53 Mill Street, Westfield, MA, USA
April 28 - May 3, 2026
About this Retreat
Dr. Jeanette Banashak has a background in traditional and alternative education, Spiritual Formation, Creativity, pedagogy and andragogy, mindfulness as an educational tool, interdisciplinary studies, leadership development, human development, hermeneutics, Spanish, Forest Bathing and the Enneagram. She is the author of The Mindful Pilgrimage: A 40-Day Pocket Devotional for Pilgrims of Any Faith or None.
Jeanette is a spiritual guide and supervisor and offers interspiritual and interreligious companionship in English and Spanish. She has a diploma in shinrin yoku (forest bathing) and guides people of all ages in urban nature immersion experiences as an act of justice and is deeply committed to the work of integrating life’s experiences. She is the co-founder/director of The Spiritual Guidance Training Institute, which offers trainings in a new Nature Companionship program as well as interfaith & interspiritual direction. Jeanette also teaches social and emotional learning and child development at Erikson Institute and spiritual direction at the Graduate Theological Foundation. She is happiest outside or with her kitties on her lap.
Rev. Simon Ruth de Voil is an ordained interfaith/interspiritual minister, trained to be a sacred presence outside the conventions of traditional religion. As a sacred musician, spiritual mentor and worship leader he incorporates chant, ritual, storytelling and mindful practice to create a space for profound connection and sacred witness. Simon provides music for worship, ceremony, and prayer in a wide variety of churches and non-religious spiritual communities. He particularly loves to create music for meditation, healing services, and rites of passage.
Simon is also an experienced workshop and retreat leader, drawing on 15 years of study, training, and practice that grew from his time living and working in Iona Abbey. Although influenced by many traditions, Simon's spiritual path and teaching is deeply rooted in Celtic Christianity, the wisdom of the earth, and in the Scottish land where he's spent most of his life.
Details of this retreat
Step into the forest as if entering a sacred conversation—one that listens as much as it speaks.
Enter a sacred space of silence and wonder, where the forest becomes a mirror of your inner life and a source of renewal. This week-long Nature Immersion Experience retreat invites you into a deep communion with the natural world and one another—through forest bathing (shinrin yoku), community practices, outdoor spiritual rituals, and nature-inspired creativity. Together, we’ll sink into the rhythms of the forest, wandering at a gentle pace, guided by slow and playful encounters with the forest that foster reciprocal relationships. Along the way, we’ll explore how nature stirs creativity and discernment, gather for evening vespers of birdsong and poetry, engage in dialogue around eco-emancipation and earth-healing, and rest in a circle of trust, care, and curiosity.
The retreat offers a rhythm of contemplation held in community—with ourselves, with one another, and with the living earth. Mornings begin with guided meditation, inviting presence and grounding; evenings close with reflection and shared attunement.
At the heart of the retreat is the practice of forest bathing, a series of gentle invitations that awaken our senses and remind us of the aliveness in all things. Moving with intention and mindfulness, we deepen our awareness of and connection with both living and non-living beings, cultivating appreciation for their quiet intelligence. Forest bathing reflects humanity’s timeless relationship with the more-than-human world and the well-being we draw from it.
Tuesday
3:00–5:00 pm Arrival
6:00–7:00 Dinner
7:00–8:30 Welcome and introductions
Wednesday – Saturday*
7:00 am (optional) Morning contemplative practice – meditation, outdoor sit
8:00–9:00 Breakfast
9:00–12:00 Nature companionship experience/forest bathing**
12:00–1:00 Lunch
1:15–3:00 Nature-informed creativity (Wed + Fri)
3:00–5:00 Siesta (nap), intentional community building, outdoor sit, hike
5:00–5:40 Birdsong and poetry vespers
6:00–6:45 Dinner
7:00–8:00 Community building through reflective practices, evening ritual, dedication/commitment
Sunday
7:00 am:(optional) Morning contemplative practice – meditation, outdoor sit
8:00–9:00 Breakfast
9:00–10:15 Nature companionship experience/forest bathing
10:30–11:30 Birdsong and poetry terce and closing
11:30 Checkout
*This schedule may change because we want to be open to what might be emerging within our group. We will also be on forest time, so please hold the schedule loosely.
**During the morning nature companionship experiences, we will meet rain or shine. It may make sense to do this in the afternoon, in which case we will make the announcement the day before.
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