this way with Melanie I don't think I would have acknowledged and realized all the ways I have grown and changed as a person in the last year. I was unexpectedly surprised by how the activities of the day moved me to such emotion at times. Thank you so much for this opportunity, Melanie.  I will definitely return next year. 

-Soma Peterson www.somastherapyhoodriver.com

I took a look at the materials from last year’s retreat, my intention for the retreat was to “clarify, focus and get energy behind my intentions” Holy cow!  

At the time, I was working on a variety of projects but they didn’t all necessarily make sense for me. I was volunteering too much, working on some projects I felt like I “should” but I wasn’t excited about and I was committed to a number of projects that supported other people, but not my own goals for my business. 

Through the retreat I was able to generate a word for my year which was “purpose.” I needed my projects to have a purpose and be in line with my previously identified values of connection, vibrancy, gratitude and integrity. After the retreat I worked throughout the year to finish previous commitments and transition them to other willing people. I was able to deepen my commitments that were in line with my values and had business growth in new and some unexpected ways. 

I’m always able to check new projects against my values that you helped me identify and it’s given me a guiding beacon as I grow and deepen my work in the world and in my business. I’m grateful to you for the help you’ve given me and am looking forward to this years reflection retreat.

-Lisa

Melanie is an incredible listener, facilitator, space holder, and intuitive and compassionate leader. She is very grounded and resourceful. She not only leads but works right along side you, creating a safe container for processing and doing the deep work we all come to do. 

I am so grateful that I was able to attend her Reflection Retreat. I was feeling so stuck and like I hadn't accomplished much last year at all. But by the end of the day, I not only felt empowered and capable, but confident in myself, my process, and my goals for next year. She helped me to be compassionate with myself, and to see that I really had accomplished more than I realized. She encourages us to reach for the stars and that the stars are very reachable, and that the value of personal growth and giving myself space to process is not measurable or something to be judged. Thank you!

-Hannalies

I thought I was helping Melanie out by taking one of the last slots in her visioning retreat -you know, supporting a friend even though I didn't really need coaching. After all, I feel like I'm pretty organized, productive and generally clear about what I want to get done. OMG, it was amazing. 

I have a bad habit of not stopping to appreciate the things I've done so when we simply took the time to list them out, it was eye-opening and energizing. Then, when we looked ahead to the next year, it was more than just listing out a series of bullet points and goals. She told us, 'don't worry if it's even possible or not, just think big for a moment.' So I let myself imagine a crazy, unrealistic ideal. And I included everything I've been dreaming about and meaning to get done for years. Why not? Now, twelve months later I need to take her retreat again because I've completed it all. 

I accomplished more with 4 hours with Melanie than I have in 14 years on my own. I tease her that it's the Melanie magic. And I happily budget for it now. 

-Emily Reed

Looking forward to playing with you again. This will be the 4th end of year opportunity to celebrate my "opportunities for growth" (the challenges and joys of my life). Reflecting, collaging and journaling have been a very useful processes for me to look at my past and remember the lessons, experiences and gifts that significantly effected my way of thinking and being in the world... sharing all this with the wonderful people that are participating is also very fun and rewarding. Looking forward to number four. 

-Steve

I feel like I've taken a deep breath and am reentering the world with a renewed awareness. 

-Anon.

It is such a gift to step into the space that Melanie creates to learn from my challenges and successes and to find the courage to carry on toward my dreams. 

-Rachael

This retreat does so much for your mental health, it should be covered by insurance!

-Lindsay G

As I re-enter the world today, I do so with a sense of a greater connection to the whole. I do not feel like I am alone on this journey. We are all struggling with what are essentially the same issues, if viewed from the core. I feel that I am now more fully able to meet that voice that says 'you don't have enough' with: of what? Why not? Do I need it? if so, when and how am I going to change this? Because I can.

-Shannon

I feel so blessed that Melanie is one of our local business and life coach supports. This is a day that I look forward to each year!! Melanie brings her years of experience and talents to each session. She also attracts really big change-makers to her events. I learn so much from watching Melanie help each one of us work through really big processes that we, as entrepreneurs must work through to grow. Melanie has masterful skills at her finger tips to draw out the Big Dreams!! To help us face are fears and take on the world!! I've made huge growth in my personal and professional life. It's so powerful to see where I've come from and know where I'm headed. I know these retreats have helped me move towards my goals faster. Don't miss this years event!

Lori Lishan, Diamond Wellness Advocate, www.LoriLishan.com

I am so glad that I attended Melanie's 2014 Reflection Retreat. The process helped me to refocus on the values that are most important to me, and to realize where I had been sabotaging myself. I have renewed energy and inspiration for the coming year!

-Faith

...it is hard to find words to do justice to this experience. On a scale of 1 to 10 my overall rating is 11. The mix of guided meditation, alone time, and sharing was really nice. It is hard to choose a favorite because it all flowed together. The overall feeling I got from participating was my favorite. I can't think of a more productive way to spend a Saturday. Time seemed to expand in the space created by this experience. I can already think of 2 friends who would benefit from working with you. 

-Christine

I feel like this retreat helped me put my finger on the core things that matter to my journey in living authentically.  It helped me realize that those things are worth building my life around because they are the things that create joy and vitality in my life.  The retreat spurred me to believe in my vision and my ability to achieve it!

-Anon.

See the testimonials page for more feedback