What would be possible if you opened the door to five days of transformational coaching, magic making, and questioning to explore the life you truly desire through a retreat that’s not an escape but an essential catalyst for your highest purpose?
A five-day in-person retreat to to clarify your desires and design your life around joy, playfulness, and a healthy dose of magic so you can fully embody the messages of the Empress.
(And ride rollercoasters, because they’re awesome.)
Only Six Private Rooms, Double Occupancy Available
Communal Retreat Experience with Shared Bath, Only Eight Available
Note: pictures represent the planned accommodations but are subject to change.
Late summer 2019, we were on a call and Dolly Parton came up. Dana’s been a fan since childhood (thanks to her mom) and Sarah lives in the South where Dolly’s basically the unofficial President. We gushed about her and talked about how we’d never visited Dollywood…so we made a date and joked about how fun it’d be to do a whole retreat there. A month later, “Dolly Parton’s America: The story of a legend at the crossroads of America’s culture wars” podcast came out. Then a slate of articles. Then a Netflix special. Then everyone was talkin’ Dolly. We knew we’d been energetically pulled into the Dolly vortex. We knew a Retreat was calling.
She’s one of the most beloved celebrities in the world (yes, there’s an official score). The NYTimes asked, “Is there anything we can all agree on? Yes: Dolly Parton”. She’s been heralded as a Great Uniter in a time of strife across the world.
She’s a creative force. A powerhouse. She vibes an IDGAF attitude paired with boundless generosity. She’s got Empress written all over her.
The Empress is an archetype of sensuality and fecundity, the creation that emerges from true embodied connection to the world and to ourselves. This is an archetype that challenges our indoctrinated notions of the value of work and play, and the way that work must be done in the world.
The Empress, who exudes strength while relaxing on a pile of pillows in the classic Smith-Waite deck image, offers an alternative path to crafting a life that pulls power from our desires rather than sacrificing them on the altar of productivity.
So we’re going to Dollywood, and inviting you to join us so you can refill your cup and envision a new life for yourself where play is productive, joy is essential, and receptivity is strength.
Y’all, we’re in an Emperor year (according to the Tarot), and the Empress is a powerful balance to channel all this energy into global transformation. C’mon down.
4pm: Arrivals
7pm: Opening Ritual + Prayer Candle Making
8pm: Dinner
8am: Morning Meditation
9am: Breakfast
10am: Dollywood!
1pm: Lunch at Dollywood (only meal not included)
7pm: Dinner
8pm: Evening Reflection
9pm: Movie Night
8am: Morning Meditation
9am: Breakfast
10am: Empress Session
1pm: Lunch
2pm: Empress Session
7pm: Dinner
8pm: Evening Reflection
9pm: Craft Night
8am: Morning Meditation
9am: Breakfast
10am: Mountain Excursion
1pm: Lunch
2pm: Empress Session
4pm: Optional trip to Dollywood for Bluegrass Festival
7pm: Dinner
8pm: Closing Ritual
8am: Morning Meditation
9am: Breakfast
10am: Goodbyes
Schedule is tentative and subject to change.
Your retreat also comes with a special bonus: two 30-minute private sessions, one each with transformational coach Dana Balicki and tarot mentor Sarah Chappell. These sessions can be used during the retreat (you’ll receive booking information closer to the event) or within one month after to support integration. These sessions alone are over $200 in value, and are our gift to you for committing to this container and this work.
Want even more 1:1 time? When you pay-in-full for your retreat today, you’ll get a free bonus 45-min pre-retreat session with either Dana or Sarah to shine a light on where you need to bring Big Empress Energy into your life!
The closest airport to Dollywood is Knoxville, TN. The Retreat will be held in Sevierville, which is about 35 miles from the airport and 8 miles from Dollywood. There are usually several daily (and affordable!) commuter flights into Knoxville from major cities across the US.
You are responsible for securing your transportation to and from the Retreat. Neither of us is a local, so we don’t have a ton of insider info to share, but you can take a Lyft from the airport and Turo is a great option if you’d like to rent a car. You’ll receive the address of the Retreat space as we get closer.
