Immersive Healing and Storytelling Retreat with Guided Visualization & Tea California
A Soulful Immersion in Story and Stillness
There are moments in life when we ache not for more doing, but for more meaning. Symposium: The First Gathering offers a sacred pause—an immersive healing and storytelling retreat where guided meditation, narrative exploration, and quiet reflection invite you back to your center. Held November 4–9, 2025, this six-day experience is designed for soul-curious seekers yearning to reweave their personal myth in a safe, symbolic, and creative space.
The retreat welcomes individuals of all backgrounds, ages 18 and up, into a shared journey of inner transformation and narrative healing. Through practices like guided visualization, storytelling circles, and journaling rituals, participants gently peel back the layers of noise to hear the quiet truth beneath.
Each afternoon, you’re invited into Tea Time 1:1 sessions—a uniquely intimate reflection ritual where your voice is deeply witnessed and your process lovingly held. Hosted at the magical Spirit Camp Retreat Center just outside Mendocino, this small group retreat in the Redwoods blends myth, movement, and meditation into a transformative week of reconnection.
Why We Heal Through Story: A History of Narrative Practices
For millennia, humans have gathered to share stories—not just for entertainment, but for survival, belonging, and healing. In ancient societies, the storyteller held a role akin to healer, priest, or elder. Through oral traditions, communities passed down wisdom, values, and psychological blueprints that helped individuals make meaning of their own lives.
Modern psychology has returned to these roots. Narrative therapy centers the idea that we live inside the stories we tell ourselves. By re-authoring those stories with intention, we reclaim agency and coherence. Combined with visualization, storytelling becomes not only retrospective—but also generative. You begin to envision a self you are still becoming.
This retreat draws from these foundations. With practices that echo both traditional myth and contemporary psychology, the Symposium experience uses story as a lantern to light the path inward. According to the Narrative Therapy Centre, story work facilitates emotional integration, allowing us to externalize trauma and reframe identity with compassion.
But what makes this truly unique is the collective dimension. When shared in community, story becomes ceremony. Through reflection and response, you are reminded that your healing is not just personal—it’s part of something greater.
Photo of Deer Haven, one of the our many unique cabin spaces. This cabin has three beds. Cabins have between 1 to 8 beds each and provide several different sleeping arrangements for Immersive Healing and Storytelling Retreat. All cabin spaces are included in Tea Time reflective ritual.
Photo of Group Glamping Tents Setup in Sunset Meadow. We have 10 Glamping Structures that can be added with 1to 3 beds each. This can increase bed capacity of campus to 50 guests across 20 unique accommodation spaces.
Meet the Myth Weavers
Leading this experience is Julia Henning (@iamjuliahenning), a narrative coach and visionary facilitator whose work blends psychology, performance, and ritual storytelling. She gently guides guests through visualization journeys and archetypal inquiry, helping each person uncover the myth beneath their modern identity.
Supporting her is Mary-Grace Hogan (@marygrace_julianna), the steward of Tea Time—a signature 1:1 reflective practice. Her presence is quiet, reverent, and deeply intuitive. Guests describe Tea Time as “a soul mirror,” where their insights emerge not from pressure, but from being lovingly seen.
Behind the scenes, Irina Estyunina (@irinaestyunina) orchestrates flow and harmony. With calm precision, she ensures that the magic unfolds without friction—allowing participants to fully drop into presence.
Together, these guides form a web of care that supports both group immersion and personal discovery.
What It Feels Like to Drop In at Spirit Camp
Tucked just outside the town of Mendocino on the Northern California coast, Spirit Camp offers an immersive healing experience in Northern California like no other. Nestled among towering redwoods and expansive meadows, the center holds a palpable energy of reverence, renewal, and return.
The retreat unfolds in spaces like The Sanctuary, where sunlight streams through copper roofing into a circle of cushions, and Magic Meadow, where firelight dances as stories are shared under the stars. Meals are plant-based, hearty, and beautifully served, often in the lodge or outdoor garden decks.
Tea Time may happen beside the fire, on a forest deck, or even wrapped in blankets beneath the redwoods. Every detail is crafted to support your nervous system and invite your heart to open.
Accommodations range from private cabins to shared bunkhouses. All spaces are cleaned with intention—physically and energetically—so you can arrive and exhale. This is not just a venue—it’s a living sanctuary that cradles your transformation.
Where Forest Meets Firelight: The Magic of Mendocino
Spirit Camp lies just ten minutes from downtown Mendocino, where historic storefronts meet sweeping ocean views. It’s a place where forest hush and coastal mist create an otherworldly calm—ideal for introspective retreat.
Accessible from major Bay Area cities like San Francisco, Oakland, Santa Rosa, and Marin, this visualization meditation retreat near Mendocino offers convenience without sacrificing seclusion. Many guests drive up scenic Highway 1, winding through redwoods and along cliffs to arrive in a realm that feels part dream, part memory.
Whether you arrive solo or with a friend, you’ll feel both spacious and held—ready to let the forest teach, the fire reveal, and the silence speak.
FAQ Highlights
What’s the “Tea Time” experience like?
Tea Time is a gentle one-on-one reflection session guided by Mary-Grace. It’s a sacred pause for insight, integration, and emotional clarity—held with warmth and without agenda.Can I come solo and still feel held in community?
Absolutely. Many participants arrive alone and quickly feel embraced by the shared rhythm, group circles, and intimate setting.What’s the vibe—silent, playful, or both?
Both. Some moments are still and sacred. Others are light, creative, even silly. The retreat weaves structure with spaciousness so you can flow through your own rhythm.
Two Nearby Adventures to Extend Your Healing
Big River Estuary offers a peaceful, slow-moving river that winds through meadows, forest, and salt marshes. You can rent a kayak or simply walk the riverside trail, letting your body integrate the retreat through motion and nature. The estuary is known for its birdlife, tide rhythms, and deep quietude—a balm for post-retreat reflection.
Just a few miles away, the Mendocino Coast Botanical Gardens welcomes visitors with a profusion of ocean-view flowers, rare succulents, and spiritual stillness. Meander along winding paths that lead to ocean cliffs, or pause in a gazebo to journal. It’s a stunning reminder of life’s beauty—both wild and intentional.
You’re Not Just Telling a New Story—You’re Living One
The pages of your next chapter are waiting. Are you ready to write them from a place of presence and power?
Step into sacred storywork, soul inquiry, and guided connection at Symposium: The First Gathering.
To browse all upcoming retreats, including experiences that blend creativity, ritual, and renewal, visit spirit.camp/retreats.
TOPICS:
Immersive Healing and Storytelling Retreat, Healing retreat with storytelling, Visualization meditation retreat near Mendocino, Immersive healing experience Northern California, Retreat for inner transformation and narrative healing, Small group retreat in the Redwoods, Tea Time reflective ritual, Guided storytelling circles, Mythic self-discovery journey, Redwood spiritual immersion
