Upstate New York
Only 2 spots leftIn My
Own Words
A writing retreat devoted to the most important story you will ever tell: the story of who you are.
The quiet ache
You keep meaning to write.
There are three half-written in journals around the house. Voice memos you recorded in the car to write about later. Dozens of note tabs on your phone full of quotes and memories that inspire you. So many feelings and thoughts and ideas you keep promising you'll get back to, once life is calmer, once the noise dies down, once you finally have the space.
But the space never comes. So the words wait. And part of your identity, your truth, waits with them.
Until now.
The invitation
Imagine.
Four days without your phone. Morning coffee already waiting. The fire already lit. The crisp smell of autumn in the Catskill Mountains. A notebook full of truths you've never spoken aloud. Women who nod along with tears in their eyes because they understand. A waterfall hike in the afternoon. Cacao beneath the stars. Writing until you surprise yourself. Leaving with the block that's been holding you back finally dissolved, the pages flowing again, and the trust that they always will.
Leaving lighter than you arrived. Not because your life changed. Because you did.
What's included
Three days, four nights.
Everything is handled, the meals, the space, the structure, so the only thing you have to carry is your notebook. Writing is the practice, but it isn't the only one.
Morning meditation & pages by the fire
A guided meditation, then morning pages to warm up the hand and quiet the inner critic before the day begins.
Guided writing workshops
Focused sessions on voice, structure, and the quiet triumph of finishing.
Long, private writing hours
Unhurried afternoons of uninterrupted creative time, with no agenda but the page and a fire nook waiting when you need one.
Creative embodiment & movement rituals
Exercises that get the story out of your head and into your body, so what you write comes from somewhere true.
Forest bathing & nature walks
Guided walks through the Catskills, including an autumn waterfall hike, to clear your mind between sessions.
Cacao ceremony & Reiki
A heart-opening cacao ceremony and Reiki to soften what the writing stirs up.
Fireside readings & sharing circles
Optional evening shares by candlelight. Brave, tender, and never required.
Chef-prepared, farm-to-table meals
Local, seasonal, nourishing meals. Light breakfast, endless coffee, and dinner around one table.
A beautiful room
Cozy private and shared rooms in a restored Catskills lodge, wrapped in woods on every side.
What you'll experience
Three Threshold Crossings
We'll use writing as a spiritual practice. Not to become a better writer, but to become a more honest woman.
These themes are invitations. If you're working on a memoir, novel, poetry collection, or another creative project, you're encouraged to follow the rhythm of your own work.
The pace of the season
Let autumn work her magic.
Four days, moving at the pace of nature.
The trees don't rush their becoming, and here, neither will you. Slow mornings. Long, unhurried afternoons. Guided hikes and waterfall visits through the Catskills when the woods are at their most golden.
And at the close of each day, we gather around local, chef-prepared meals, farm-to-table and made from whatever the season is giving. Real nourishment, so the writing can do its quieter work.
"I moved past more blocks and up-leveled to a higher self-consciousness in five days than I had in five years of therapy, reading, and consuming self-help and personal development."
What we write about
We won't be writing to impress anyone. We won't be writing for Instagram. We won't be writing for publication.
The truth of everything you are ready to let go and let in is on the pages you haven't written, yet.
Toward the stories we've been afraid to tell. Toward the sentences that make us pause and think, "Can I really say that?"
Because those are often the sentences that change our lives.
The heart of it
Your story is your identity.
Many of the stories that have led us to our artistry and our service are deeply emotional.
Sometimes we get caught in the tidal wave of those emotions and drown inside our own stories. Sometimes we become defensive around them. Sometimes we hide from them altogether.
But when we hide from our stories, we're not only hiding parts of ourselves. Our relationship to our story shapes our identity. The stories we tell about our past, our present, and our future become the foundation of who we believe ourselves to be.
And when we finally learn to tell those stories truthfully, something beautiful happens.
Our stories begin to move people because they first move through us. The parts of your life you've spent years trying to make sense of become the very words that help someone else make sense of their own.
Your story stops being just your story. It becomes a bridge.
This retreat isn't about helping you formulate an "I help..." statement or write the perfect mission statement. It's about becoming someone who can share your past, your present, and your unique vision for the future in a way that is honest, embodied, and deeply moving.
So that when someone asks who you are, you don't simply answer, "This is what I do."
You can answer with your whole heart.
This is who I am.
This is what has shaped me.
