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Understory: Exploring Body, Word, and Landscape

Name: Understory: Exploring Body, Word, and Landscape
Start: 2026-08-21
End: 2026-08-23
Location: Ratna Ling Retreat Center
Rating: 4.95

4.95255 reviews

35755 Hauser Bridge Rd. Cazadero, CA 95421 United States

August 21 - 23, 2026

About this Retreat

Your Guides

Nica

Jolene

Nica Celly

Nica guides breath, movement, and creative inquiry as pathways to strengthen self-trust and community connection. Her teaching creates spaces for embodied exploration through classes, interdisciplinary workshops, and collaborative art happenings that bridge contemplative practice with creative process. She holds an MFA from California College of the Arts and a BA from NYU’s Gallatin School, where she focused on visual language and the intersections of art, craft, and consciousness. Practicing and studying since 1998, Nica began teaching meditation and yoga in 2009 with the intention of serving where there is need. Rooted in nearly two decades of study with her primary teacher, Janet Stone (500-hour certified, with over 1,300 additional hours), she regularly collaborates with teachers, thinkers, and contemplative practitioners through her creative consultancy and design studio. Currently, Nica splits her time between Todos Santos, BCS and Cazadero, California. Her work continues to explore how subtle body awareness and creative expression can reconnect us to our inner and outer landscapes. yogacraft.org | nicacelly.com | @nicacelly

Jolene Beilstein

Jolene facilitates the practices of forest bathing (Shinrin Yoku), therapeutic massage, and somatic education for individuals and groups. Through touch, breath, movement, and deep listening, she invites participants to explore the embodied language of connection and to navigate their lived experiences with greater ease and discernment. Her approach weaves together immersive experiences in nature, therapeutic touch, and somatic inquiry as gentle, first-person pathways toward integration. Working in partnership with the more-than-human world, she helps others rediscover the innate intelligence of the body and the wider systems that hold it. Jolene’s journey began in 2005 with her graduation from the Canadian College of Massage and Hydrotherapy. She later became a certified Hanna Somatic Educator through the Novato Institute for Somatic Research and Training (2019) and a certified guide through the Association for Nature and Forest Therapy (2024). Through Freebird Bodywork, Jolene continues to evolve a practice that connects bodywork, somatic education, and the restorative wisdom of the natural world. freebirdbodywork.com | @freebird.bodywork

Details of this retreat

To enter the understory is to practice listening below the surface: to slow down, to sense, and to reconnect with the fertile, unseen layers that sustain life both within and around us.

In this workshop-style, three-day retreat, Jolene and Nica will offer a sequence of embodiment practices designed to explore somatic wholeness through inquiries with the word, the body, and the natural landscape. Through new entry points into breath (pranayama), movement (yin and slow hatha yoga), and creative practice (writing and forest bathing), we will tend to our personal understory.

Our hope is that these experiential practices will nurture flow from the micro to the macro, from breath to landscape, restoring resilience in chaotic times.

This retreat is for those seeking a gentle, immersive, and creative reprieve. No prior experience is necessary, only an open curiosity and a willingness to begin.

Schedule (Subject to change):

FRIDAY

4:00PM: Opening Guided Meditation & Yin/Restorative Asana
5:30PM: Dinner
7:00 PM: Circle Up: Tending Your Understory - discussion and words

SATURDAY

6:20AM: Meditation (optional)
7:00a-8:00AM: Gentle Asana
8:00AM: Breakfast
10:00AM-12:15 Experience 1: Forest Bathing with Jolene
12:15PM Lunch
3:00p - 5:30PM: Experience 2: Writing Circle with Nica
5:30PM Dinner
7:30-9p: Resilience Discussion

SUNDAY

7:20a: Meditation (optional)
8:00-9:30AM: Asana / Movement
10:00AM Brunch
11:00 AM Wander and Words with Jolene and Nica
12:00 PM: Checkout and Convene at Stump Beach (optional)

For directions to Ratna Ling - Ratna Ling Retreat Center 35755 Hauser Bridge Rd Cazadero, CA 95421
Accommodations are beautiful lux cabins

ADDITIONAL DETAILS

Transportation to/from Ratna Ling is NOT included - carpooling encouraged
Payments are nonrefundable and transferable to a future Ratna Ling retreat
Each cottage includes TWO private rooms with queen beds, large dining & living area, gas fireplace, spacious deck, jacuzzi tub, linens/towels/hand soap, kitchenette with tea & coffee, complimentary wireless internet.
Vegetarian meals are served during our weekend together.

What people are saying about our retreats:

“The accommodations were great along with the beautiful surroundings - everything was so peaceful and nurturing”
“It was exactly what I needed – to disconnect, get in tune with my soul and recharge my spirit.”
“It was exactly what I needed - to disconnect, get in tune with my soul and recharge my spirit. ."

“Space for reflection while also giving me anchor points through teachings.
“Space and time for meditation and movement classes were truly wonderful.”
“Being able to move at my own pace is a luxury. And of course the food was delicious."

