A deeply supportive sanctuary and therapeutic retreat for women navigating the unique transitions, demands, and burnout of midlife.
The Weight of Carrying it All
Midlife is a season of profound transition. It is often the time when the demands of your career, family, aging parents, grief, loss, and changing hormones collide.
When you spend years prioritizing everyone else's needs, your body, mind and soul “keep the score” and bear the burden. You might notice:
Physical Exhaustion: Waking up tired, even after a full night's sleep, or difficulty sleeping.
Emotional Depletion: Feeling irritable, anxious, and/or disconnected from your passion, creativity, vitality, and joy.
The "Always On” Feeling: Chronic stress can make it challenging to truly relax, even when you have a moment of downtime.
Existential feelings of “who I am” beyond my career and family roles
This isn't a personal failure, shortcoming or a lack of motivation. It is chronic stress and burnout. When your nervous system spends too long in a state of chronic stress and high alert, you cannot simply think your way back to calm. You have to involve the body & spirit.
Your Guide for the Retreat
I am Sarah Rosen Garrett, LCSW-S, RPT-S, RYT-200. As a Trauma-Informed Psychotherapist with over 22 years of experience, Trauma-Informed Yoga Teacher, Reiki Master Practitioner, and sound healer, I designed this retreat to bridge trauma-informed therapies with somatic, body-based nervous system restoration, and a safe, supportive community.
You do not need to be fixed, managed, or pushed beyond your limits. You are experiencing a normal response to overwhelming stress, trauma, or life events. This is a judgment-free, positive, and safe therapeutic container where you can drop your responsibilities and let yourself be deeply supported.
Our Therapeutic & Somatic Modalities
We combine evidence-based nervous system regulation, yoga, sound healing, expressive art therapy, and personalized 1:1 care to help your body safely return to a state of ease.
Trauma-Informed Yoga: Gentle, invitational movement that honors your body's wisdom. Every practice focuses on choice, comfort and autonomy—no flexibility or prior experience required. This is yoga for all ages and bodies.
Nervous System Psychoeducation: Understand the science of your stress response. Learn practical, everyday integrative tools and resources that are easy to implement in daily life to find calm and peace.
Group Therapeutic Processing: Safe, confidential evening circles to connect with each other, be deeply heard, and leave feeling connected and less alone. Isolation leads to human suffering. We heal in community. Something powerful happens when supportive, like-minded women gather.
Art Therapy & Creative Expression: Externalize your internal world without needing the perfect words. Creative art practices to express and bypass the analytical mind. We will be utilizing collage, and mixed media, and no prior art experience is needed. You may find you enjoy this hour as we laugh, create, play, and relax. Play and art are healing, meditative, restorative and decrease anxiety and stress responses.
Sound Healing, Breathwork, & Meditation: Immersive soundscapes and gentle somatic practices designed to soothe the vagus nerve, clear stuck energy, and induce deep cellular rest.
1:1 Holistic Coaching Sessions: Dedicated, private time with me during the retreat to focus entirely on your specific life circumstances and personalized goals.
Please note that all retreat activities are optional. We invite you to honor your needs.
Your Location: A Sanctuary in the Blue Zone
We will gather from January 1–5, 2027 at the beautiful Aves Hotel & Resort. Tucked into the lush hills above Montezuma, this boutique wellness retreat center is located within Costa Rica’s famous Nicoya Peninsula Blue Zone —one of the rare geographic regions in the world where people live the longest, healthiest, and happiest lives. Surrounded by vibrant jungle canopy and soothing panoramic ocean views, the location itself is medicine for your body, mind, and soul.
Your Experience Includes
Every detail is curated so you can step away from your to-do list and solely focus on your health and well-being.
Restorative Lodging: Beautifully designed rooms and suites at Aves Resort configured for deep, peaceful rest, and proximity to the natural world.
Nourishing Meals & Refreshments: Enjoy 3 chef-prepared meals per day (vegetarian, gluten-free and other dietary needs accommodated) featuring anti-inflammatory local ingredients that support your health and vitality. Tea, coffee, and refreshing alcohol-free beverages will be available throughout the day. Please note that this retreat will be alcohol and substance free in consideration of guests in recovery. We kindly thank you for your understanding and invite you to nourish your body, mind and spirit during this restorative wellness experience.
Personalized Support: One-on-one individual coaching at no additional cost (limited spots will be available daily with sign-up on site).
Daily Interactive Workshops: Small groups sessions blending expressive art therapy, trauma-informed yoga, and somatics to support your nervous system & well-being.
