Women's Rebirth Retreat
A retreat for women to release, reconnect, and
consciously choose what comes next.
at Aviva on Lake Atitlàn, Guatemala
A weekend of laughter, personal growth,
and the luxurious nourishment you deserve.
A wildly fun and transformative
4 days and 3 nights...
Dear soul traveler,
Wow, does your life looks different than it did not so long ago. An era, and a version of you, have come to a close. I know you've been feeling disoriented amid this transition, so here is a supportive place to land, where change can show you its medicine.
While your future is uncertain, you hold compasses inside your soul. One is how you feel when you examine the state of the world. Remember that disillusionment is also a moral map, pointing you in a meaningful new direction. On this retreat, you'll become well-versed at reading that map.
Your other compass is this realization that you are on the precipice of new and un-lived chapters of your legacy. You have more imprints to leave upon this world. Your future is filled with novel adventures, new friends, and humanitarian causes. And it begins right now.
Join me in Guatemala to ease your spirit through transition, and have a cultural experience that will infuse you with meaning and purpose for the rest of your life.
See you soon,
Amanda
P..S. I can't wait to watch the expressions on your face when you see the volcanoes for the first time!
Oh, the revelations you'll have...
This experience is designed for people crossing a threshold in their identity.
Some are asking "what's next" after a longterm career has come to a close,
Some are reinventing themselves after loss or separation,
Some are starting again after raising children,
Some are experiencing newfound freedom after chronic illness...
All of you were born with humanitarian hearts and are seeking inspiration
for stepping into the next chapters of your legacy.
This retreat is about honoring endings and preparing for new beginnings.
Here's a breakdown of what we'll explore each day...
Day 1 - Honor the past & immerse in the present
This day will be relaxing into your surroundings and clearing your mind and body of any mental debris or tension brought with you.
You will connect with the energies of the land, the lake, and the four volcanoes visible from your room.
Begin the day with a therapeutic movement class by Amanda,
receive a massage from a traditional Maya therapist who comes from a long lineage of natural healers,
sweat in the sauna, swim in the pool.
Have a blast connecting and laughing in group-coherence activities while getting to know
the other humanitarian-hearts on this trip,
who are going through big life change, much like you.
End the night stargazing from the mountain top.
Day 2 - The Humanitarian's Shadow and Light
This day provides a soft space to process the grief and the disillusionment you feel in the face of
life change and world challenges.
You will be guided in self-inquiry and embodiment practices that help you explore disillusionment as a heart-based compass.
Take a shoreline hike between Mayan villages with indigenous tour guides,
sit in the waterfall or listen to the river.
Meet with Amanda for a private mind-body therapy session,
And shine awareness on the gifts
your heart came to offer this planet.
Day 3 - The madness and genius of your soul
This day is about revering the genius inside of your madness.
After every challenge you've faced, you still meet life with a tenacity for collective impact.
The obstacles you've overcome are part of your legacy too,
so we're taking a day to celebrate your life's identity shifts and personal rebirths.
We'll take a boat ride across the lake to hike a nature reserve and learn about the changing states
of Lake Atitlán and her ecosystems.
You'll engage in self-inquiry and writing exercises at the waterfall,
and Amanda will guide you through a group mind-body therapy session on the beach.
You can even zipline across cliffs (if you want to).
Enjoy live music in the evening!
Day 4 - Legacy under the Aquarian North Node
This day is about orienting your life path inside the vastness of the planet's history.
Where are you now?
How was that made possible by what came before you?
How is your own life shaping future history?
We'll cross the lake to journey to a Maya town that is home to an internationally renowned
indigenous women's leadership institute.
We'll share the evening over a family style meal at Amanda's house,
where we'll eat by the campfire, under the stars, and discuss
the North Node's position in Aquarius (July 2026-March 2028) ...
We'll feel into what this cosmic timeline has to teach us
about lowering the ego's need for recognition so we may serve a larger, collective good.
Day 5 - Cross-cultural Heart Engagement with Taa'pi't
This day is about connecting across cultures and receiving inspiration for your legacy work.
You will meet the team at Taa'pi't, a Maya (Tz'utujil) organization striving to revive its ancestral culture and regenerate the health of Lake Atitlán.
They have been hard at work for 20 years, providing education for children and parents.
In 2024, the founder, Juan Mañuel, participated in the Municipal Development Council for the creation of the Regulations for the Ecological Right of Grandmother Lake Atitlán.
In 2026, he led the municipality in launching its first Festival for Abuela Lago Atitlán, to raise public awareness about critical new regulations to protect their ecosystem, and to re-inspire an emotional connection to their precious Grandmother Lake.
