Jewish Women’s Yoga Retreat

Feb 14, 2020 - Feb 17, 2020

Isabella Freedman Jewish Retreat Center, Falls Village, CT

A long weekend of yoga, movement, healing, and going inward.

The 2020 retreat at Isabella Freedman, led by Carol Berlin and Edie Raphael, was an incredible weekend of learning and growth for both the body and the soul. One of our guests said it best: “While practicing yoga, I noticed how varied & diverse our group was, in age, background, expertise, and how beautiful they were. And shabbos, the whole day, the service, the singing, the food, was divine.”  View photos from the retreat here.

Overview

We invite you to step out of your day to day life, for a unique opportunity to recharge, reset, and reconnect with yourself in mind, body, and soul.

Join us for this women*-only retreat, sure to refresh your spirit.

We will begin on Friday night with candle lighting, initiating the beginning of our time together and welcoming the holy Sabbath. Friday night and Saturday prayer services will be available for those who wish to participate.

Throughout the weekend there will be multiple yoga sessions per day, meditation, healing movement, and connection with the beautiful outdoors on guided hikes. All yoga sessions are accessible to those who are new to yoga as well as advanced practitioners.  

Community meals will feature organic farm-to-table kosher cuisine that nourishes both the environment as well as your body and soul.

*True to the values held by Isabella Freedman, we intend to provide a space that welcomes women of different religious expression, as well as female-identified people, and female-identifying members of the trans community, creating an inclusive community of support and strength.

View last year’s schedule

View photos from last year

Teachers

Carol BerlinCarol Berlin, E-RYT 500

For over 15 years Carol’s yoga students have developed practices that inspire, uplift, and uncover their natural state of wellbeing. Her down to earth, practical, yet artful style of yoga is inspired by the teachers who have deeply impacted her life. She has studied with master yoga teachers Elena Brower, Shiva Rea, and Rolf Gates, as well as her teachers of Chassidus and Jewish Mysticism – Rabbi Ephraim Simon and Mandana Bolour. Carol continues to train in mindful meditation and breath awareness from the Oneness University, in Varadiahpelem, India.

Carol is the founder and director of Freedom Within Yoga Studio in Teaneck, NJ. She is a teacher/trainer for Kinneret Yoga; a unique 200-hour Yoga Alliance accredited yoga teacher training program for women. She is a member of Kula for Karma, a volunteer organization that brings yoga to underserved populations.

 

Edie RaphaelEdith “Edie” Raphael, PhD, RYT 500 is a Wexner Heritage alumna, and an experienced educator who is passionate about finding, creating, and sharing meaningful spiritual connections to Judaism. Edie is a recipient of the Dorbrecht Grant for Judaic Yoga and was named one of Baltimore’s favorite yoga teachers in Baltimore Magazine’s “Best of Baltimore.” She has assumed many lay leadership roles at Baltimore Hebrew Congregation including serving on its board and Executive Committee and creating BHC’s “Exploring Spirituality Series.” Edie is also the author of Mussar Yoga (Jewish Lights, 2014) and has over 11 years of experience teaching yoga classes in Baltimore and around the country.

 

Henny SternHenny Stern feels passionate about the power of healing, embodied dance, and breaking cycles of trauma. She works as a trauma-informed somatic psychotherapist in her private practice in Boston, MA. In addition, she has integrated her work as a psychotherapist, somatic practitioner, and embodied dancer to create AccepDance- a practice that offers healing through dance and movement. Henny believes that reconnecting with our body is how we begin to heal personal, intergenerational, and collective traumas. When she isn’t seeing clients, dancing, or nerding out about therapy, Henny is probably having a serendipitous moment in a random coffee shop.

 

Sample Schedule

Friday, February 14:
Arrival at Isabella Freedman (check-in 3-5 PM)
Welcome Snack
Candle Lighting
Shabbat Services (optional)
Festive Shabbat Dinner
Yoga/Movement Session

 

Saturday, February 15:
Breakfast
AM Yoga Session
Shabbat Services (optional)
Festive Shabbat Lunch
Free Time/Rest
Hike/Nature Walk
Restorative Yoga
Seudat Shlishit
Communal Havdallah
Night Time Movement Session
Bonfire


Sunday, February 16:
Breakfast
AM Yoga Session
Lunch
Free Time
Hike/Nature Walk
Movement/Dance Session
Dinner
Restorative Yoga/Meditation

 

Monday, February 17:
Breakfast
AM Yoga Session
Closing Session
Lunch
Departure (1 PM) – See you next time!

 

Scholarships

We strive to make our retreats affordable to everyone.

We believe retreats are important experiences to be shared. Inclusiveness is one of our core values. We strive to ensure that our retreats are as financially accessible as possible. The Tamar fund makes that aspiration possible. The Tamar Fund is in loving memory of Tamar Bittelman z’’l.

Please be sure to read the application guidelines in the form below