Original Medicine Earth-Based Intensive Immersion Retreat
July 21–27, 2026 | Week-Long Retreat | 7 Days | Tuesday to Monday
Reconnect with your Original Medicine through Mindfulness Meditation, Earth-Based Ceremony & Ritual, and Solo Wilderness Time alongside Carol Cano, Carmen Alvarez, and a five-teacher team in the coastal redwoods. Created for adults 21+ ready to root in Indigenous wisdom and step into their most authentic purpose and belonging.
Retreat Modalities Included
Silent Mornings (including breakfast)
Contemplative & Relational Practices
Community Council
Guided Mindful Movement
Mindfulness Meditation
Earth Walks
Solo Wilderness Time
Wisdom Talks
Ceremony & Ritual
Breathwork
Ancestral Healing Practices
Time for Rest & Self-Care
About This Retreat
This retreat is independently organized by Braided Wisdom (Carol Cano, Janet Roos, Carmen Alvarez, Jonathan Relucio & Sarwang Parikh). Spirit Camp provides the venue, accommodations, and retreat setting. For registration, pricing, program details, meal info, and lodging options, please contact the retreat organizers directly using the button below.
Who the Retreat Is For
This retreat welcomes adults 21+ from all backgrounds who feel the call to go inward — and to do so within community. It speaks directly to those who sense that the pace of modern life has pulled them away from something essential: their connection to the Earth, to their ancestors, and to the original medicine that lives within them. Whether you are new to contemplative practice or have walked a long path with mindfulness and Indigenous teachings, you will find both rigor and warmth here. This gathering is especially resonant for BIPOC practitioners, those drawn to the braiding of Buddhist and Indigenous wisdom, and anyone seeking a container of authentic belonging rather than surface-level wellness. If you are ready to slow down, sit in council with others, and let the redwood forest reflect back who you truly are, this retreat was crafted for you.
Retreat Description
Returning to What Was Never Lost
Since 2014, Braided Wisdom has guided hundreds of practitioners toward their own Original Medicine — the inherent wholeness that lives at the core of every person. This week-long mindfulness retreat in Northern California distills the essence of Braided Wisdom's renowned yearlong Original Medicine program into a single immersive residential experience. It is not a workshop. It is not a getaway. It is a carefully tended crucible for genuine personal and collective awakening — held in the ancient redwood forest of Mendocino, where the land itself becomes a co-teacher.
The invitation is simple and profound: come as you are, arrive fully, and discover what has always been true about you.
A Living Braid of Buddhist and Indigenous Wisdom
What makes this retreat singular is its commitment to authentic integration. Rather than borrowing from traditions superficially, the teaching team — Carol Cano, Janet Roos, Carmen Alvarez, Jonathan Relucio, and Sarwang Parikh — brings decades of lived practice across Theravada Buddhism, Toltec and Purepecha traditions, Vedic yoga, trauma-informed mindfulness, and earth-based ceremony. These are not parallel tracks. They are woven together into one living braid.
Mornings begin in Silent Mornings — a precious invitation to let the day arrive without noise, savored over breakfast alongside the rhythm of the forest. From there, the day unfolds through Wisdom Talks, Contemplative & Relational Practices, and Community Council — a form of collective inquiry that cultivates trust, accountability, and the kind of listening that can shift a life. Guided Mindful Movement with Kimber Simpkins-Nuccio brings the body into the practice through accessible, elemental movement and breathwork. And at the heart of the week, Solo Wilderness Time offers each participant an unmediated encounter with the land — and with themselves.
This is earth-based indigenous retreat work at its most intentional: grounded, relational, and deeply committed to the liberation of every person in the room.
Ceremony, Ritual, and the Earth as Teacher
Ceremony & Ritual woven throughout the week invites participants to cross thresholds together — marking what is being released, what is being welcomed, and what is being remembered. Drawing from Carmen Alvarez's Purepecha and Toltec roots, Jonathan Relucio's work in healing and racial equity, and the group's shared Buddhist mindfulness lineage, these rituals are offered with cultural humility and fierce care.
The Redwood forest of Mendocino is not a backdrop. It is an active presence. Tall, ancient, and unhurried, the coastal redwoods have a way of reorganizing human perspective — making room for what matters and releasing what no longer serves. Earth Walks and Solo Wilderness Time place participants in direct relationship with this landscape, guided by the understanding that we are not separate from the natural world. We are it.
Nourishment, Community, and Shared Stewardship
Every detail of this retreat reflects Braided Wisdom's commitment to care. Healthy, organic, fresh vegetarian meals are prepared by local Bay Area chef Sinclair Shigg — food as medicine, offered with the same intentionality as the teachings themselves. Time for Rest & Self-Care is woven in deliberately, recognizing that integration is not a passive process but an active one.
Braided Wisdom offers this retreat through a Community-Centered Contribution Model, with tiered pricing that reflects a collective commitment to shared stewardship of the land, the teachings, and one another. With limited Benefactor spaces available on a first-come, first-served basis, early registration is encouraged for those who feel ready.