The team at Taa'pi't has been pouring much time and energy into hosting you for a day of
cross-cultural fun and heart-to-heart engagement that you will remember for lifetime!
You may arrive as strangers, but we hope you'll become lifelong friends.
Day 6 - Integrating for the next chapters of your Legacy
Today is about integrating your experience from the week. You'll reflect on what has inspired you the most from your trip, and how you can make that actionable.
We'll take a boat across the lake to the traditional Maya town of Santiago.
We'll hike among the old growth trees of the rainforest and engage in
writing exercises and talking circles.
Later, take a kayak on the lake, listen to the legendary birdsong at sunset,
enjoy sauna, hot tub, pool, and celebrate with food and drinks.
Day 7 - Group send-off
Share a group movement therapy practice to prepare your body for the journey back home.
Group breakfast and final group coherence activity.
Private shuttles and private flights back home or transition to the location site for your optional
add-on retreat days.
Optional Add-on days for:
Volcano hikes
Antigua
world heritage site & historical tours
Santiago-San Lucas motorcycle tours
Meet your retreat host...
Hi, I'm Amanda, a former Peace Corps volunteer, Mind-Body Therapy Practitioner, and Trauma Specialist. I live on Lake Atitlán, where I serve on the board of directors of Chi Tz'unun Choy, educational NGO. This retreat is four years of relationship building in the making, and a life-long dream of mine. I welcome you with an outpouring heart that is eager to laugh, adventure, and transmute humanitarian disillusionment into ensouling service.
I work at the crossroads of neuroplastic healing and cultural (ex)change, combining my gifts and passions into a very unorthodox lifestyle here on Lake Atitlán, Guatemala. I reside here with my longtime life partner who supports all of our community work with a quiet humility that I am forever in love with. (He looks forward to meeting you when you visit!)
Much like yourself, I was born with a bleeding humanitarian heart. I know the pain of walking the world as a highly sensitive soul bound by the limitations of a human body, and only a brief lifetime to leave this planet better than I found it. Over the years, I've learned how to master that tension. My journey of overcoming trauma and chronic sickness have taught me how to labor from love without destroying my health.
I believe that cross-cultural experiences expand our hearts and minds in ways that nothing else can. I have lived and learned with families who grew up under political apartheid in South Africa and in the Middle East. They taught me realities about our human capacity for adaptability, perseverance, and evolution that cannot be learned through formal education.
From 2016-2020, I led a media project in which I interviewed military veterans about the psychological aftermath of service to promote healing and understanding about the human aspect of war. Many of those interviewed served in the Korean, Vietnam, Afghanistan, and Iraq conflicts, who opened up about experiences they had never spoken with anyone about since being discharged. Most reported feeling tremendous psychological relief from their participation in the project.
I spent my early adulthood working inside of mainstream healthcare, helping dialysis clinics improve patient outcomes by implementing mind-body education and depression management services. I also worked as a health advocate for the Cancer Action Network, a role that led me to meet with legislators in Washington D.C. In 2013, I became disillusioned by cultural norms that prioritized profit over impact and decided to join the Peace Corps.
While serving in South Africa, I met David Patient, who had been diagnosed with HIV/AIDS in 1983. Doctors told him he'd be dead in 6 months, and there were no treatments available. But David pioneered his own health plans and lived another 34 years - an outcome that baffled medical experts around the world. He became an award winning United Nations consultant, and co-authored the book, The Healer Inside You, Using Mind Body Science to Help Heal Your Body. David was my mentor from 2013-2017. During this time, I also trained with his colleague, a research psychologist specializing in psycho-neuro-immunology.
In 2015, I entered what would become a 10-year mentorship with a body-centered therapy practitioner (The Hakomi Method). I also chose to learn from world leading psych and trauma experts in Dr. Bessel van der Kolk's Traumatic Stress Studies Certificate program. Today, I continue education through the National Institute for the Clinical Application of Behavioral Medicine and the Association for the Treatment of Neuroplastic Conditions.
I specialize in helping people who previously struggled for decades in unsuccessful treatment to find liberation from trauma and neuroplastic symptoms. I love helping people create new chapters of their lives in which symptoms do not define them...
And yet, I remain obsessed with the challenges and rewards of cross-cultural living and collaborating. This retreat is four years of relationship building in the making, and a life-long dream of mine. I welcome you with an outpouring heart that is eager to laugh, and adventure, and transmute humanitarian disillusionment into specificity of purpose, and ensouling service.
