top of page
Image by Pascal Debrunner
Awakening Through Grief Wellness Retreat

October 15 - 20, 2023

Wailea Inn, Maui

​Join Wendy Black Stern on the island paradise of Maui to experience deep relaxation, self-reflection, and healing in community as we embark on our next Awakening Through Grief Wellness Retreat.

neora-aylon-9QoDLDEu9Kg-unsplash.jpg

For 6 days and 5 nights, you will be held by the gentle arms of Maui as we create an intimate, safe container for grief to be felt, expressed, shared, and healed.

This retreat is the perfect opportunity to practice radical self-care as you are empowered to step into the fullest expression of yourself and receive support to feel your grief, clarify your purpose and share your heart. CSG’s embodied approach to grief work allows you to explore the relationship between your mental, emotional, physical, and spiritual bodies where your grief may serve as a catalyst for personal growth and transformation.

​

Fall 2023 Retreat Dates: October 15th - 20th, 2023
 

Investment:
$3,650 Pay in Full
3 or 6-Month Payment Plans available

The Following Themes Will be Explored:

Grieving in Community

Presence and Body Awareness

Unconditional Love and Acceptance

Grief as a Teacher

Evolution of Identity through Loss

Embracing Change

​

All within the backdrop of beautiful Maui, we will spend our time connecting as a supportive community, with plenty of spaciousness left for personal time, deep relaxation, connecting with each other, adventure, bodywork, and simply enjoying the beautiful beaches of Maui. Each person will receive a one-hour complimentary massage. This retreat is appropriate for people going through all kinds of loss at any phase of the grief process and for those who just want to deepen their relationship to themselves in a gorgeous, supportive healing environment.

Your Personal Maui Experience

What to Expect

Example Retreat Day

  • A 5-night / 6-day stay in a beautiful shared luxury suite at the gorgeous Wailea Inn on South Maui

  • Access to all of the amenities of the private estate including a heated pool and jacuzzi, indoor and outdoor yoga spaces

  • 2-3 delicious meals prepared for you each day using local, seasonal ingredients

  • 1 therapeutic yoga experience a day in our intimate retreat community

  • 1-hour bodywork session

  • Optional early morning meditation offered each morning before breakfast

  • Exclusive booking opportunities: guided snorkeling, surfing, stand-up paddleboarding, massage/spa services, and other optional activities through the Inn’s complimentary concierge services

  • Spacious free time to read in the sun, connect with new friends, adventure, or just BE

  • Each morning, we will gather as a community to have a light breakfast (tea, coffee, protein, fruit).

  • We will then take our seats in our sacred circle for our morning practice time, to learn how to be a witness for ourselves and each other, cultivating compassion, self-awareness and connection within the group. Through this process, trust is created, which invites greater vulnerability and authentic sharing.

  • After our morning together, we will break for an abundant lunch and an afternoon of free time to lay on the beaches, adventure, learn to surf, paddle board, explore Maui or anything else that you desire.

  • We will have a schedule for each participant upon arrival so that you may plan your time for the “off” hours from the retreat schedule. 

Wailea Inn

We will be staying at Wailea Inn, a Luxury Private Estate just steps away from South Maui’s world-class beaches. On the gorgeous grounds of the Inn, we will enjoy our time together practicing and learning in both the indoor and outdoor yoga spaces and living in the community in one of four luxury suites. Wailea Inn has a full-service concierge that is more than happy to assist you in planning any and all adventures you wish to have during your time outside of the collective.  

 

Our particular accommodation at Wailea Inn is called Lele Hideaway. These 3 bedroom/2 bath two-level condominium suites have common living areas and fully equipped kitchens. Each shared bedroom includes beach towels and each bathroom has bath towels, hand towels and face towels. Participants will be paired together for shared suite accommodations. Lele Hideaway is a tropical oasis where guests can relax in the private garden lanai surrounded by beautiful landscaping.

