Retreat · Jan 30, 2027
Visioning ~ A Day of Ritual & Story
- When
- Sat, Jan 30, 2027
- Format
- In-Person
- Location
- A Forest Sanctuary, North Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
- Schedule
- Saturday 9am – 5pm, with an optional dinner & sauna evening
Envision the year ahead
Every January we're handed the same script ~ set goals, make resolutions, stick with them. Our retreat invites you to consider not what you want to achieve this year, but what you want this year to feel like.
We'll spend a full day together in my home ~ a small circle of women, surrounded by images and colours and quiet. The morning is for listening: for noticing what you're drawn. The afternoon is for creating, tuning into the artistic elements that live within you. We'll gather to tell the stories behind what we've made, and name the words we're carrying into 2027.
This day is the second half of a pair. Two weeks earlier, our weekend retreat Wintering gathers women on Bowen Island to rest, reflect and release the year gone by. With Visioning, we turn toward the year ahead. Come to one or both, and let these intentional spaces hold you through the year ahead.
Who this day is for
This is a day for women standing at the edge of a new year who want to enter it with intention rather than obligation.
- You're craving a slower, more creative way to meet the new year than goal-setting and resolutions
- Something is shifting in your life ~ a role, a relationship, a chapter ending ~ and you want space to feel your way toward what's next
- You've made vision boards before and found them hollow, and you're curious what changes when ritual and story are part of the making
- You want a day away from screens, in the company of other women, with your hands busy and your mind quiet
- You're drawn to ritual and ceremony spaces, craving the magic that happens when women gather.
What to expect
We begin in circle at 9am, fifteen of us, with a simple opening ritual. You'll meet the women you're spending the day with, and we'll build the container together. The morning is contemplative, with guided reflection and quiet. You'll begin to sense the shape of the year ahead and land on a word to guide you.
After lunch, we create. Every material you need is already laid out ~ boards, magazines, papers, textiles and tools ~ and I'll offer ideas and inspiration: layering, stitching, folding, framing. There is no right way to do this and no one is assessing your scissor work! At 3pm, we pause for tea and something sweet. Then we return to circle for storytelling, as we each share the story behind what we've made. Being witnessed in what you're imagining is what makes it real. We close by 5pm.
Where we'll gather
We'll meet at my home in North Vancouver ~ a warm, quiet house tucked into the trees, with room to spread out and light that moves through the day. This is not a conference room; you'll have a comfortable place to sit, a surface to work on, tea within reach, and the forest just outside the window. There will be an invitation to go for a ritual walk in the forest, and enjoy pauses of fresh air throughout the day.
The full address and parking details will be sent to you once you've registered. We're a short drive from downtown Vancouver, and I'm happy to help connect people for carpooling.
What you'll eat
Lunch, tea and snacks are all included, and all made with care by our private chef. Expect a generous seasonal lunch ~ the kind of food that leaves you nourished rather than sleepy ~ with tea and coffee available throughout the day. At 3pm there's an afternoon snack to carry us into the storytelling circle.
Tell me about allergies and dietary needs when you register and I'll make sure you're well fed and taken care of.
Optional: dinner and sauna
For those who want to stay in it a little longer, you're invited to remain for the evening. We'll share a catered dinner around the table, and then head out to the cedar barrel sauna under the trees ~ with a fire pit, a cold plunge if you want it, string lights in the branches and the forest going dark around us.
There's no agenda to the evening and nothing is facilitated. It's simply the ease that comes after a day spent making something together, with the people who witnessed you make it. The evening is $125 and limited to eight people. It's added when you register, and it tends to fill quickly.
Itinerary
- 9:00am
Opening
Opening ritual to connect us as a community of care, inviting each person to share an intention for the day ahead.
- 9:45am
Reflecting
Guided reflection and conversations on the year behind and the year ahead. What do you want 2027 to feel like?
- 10:45am
Gathering
Magazines, papers, textiles and found materials. You collect what draws you, without explaining why.
- 12:30pm
Nourishing
A seasonal meal together, unhurried.
- 1:30pm
Creating
Turning your vision into form, with inspiring and innovative vision board techniques and ideas to think outside the box.
- 3:00pm
Pausing
Tea and a snack to pause before we return to circle. An invitation to go outside for some fresh air and a guided ritual walk.
- 3:30pm
Storytelling
Each of us shares the story behind our vision board, and our word for 2027.
- 4:45pm
Closing
We close the circle with care, sharing what lights us up and how we can support each other moving forward.
- 6:00pm
Optional: dinner and sauna
Stay for the evening as we enjoy a catered dinner, followed by several cycles of hot ~ cold. Rest by the sauna, awake in the cold water, and contemplate by the fire. Limited to eight people, $125.
Facilitators
Megan Sheldon
Megan Sheldon (she/her) is a cultural mythologist, humanist celebrant, end-of-life doula, and co-founder of Be Ceremonial, the world's first guided ritual and ceremony platform. She is the author of Ritual Without Religion: A Humanist Guide to Creating Secular Ceremonies, and has spent years crafting ceremonies across the life cycle, with a focus on grief and the less visible moments of change and transition.