SOLD OUT: The Body Holds, The Body Heals: Restoring Balance, Releasing Stress, Creating Calming Practices (half-day, in-person retreat)

This program has reached its capacity and is now sold out.  We have created a wait list just in case someone who is registered is unable to attend. You may add your name to the wait list here.

Are you going through your day feeling overly sensitive, too reactive, or easily triggered? Or do you feel numb most days, simply going through the motions? By the time we are adults, most of us are walking warriors, holding stress and trauma in our bodies as we’ve had to survive and simply soldier on. In the short run, our bodies may be able to do this, holding it together to get through. However, over time, we cannot keep up this pace. Our bodies become overwhelmed as they hold our stressed experiences. They develop pain, fatigue, injury, or disease, as they can no longer repress all they have held over time.

Join certified Somatic Experience Practitioner, Emily Kearns, for this half-day retreat to give your body a break and invite it to begin to rest and heal. The Body Holds, The Body Heals program provides a safe container for participants to begin to:

1. identify how our bodies hold whatever overwhelms such as grief, trauma, and stress;
2. relate to our bodies as a resource for calming, metabolizing, and integrating what has been held; and
3. respond differently to past and current stress through somatic (body-focused) practices and rituals.

Through guided meditation, sitting or walking in nature, art journaling including collage, and group sharing, you will grow your self-care toolbox to begin to experience your body as a resource — reducing stress and generating relaxation in body, mind, and spirit.

Please bring a journal for your reflections. We will be exploring different ways of checking in with and resting our bodies. All of the activities can occur seated, but if you want the option to lie down or sit on the floor, please bring a yoga mat, pillow, and blanket.

Please join us for this healing and restorative mini-retreat!

DATE: Saturday, March 29, 2025

TIME: 1:00 – 5:00 PM

COST: $55

REGISTRATION is closed as the program has sold out; you may add your name to the waitlist here.

CANCELLATION / REFUND POLICY: Please read our cancellation / refund policy, here.

LOCATION: Well for the Journey – 120 W. Seminary Ave, Lutherville-Timonium, MD 21093

IMPORTANT: You will receive an email from programming@wellforthejourney.org at least 24 hours in advance of the start of your program. If you are unable to find the email, please check your SPAM or JUNK email folders. This email will include details to help you prepare for your program including any pertinent handouts, location information, and the ZOOM link for online programs. Please be sure you have received and read this email a minimum of 24 hours in advance of the start of the program. Thank you!

FACILITATOR: Emily Kearns

FACILITATOR BIO: 
Emily Kearns is a Somatic Experience Practitioner (SEP) and Reiki Master, working with individuals to help identify and reduce stress and trauma – anything that overwhelms – held in the body. Her caregiving experience with her parents, who lived with dementia, sensitized her to how the body holds and also, how the body heals. Her Reiki volunteer work in Boston’s Spaulding Rehabilitation Hospital’s Integrative Medicine Program, further awakened her to the power of the body to be a healing, integrating resource. Emily earned her doctorate in sociology, focusing her study and teaching on the body, dance, and ritual. She is also an installation artist creating two events: Dementia’s Way; and The Sacred Heart of Culture. She is founder of Revive and Thrive, supporting caregivers/care partners as they experience loss, grief, joy, and cultivate presence.