Holding Light
HOLDING LIGHT
A Winter Retreat For Grief Tending & Renewal
December 19th - 21st 2025
Holding Light is a co-ed retreat for anyone navigating loss in its many forms: death, separation, life transition, or the quiet griefs that go unseen. As the holidays approach, this gathering offers a compassionate space to pause, share, and gently tend the ache that can feel especially heavy during this season. Through guided reflection, creative expression, and moments of heartfelt ceremony, we’ll honor what has been lost while discovering ways to carry our grief with greater grace and light. Individuals, couples, and friends are welcome to join as we hold space for one another while remembering that healing deepens when it’s witnessed in community.
We invite you to join us if you are...
• Carrying grief that feels heavier as the holidays approach.
• Navigating loss of a loved one, a relationship, or a chapter of life that has changed.
• Feeling disconnected or overwhelmed by the season’s demands.
• Longing for a quiet, supportive space to reflect and renew.
Whether your loss is recent or carried quietly for years, Holding Light offers a place to rest, share, and be witnessed just as you are.
What you will experience
Holding Light weekend offers a quiet and nurturing space to soften into your grief and feel held in community. Surrounded by the calm and gentleness of a historic private estate, this small retreat invites you to slow down, exhale, and be cared for in a tender season of the year. Every part of the weekend is crafted to help you feel seen, supported, and gently renewed by allowing yourself to be held.
During the weekend, you will be invited to:
Be Welcomed in Ceremony
Opening candle-lighting circle to honor what you carry and gently name what you are tending. This is a slow, heart-centered experience designed to help you feel supported, not overwhelmed. We will create a space where grief is allowed to breathe and you are allowed to simply be.
Be Gently Witnessed
Small-circle sharing opportunities where your story is held without fixing, advising, or interruption. Experience guided conversations and quiet witnessing where words are optional, presence is enough.
Receive Skilled Emotional Support
Compassionate facilitation from grief practitioner Amy Zell, whose work brings grounding, validation, and gentle guidance through the emotional terrain of loss.
Express Through Creativity
Guided creative experiences to help your grief move and take shape in safe, meaningful ways.
Rest in Nourishment & Connection
Shared meals, soft conversation, and restorative time by the hearth or in quiet reflection spaces.
Close in Gratitude
Conclude with a ceremony of release and renewal, carrying home tangible reminders of light, connection, and hope.
The Flow of our Weekend Together
Friday ⸙ Arrival and Connection
Guests arrive between 3:00 and 6:00 PM to settle in, explore the home, and ease into the rhythm of rest. The evening begins in community, as we gather in circle and light candles in honor of what we each carry. Together, we’ll prepare and share a simple, nourishing meal as an act of caring that invites presence, belonging, and warmth as our weekend together begins.
Saturday ⸙ Reflection and Renewal
The day unfolds gently with guided sessions, creativity, and space for quiet reflection. You’ll be supported by a team of compassionate facilitators, including grief practitioner Amy Zell, whose expertise and heart-centered approach bring depth and safety to this experience. Ample breaks, shared meals, and unstructured moments allow time for stillness and personal integration.
Sunday ⸙ Closing and Carrying Light Forward
Our final morning invites gratitude and renewal. We’ll gather for a closing ceremony, reflecting on what has been held and what light we carry forward. The retreat concludes around 11:30 AM, allowing time to linger over a final meal before departing with a full heart and a sense of connection that extends beyond the weekend.
January ⸙ Continuing the Circle
Healing doesn’t end when the weekend closes.
Participants are invited to gather again in January for a virtual Follow-Up Zoom Circle as a space to reconnect, share reflections from the holiday season, and honor what has continued to unfold.
This gentle reunion offers support, encouragement, and community as we carry the light of the retreat into a new year.
A Gathering Designed with Tenderness and Intention.
We know that the weeks leading up to the holidays can feel especially tender. While the world moves quickly, the Holding Light weekend offers a gentle pause and a space to slow down, breathe, and be held with understanding before the season arrives.
What makes this retreat different is the way heart, body, and creativity come together. Our small, intimate circle allows each participant to be seen and supported. Through art, reflection, and ceremony, we approach grief not as something to fix, but as something to honor.
