Empowering the Divine Feminine
Rounding Retreat and Meditation Without Borders Fundraiser Ralston White Retreat Center, Mill Valley, CA – August 24-27, 2023
Women Helping Women
Together in a nurturing container of meditators surrounded by the towering redwoods of Marin at the Ralston White Retreat Center, we will explore the role of the Feminine in mythos and how that translates to our own stories as well as going deep into practices of meditation, movement and sound to let go of years of deeply rooted stress. The program will include a special emphasis on understanding and releasing the trauma so common in the feminine experience. While releasing our own trauma, we will be raising funds to help women release theirs here in our community and on the other side of the world.
Rounding
Vedic Meditators will learn and practice Rounding, often called “industrial strength meditation,” it is an advanced technique which combines simple, gentle yoga and breath work with your current meditation program. Rounding retreats are a unique opportunity to take your practice to a new level by gaining the deepest levels of rest available. Releasing layers of accumulated stress will leave you feeling refreshed and revitalized for months to come. You will come home feeling ready to take on the world.
Teachings
Vedic Meditation teacher Kristen Vandivier will give daily talks on the nature of the Divine Feminine and how a deep understanding of its nature can help us, as women, understand the dynamics of our own story. Since trauma is so often a part of those stories, we will look to examples in mythology of the Feminine moving from vulnerable to invincible for clues on releasing the debilitating effects of past wounds.
We will also delve into movement and sound through breakout sessions to deepen our exploration into the Feminine.
Those who have never learned Vedic Meditation may take an Intro to Vedic Meditation Course during the weekend for a reduced rate.
Advanced Techniques and Special Techniques instruction will also be available at a reduced rate.
Location + AccomModations
This retreat will be held at the Ralston White Retreat Center– a peaceful sanctuary nestled on 43 acres of redwoods on the slope of Mt. Tamalpais.
The 14,000 square foot home has three stories, nine relaxing porches and balconies with spectacular views and antique furnishings throughout. There are several walking paths on the property as well as connecting trails that lead to the top of Mt. Tamalpais.
Shared occupancy rooms are included; single occupancy can be chosen at registration for an additional fee. Single rooms have one queen or two single beds. Shared rooms have anywhere between two and four queen or single beds. There are nine shared bathrooms. If you’d like to room with someone else who is registering, please specify this in the comments section of the registration form.
ayurvedic Cuisine
We are very lucky to have the renowned chef, Simone Parris, preparing Ayurvedic meals for us. Simone specializes in Macrobiotic cooking and has cooked for groups, spas, yoga retreats and taught cooking classes all over the world as well as worked as the personal chef for celebrities such as Tom Cruise, Nicole Kidman, Steven Seagal and Matt Groening.
Ayurvedic cuisine is nourishing, flavorful and easy to digest so to support our rounding practice.
Raising Up Women
All funds raised from this retreat will go towards supporting MWOB projects, including sponsoring women for this retreat and funding our March 2024 journey to Rwanda to teach Vedic Meditation to women who are victims of Gender Based Violence through the The Rwanda Women’s Network, an organization that helps these women heal and transform into independent, influential leaders in their communities.
Special Techniques
Special techniques for releasing trauma or addiction will be offered during this retreat weekend. Special techniques can be applied to help overcome any form of addiction, oral fixations, insomnia, chronic pain and ongoing, or extreme, emotional anguish. You must have been practicing Vedic Meditation consistently for four months prior to learning. Contact us directly to see whether progressing to an Special Technique is appropriate for your practice.
Further Your Practice
You will have the opportunity to learn Vedic Meditation on retreat, or for experienced meditators, you may learn Advanced Techniques (your next iteration of mantra) or Special Techniques at a greatly reduced rate. Scholarship attendees may choose their offering. Indicate interest on registration form. Limited spots for all three.
INTRO TO VEDIC MEDITATION
sliding scale up to $1500 $500
ADVANCED TECHNIQUES (pre-requisite, 1 year consistent practice of VM or TM)
$800 or more $600
Special Techniques (pre-requisite, 4 months consistent practice of VM or TM)
$1200 $600
About Kristen
Kristen Vandivier is an instructor of Vedic Meditation and the founder of The Vedic Method, Meditation Without Borders and the Being the Change Podcast. She is regarded for her ability to make profound teachings relevant to everyday life and her mission of promoting meditation for social change. After completing an intensive curriculum of training under renowned Master Maharishi Vyasananda Thom Knoles, including a three-month immersion program in the Himalayas, Kristen returned to found her practice in 2017. She lives in Mill Valley, CA with her husband and three children.