Getting Here

Ratna Ling Retreat Center, 35755 Hauser Bridge Rd. Cazadero, CA 95421 United States

Directions

San Francisco International and Oakland International airports are approximately three hours south of Ratna Ling by car. Alaska Airlines flies to and from Sonoma County Airport in Santa Rosa which is approximately 1.5 hours from Ratna Ling by car. Unfortunately, there are no shuttles that bring you directly to Ratna Ling, so it is best to rent a car or email us to support in coordinating a carpool with fellow retreatants.

Accommodation

14 guest cottages on 120 acres of property. Each spacious, quiet cottage has 2 private rooms, with high ceilings and a deck with a view. Cottages include jet tubs (or ADA shower), towels, deluxe linens, refrigerator, tea kettle, coffee/tea, kitchen sink/counter, diningware, dining table, and living room with a stove fireplace. Free wifi available and a landline telephone. Guests can choose to have an exclusive cottage for ONE person; a private room for ONE person in a SHARED cottage; or a cottage for TWO people. Any additional guest after TWO is $100 per person per night. Meals and classes included.

For 1 Guest in Private Room, Shared Cottage

Venue & Amenities

A/C in Rooms

Free Wifi

Spa

Sauna

Pool

Towels

Free Parking

Kitchen

Tour Assistance

Hot Tub

Coffee/Tea

Cafe

Restaurant

Fitness Center

Yoga Studio

Housekeeping

Bicycles For Rent

Three miles from the beautiful Sonoma coast. Organic, vegetarian meals. 120 acres of redwoods, canyons, reservoirs, and wildlife. Sacred architecture timber cottages and communal spaces. Featured stupas, gardens, and temple empowered by Tibetan Buddhist Lama Tarthang Tulku Rinpoche.

Meals

Menu Types

Vegan

Vegetarian

Pescetarian

Ayurvedic

Includes Meat

Organic

Gluten Free

Dairy Free

Nut Free

All of our meals are organic and vegetarian, made with love and care. We provide homemade yogurt and granola for breakfast. Lunches and dinners always include salads or salad bar. Each meal is self-served on a buffet table.

Customer Reviews

4.95 out of 5.0 average rating

Lisa • Jul 27, 2026

5.0

Verified

Sonoma County Writers Camp Review

This is a place where we learn to slow down, breathe, take notice of the beauty and serenity of nature, and the kindness of stangers. Except no one at Ratna Ling Retreat Center is a stranger. All are kind, patient, conversant, receptive to our needs. I can't imagine a more blessed location to attend a writers' retreat. The challenge and opportunity upon leaving are to take the sensibilities of Ratna Ling home with us and infuse this energy and gratitude into our lives.

Thank you for who you are and all you gave us.
Lisa C.W.

Magali • Jul 27, 2026

5.0

Verified

Retreat heaven in the California Redwood Coast

I just returned from the Sonoma County Writers' Camp held at Ratna Ling. It was my first time there, and I enjoyed it tremendously. I wish I´d planned for the extended stay. My cabin was comfortable, peaceful, with a gorgeous view out the back porch. The food was nourishing, healthy and delicious. Every detail of the temple, library, classrooms was beautiful and peaceful. The gardens, inspiring, the Stupa, gleaming in the morning sun.

I have been interested in Tibetan Buddhism for a long time, and it was lovely to get an introduction to the temple and a beginning meditation class.

I cannot recommend Ratna Ling enough. I am starting to save up and plan my next visit already.

Linda • Jul 23, 2026

5.0

Verified

Beautiful land & accommodations

What an absolutely lovely place to retreat, ponder, and learn about the universe and myself!

Kristin • Jul 20, 2026

5.0

Verified

Beautiful, Spacious, and Deeply Restorative

I just returned from my third retreat at Ratna Ling—and my second this year with my sister. It is such a peaceful, restorative place.

The retreats are gentle and spacious, with plenty of time for reflection, spending time in nature, hiking on the property or in the surrounding area, and simply enjoying the beautiful cabins. The teaching is led by experienced practitioners, with the content varying depending on the retreat, and the prepared food is absolutely delicious.

Ratna Ling is on the more relaxing end of the meditation-retreat spectrum. There is typically no work meditation, the retreats are not usually strictly silent, and the schedule is not overly dense. That makes it a wonderful experience for anyone looking to slow down, restore, and reconnect with themselves.

Linda • Jul 20, 2026

5.0

Verified

Review for Retreat Center

My third time there, I love the place. It is only 1 3/4 hrs away from my home, but I am in another world. When there I don't even WANT to go on the internet, though it is available. It was a great opportunity to break my habit and addiction to social media. The food is fantastic, the cottages are very comfortable, and every view out your window is refreshing. The staff are corgial, the grounds are well kept. I felt so cared for and comfortable on my solo retreat. I highly recommend Ratna Ling, and I will soon return.

Understory: Exploring Body, Word, and Landscape

About this Retreat

Your Guides

Nica Celly

Jolene Beilstein

Details of this retreat

Getting Here

Directions

Accommodation

Venue & Amenities

Meals

Menu Types

Sonoma County Writers Camp Review

Retreat heaven in the California Redwood Coast

Beautiful land & accommodations

Beautiful, Spacious, and Deeply Restorative

Review for Retreat Center

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