Supporting the Gut-Brain Connection for Optimal Mental Health
A Women’s Wellness Retreat on the beautiful Guemes Island
Be Inspired, Feel Restored, Leave Transformed
Thursday October 10, 2024 to Sunday October 13, 2024
Join other like-minded and like-hearted women on a long weekend near the seaside. Eat healthy delicious meals, participate in inspiring classes, and have plenty of time for rest and relaxation.
At this retreat, you will discover the exciting emerging science showing how the gut microbiome impacts your mental health and how your mental health impacts your gut microbiome. You will learn which foods are most important for supporting a healthy gut-brain connection and how to prepare those foods in your own kitchen.
Through guided embodied practices, you will experience the benefits of slowing down, turning inward, and listening to what the body already knows about what you need to feel grounded, balanced, and at peace.
Between classes, you will have plenty of time to take walks in nature, do yoga, chat with others, or journal and read on your own.
This Retreat Is For You If:
- You are struggling with depression, anxiety, stress, ADD/ADHD and want nutrition-based approaches as an alternative or as an adjunct to psychiatric medications.
- You are looking for holistic lifestyle practices for comprehensive gut care that is based in current research and tried- and- true results.
- You want to know how to determine if nutritional deficiencies, leaky gut, dysbiosis, mold, histamine, or inflammation are contributing to your mental health symptoms.
- You want to feel good by including a variety of foods in your daily diet rather than by restricting them.
- You want to learn how to obtain the best sources of vitamins, minerals, amino acids, omega-3 fatty acids, prebiotics, and probiotics for optimizing brain health.
- You want a clear, step- by- step strategy for having the healthiest and most diverse microbiome possible.
LOCATION
Arriving by ferry to Guemes Island, you begin to feel what the crossing of waters to a new shore provides, a leaving of day- to- day life and an entering of new possibilities.
This small beautiful island within the world-renowned San Juan Island chain is the backdrop of our 4 days together. Here we will be supported by the natural beauty of the deep sea and the mountains standing tall and firm.
You will be hosted by South Shore Solace, the private home providing a welcome retreat from the life you left back at shore. Let your shoulders drop, the tension unwind, and exhale a deep sigh. Already you are slowing down. Located 90 minutes north of Seattle, this retreat provides the perfect venue for eating healthy nourishing meals, self-exploration, inspired learning, and guided walks in nature.
THE CUISINE
A delicious whole- foods plant- based, organic when possible, local and seasonal cuisine will be lovingly prepared for you. Mealtime will be a feast for the senses; savory aromas, a rainbow of colorful fruits and vegetables, and various flavors will fully nourish the body and soul. You will not go hungry!
Imagine waking up to the scent of cinnamon apple quinoa porridge. How would you like to break for lunch and see a big salad with a variety of colorful veggies, beans, sprouted seeds and fruits waiting for you? No chopping required! And how about ending the day with a candlelit dinner of Spanish paella piled high with roasted vegetables. The creativity that comes with food preparation will encourage you to bring fresh ideas into your own kitchen.
Research shows that eating a variety of plant foods such as vegetables, fruits, whole grains, beans, nuts and seeds improves the variety of healthy organisms within the microbiome. The menu will be designed with gut-healing foods in mind so that you may directly experience a balanced meal’s effect on the mind and body- all material that we will be discussing in our classes together.
Food sensitivities or dietary restrictions? Not a problem, we know all about that, we got you covered.
BE INSPIRED …
We will begin our time together on Thursday evening getting acquainted with a happy hour enjoying plant-based hors d’oeuvres and fermented alcohol-free beverages. This will be followed by an introduction to the microbiome and the gut-brain connection. Before retiring for the night we will enjoy a guided meditation, setting our intention for the rest of the weekend.
For the next three days you will participate in educational classes and experiential group exercises providing the perfect balance of a mental understanding of nutrition as well as a bodily felt experience of all that you are learning. This ensures that you have a deep and integrated knowing of what is needed on your unique path toward better health and wellness.
