You’re invited to explore meditation, inspired movement, ritual, time in nature, and community connection to nourish every part of you – mind, body and soul.
Friday October 13th – Monday October 16th, 2023
Jen Quade & Brigette Binesikwe Nies invite you to join us for a special long weekend retreat at a peaceful and beautiful rustic center outside of Grand Marais, MN right on the edge of the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness – Camp Menogyn.
If you’re anything like most women in this modern moment, come autumn your nervous system will be craving rest, quiet, nature and community so that you can be connected to your center and be witnessed with love just as you are.
Its hard to find a better time of year than autumn in Northern Minnesota. Come join us for a long weekend away to experience the autumnal beauty and honor the changing of the seasons. Spend time in nature and nurture your soul amongst the spectacular fall foliage.
We will begin our time together by paddling or being ferried into our rustic retreat center north of Grand Marais on a remote lake with the help of retreat staff. The forest and waters surrounding the retreat center are simply magical and are the perfect container in which to create sacred space together.
This will be a beautiful opportunity to reconnect with our hearts, our bodies and our true nature. A time of renewal, connection, celebration and deep nourishment on all levels of our beings.
Give yourself the gift of stepping away from the city – from the momentum of life – to make an investment in yourself… and leave feeling a renewed sense of connection to your body, your heart and your inner guidance.
Jen Quade is a holistic nurse who has served in an inner city ICU as well as studied with master healers in the jungle. After becoming frustrated, disillusioned and burned out by the conventional medical system, she began exploring alternative medicine 2009 and she left the hospital in 2012 to begin a private practice. She dedicates her life to sharing the transformational benefits of holistic healing and spirituality. She has lived in Grand Marais for almost 2 years where she shares her work in her women’s health private practice, Qoya women’s movement classes and retreats, and through her passion for coaching and teaching.
She loves to create spaces where women can remember their essence through movement, ritual, music, meditation and more.
To learn more, visit www.jenquade.com, Instagram @jenquade
Brigette Binesikwe Nies currently lives on Lake Superior in far northern Minnesota. She has called Grand Marais home for the past 24 years and lives on a small piece of land just outside of town with her partner and two children. Gardening for her is a grounding and meditative practice and she has a living apothecary of over 100 medicinal herbs growing there on the land. Binesikwe is the owner of Ancient Traditions Healing and has been empowering women through her work, Women’s Circles and Women’s Retreats for many years. She is a Body Worker, Soul Wisdom Coach, Yoga & Meditation Instructor, Master Herbalist and has been journeying with and learning from the sacred plant teachers since 2009. She will be guiding the yoga practices and lending her heart and experience to the co-led opening and closing circles and the sacred ceremonies we will experience during our time together.
“I feel there is something really special and magical about the land here in Northern Minnesota, especially in fall. There is something so raw about the land that it easily draws us back into a state of remembering our sacred relationship to all of the natural world. The richness of the fall colors, the crispness of the morning air, inviting us into presence, giving us permission to slow down and simple be. I can’t think of a better way to reconnect with and nourish oneself.”
– Brigette Binesikwe
Brigette and Jen are both full of wisdom and depth, joy and enthusiasm.
Their combination is powerful and uplifting.
Itinerary
Friday Oct 13: Arrival Day
3:00-5:00pm: Arrival, Paddle-in & Check-In
6:00–7:00pm: Dinner
7:30–9p: Orientation & Opening Ceremony
Saturday Oct 14
7:00-7:45am: Breathing & Meditation
8am-9:00am: Breakfast & Free Time
10:00am-12:00pm: Qoya Inspired Movement with Jen
12:00-2:00pm: Lunch & Free Time
2:30-5:00pm: Forest Bathing
5:00-6:00pm: Free Time
6:00-7:15pm: Dinner
7:30-9:30pm: Sauna
Sunday Oct 15
7:00-7:45am: Breathing & Meditation
7:45am-9:00am: Breakfast & Free Time
10:00am-12:00pm: Yoga with B
12:00-2:00pm: Lunch & Free Time
2:30-5:00pm: Cacao/Despacho
5:00-6:00pm: Free Time
6:00-7:15pm: Dinner
7:30-9:30pm: Fire Ceremony
Monday Oct 16: Departure Day
8:00-9:30am: Breakfast, Free Time & pack
9:30am-11:00am: Closing Session
11:00am-12pm: Departure Time
*All activities are optional and we encourage you to feel into what is most aligned for you in the moment.
*We have intentionally woven in lots of spaciousness and down time to allow you to relax, integrate and be in your own natural rhythm and flow.
What is possible when you create from a place of nourishment? Let’s find out.
Qoya Inspired Movement
Qoya is a movement system based on the idea that through movement, we remember.
We remember our essence is wise, wild and free.
Through movement, ritual, community connection, and pilgrimages, we learn to trust the physical sensation of truth in our bodies.
It‘s for women of all ages, body types and levels of movement experience.
Though at times it can be hard to feel your essence, it is always there for you.
In Qoya, there is no way you can do it wrong and you know you’re doing it right when it feels good.
More than feeling good, it feels honest, resonant, and true.
“This class combined the best parts of a movement class, a women’s circle, and a silly dance party. It facilitates connection, empathy (for self & others) and awareness.”
– Participant
Cacao & Gratitude Despacho Ceremony
The Maya people call cacao “the water that runs through the heart” since raw ceremonial cacao is a powerful heart opener that paves the way to transformation through self-love. It is said that cacao opens the doorway to heart but you have to walk through it.
We’ll spend time creating beauty and bathing in the sensation of gratitude and love with a traditional Despacho Ceremony from the Andes, on of our favorite offerings to share.
The Andean elders say that this ceremony creates a state of “ayni” or right relationship with life. In small ways and big ways, this ceremony has the potential to opens the way for more miracles, synchronicities and prayers answered in life in the follwing days, months and beyond.
We’ll say thank you and create an offering in the form of a beautiful mandala of gratitude that will become a gift that we’ll give back to Pachamama, mother earth.
Cost & Register
Bring a friend Discount: $777 or 3 monthly payments of $260
Regular Price $888
*If cost is an issue, please reach out to discuss. We want this experience to be available to all women who feel called. 🙂
Investment includes:
- Rituals and conscious community-building experiences to honor, nurture, and express your soul.
- A Qoya movement class that combines yoga, dance and inspired movement
- Yoga
- 3 nights’ accommodation at Camp Menogyn, 30 min from Grand Marais, MN
- Pristine Nature Setting
- Nourishing meals
- Sauna
Friday, October 13 to Monday, October 16th
This event has limited accomodation and will fill up fast – join us!
Come as you are and leave as more of who you are
Nurses: Earn Continuing Education Credits!
As a holistic nurse, I am able to offer continuing education for nurses. According to the American Holistic Nurses Association, Self Care is foundational and is absolutely necessary for you to have a holistic practice.
In the state of Minnesota, it is up to each nurse to decide whether a course supports her nursing practice. You’ll receive a certificate for up to 10 CEU’s upon completion of the retreat. Reach out with any questions!
Questions? Email us: hello@jenquade.com and/or bridgebetweentwoworlds@gmail.com
A woman in harmony with her spirit is like a river flowing.
She goes where she will without pretense and arrives at her destination
prepared to be herself and only herself. – Maya Angelou