Your retreat spot will be held with a $500 non-refundable deposit. You can pay-in-full now, or use a payment plan with the remaining payments due on approximately March 8th and April 8th (you’ll get a friendly email reminder, don’t worry). Your investment includes luxury lodging, all meals except food at Dollywood, a two-day pass to Dollywood (there will be a bluegrass festival during our trip!), the priceless gift of immersing in the magic of springtime in the Great Smoky Mountains, the bliss of making your own handmade crafts and goodies (rhinestone flower essences, anyone?), and all the juicy Empress programming by Sarah and Dana.
Dana is a transformational coach, changemaker, modern mystic, and wildly passionate lady boss devoted to helping you remember and become who you really are, not just who you were taught to be.
A born and raised Valley Girl with a keen eye for forging her own path, grooving to her own tune, and having big dreams for humanity, she’s blessed to be of service supporting countless amazing humans in living genuine, purposeful and unapologetic lives.
By genuine, she means designing your life around the truth of who you really are.
By unapologetic, she means releasing the internalized stories about how you should be and instead live with liberation and pizazz. Yeah, she said it…pizazz.
Through her work as a coach (and previously as an activist and organizer), she supports ever-evolving souls like you in finding clarity, courage and inside-out transformation in work, life, love and leadership. It’s the best.
Dana provided a safe and encouraging space to clear out old ways of thinking/being and opened the door to see the abundance around me and the power I have to create a life in my own vision...I came away feeling empowered to just be me in a way I've never felt!
I never believed in coaching until I met Dana. She was the person I could hear, and through this gift, was able to hear myself – my fears, hopes, desires, and dreams. At a time when I was making weighty decisions in my personal and professional life, Dana’s guidance enabled me to tap into the deep beliefs hidden beneath the surface of my everyday life and find clarity and vision for my future.
Sarah is a tarot mentor, herbalist, and holistic business coach on a mission to help folks craft lives of self-care and service.
A decade of addiction and a lifetime of anxiety and depression led Sarah to discover tarot as a tool for self-care. Embracing a spiritual practice led to massive shifts in her experience of the world, and underpins all of the work she offers today.
Sarah has been featured on USA Today, Well+Good, Healthline, The Temper, and the Mind Your Business Podcast, amongst others, and is the host of the iTunes Top 20 Spirituality podcast So You Wanna Be A Witch.
When not offering what has been called “*so* good and *so* ouchie” transformational support to her students and clients, Sarah hangs out with her dog and partner, tries to remember she loves knitting so she’ll actually do it, and reads. A lot.
Working with Sarah over the long term has helped me through blocks, depressions, fears and failures as well as helped open up my heart to joy and the privilege of caring for myself with love and kindness.
Being seen by Sarah for exactly what was going on with me (she really nailed down facet after facet of my situation) was a miraculous healing in and of itself. If you're in need of compassionate clarity to help you understand "what's going on" and how to work through it so you can live from a perspective of self-love, Sarah is an expert.
While this isn’t a dry retreat, it’s also not a booze cruise. We welcome folks to partake in joyful moderation with alcohol. Alcoholic beverages are not included in the retreat price. One retreat leader does not drink, so you won’t be alone if you choose not to imbibe.
The retreat house is smoke- and vape-free.
Nope! We welcome all who feel called to join us. All gender expressions and identities can come on down.
If you use a payment plan, your remaining payments will be autobilled on approximately March 8th and April 8th (you’ll get a friendly email reminder, don’t worry).
To share a King Room and take advantage of the double occupancy rate of $1666 per person, you must list your roomie’s name and email on the registration form, and your roomie must register and pay within 24 hours using this same form and listing you as their roomie.
If your roomie backs out or fails to register, you will be responsible for the King Room at the full single occupancy rate of $2222.
Heck yeah! The shared rooms each have 4 bunk beds, and will be all-gender. They include use of shared bathrooms, and there is plenty of living and outdoor areas for you to enjoy quiet time if you so desire. Making friends is fun!
Bunk preferences will be reserved on a first come, first served basis. If you want to book a retreat spot in a shared room and require a lower bunk to accommodate a physical need, please contact us using the red chat box to the right of this screen to confirm availability.
© 2020 Heal Yourself LLC