Wisdom Rising Retreats:
Women's Somatic Movement and Ecstatic Dance Retreats.
May 1st - May 3rd 2026, O.Q. Farm, Vermont.
Immerse yourself in the beauty of nature on 500-acres of tranquil farmland. Embark on a journey through the practice of embodied conscious dance, creativity, meditation, somatic awareness, and ritual. Reclaim, unwind patterns, and reconnect your body, mind, and spirit—supported with nourishing meals, community, and authentic connection.
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Movement & Embodiment Practices:
Soul Dance - Somatic Ecstatic Dance (guided improvisational movement journeys)
Emotion-in-Motion: Community Practice
Somatic Awareness Practices
Creative Expression:
Painting, Writing, Creative Exercises (with art supplies)
Spiritual Practices:
Ancestral Connection
Meditation
Earth Honoring and Re-Belonging
Soundbath and Bonfire
Nature & Animal Connection:
Opportunity to Connect with Farm Animals
Surrounded by Woods and Trails (with optional hiking, woods exploration, and river access)
Wellness Amenities:
Sauna
Community:
Authentic Community
Lodging & Meals:
Two nights lodging at OQ Farm in Vermont (May 1–3, 2026)
Chef-prepared vegetarian meals (breakfast, lunch, and dinner)
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Friday Night: Arrival, settle in, light dinner. Opening Ceremony Slow dance, Sound Bath and deep relaxation.
Saturday: Dance Practice and Journey. Spending time with animals. Optional Thundering Brook Falls hike excursion, exploration in the woods and 500 acre farm, rest, or plunge in the Ottauquechee River.
Session 3: Dance, Meditation, Somatic Awareness and Creativity. Evening Bonfire, song circle/storytelling, and communing with the stars and the ancestors. (weather dependent of course for the fire)
Sunday: Dance, somatic slow, group exercise. Final Dance and Closing Ceremony. Pack up, group picture and departure.
Journaling, Reflection, Guided Visualization and Meditation will be woven throughout all the sessions.
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Reserve Your Space Browse the accommodation options at the bottom of this page, and select the room type that feels right for you.
Pay all at once when you reserve your room, or choose a payment plan with installments by selecting the “Paypal Pay Later” option at checkout.
Receive Confirmation: After booking, you'll receive confirmation with everything you need to know—detailed schedules, what to bring, and how to prepare for your journey.
Plan Your Travel OQ Farm is located in Vermont. We recommend arranging your transportation as soon as possible to ensure you can arrive between 4:30-6:30 PM on Friday, May 1st.
Pack Your Bags & Show Up As You Are! All activities are optional—you have total agency to participate in any way that feels right for you moment by moment. You can even choose to stay silent throughout the retreat with an "in-silence" sticker if that's what your body and spirit needs.
"This retreat was magic. Allison is so incredible at holding space. The people she attracts are all so clearly soul family. I feel renewed, open, full and at peace."
—Retreat Participant
About the Retreat
Wisdom Rising is what's happening. This retreat is a journey into our inherent knowing. The knowing and wisdom that is already there- loaded and encoded in our bones. It is a pathway towards individual and collective healing.
My approach to movement, mental health and well-being is an invitation to reclaim, remember, and re-cognize.
We recognize that pain, grief, trauma, anxiety, fear, anger and uncertainty are powerful portals to get to the heart of the matter and acknowledge what our true needs are. As are joy, love, pleasure, delight, curiosity and deep inner knowing.
We also rest deeply, relax deeply, laugh, play and frolic in the woods. We dance and sing—or remain silent—meeting ourselves right where we are, moment by moment.
Nothing is forced. Nothing is required. We have powerful conversations through our nervous systems and non-verbal practices that then allow whatever words ARE spoken to be simple, clear, intentional, and authentic.
You are welcome to stay silent and not talk to anyone the whole time, for which we will provide an "in-silence" sticker to give space and respect for that silence. You can flow in and out of being in-silence as you choose (and if you choose).
Tune-In.
Reclaim.
Tap-In.
Remember.
Tune-In.
Recognize.
Tune-In. Reclaim. Tap-In. Remember. Tune-In. Recognize.
We explore ancestral epigenetic inherited patterns and open gateways to heal those patterns and to over-write new stories.
There is deep wisdom and resilience living in our bones from our ancestors, flowing through our bodies. We tune-in, tap-in, and welcome the full human spectrum.
We churn it through the kiln of transformation—through dancing, singing/sounding, painting, meditation, connection with nature and land, in authentic community.
Through deep, embodied listening and guided visualization, we come into the seer space, to receive the visions and information there for us to move forward, to integrate and to step into the Big Song.
Wisdom Rising is a journey to remember who you really are and be able to recognize that truth in others.
We will connect to the power that lives within us and all around us in nature.
In these ancient and eternal ways, we can spark the process that alchemizes our experiences, reconnecting us with that deepest love—for all of life.
What is SoulDance™
SoulDance™ is a dance-movement meditation, where we learn about our patterns, truths, and emotions as they flow through us. The dance is a practice to remember and come home.
