Closer to Joy
A Regenerative Journaling Retreat
Be welcomed back to the land in Autumn with all its bounty and teachings. Reconnect with your life-walking partners. Explore and enhance your journaling practice. Learn to manage the challenges to your freedom, sovereignty, and unique way of being. Be held in sacred space and let your beauty and deepest desires be honored and fed. Reconnect with your innate wholeness, wisdom, and love of life!
Please email Gail or call 434-244-2663 if you have questions or need assistance.
Schedule: Arrive 2 pm Friday, November 7 | Depart 3 pm Sunday, November 9. Basic schedule provided upon registration; detailed schedule provided on arrival. If you’d like to make a longer retreat by arriving Thursday and/or staying Sunday night, please contact Gail.
Accommodations: Private rooms | Shared rooms | House, Barn, or Camping. If you'd like help selecting the best space for you, contact Gail.
Retreat Fee: $525, which includes all activities, meals, and shared rooms or camping from Friday to Sunday. If you’ve chosen a private room or plan to stay additional nights, please add $100. Bodywork is additional with fees to be announced before the retreat.
Scholarship, Work/Trade, Donations: If you’d like to discuss any of these options, contact Gail.
Registration: Please register today to hold your space and claim your room!
After you register, please send send Gail a personal statement about what you would like to get out of the retreat. If you’re a returnee, congratulations!! Please share a bit about what’s shown up since your last visit.
Our outreach is limited so feel free to share this opportunity with others who might be interested!
Our retreats are not therapy, they are designed to assist you in your personal growth journey. No mental health counselors are available.
Customized health retreats: Counseling is available to ground or enhance your visit. Ask about nutrition, fitness, stress management, communication and relationship-building, body-wise approaches to alignment, sovereignty and empowerment; horse-wise sessions to become more aware of your personal space, your influence within and around you, emotional states and co-regulating.
Yoga, Meditation, Sit spots, Walking, Gym - All of these offerings are available to while here on retreat: practice yoga or meditate in the yoga studio, barn loft, forest deck, on the lawn, in your room, or out on the farm. There are sit spots all over the property, as well as walking paths. Two Hammocks, one in sun, one in shade. The Poplar Grove – seven sister trees east of the house. The creek adjacent to the nut field – sitting there, when the water is high, you can submerge yourself!
Experience with Horses There are several ways to experience the horses of Galleywinter Farm. You can simply observe and admire our horses from across the fence. Or Sit with a Horse! You can request our new meditation deck nearby the barn and safely share space with a particular horse or horses. Situated in a stand of old poplar trees near the barn, this lovely wood deck allows you to relax, observe and commune. You can also schedule sessions to interact directly with the horses through horsemanship instruction, musing, mentoring, self-discovery, and other therapeutic purposes. Contact Gail to discuss.
Other Services Include:
To design and schedule a group retreat/workshop, please contact gail@leadingforth.com.
Contact Gail by email or phone: 434-244-2663 to discuss the best accommodation for you. Choose private, semi private, under roof or outdoors. Visit our Accommodations Page for descriptions and booking details – very simple! Pay by PayPal or credit card.
If Gail has given you a quote for a RETREAT or PRIVATE BOOKING, you can pay below by PayPal or Venmo or send a check. Receipt of your payment constitutes registration.
PayPal: Please enter amount below, just the amount, no dollar sign!
Comments from Past Journaling Retreats
"The bonds we formed are precious. It was impossible not to see everyone suffers and everyone can heal."
"The food was delicious, the room was peaceful and lovely, the activities were powerful, and the company was delightful."
M.C. - January 2024
"Bearing witness to the stories and insights of others was so inspiring - and humbling!"
"The meals were a feast for the senses and left my body feeling light, full, and happy."
"I had one of the best experiences of my life!"
"The writing resonated more than I imagined. It feels like a sacred gift."
"The retreat was... rejuvenation, rebirth, aliveness, nourishment, restful, inspiring, affirming, supportive, loving, awakening, a miracle."