"My week on Maui was nothing short of life-changing. I’m not sure what I expected but I know that since I have returned, my connections to myself, loved ones, and community were immediately deepened. It’s as though a thick wall has been removed and suddenly the love can reach me! I had not realized the buffer of protection I was creating, how much love and connection I was holding out (and in) or how long I had been doing so. I may not have ever noticed how much I was isolating and holding intimacy at arm's length had I not given myself this gift. No matter what you’re grieving where you are in the process or how many or few tools you have, this work will help. If we are allowed and allow the feelings to come, we can get through, past, and remember the beauty of what has gone before. I learned to recognize when I’m relating to people from a place of my wounded child and that awareness gives me the freedom to step back, take good care of myself and choose how I want to respond to what life has presented. I stepped into my power and I felt in every cell of my body that I am worth it — I have what I need and I know how to ask for help when I need more. This is the place where you can share what has transformed in you through loss, explore the many paradoxes of grieving and receive compassion, understanding, and guidance as Maui energy holds you closely. The biggest piece of gold is this… I now have an extended family of love, support, and mindful healing that will remain in my life for the rest of my blessed days. Thank you to everyone in our circle. My heart is open.”

Meet The Maui Wellness Retreat Team
IMG_7850 3.JPG

Wendy Stern

Founder | Your Host for Wellness Retreat Maui

Wendy Stern is the CEO of the Center for Somatic Grieving, founder of the Grief Support Network and certified yoga therapist residing in  Boulder CO with her husband and two daughters. She has a passion for travel, deep human connection and live music, which have offered a container for her to be present with herself through life’s joys and hardships.  Wendy believes that grief can serve as a powerful catalyst for personal growth and change if we are willing. Her work helps people to know their resilience - to feel their emotions in their bodies - to learn to trust in their inner knowing and receive the guidance that can only come from within.

Wendy has been a student and teacher of yoga for over 25 years, but it wasn’t until she went through a life shattering event that she came to know the importance of her practice. She lost her son, Noah, when he was 9 months old. This tragedy led her on a journey of self discovery and sparked a fire within her to create a movement that would bring people together to grieve in community creating greater connection, authenticity and support. Thus began the birth of the Grief Support Network and the Center for Somatic Grieving.

 

Before Wendy lost Noah , she had spent years helping others to explore, express and integrate experiences through the practices of yoga and body/mind exploration. In her private practice as a yoga therapist and Phoenix Rising Yoga Therapy faculty member, she witnessed the ways that thoughts, emotions and life traumas manifest through our bodies. With  a Bachelor of Arts in Psychology, certification in Phoenix Rising Yoga Therapy,  500 + hours of yoga teacher training, reiki levels one and two and training to faciliate yoga therapy groups for grief support and self-empowerment, she had gathered the tools that would later support her to move through her grief and support others to do the same. Wendy's work has been informed and inspired by the teachings of Ram Dass, Shiva Rea, Twee Merrigan, Shannon Paige and Phoenix Rising Yoga Therapy, interweaving personal reflection and group sharing into a grief focused, somatic curriculum. In 2007, when Noah passed away, Wendy's grief propelled her into a process of profound transformation, which has taught her to live with more joy and gratitude in her life.

Gillian Adamo_edited.jpg

Gillian Adamo

Chef

Zach Kaufher.jpg

Zach Kaufher

Local Bodywork Practitioner

From the forests of British Columbia to the jungles of Hawaii, Gillian has been in a creative relationship with nature since the beginning of her time as a chef. She was led to share the bounty of nature through cuisine and has been a private chef for the past decade. Through the vibrancy of fresh ingredients and the intention of nourishing body and soul, Gillian creates vibrant meals for all to enjoy! Gillian was the personal chef for Ram Dass shortly after his stroke for many years before his passing. Ram Dass, who describes Gillian’s craft as a chef that “has the ability to extend love because she cared and had a presence in what she was doing, and sensitivity to what she was feeding people by choosing the food, intuitively, to support people.”

Zach has been practicing bodywork for 20 years. His work is informed by the traditional system of Asian medicine, yoga, meditation and sensitivity, and the ability to listen to what the body needs to attain greater balance. This work is about clearing energetic and physical blockages, freeing the breath, integrating our experiences, and restoring resilience in ourselves.

It is my honor to be of service to you in this way and I look forward to having the opportunity to work with you.

bottom of page