Spacious Free Time: Ample unstructured time to schedule a massage, walk to nearby waterfalls, read in a hammock, swim, visit the cold plunge and sauna, nap, or connect with other women.
Post-Retreat Integration: Online Group post-retreat at no additional cost and optional continued group and 1:1 support. This is a container & community with no end date. We are here for you.
A detailed program will be provided closer to the retreat date. Mornings begin with trauma-informed yoga (optional) and a healthy, nourishing local breakfast. Swimming, sauna, a dip in the cold plunge, reading in a hammock, napping, and opportunities for 1:1 and group support - including massage and coaching - are available during the day. Evening sharing circles, under the moon and stars, complete our days. When women gather in a safe, supportive, non-judgmental space, something powerful happens. We heal in community.
A Sample Day in Our Sanctuary
Our schedule balances therapeutic activities with plenty of space to breathe and just be.
Please note that all activities on the daily schedule are always optional.
7:00 - 7:50 – Trauma-Informed Yoga and meditation in an open-air shala with a panoramic view of the ocean (or sleep in)
8:30 - Nourishing Chef-Prepared Breakfast (or sleep in)
10:00 – Expressive Art Workshop (optional)
12:30 – Healthy Chef-Prepared Lunch
1:30 – 4:00 - Unstructured Restorative Time & 1:1 Coaching (optional): Utilize this time to book a massage, walk to the ocean or local waterfalls (off site), swim in the lap pool, visit the cold plunge and sauna, journal, read in a hammock, nap, or schedule a private individual holistic coaching session (optional).
4:00 - 5:30 – Trauma-Informed Yoga (optional) or sound healing in an open-air shala with a panoramic view of the ocean
6:00 – Restorative Chef-Prepared Dinner & Warm Connection
7:30 - Evening Circle: Evening sharing circles, under the moon and stars, complete our days. When women gather in a safe, supportive container, something powerful happens. We heal in community.
If you feel the call, listen to what your body and soul needs… A Sacred Pause.
Our retreat - and post-retreat integration and care - is an investment in your health and well-being. We look forward to welcoming you, supporting you, and meeting you exactly where you are.
Please note that our early bird reduced rate will end on October 1, 2026, and all guests will enjoy a private room. This is an intentional small group, and limited spots are available.
A deeply supportive sanctuary and therapeutic retreat for women navigating the unique transitions, demands, and burnout of midlife.
The Weight of Carrying it All
Midlife is a season of profound transition. It is often the time when the demands of your career, family, aging parents, grief, loss, and changing hormones collide.
When you spend years prioritizing everyone else's needs, your body, mind and soul “keep the score” and bear the burden. You might notice:
Physical Exhaustion: Waking up tired, even after a full night's sleep, or difficulty sleeping.
Emotional Depletion: Feeling irritable, anxious, and/or disconnected from your passion, creativity, vitality, and joy.
The "Always On” Feeling: Chronic stress can make it challenging to truly relax, even when you have a moment of downtime.
Existential feelings of “who I am” beyond my career and family roles
This isn't a personal failure, shortcoming or a lack of motivation. It is chronic stress and burnout. When your nervous system spends too long in a state of chronic stress and high alert, you cannot simply think your way back to calm. You have to involve the body & spirit.
Your Guide for the Retreat
I am Sarah Rosen Garrett, LCSW-S, RPT-S, RYT-200. As a Trauma-Informed Psychotherapist with over 22 years of experience, Trauma-Informed Yoga Teacher, Reiki Master Practitioner, and sound healer, I designed this retreat to bridge trauma-informed therapies with somatic, body-based nervous system restoration, and a safe, supportive community.
You do not need to be fixed, managed, or pushed beyond your limits. You are experiencing a normal response to overwhelming stress, trauma, or life events. This is a judgment-free, positive, and safe therapeutic container where you can drop your responsibilities and let yourself be deeply supported.
Our Therapeutic & Somatic Modalities
We combine evidence-based nervous system regulation, yoga, sound healing, expressive art therapy, and personalized 1:1 care to help your body safely return to a state of ease.
Trauma-Informed Yoga: Gentle, invitational movement that honors your body's wisdom. Every practice focuses on choice, comfort and autonomy—no flexibility or prior experience required. This is yoga for all ages and bodies.
Nervous System Psychoeducation: Understand the science of your stress response. Learn practical, everyday integrative tools and resources that are easy to implement in daily life to find calm and peace.