Throughout the four days you will learn how the gut microbiome impacts your mental health, what role the gut-brain connection has in regaining mental and physical health after trauma, what ancient systems of medicine know about the mind-body connection, what environmental factors contribute to anxiety, addictions, and depression and how to protect yourself from them, AND what the food-mood connection is all about. Classes are taught by Registered Nurse and Mental Health Professional, Melissa Monahan, BSN, RN and Naturopathic Doctor and Acupuncturist, Dawn Flynn, ND, EAMP.
What can you expect after spending four delightful days being nourished and rejuvenated?
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- Clarity in knowing what foods, supplements, and practices will be most effective in helping you feel balanced and calm.
- Confidence in making choices around eating that are conscious, easy, and support your mental well-being.
- A relaxed approach toward meal preparation with a new and inspired sense of what your body needs.
- A lifetime plan for preventing gas and bloating, reducing gut and brain inflammation, and keeping you healthy and strong.
- An easy and effective bodymind practice for being with big emotions so that you can enjoy a quiet mind and healthy body.
The Delights…
Tea Tasting, Beach Walking, Fermentation Making, Oh My!
In between classes you will enjoy delicious organic botanical and pu’er teas and learn about their gut healing benefits. You will learn the step by step process of making your own fermented foods and have your final creation to take home with you. You will have the option of going for a relaxing guided beach walk or hike to the top of Guemes mountain or just hang out at the house for a bit of R&R.
THE BENEFITS
YOU WILL LEAVE THE RETREAT WITH…
- An experience of silence, nourishment, rest and relaxation.
- A structured and flexible nutritional plan with notebook of recipes, experiential exercises, and guidelines for taking home.
- A daily practice to relax the belly and quiet the mind.
- More ease, interest, and delight around food and eating.
- An understanding of how emotions, the physical body, and diet are connected and what you can do to feel your healthiest in all areas.
- Inspiration for creating meals that optimize gut-brain health.
- The experience of creating your own fermented food and the knowledge to do it again and again at home.
YOUR QUESTIONS WILL BE ANSWERED
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- How does improving gut health improve symptoms of PMS/PMDD and menopause?
- What are the most important food additives to avoid if I have ADD/ADHD?
- What is the number one test used for testing the health of my microbiome?
- What is the best probiotic for anxiety and depression?
- How does my microbiome affect my response to pharmaceutical psychiatric medications and nutritional supplements?
- I’ve tried the GAPS diet, the low FODMAP diet, the SCD diet, the keto diet, the primal diet, the carnivore diet, and more and nothing works. What am I missing?
- How do I integrate what I’ve learned into regular life?
ABOUT MELISSA
Passionate about holistic wellness and personal growth, Melissa is dedicated to creating transformative experiences that nurture the mind, body and spirit. With over fourteen years of nursing experience as well as ten years of behavioral health experience, she brings a unique perspective to wellness retreat facilitation crafting immersive journeys that empower individuals to reconnect with themselves and nature. Melissa’s approach is rooted in authenticity and brings a wealth of knowledge and expertise to each retreat, ensuring a transformative and enriching experience for all.
ABOUT DAWN
Dawn began studying nutrition, botanical medicine, and the mind-body connection at Bastyr University more than 25 years ago when she was going through her own struggles with depression and addiction. She was inspired to investigate alternative methods of treatment. There she was introduced and intrigued by what the original naturopaths called the “vital force” or a dynamic energy that directs the different body systems to function as a harmonious whole. This new and expanding discovery of the human body led her to explore Classical Chinese medicine and WholeBody Focusing, the principles of which are also grounded in this energetic life force that permeates and connects all living beings. It gives her great joy to create a welcoming space for this innate wisdom of the body to come alive in each of us, creating a shared field for growth and healing. Read more about Dawn Flynn, ND, EAMP here.