Rest, rejuvenate, connect to beloved community and the rhythms of nature in majestic Lake Tahoe. Nestled right on the eastern shore of Lake Tahoe, the retreat Center is a beautiful, secluded, waterfront sanctuary. 

Mornings will include a choice of moderate Hatha practice for all levels or a vigorous Vinyasa practice, meditation, discussion, and Haitian Folkloric dance with Portsha Jefferson. Afternoons will include free time to soak in the serenity of nature, take a dip in the lake, or organized excursions to hiking, kayaking, and breathtaking views. Evenings include meditation, Yoga, art therapy, and community building. Private and group therapy sessions are available with Shirley Johnson to support healing and post-traumatic growth. 

Embark on a collaborative journey of freeing our hearts, minds, bodies from limitations of white supremacist, hetero-patriarchal, capitalist conditioning. Explore our shared and diverse experience as Black womxn, celebrate our beauty, and connect to ancestral wisdom.

This retreat is reserved for self-identifying Black women and femmes. Black includes those from the African diaspora including multi-racial women. Womxn or women includes Trans womxn, gender non-binary, genderqueer, gender fluid, cis-gendered women, and gender expansive or anyone who has had an experience of feeling marginalized because of the way they move in the world as a woman. Black women and femmes 18+ in age, of all levels of experience including beginners, religions, abilities, immigration statuses, sizes, and sexual orientations are welcome and celebrated.  

Arrival: 2 pm Friday, June 6th

Departure: 2 pm Sunday, June 8th

***Attending the retreat is an investment in your well-being and means you are committing to the entire experience.  Please consider arriving on time and staying the duration as an investment in yourself & building community. Late arrival & early departure are not allowed.***

FAQ: 

1. Payment plans available

2. All deposits & payments are NON-REFUNDABLE and NO EXCHANGES. This includes acts of God, Covid-19, or Mother Nature. Purchase of travel insurance is required to cover a cancelled retreat or your personal need to cancel your spot. Make sure to check fine print. Fear of travel isn't the same as not being able to travel. 

Travel insurance recommendations: worldnomads.com or www.allianztravelinsurance.com

Click here for Insurance policies where you can cancel for any reason. 

3.  All meals are included and lovingly prepared by the local chefs at Camp Gallilee. Ingredients are organic with an abundance of vegetables, protein, and fruit. Gluten-free, vegetarian, vegan, and other dietary needs are available upon request. 

Arisika Razak (Dharma & Meditation)

MPH, Professor Emerita, and former chair of the Women's Spirituality Program at the California Institute of Integral Studies (CIIS), is a core teacher at the East Bay Meditation Center, where she leads workshops and mini-retreats, as well as teaching in the People of Color Sangha, and the Mahasangha for All Beings. For twenty years she provided midwifery care primarily to women of color in inner city Oakland, serving as a healthcare advocate, birthworker, and family planning provider. For another twenty years, she taught at CIIS, focusing on diverse spiritual traditions, women's health and healing, multicultural feminisms, queer theory, and contemporary diversity theory. Arisika has led spiritual and healing workshops, and ritual celebrations, for over three decades, while performing nationally and internationally as a spiritual dancer. Her film credits include: Fire Eyes by Soraya Mire, the first full length feature film by an African woman to explore the issue of female genital cutting; and Who Lives Who Dies a PBS special on health care services to marginalized and underserved populations. Arisika is a contributor to several books and journals, and presents at numerous conferences on the subjects of multiculturalism/diversity, women’s health and healing, and embodied spirituality and movement.

Portsha Jefferson  (Dance)

Hailing from a blazed Dance trek, her Dancestory is truly emblazoned by that of Ancestral commission. From Beaumont, Texas to the Bay Area for over 20 years Portsha Terae Jefferson has cultivated a trajectory of Dance excellence, dynamic performance and a cultural legacy of training, education and cultural exchange. Often nurtured by Bay Area Dance luminaries Lynn Coles and Blanche Brown to name a few, to Haitian Dance Masters such as Pioneer Vivianne Gauthier with consistent training at Ecole Nationale de Artes [ENARTS], transcended through the establishment of Rara Tou Limen Haitian Performing Company in 2004, Oakland, California.