You’ll be guided by a team whose work centers on healing and presence. Amy Zell, a grief practitioner whose compassionate expertise helps others find steadiness amid loss, and Jennifer Boarts Hallden, founder of EASE Into Balance, whose somatic and embodied approach invites calm and grounding. Together with Amy Ferrara of Naturing Arts, this collaboration creates a sanctuary of warmth, creativity, and care.
At the Holding Light weekend, the timing itself becomes part of the transformation and a chance to enter the holidays with more grace, connection, and peace.
Meet Your Retreat Facilitators
Amy Ferrara
Jennifer Boarts Hallden
Amy Zell
What’s Included
Everything about your Holding Light weekend retreat is designed to help you rest deeply and feel fully supported from arrival to departure.
Your retreat experience includes:
- Two nights’ lodging at a private historic estate in Liberty, Ohio. Cozy rooms and shared spaces that invite warmth, reflection, and connection. Limited private rooms are available.
- Day participation option for those unable to stay overnight while still wishing to take part in the full retreat experience. Day attendance is limited to maintain the intimacy and supportive energy of the group.
- All meals and refreshments, including a shared welcome dinner on Friday evening, nourishing seasonal fare throughout the weekend. All meals are crafted with care to support nourishment & comfort. Gluten-Free, dairy-free, and vegan options will be available. Coffee, tea, and water will be offered throughout the day.
- Creative materials for art and journaling experiences to help you give expression to your story.
- Follow-up January Zoom Circle, offering a space to reconnect, share reflections, and continue holding light together as the new year begins.
- Quiet reflection spaces for solitude, reading, or walks on the grounds.
- What’s most important is that you’ll leave with a sense of community, comfort, and a deeper trust in your ability to carry your light through the season ahead.
Registration
Registration for Holding Light is now open, with limited spaces available for this intimate winter retreat. Your registration includes lodging, all meals, creative materials, and participation in every session and ceremony throughout the weekend.
Holding Light Retreat Details
Location: Private Estate • Liberty, Ohio 44425
Check In: Friday, December 19th 3:00-6:00 PM
Closing circle ends 11:30 PM Sunday, December 21st
Full Weekend Experience
$449
Includes two nights’ lodging in a shared room, all meals, creative materials, and full participation in the weekend program.
Day Participant Option
$349
For those joining without overnight lodging, this option Includes all retreat sessions starting, meals, and creative materials. Day attendance is limited to preserve the intimacy and supported energy of the retreat container.
Full Weekend Experience (Private Room)
$499
Includes all of the above with a private room. Private rooms share a bathroom within the estate’s historic layout and are limited in number.
Deposit & Refund Policy
A $100 non-refundable deposit secures your place in the Holding Light retreat. The remaining balance is due by December 10th, 2025.
If unforeseen circumstances require you to cancel, you may:
• Transfer your registration to another participant by notifying us in writing no later than December 12th.
• If the retreat must be canceled by Naturing Arts due to illness, severe weather, or low enrollment, all payments including deposits made, will be refunded in full.
We understand that life can be unpredictable, especially during the holiday season. If you experience an emergency after December 12, please reach out and we’ll do our best to apply your payment toward a future Naturing Arts retreat or workshop.
Sponsor a Participant
If you feel called to extend compassion to others, you can also sponsor a participant through our community scholarship fund. Your gift helps provide this healing experience to someone navigating grief who might not otherwise be able to attend. Sponsors may choose to remain anonymous or be recognized in our retreat materials as part of our gratitude circle.
Sponsorship Levels:
• Full Sponsorship – Covers one participant’s full retreat experience.
• Partial Sponsorship – Contributes toward shared costs such as meals, materials, or lodging.
• Shared Light Gift – Any amount helps provide supplies or partial assistance.
Each sponsorship, large or small, helps someone find comfort, creativity, and community during a tender time of year. Please fill the form below to contact us about sponsoring.
Reserve Your Spot
We’re honored you feel called to join us. Please complete the registration form below to hold your place in this intimate weekend retreat.
Holding Light Sponsors
