Nurture with Nature: An Immersive Ecotherapy Weekend

Feel the forest breathe with you. Over this transformative weekend in the heart of Virginia's natural sanctuary, you'll step away from the noise of daily life and into direct communion with the Earth—not as a distant ideal, but as a living, healing presence. Nurture with Nature is an immersive ecotherapy retreat designed for seekers who sense that reconnection with nature is essential to their own wellbeing and spiritual awakening.

Led by Dr. Dorothy Ibes, a William & Mary professor and certified ecotherapy guide with nearly twenty years of experience, this retreat at Satchidananda Ashram – Yogaville in Buckingham, VA weaves rigorous ecological wisdom with embodied, sensory practice. Whether you're new to nature-based healing or already attuned to the Earth's rhythms, you'll find your own pace within a supportive community dedicated to deepening presence, processing grief, and cultivating a renewed sense of agency and belonging.

This is not a typical wellness retreat. Drawing on frameworks like Joanna Macy's Work That Reconnects, the weekend honors both the intelligence of the natural world and the full spectrum of human emotion—including ecological grief. You'll leave with practical, grounded tools for daily life and a visceral understanding of what it means to be held by nature.

What to Expect

The retreat unfolds through a blend of guided and self-directed practices. Forest bathing, mindfulness walks, and solo time in nature form the spine of the experience, inviting you to awaken your senses and deepen emotional clarity. You'll also engage in eco-art and reflective journaling—practices that help translate inner insights into tangible expression.

Dr. Ibes guides each session with warmth and intellectual rigor, creating a container where profound questions can be asked: What does ecological grief feel like in my body? How can I cultivate genuine agency rather than despair? The atmosphere is contemplative and grounded, with plenty of silence, laughter, and the sounds of the forest itself becoming your teacher. You'll move between solitude and community, between thinking and feeling, between receiving the Earth's gifts and offering your own response.

Participants consistently leave with a renewed sense of rootedness, practical meditation and mindfulness tools they can integrate at home, and a deeper understanding of how personal healing and ecological healing are inseparable.

Venue & Logistics

This retreat takes place at Satchidananda Ashram – Yogaville in Buckingham, Virginia, a serene 450-acre spiritual community nestled in the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains. The weekend begins Friday, October 9, 2026. Please wear comfortable, weather-appropriate clothing and bring a journal. The ashram grounds are accessible for most mobility levels; contact the organizers with specific accessibility questions. Meals and overnight accommodations are included.