375 Panterkill Road PO Box 70 Phoenicia, NY 12464 United States
March 20 - 22, 2026
About this Retreat
Katie Garcia is an educator, theater artist, and integration specialist in spirituality and the creative arts. She holds a Master's degree in Psychology in Education with a focus on Spirituality, Mind, and Body from Teachers College, Columbia University. Originally from Brazil, she earned a Bachelor's in Communication and Arts of the Body from PUC-SP and a Certificate in Educational Psychology from the Singularidades Institute.
Katie's work explores theater as a ritualistic and transformative practice that nurtures the mind-body-spirit connection while deepening our ecological belonging. Her teaching weaves together non-violent communication, social-emotional learning (SEL), and embodied learning, always centering creativity and care. She has presented at the Harvard Divinity School 2025 Conference: Spirituality and the Arts, leading the workshop "Reclaiming Theater as Ritual: Embodied Storytelling and Spiritual Nurturing," and has been invited to present Raised By This Place at the 6th IAFOR Conference on Arts & Humanities in Hawaii.
With over a decade of experience in arts education across Brazil and the U.S., Katie is deeply committed to child development, emotional well-being, and inclusive pedagogy. While much of her research and practice centers on children, she also brings these same principles of creativity, ritual, and connection into adult learning spaces. Her current work invites adults to reconnect with their inner child, exploring how role-play, theater, and nature can be sources of personal transformation, ecological awareness, and spiritual nurturing.
Details of this retreat
Step into a retreat where theater becomes ritual, and nature becomes our teacher. Raised By This Place invites you to explore your inner landscape and your relationship with the living earth through embodied storytelling, creative expression, and ritual play. Together, we will reclaim theater as a sacred practice, where voice, movement, and imagination become gateways to healing, joy, and connection.
Drawing from the practices of Antonin Artaud, Augusto Boal, Indigenous creation stories, and children's ways of knowing, this retreat guides participants to inhabit the qualities of presence, flow, pause, and play. Through collective rituals, improvisational theater, and role-playing, you will rediscover your body as a vessel of wisdom and the land as a source of resilience. Participants will also be invited to connect with their inner child, exploring how play and creativity nurture ecological and spiritual identity.
Whether you are an artist, educator, seeker, or someone yearning for deeper connection, this retreat offers a space of belonging, an invitation to slow down, listen deeply, and embody your relationship to the earth.
Schedule
Friday, March 20
3 - 6 pm: Arrival and Check-in
6 - 7 pm: Dinner
7:30 - 9 pm: Welcome Program – Embodied Arrival & Intention Setting
Community Agreements
Research Background
Altar Creation
Saturday, March 21
7 - 8 am: Early Morning Program – Nature Walk & Listening to the Land
Collecting natural elements
8 - 9 am: Breakfast
9:30 am - 12 pm: Morning Program
Drawing and Reflection about the nature walk
Creating jars as expressions of gratitude and belonging
Journaling
12:30-1:30 pm: Lunch
2-4:00 pm: Afternoon Program - Image Theater & Ecological Storytelling
Augusto Boal–inspired tableaux on personal and ecological themes
Group Reflection
4-6 pm: Free Time For Hiking, Relaxation, and Spa
6-7 pm: Dinner
7:30- 8:30 pm: Evening Program – Slam Poetry
Writing Raised By This Place poems
Children's poems immersion
Sunday, March 22
7-8 am: Early Morning Program – Embodied Listening in Nature
8-9 am: Breakfast (check out of rooms by 11 am)
9:30 am-12 pm: Morning Program – Collective Performance & Closing Ritual
Weaving together jars, drawings, journals, theater images, and poems
Closing circle: gesture of gratitude & word of return
12:30-1:30 pm: Lunch & Departure
*Please note that this schedule is subject to change.
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