Group Therapeutic Processing: Safe, confidential evening circles to connect with each other, be deeply heard, and leave feeling connected and less alone. Isolation leads to human suffering. We heal in community. Something powerful happens when supportive, like-minded women gather.
Art Therapy & Creative Expression: Externalize your internal world without needing the perfect words. Creative art practices to express and bypass the analytical mind. We will be utilizing collage, and mixed media, and no prior art experience is needed. You may find you enjoy this hour as we laugh, create, play, and relax. Play and art are healing, meditative, restorative and decrease anxiety and stress responses.
Sound Healing, Breathwork, & Meditation: Immersive soundscapes and gentle somatic practices designed to soothe the vagus nerve, clear stuck energy, and induce deep cellular rest.
1:1 Holistic Coaching Sessions: Dedicated, private time with me during the retreat to focus entirely on your specific life circumstances and personalized goals.
Please note that all retreat activities are optional. We invite you to honor your needs.
Your Location: A Sanctuary in the Blue Zone
We will gather from January 1–5, 2027 at the beautiful Aves Hotel & Resort. Tucked into the lush hills above Montezuma, this boutique wellness retreat center is located within Costa Rica’s famous Nicoya Peninsula Blue Zone —one of the rare geographic regions in the world where people live the longest, healthiest, and happiest lives. Surrounded by vibrant jungle canopy and soothing panoramic ocean views, the location itself is medicine for your body, mind, and soul.
Your Experience Includes
Every detail is curated so you can step away from your to-do list and solely focus on your health and well-being.
Restorative Lodging: Beautifully designed rooms and suites at Aves Resort configured for deep, peaceful rest, and proximity to the natural world.
Nourishing Meals & Refreshments: Enjoy 3 chef-prepared meals per day (vegetarian, gluten-free and other dietary needs accommodated) featuring anti-inflammatory local ingredients that support your health and vitality. Tea, coffee, and refreshing alcohol-free beverages will be available throughout the day. Please note that this retreat will be alcohol and substance free in consideration of guests in recovery. We kindly thank you for your understanding and invite you to nourish your body, mind and spirit during this restorative wellness experience.
Personalized Support: One-on-one individual coaching at no additional cost (limited spots will be available daily with sign-up on site).
Daily Interactive Workshops: Small groups sessions blending expressive art therapy, trauma-informed yoga, and somatics to support your nervous system & well-being.
Spacious Free Time: Ample unstructured time to schedule a massage, walk to nearby waterfalls, read in a hammock, swim, visit the cold plunge and sauna, nap, or connect with other women.
Post-Retreat Integration: Online Group post-retreat at no additional cost and optional continued group and 1:1 support. This is a container & community with no end date. We are here for you.
A detailed program will be provided closer to the retreat date. Mornings begin with trauma-informed yoga (optional) and a healthy, nourishing local breakfast. Swimming, sauna, a dip in the cold plunge, reading in a hammock, napping, and opportunities for 1:1 and group support - including massage and coaching - are available during the day. Evening sharing circles, under the moon and stars, complete our days. When women gather in a safe, supportive, non-judgmental space, something powerful happens. We heal in community.
A Sample Day in Our Sanctuary
Our schedule balances therapeutic activities with plenty of space to breathe and just be.
Please note that all activities on the daily schedule are always optional.
7:00 - 7:50 – Trauma-Informed Yoga and meditation in an open-air shala with a panoramic view of the ocean (or sleep in)
8:30 - Nourishing Chef-Prepared Breakfast (or sleep in)
10:00 – Expressive Art Workshop (optional)
12:30 – Healthy Chef-Prepared Lunch
1:30 – 4:00 - Unstructured Restorative Time & 1:1 Coaching (optional): Utilize this time to book a massage, walk to the ocean or local waterfalls (off site), swim in the lap pool, visit the cold plunge and sauna, journal, read in a hammock, nap, or schedule a private individual holistic coaching session (optional).
4:00 - 5:30 – Trauma-Informed Yoga (optional) or sound healing in an open-air shala with a panoramic view of the ocean
6:00 – Restorative Chef-Prepared Dinner & Warm Connection
7:30 - Evening Circle: Evening sharing circles, under the moon and stars, complete our days. When women gather in a safe, supportive container, something powerful happens. We heal in community.
If you feel the call, listen to what your body and soul needs… A Sacred Pause.
Our retreat - and post-retreat integration and care - is an investment in your health and well-being. We look forward to welcoming you, supporting you, and meeting you exactly where you are.
Please note that our early bird reduced rate will end on October 1, 2026, and all guests will enjoy a private room. This is an intentional small group, and limited spots are available.