SoulDance™ is a path back into the wisdom of our bodies. It is a movement language and framework. It recognizes the body holds memories, emotions, and experiences that can be accessed and processed through body awareness, movement, expression and communal connection in a trauma-aware and a trauma-integrated container.
Through the dance we can move into concealed spaces, acknowledging all of our parts- to know and befriend them all. To welcome all our parts out of exile and into new patterns and forms of expression that allow us to remember we are made for these times.
SoulDance™ is a guided improvisational ecstatic dance practice that engages somatic awareness to facilitate personal growth, emotional well-being, and collective healing.
Welcoming participants of all experience levels, bodies and identities. We dance to expand and evolve our understanding of ourselves, each other and the world around us. We dance to access and connect to the universe and web of life, restoring the essence of our true nature- which is the nature of all life. We dance to release stored tension, emotions and patterns. We dance to integrate our experiences and we dance to remember who we really are. We dance to liberate and unlearn conditioning. We dance as holy ground and let the dance hold us.
We enter in a cycle of movement that begins slow, builds in intensity, peaks, lightens, and then settles. Through verbal instructions, participants are invited to explore, in their own bodies way – a variety of movement patterns, physical inquiries, and focal points.
The journey is curated to an intentional and eclectic world music soundscape. It is a journey where you might sweat (though you are always in control of your rhythm and pace).
The practice allows you to engage with the wisdom of your own body, to take you on a journey. The dance is YOUR WISDOM RISING.
We witness the fluctuations of our minds and distill things to the core, the center. The dance IS the kiln where past, present, and future meet in the here and now, moving through you as you. The dance IS the medicine.
" Thank you for giving me a safe space unlike any place I have ever been in before. I learned more about myself than I ever dreamed I could."
—Retreat Participant
Main House Balcony
Main House Grand Room
Private Room in Main House - Shared Bathroom
Dorm-Style Accommodations in Main House. (Note that while the photo shows four beds, this room currently the bunk beds with one Queen bed. )
Main House: Bathroom 1 out of 2
Luxury Cabins
Luxury cabins, kitchen and living room
Luxury Cabin Living Room
Luxury Cabin Private Nook in Open Space—a guest favorite. Very cozy!
Luxury cabin semi-private bedroom with shared bathroom
Luxury Private Bedroom with En Suite Bathroom
Luxury Cabin En-suite Bathroom
Luxury Cabin En-suite Shower
The Dance Sanctuary
Chef Abby's Delicious, Nutritious and Divine Food
Main House Open Nook
Luxury Cabin Semi-Private Bedroom with Shared Bathroom
I aim to create a space where you can show up as you are—with no pressure or expectation to be or participate in any certain kind of way. All activities are of course optional—though I encourage you to attend all the sessions.
I understand firsthand that there are different times and seasons to our lives and our waves... and I hope that through the work we do on this retreat, you will be SUPER in-tune with what YOU and YOUR body/spirit needs, moment by moment. You have total agency.
It is time to remember, to uncover, reclaim, and reactivate our deepest ancient knowing. We honor all wisdom traditions and teachings, the ones living inside our own bodies and bones to guide us home.
Are You In?
About the Facilitator
I am a somatic practitioner and the creator of Soul Dance and Emotion in Motion, out of twenty-five years of study, training, and practice in the performing and healing arts.
I didn’t enter somatics through academia or books. I had my first full blown panic attack at 13- in water- while competitive swimming. In college, I had another big one, while performing on stage and they had to stop the show.
Then, at 20 years old, the theatre unexpectedly brought me into an immersive crash-course in Indigenous Native American teachings via Byron Chief-Moon and Flint Eagle. This encounter with these two astounding artists, humans and teachers-changed me forever. It sent me to live in Montana, at East Glacier National Park in the Blackfeet Nation.
Returning, I met a beautiful medicine man, teacher and friend, Craig Hoffman- who guided me deeper into journeying, visioning, Indigenous teachings and living. By the time I graduated college my entire paradigm and lens had been anchored in a completely new way.
In 2003, I was in the throes of a severe struggle with anxiety, hypochondria, OCD and ADHD. At the recommendation of a deeply compassionate neurologist, Dr. Boppana, I began my journey with yoga and meditation- which was another deep path change internally and externally. I spent the next 20 years in focused immersion, connecting dance, theatre, somatics, breathwork, yoga, meditation, plant medicine and dedicated spiritual living- as a pathway towards my mental and emotional stability.
In my role as the National Healing & Wellness Practitioner for the Joyful Heart Foundation, for seven years, I co-developed and led programs, workshops, and therapeutic retreats for survivors of sexual assault and domestic violence—as well as for first responders working on the frontlines of trauma across the country.
I am a certified Historical Trauma Specialist and Certified Integrative Somatic Practitioner. I hold a Master's Degree in Theatre with a focus on addressing Historical Trauma through Collective Healing.
As a continual learner, I have studied, trained, certified, practiced, and walked many paths and methodologies in the spiritual, creative and mental health realms. With all my lived experience and so much more, I weave together a journey for YOU.
Thank you for being here. I hope you say YES to this adventure
Investment & Registration
Venue Information
OQ Farm is a 500-acre farm nestled among the hills and trees in Vermont. To learn more, and see additional pictures of the accommodations, click here.