375 Panterkill Road PO Box 70 Phoenicia, NY 12464 United States
August 27 - 30, 2026
About this Retreat
Lynn Schauwecker has spent more than 25 years immersed in healing paths rooted in Indigenous traditions and in collaborative partnerships with Indigenous communities worldwide. Her work deepened in 2003 during her time in the Amazon rainforest, where she apprenticed with Grandmother Maria Alice Campos Freire of the International Council of Thirteen Indigenous Grandmothers and trained in Florais da Amazônia, a system of Amazonian flower essences that supports emotional balance, spiritual insight, and energetic healing.
She is trained in Compassionate Inquiry, the trauma-informed therapeutic modality developed by Dr. Gabor Maté, and offers CI-based sessions alongside her work in somatic, spiritual, and nature-based traditions. For many years, Lynn has also led sweat lodges passed down to her by Native American elders.
In addition to her healing practice, Lynn has dedicated more than two decades to Tibet House US and currently serves as Managing Director of Menla Retreat & Dewa Spa. She is also the co-founder of the Floresta Project, a nonprofit supporting Amazonian Indigenous communities through cultural preservation, traditional healing practices, and sustainable, community-led initiatives.
Jennifer Muir is a Tibetan Tones practitioner, contemplative caregiver and a keeper of sacred space.
She has worked for many years supporting those struggling with addiction and mental health issues. More recently she has embarked on a path of working with death and dying as an end of life doula and chaplain. Jennifer utilizes the healing vibrations of medical/spa grade Tibetan bowls and other healing instruments both on and off the body. She works with groups and individuals to create space so that each client may access their body’s innate healing wisdom. Through both training and her own lived experience of healing, Jennifer brings her gifts of empathy and intuition to provide a unique healing treatment.
Alison Sinatra has been teaching yoga and facilitating healing retreats and spaces for women for over 25 years. Her work supports people in remembering their connection to Spirit.
Drawing on her studies with North and South American Indigenous traditions, Alison weaves prayer, ritual, embodiment, and lightheartedness into all that she offers.
She recently completed Dr. Gabor Maté’s year-long Compassionate Inquiry training, a deep immersion in trauma, addiction, somatic dialogue, and inner-child work. Alison is also a current student in The Portal, a six-month Gabor Maté–inspired program supporting pregnancy and postpartum through consciousness and trauma-informed care.
Details of this retreat
Menla invites you to step away from the pace of everyday life and enter a sacred space of reflection, purification, and renewal. Surrounded by the deep forests and tranquil mountains of the Catskills, this weekend retreat offers an opportunity to reconnect with the elements, your inner wisdom, and the living rhythms of the Earth.
At the heart of the retreat is the sweat lodge ceremony, one of the oldest forms of prayer and purification practiced by Indigenous peoples of North America. Entering the lodge is often described as returning to the womb of Mother Earth—a place of humility, intention, and transformation. Within the warmth of the lodge, heated stones carry the energies of fire and water as songs, silence, and shared intention guide participants through a process of release, reflection, and renewal.
Throughout the weekend, participants will be gently guided in preparation for the ceremony through teachings on intention, connection with nature, and the deeper meaning of this ancient practice. Time between ceremonies allows for quiet integration, walks on Menla’s sacred land, moments of rest and contemplation, and optional treatments at the Dewa Spa.
The experience can be both grounding and profound. Many people describe the lodge as a place where burdens are released, clarity emerges, and a renewed sense of connection—to oneself, to community, and to the natural world—begins to unfold.
Whether you are new to this tradition or returning to deepen your relationship with the practice, this retreat offers a supportive space to enter the lodge with respect, humility, and openness.
Come gather in circle, honor the elements, and return to the lodge for a weekend of renewal.
Schedule:
Thursday, August 27
3 - 6 pm Arrival and Check-in
6 - 7 pm Dinner
7:30 - 8:30 pm Welcome Circle
Friday, August 28
8 - 9 am Breakfast
9:30 am - 12 pm Guided Hike
12:30 - 1:30 pm Lunch
1:30 - 4:30 pm Free time for Relaxation and Spa
4:30 - 6 Afternoon Circle
6 - 7 pm Dinner
7:30 Evening of rest, relaxation and journaling.
Saturday, August 29
7am morning fast and lodge preparation
8 - 12 Sweatlodge
12:30 - 1:30 pm Lunch
1 - 4:30 Free time for Relaxation
4:30 - 6 Afternoon Circle
6 - 7 pm Dinner
7:30 Sound Healing Journey with Jennifer Muir
Sunday, August 30
7 - 11 am Check-out of Rooms - (Please check out by 9:30am before the morning program begins)
8 - 9 am Breakfast
9:30 am - 12 pm Yoga with Alison Sinatra
12:30 - 1:30 pm Lunch & Departure
*Please note that this schedule is subject to change at any time.
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