Sometimes the most important thing you can do is step outside your life — and look at it from a new vantage point.
Gratitude gratitude gratitude. How encouraging to meet such engaging and inspiring women! Meriah’s retreat is relaxed, encouraging and friendly. Anyone who is looking for personal growth without judgment should consider attending. I guarantee you’ll laugh a lot and won’t regret it.” — Deborah Reed, Sadieville
A retreat is not an escape. It’s a return!
A retreat is a return to yourself, to your own priorities, to the questions that matter most and rarely get the unhurried attention they deserve. It’s a way to slow the hustle, the planning and doing, and get back in touch with the rhythm of your basic nature.
Rhythm is not a luxury — it’s fundamental to human life. We breathe in a rhythm. The heart needs to have a constant, repeating beat. We’re continuously influenced by the rhythms of nature — the seasons, night and day, the coming and going of the Moon, the slow turning of the year. Every art form includes the element of rhythm!
And yet…
And yet we often lose touch with this! We push ourselves beyond our limits, deny ourselves rest when it’s needed, forget to include time to genuinely recover from our seeking and trying, from our people-pleasing and caregiving. We often go for long periods of time without having a single day to ourselves, to do just as we please, to go deeper into our thoughts and intentions. To consider what we really want.
No wonder many of us have literally FORGOTTEN what we want!
No wonder we often find it difficult to prioritize our own happiness, or to stay on course. No wonder there are times when we feel out of touch with ourselves. No wonder we have encounters with uncertainty, disillusionment, or self-doubt.
No wonder we don’t feel as good as we’d like to.
A well-made retreat creates the conditions for what is most true in you to rise to the surface! In retreat, often women see something new in themselves as they withdraw from the routines and expectations and immerse themselves, instead, in a curated experience that’s refreshing, thought-provoking and fun.
Meriah Kruse
The Fresh Start Retreat was a refreshing way to greet the new year. Thoughtful content to unite mind, body & spirit and to unite the group in sisterhood. Thank you again Meriah & Balin for a lovely day, with such thoughtful planning, remarkable women, and a beautiful setting. My trust in you allowed me to say yes!” Donna Pizzuto, Lexington KY
I want to thank you, Meriah, so much for creating such a beautiful course and so many different components that we can experiment with, but also that you don’t lead with a kind of judgmental enforcement thing like ‘You better do this, or it’s not gonna work!’ and that frees people. I mean, we already judge ourselves enough. One more thing, a couple of weeks ago someone was talking about giving themselves a big hug, and how they talk to themselves and their inner child. That evening, I did my own version of our TWO HANDS exercise. I had a hand on my heart, and I just felt myself going deeper and deeper and deeper into a really “sweet“ child space inside my heart. I could hear some negative thoughts come up, and I said, ‘There, there, dear.’ It was so soothing. It just shows the power of being together in community. You don’t know what you’re going to say that will trigger someone else to make a change.” Liz Binford, Lexington KY, Freedom from Sugar group
“The Fresh Start Retreat was a wonderful way to spend the day and get clear with my intention and purpose for the New Year. It can be a different thing to step into an unknown group of people – Meriah and Balin create a wonderful safe space that welcomes you as you are and encourages a positive environment for self-growth and exploration. Thank you!!”
Lauren Ward Neural
I have physical limitations, but that didn’t stop me from participating in Meriah Kruse’s Fresh Start retreat last week. I figured I could always step away from any activities that made me anxious or fearful about hurting myself (the usual deterrent to joining). When Meriah announced the Copy Cat exercise, I still didn’t flinch; I knew she’d understand if I sat it out. But then it became more game than exercise — fluid, funny, silly, goofy — and as I watched each person initiate a move and we copied it, a warm collective energy became a wave that supported and propelled me through the circle to its joyful end. I was so surprised, so grateful to not be afraid. Thank you, Meriah.” Bobbie Newman, Lexington KY
Current Retreat Offerings
Your Personal Renaissance Retreat
VIRTUAL. A half-day, ONE-on-ONE retreat designed entirely around you. This is where you meet the version of yourself who already knows what’s most important now, what’s still possible, and what comes next. Available by appointment, via Zoom. Begin the process: let us know you’re interested: CLICK HERE
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Fresh Start One-Day New Year’s Retreat
IN PERSON. A full-day SMALL GROUP retreat for women ready to enter a new chapter with clarity and intention. Sharing the energy with other women, all rooting for each other, is what many women say is their favorite part. Offered annually, the first or second week of January.
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ADDITIONAL RETREATS — Both In-Person and Virtual, including destination retreats and local themed group experiences — are in development. Check back often or join our mailing list to be contacted as soon as something new is available.
Join the Dear Sovereign Woman letter to be the first to know.
What to expect from a Retreat with Meriah and Friends
- Every retreat Meriah leads — whether for one woman or a small group — is grounded in the same philosophy…
- Body, mind, and spirit are not separate concerns. They arrive together. They need to be considered together.
- Imagination is treated as a friend.
- The pace is unhurried and intentional.
- Nothing is forced. Everything is optional
- You’ll be in good company!
- Activities are diverse: drawn from somatic awareness practices, creative explorations, meditation and visualization, and various forms of self-reflection — each activity chosen specifically for the women in the room, not pulled from a generic agenda.
What you take home is real — inspiration, rejuvenation, and something specific and actionable. A next step that you’ve intuited and chosen while in retreat.