This experience is perfect for those searching for: healing retreats, mindfulness retreats, Indigenous-centered retreats, Buddhist retreats for BIPOC communities, retreats for BIPOC communities, earth-based community retreats, healing justice retreats, Buddhist mindfulness retreats, earth-based Indigenous retreats, self-care retreats
About The Retreat Facilitators: Laura Ahern & Ashley “Pearl” Pearlman
Carol Cano, M.A. — Lead Teacher Carol Cano began her contemplative practice more than 35 years ago at Wat Kow Tahm in Thailand and has since built communities and taught Dharma internationally. A teacher at Spirit Rock Meditation Center and a core teacher and former board member of East Bay Meditation Center, Carol co-founded the Philippine Insight Meditation Community. Her teachings braid Basque, Native American, and Buddhist influences into a grounded, compassionate practice that meets people in the fullness of their humanity. Her background in psychology deepens her ability to hold community with clarity and care. Learn more at carolcano.com.
Janet E. Roos, PMP, CMT-P — Teacher Janet Roos has been recognized as an innovator in Business Technology for over 30 years and brings that same precision and excellence to her contemplative teaching. A graduate of the UCLA Mindfulness Certified Training Program and certified member of the International Mindfulness Teachers Association, Janet is a four-time Hall of Fame recognized elite athlete who understands how mindfulness serves peak performance, resilience, and personal growth. She co-teaches Braided Wisdom's Original Medicine Yearlong Program and has sustained her own personal meditation practice for over a decade.
Carmen Alvarez — Teacher Carmen Alvarez (she/her/ella) comes from the Purepecha lands of Michoacan, Mexico, and holds a master's degree in Leadership that she braids fluidly with her Toltec and Purepecha roots, her Mindfulness Teacher Certification from Braided Wisdom's Leadership Training Program, and two completed Indigenous Master programs in Nahualismo and Curanderismo. A practitioner of Mexican Indigenous traditions and a member of a Lakota-centered community, Carmen guides participants through mindfulness meditation, ancestral healing, trauma-informed practices, and ceremonial work rooted in the belief that personal healing ripples outward to family, ancestors, and the wider community.
Jonathan Relucio — Teacher Jonathan Relucio (he/him/siya) brings more than 20 years of experience in social services, community organizing, and leadership development to the teaching circle. A former Senior Trainer for Niroga Institute — teaching trauma-informed yoga and mindfulness in schools, mental health clinics, and juvenile detention centers — Jonathan now teaches at Spirit Rock Meditation Center and East Bay Meditation Center. He co-founded AllThriveEd.org, integrates mindfulness with restorative circles for racial equity, and serves on the Healing Advisory Council for Filipino Advocates for Justice. His practice draws from yoga, dharma, Indigenous medicine, and the arts as pathways to collective liberation.
Sarwang Parikh, LMFT — Teacher Sarwang Parikh (he/they) is a licensed psychotherapist and meditation teacher with more than 20 years of practice in the Dharma path, primarily through Vedic yoga and the Theravada Buddhist lineage. Born into a devotional Indian lineage from an immigrant, working-class family, Sarwang completed East Bay Meditation Center's two-year Spiritual Teacher Leader program and teaches at EBMC, Inward Bound Mindfulness Education, and in diverse community organizations. He serves on the board of Buddhist Peace Fellowship. Learn more at heartroottherapy.com.
Kimber Simpkins-Nuccio — Mindful Movement Teacher Kimber Simpkins-Nuccio (she/they) has taught yoga and mindfulness in the San Francisco Bay Area for more than twenty years, bringing a body-love and social justice perspective to every session. A graduate of Spirit Rock's Dedicated Practitioner's Program and the Spiritual Teacher and Leadership Program at East Bay Meditation Center, Kimber is a visiting teacher at Spirit Rock, EBMC, New York Insight, and Insight Santa Cruz. She is a current member of the Community Dharma Leaders cohort at Spirit Rock and a Teaching Assistant for Braided Wisdom's 2025 Original Medicine training — making her a natural presence at this intensive.
Teaching Assistants: Regent Brown & Rebekah Eppley
↓ Continue reading to learn about Spirit Camp Retreat Center and full retreat details
About Spirit Camp Retreat Center
Spirit Camp is a 27-acre retreat sanctuary nestled in the coastal redwoods of Mendocino, Northern California — one of the most quietly extraordinary landscapes on the Pacific coast. Set among ancient redwood groves with access to forested trails, meadows, and the living presence of the Pacific, Spirit Camp was created to support exactly the kind of work Braided Wisdom brings: contemplative, embodied, and rooted in the earth.
Accommodations at Spirit Camp are thoughtfully designed to balance community and restoration — offering a range of lodging options from shared spaces to more private retreats, all woven into the natural landscape. Guests are invited to move slowly, breathe fully, and let the land do its quiet work.
The Spirit Camp experience includes use of indoor and outdoor gathering spaces suited for council circles, movement practice, ceremony, and solo reflection. The property's trails and wilderness areas make it an ideal setting for earth walks and solo time. Spirit Camp provides the venue and accommodations infrastructure so that facilitators and participants can give their full attention to the work at hand.
Retreat Information
Organized by: Braided Wisdom — Carol Cano, Janet Roos, Carmen Alvarez, Jonathan Relucio & Sarwang Parikh Venue provided by: Spirit Camp Retreat Center
Spirit Camp provides the retreat venue and accommodations. The retreat facilitators are responsible for all programming, meals, pricing, registration, and retreat content.
For all questions about:
Registration, pricing, and contribution tiers
Meals and dietary accommodations
Retreat schedule and programming
Accommodations and room assignments
Contact Braided Wisdom directly at info@braidedwisdom.org or visit braidedwisdom.org/original-medicine-retreat.
For venue questions (directions, property layout, amenities), visit our Guest Guide and FAQ page.