Ms. Jefferson's visionary Artistic leadership and RTL Company's unforgettable presentations have garnered her the attention as respected colleague and emerging cultural gatekeeper, forging new trailways through ancient traditions -- staying true to the sojourn carving pathways for many to flourish crossing boundaries and dimensions in the Dance. Take classes with Portsha in the Bay Area and find out more her work at www.raratoulimen.com

Satya de la Paz August (Yoga, Ritualist, Leadership, Community Advocate)

Satya de la Paz August (she/her) is first and foremost a student of Yoga and life. She is also a a Queer, Multiracial, Black Womxn, trailblazer, healer, and community/joy/radical self-love advocate. Offering 14 years of experience teaching Yoga, dance, and meditation, she infuses dynamic alignment, chanting, storytelling, and community-building into her classes. Satya offers Yoga as a means of collective and personal liberation and decolonization: accessing our innate healing capacity through therapeutics and compassion, meeting media-driven body shame through mindfulness and affirmation, freeing the heart of resentment and blame, and healing the mind of ableist and hierarchical ways of moving and acting. Multiple expressions of poses are offered as students are encouraged to listen to their own body wisdom and access needs. Satya is deeply grateful for her mentor, Abby Tucker, as well as all of her dharma and movement teachers, Sally Kempton, Rob Preece, and Sianna Sherman. Honoring the traditions of Hatha Yoga, Tantra Yoga, and Tibetan Buddhism, she empowers multiracial, multi-gender, and multigenerational groups to awaken their true nature of awareness and bliss. 

Satya teaches in a radically inclusive way with a focus on therapeutics, alignment, and preventing injury. She will offer yoga for all bodies This retreat is open to all levels of experience. people of all genders, 18+ in age, religions, abilities, immigration statuses, sizes, sexual orientation are welcome and celebrated.   

Find out more about Satya and her offerings at soulflowoakland.com

Shirley Johnson, LMFT

Healer, Licensed Therapist, Ritualist, Yoga Instructor

Radical authenticity and self-acceptance as a philosophy, life  ideology, and a healing practice -- this is what licensed  psychotherapist and healing practitioner Shirley Johnson lives by. Based  in Oakland, CA by way of The Bronx, NY, Shirley has alchemized over  fifteen years experience of exploration of self and specialized training  in energy work, movement, psychology and yoga into a passionate  profession: restoring intimacy and vulnerability in the collective  consciousness through community building and ancient healing arts.   Shirley holds a BA in Modern Culture and Media & Ethnic Studies  from Brown University and completed her graduate studies in clinical  psychology at California Institute of Integral Studies.  Shirley has  studied with a number of healers and yoga teachers including Elder  Malidoma Some, Gurmukh, Krishna Kaur, Maya Blow and a number of others.   Shirley is a sought after speaker for various events and training on  mental health and wellness, intimacy, and race. She is also a  contributor and lead trainer to yoga teacher trainings across  the  United States.  In her private practice, Shirley works with adults and  couples and specializes in codependency recovery, intimacy, money and  vulnerability, especially in Black women and women of color. For more  info you can follow her on IG at @soulisticwellness or visit her website  at www.soulisticwellness.com

 Malika Rubin-Davis (Yoga)

Malika Rubin-Davis grew up in small towns in Sonoma County, California. She loved helping in the garden, exploring the outdoors and creating arts and crafts. She earned a BA in Visual Art from Brown University in 2008, then deepened her knowledge of earth based skills and had a brief career as an educator in Oakland Public Schools. Malika chose to step away from the stresses of classroom teaching to make room for her artistic creativity and to find other ways to hold space for learning and connection. She teaches workshops in watercolor painting, spinning and knitting. Malika completed a 200 hour Yoga Veda Vinyasa Teacher Training with Kameko Shibata and Kanami Anderson. This training reminded Malika how supportive the full system, the 8 limbs of yoga, can be. She finds joy in sharing and strives to create a safe, nourishing environment in her asana classes by weaving in Meditation, Pranayama and concepts from anatomy and the Yoga Sutras. 

Aïma Paule (Aïma the Dreamer) is a multidisciplinary artist, cultural practitioner, and workshop facilitator based in the Bay Area. With over 20 years of experience, Aïma blends visual art, music, and immersive storytelling to create transformative spaces for self-expression, healing, and community connection. As a vocalist, filmmaker, and event producer, they curate workshops and interactive experiences that center QTBIPOC, Black Women, and Femmes, fostering creativity, empowerment, and liberation. Whether through live performances, creative facilitation, or cultural activation, Aïma’s work is rooted in joy, justice, and the power of collective artistry. 

