What If You Didn’t Have to Hold It All Together?

If you are used to being the strong one, the reliable one, the one others lean on — this space is for you.

Maybe you’ve spent years doing the inner work. You’ve been to therapy, read the books, attended the workshops, and learned to recognize your patterns. You know the language of healing.

And yet, sometimes, you still feel the weight of it all in your body.

Still carrying.
Still trying to understand.
Still wondering what needs to change, what needs to heal, or what you need to do differently.

What if, for one weekend, there was nothing you needed to fix?

What if you could put down the responsibilities, expectations, and pressure to continually become a better version of yourself?

What if you could allow yourself to be supported instead of always being the one offering support?

There are times when healing asks us to change. And there are times when the practice becomes learning how to stay.

To stay with ourselves when something feels uncomfortable.
To stay connected to our bodies when our minds are searching for answers.
To stay with what we’re feeling without immediately needing to fix it, explain it, or make it go away.

And perhaps, to learn how to stay with ourselves in love.

You do not need to figure everything out here.
You do not need to hold it all together here.
You do not need to carry it alone here.

Women in the living room of the retreat house on a snowy morning

What This Weekend Is

The Art of Staying is an intimate three-day retreat for women who are ready to slow down, reconnect with themselves, and experience what it feels like to receive support in a deeper way.

Held in a peaceful private home surrounded by nature in Berrien Springs, Michigan, this weekend is an invitation to step away from the pace and responsibilities of everyday life.

Through Living From the Heart teachings, embodied practices, yoga, meditation, ceremony, meaningful conversation, nourishing food, and rest, we will create space for what has not fully landed within us to begin to settle.

This is not about pushing through.
This is not about collecting more insight.
This is not about finding one more thing that needs healing.

This is about learning to be with the woman who is already here.

There will be guided experiences, but there will also be space. Space to sit by the fire. Space to journal. Space to walk in nature. Space to laugh. Space to connect. Space to rest. Space to simply be.

The Woman Is the Altar

At the heart of our weekend will be a sacred ceremony devoted to honoring the woman who is here.

So often, we create sacred spaces outside ourselves. We light candles, offer prayers, make offerings, and honor what we consider sacred. But how often do we offer that same devotion to ourselves?

To the woman who has carried us through this life?
The woman who has loved, lost, struggled, celebrated, made mistakes, and continued.
The woman who is still learning.
The woman who is here today.

What if she is the altar?

During our weekend, each woman will be invited to take her place at the center of our circle, where she can be witnessed, honored, and supported by the women around her.

Not because of what she has accomplished.
Not because of what she has overcome.
Not because she has finally figured everything out.
But simply because she is worthy of love and care.

There is nothing she needs to give in return. Nothing she needs to explain. Nothing she needs to perform. She will be invited to receive, in whatever way feels comfortable for her.

And perhaps, through this experience, we begin to recognize that we are worthy of the same tenderness, compassion, and love we so freely offer others.

The woman is the altar. And she is worthy of her own devotion.

Slow. Track. Allow. Yield.

What We’ll Explore

Throughout the weekend, we’ll explore what happens when we begin noticing what is underneath our reactions rather than immediately acting from them.

We’ll practice recognizing the difference between what happened, what we felt, the story we created around it, and what we actually know.

We’ll explore our patterns in relationships, our nervous system responses, the ways we reach outside ourselves for certainty, and what it means to remain connected to ourselves in the middle of it all.

At the center of the weekend will be the Living From the Heart STAY practice: Slow. Track. Allow. Yield.

A practice of slowing down. Noticing what is happening within us. Allowing what is here without immediately needing to change it. And learning to respond with greater presence, compassion, and conscious choice.

Not perfectly. But again and again.

We’ll also explore what it means to stay with ourselves when love is being offered.

Can I receive without feeling the need to give something back?
Can I allow myself to be seen without explaining who I am?
Can I stay present when being supported feels unfamiliar?
Can I offer myself the same love I so readily offer others?

What You’ll Experience

Throughout the weekend, you’ll be guided through a blend of:

Roasted sweet potatoes and broccoli
A nourishing bowl with greens, sweet potato and avocado
A vegetable frittata fresh from the oven
Homemade soup in a glass jar

Optional massage sessions will be available for an additional fee.

This weekend is meant to feel both held and simple. Not overpacked. Not performative. Not one more thing to get right.

Who This Retreat Is For

This retreat may be for you if:

You do not need to have attended one of my retreats before.

You do not need to be part of the Living From the Heart Fellowship.

You do not need experience with yoga or meditation.

And you certainly do not need to arrive having everything figured out.

You are welcome exactly as you are.

What You’ll Take Home

My hope is not that you leave this weekend as a different person. My hope is that you leave more connected to the woman you already are.

With a deeper understanding of what it feels like to stay present with yourself.
With practices you can use when life becomes uncomfortable or uncertain.
With a felt experience of being supported, witnessed, and cared for.
With more permission to rest, receive, and honor your own needs.

And with the reminder that you do not have to wait until everything is resolved to experience love, connection, joy, or peace.

Most of all, I hope you leave knowing that the woman you honored during our weekend is the same woman who returns home with you. And that she deserves your love there, too.

Jamie Kruse
Meet Your Guide

Jamie Kruse, LCSW

Founder of Living From the Heart

Jamie is a trauma-informed psychotherapist, integrative healing guide, and community facilitator whose work brings together psychotherapy, embodiment, nervous system awareness, meditation, and sacred healing practices.

Through Living From the Heart, she creates spaces for people to reconnect with themselves through presence, compassion, meaningful connection, and lived experience.

Her work is rooted in the understanding that healing doesn’t happen only through insight. It also happens through relationships, embodied experience, and learning how to remain present with ourselves.

Her intention is not to tell you who to become, but to create space for you to reconnect with who you already are.

About Jamie

Your Accommodations

Our weekend will take place in a beautiful 3,600-square-foot private home nestled on 10 acres in Berrien Springs, Michigan.

Surrounded by trees and nature, the home offers a peaceful setting to slow down, reconnect, and enjoy time away from everyday responsibilities.

The property features:

Imagine ending the day soaking in the hot tub, sitting around the fire, sharing meaningful conversations, or simply enjoying the stillness of nature.

Sleeping Arrangements

This is an intimate, shared retreat experience.

Bedrooms will be shared, and every woman will have her own individual sleeping space.

Accommodations include a combination of king, queen, and twin beds, with comfortable air mattresses provided as needed.

Room assignments will be arranged thoughtfully, with consideration for individual preferences and needs whenever possible.

You are welcome to attend on your own or with a friend.

Retreat Details

December 11–13, 2026

Friday evening through Sunday afternoon

Berrien Springs, Michigan

An intimate gathering of 12–14 women.

The exact address, arrival information, and additional weekend details will be shared with registered participants.

Your Investment

Early Registration (through November 27) — $895
Regular Registration — $995

Your retreat investment includes:

Payment plans are available. Optional massage sessions may be reserved separately for an additional fee. Space is intentionally limited.

Reserve Your Place
Reserve Your Place

Wherever you are on your journey, there is a place
for you here.

Wherever you are on your journey, there is a place for you here.

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