This is what I stand for.
This is what I believe.
This is a moment in my life that I thought was going to break me...
...but now I can see it was the moment I was born again.
The setting
Let the forest write with you.
Where we're staying
A historic stone house in the woods.
Wood-beamed ceilings, open fireplaces, long communal tables, and soft, sun-filled rooms to disappear into. A home with space to gather, and quiet corners to write.
Meet your host
Samantha Bove
Reiki Master · Love Mentor
At every crossroads, heartbreak, breakthrough, and threshold crossing in my life, one thing has remained constant: a pen in my hand.
Writing has always been the way I come home to myself. Not because the page gives me answers, but because it demands honesty. And truth is freedom.
I've been blessed to gather women in sacred spaces all over the world to remember who they really are. This will be my seventh women's retreat, and the first devoted entirely to writing. Because the biggest blessings of my life, the prayer that called in my partner, discovering my purpose, navigating grief, and transcending false self-narratives, each one began with words I was brave enough to write down and then live.
Freedom isn't found by rewriting your life. It's found by loving yourself enough to finally tell the truth.
Held with care
Held through every story.
Some stories are light. Others ask to be witnessed before they can be released.
If your writing opens a place that feels tender, overwhelming, or too big to hold alone, you won't have to navigate it by yourself. Throughout the retreat, you'll be supported by both an on-site licensed therapist and an energy healer, so every breakthrough has somewhere safe to land.
Because healing isn't just about what comes onto the page. It's about how you're held after it does.
From past retreats
Real stories. Real healing.
"Before the retreat I was feeling so lost. I didn't know where my value lied. I just prayed it was there. These women, the ones I now call my sisters, saw me clearer than I'd ever been seen before. They led me home to myself. I learned how powerful trust, faith and love is on a whole other level. I learned the power of witnessing and that I'm good at it. I learned that people can't see you when they don't see themselves. I learned / remembered that the right ones will see you, appreciate you and value you. I learned that sisterhood is real and that I'm one lucky bitch I got to experience falling in love with nine different beautiful reflections of me. They each showed me parts of myself that I love and I'm proud of and that I want to access and appreciate. Where am I now? I am home."
"I found home here. I found freedom. I found my voice. And I found my inner knowing. I just feel more myself than I ever have in my life. It's almost like I've never been so sure of myself then I feel now. I never really knew I could feel like that. It's made me feel whole and grounded and magical and present. I'm in a safe space within myself. I feel rooted and unshakeable. I just feel more myself than I ever have in my life. And that feels amazing. It has been the best betting on myself I've ever done."
Application only
We can't wait to take care of you.
This retreat is application only. Samantha has a call with every woman before she joins, so the room is exactly right for everyone in it.
There is a rate for staying at the house and a commuter rate for local guests, between $2,000 and $3,800 depending on your room and how you join us. Everything else, the meals, the sessions, the materials, is included.
Answer a few short questions and get on Samantha's calendar. She'll walk you through the details on your call.
Flexible payment plans available · Questions? samantha@samanthabove.com
Everything's handled
What's included, and what's not.
What's included
- A cozy bedroom in the lodge
- All meals: a light breakfast, endless coffee, lunch and dinner
- A guided autumn hike through the Catskills
- Group story alchemy sessions with Samantha
- Daily guided meditation and creative activation exercises
- Pre-trip support (flights, cars, and a packing list)
- Reiki and a cacao ceremony
- A welcome gift, and a few surprises along the way
What's not
- Flights, trains, rental cars, or an Uber if you miss the shuttle from the train station
Everything else, the food, the fire, the sessions, and the surprises, is taken care of. We'll send full travel details once you reserve.
FAQ · Transportation & Logistics
Get ready to turn your thinking brain off.
The fire's already lit.
Only 2 spots left this autumn. Once they're taken, they're taken, and the next retreat isn't until next year.
Application only · Samantha has a call with every woman · Questions? samantha@samanthabove.com
An invitation
This retreat is an invitation to meet yourself on the page.
To write honestly. To remember boldly. To grieve fully.
To laugh at the parts of yourself you once thought were "too much."
To tell the stories you've spent years trying to outrun.
Because freedom isn't found by pretending those stories never happened. Freedom begins the moment you stop abandoning yourself inside them.
True freedom exists when you have the courage to write your stories down, and love yourself no matter what they say.
In My Own Words
Oct 22–26 · only 2 spots left