Tsadae Neway (Massage Therapist) 

 Tsadae Neway offers a fresh, innovative approach to massage therapy and bodywork. Her style incorporates techniques to relax and/or invigorate the body in both subtle and deep ways. Sessions are tailored for each client, incorporating various styles, allowing for a new experience each visit, depending on the clients needs.  Tsadae has been studying and practicing bodywork since 1995. Her treatments integrate numerous modalities that she is trained in. She became a Certified Breema Instructor in 1998. Tsadae then became a midwife apprentice for three years, and she continued to expand her bodywork studies in: Acupressure, Ashiatsu, Tui Na, Deep Tissue, Pre-Natal & Postpartum Massage, CranioSacral Therapy(CMT), Somatic-Emotional Release(SER), and Neuromuscular Therapy(NMT). Birth Keeping offerings include: childbirth education, prenatal massage, prenatal wellness consultations, blessing way ceremonies, sealing ceremonies, womb massage, steams, doula care, and postpartum doula care.    As a movement artist, Tsadae has a background in dance, with a special passion in the folkloric styles of the African Diaspora. She also practices Qi Gong and Yoga. Her background in holistic health includes 25 years of being a certified vegetarian chef, and being a student of herbalism and plant medicines, has allowed her to guide others with their nutritional and cleansing journeys. As a health coach, Tsadae approaches her work through a functional nutrition cleanse. In 2013, Tsadae founded Souly Body: Integrated Bodywork and Birth Keeping, a space to expand her reach to service womyn, their children and their families from all walks of life.     
 

Anuja Bhuta (Massage Therapist) 

 Anuja Bhuta (she/her) is an artist, healer, baker, and musician - who uses her hands to create, relax, and energize. Her massage practice began in 2006 and continues to ebb and flow in concert with her other passions which include pottery, painting, fiber arts, baking, piano, and aerial arts.
 

Roshonda Parker (Massage Therapist) 

 My name is Roshonda Parker, but you may call me Royal as I am the owner of Royal Touch Wellness located in Oakland and Castro Valley CA. I began my training in Hayward Ca, at Everest College 2009. In total I've completed 750 hours of massage education plus many more hours of continuing education credits.  I'm trained in corporate chair massage, sports massage, deep tissue, prenatal, Swedish, trigger point therapy, and reflexology. my focus is working with clients that have chronic pain from plantar fasciitis, carpal tunnel, sciatica, and other conditions. I foster myself in the healing of strained muscles, sprained ligaments, reduce pain, relieve stress, and increase range of motion. I've worked in spa and chiropractic settings, so I have experience in both relaxing massage as well as therapeutic. I love what I do as a massage therapist. Knowing that I've helped so many people achieve their massage goals is so rewarding. 

Soulflow Retreat Video 

Here are a few testimonies from previous retreats 

Geetali Testimonial

Zach and Emma Testimonials 

Shaketa Testimonial 

Crea and Jen Testimonials

Halima's Testimonial

I had great time, Fall in Love with the mountain’s the tree’s, the creek the accommodation , and I like and love the simplicity, but fresh good healthy delicious food ; breakfast, lunch and dinner. Great teacher’s ; sweet couple Matthew and Satya easy to follow instructions of a variety of fun activities like : Qigong, TM Meditation, chanting meditation, Yoga, and self defense of Ali. And the hiking to the sacred mountains of Mt. Shasta, field trip to the waterfalls & etc. I Never gets bored. Love all the activities. Meet great wonderful, and beautiful people . I am so glad, so happy and so grateful for this trip. 🙏🏼Thank you ! 💖 - Fatima

Amazing retreat with wonderful people In a fantastic location. Satya, our guide, made this a memorable experience.  - Silvie 

This was undoubtedly one of the most divine experiences that I have ever been blessed to be a part of. Everything was intentionally planned and infused with love. I felt safe in body and spirit. The location was beautiful, the leaders and guides were great. I loved the yoga, dance, and meditation offerings and I loved that additional offerings such as massages or solo/group therapy were available as well. The food was really good and I have absolutely no complaints. There was a clear schedule of events, but no pressure to attend or participate in anything. I look forward to being back.  - Dianicia

I had a fabulous time getting to know fellow attendees and spending time relaxing and rejuvenating in nature! I’ve already recommended it to friends and plan on attending again next year!  - Liz

There will be full or partial scholarships and work trade positions available. Please apply by March 1st.

Application here 

The majority of retreat activities including meals will be outside. 

Purchase of travel insurance that covers Covid-19 and other emergencies is required. Feel free to reach out with any concerns or questions about safety.

The drive from the Bay Area is about four hours. We organize carpooling and make every effort to support those who need a ride. In 9 years leading retreats we have never had someone who has needed a ride not be able to get one. However, we can't guarantee a ride to the retreat. 

For those of you coming from outside of the Bay Area you can fly into Reno, Oakland, or San Francisco. We can arrange airport transportation for $40 each way from Reno Airport. It will be less if there are other people flying in to Reno Airport and coming into the retreat that you can share the cost with. If you fly into San Francisco or Oakland, we will help you connect with carpooling. You may want to fly in the night before or plan to arrive before 9 am June 9th.