Registration
Choose your tuition below based on your desired donation tier. The base tuition of the retreat is $1800 (shared occupacy) / $2300 (single occupancy).
There are also a limited number of scholarship spaces available at a reduced rate of $600.
Intro to Meditation course, Advanced Techniques and Special Techniques are available for an additional fee.
All donations are tax deductible – Receipt for the donation portion of your tuition available upon request.
Tuition Tiers Based on Donation
Getting Here
The Ralston White Retreat is located only a half hour from San Francisco and two hours from Sacramento.
To get here, take the Mill Valley/East Blithedale exit off Hwy. 101 and proceed until it becomes West Blithedale and then Ralston Avenue. Approximately .03 of a mile up Ralston Avenue you will find El Capitan Avenue about 150 yards after a sign indicating “White Retreat – Next Right”. From the freeway to the Retreat is 4 miles.
The address is:
2 El Capitan Ave. Mill Valley, CA 94941
Sample Retreat Schedule
6:30-7:00am Surya Namaskar (optional)
7:00-8:00am Rounding / Free time
8:00-9:00am Breakfast
9:00-10:00am Breakout: Embodiment flow (optional)
9:00-12:00pm Rounding / Free time
10:00-11:30am Intro Course for new students
12:00-1:00pm Lecture in the redwoods
1:00-2:00pm Lunch
2:00-4:00pm Free time
3:00-4:00pm Breakout: Sound bath (optional)
4:00-7:00pm Rounding / Free time
6:00-7:00pm Free time
7:00-8:00pm Dinner
8:00-9:30/10pm Lecture
9:30/10-10:30pm Sama Veda (optional)
Included in Your Experience
4 days and 3 nights accommodation
Vegetarian, Ayurvedic meals and snacks
Full use of nature trails and walking paths on 43 acres
Vedic Rounding instruction
Daily knowledge meetings on the nature of the Divine Feminine
Breakout sessions exploring movement and sound healing modalites
Frequently Asked Questions
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This retreat is open to all those who identify as women as well as nonbinary, gender nonconforming and transmasculine folks, anyone who is not cis male. who have either taken an in-person Vedic Meditation course or would like to learn on retreat.
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Yes, you can. An intro course is being offered at the retreat for a separate cost for all those new to the practice who would like to join.
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This retreat is designed to release deep stress and so this is a completely normal and natural outcome. This may be experienced as temporary irritability, fatigue or anxiety as the layers of stress are unwinding and releasing. We will be available to oversee your experience and provide support through this process.
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Yes, this Rounding retreat satisfies the rounding pre-requisite for Thom Knoles’s Initiator Training program. Please let us know beforehand and we can set up your high-rounding schedule.
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The retreat will feature gourmet Ayurvedic meals prepared by the reknowned chef Simone Parris. We can make some accommodations, please let us know if you have restrictions, preferences, or allergies.
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Check in is on Thursday August 24th from 3-5pm. Those taking the Intro Course must be onsite by 3:30pm.
Our final lecture ends at 1pm on Sunday, August 27th.
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We ask everyone to take an at-home Covid test the day of arrival. Depending on if there is an outbreak at that time, we may ask for a more accurate test and/or may provide tests on arrival.
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Cancel before July 15: full refund less $500
Cancel after July 15: non-refundable
*Note for payment plans: If less than the non-refundable amount has been paid toward the tuition balance, no refund is due and withdrawals will continue until non-refundable amount has been paid.
Registrations are non-transferable, and we do not provide credit for cancelled registrations
If you wish to simply make a donation without attending the retreat, you may do so here…
She allowed herself to be swept up in the depths of her inner darkness,
Only to be met with a light that revealed to her
How her wounds would be transformed into her greatest gifts
The greater the pain, the deeper she went within.
The deeper she went within, the higher she rose.
And suddenly she realized,
She is the light.
Choose this tuition level if you wish to donate $1000 to Meditation Without Borders. Total cost is $2800 (shared occupancy) / $3300 (single occupancy).