By
- Kathleen Barnard, special to cleveland.com
Oh. – As summer winds down, a small group of Westlake women will get a chance to step away from their daily routines, to slow down, and reconnect with themselves at Elemental Wellness Cold Plunge’s “Return to You” retreat, held under the theme “Pause. Reset. Reconnect.”
Organized by Elise Free, who founded Elemental Cold Plunge, the newly relocated Elemental Wellness, the gathering is built around a feeling that even when we’re doing all the right things, life has a way of speeding up
“We move from one responsibility to the next, one goal to another, and before we know it, we’ve drifted away from ourselves,” Free shared
The retreat — called “The Reset: Women’s Immersion” — weaves together ceremonial cacao, contrast therapy, nervous system regulation, guided reflection, embodiment practices and intentional connection
Free says the goal is for participants to leave the experience grounded, clear-headed and ready for the season ahead, rather than simply hearing about those ideas secondhand
The heart of this retreat is for women who spend so much of their lives taking care of everyone else that they’ve forgotten what it feels like to simply be taken care of themselves
Though Free is hosting the retreat, she won’t be leading it. Instead, she’s brought in Stacey Nelson, a facilitator she has co-led retreats with in Guatemala, Florida and Ohio, and whose work Free says she deeply respects — enough that she continues to attend Nelson’s retreats herself
“I intentionally invited Stacey because I wanted our members to experience someone whose work I deeply respect,” Free said. “Stacey and I have facilitated retreats together in Guatemala, Florida, and Ohio.”
The retreat itself is unscripted. Rather than following a set agenda, Free said, the day tends to take its own shape and evolve based on the women in the room
“There always seems to be a common thread, a shared challenge, or a place where everyone is quietly asking for the same thing,” she said. “Rather than forcing an agenda, we create the space for that to emerge.”
Participants don’t need any prior retreat experience, and there’s no special preparation required — Free said women can simply show up in comfortable clothing
The experience is built around slowing down, quieting mental noise and reconnecting with a sense of self that can get lost in the pace of daily life
“Women often leave feeling lighter, clearer, more grounded, and with a renewed sense of peace,” Free said. “Not because we’ve ‘fixed’ anything, but because we’ve created the space for them to hear themselves again.”
The retreat is intentionally limited to 15 women and as of this week only a few sports remained
The cost is $165 for Elemental members and $195 for non-members. Those interested in reserving one of the remaining spots can contact Elise Free or staff at Elemental Wellness Cold Plunge in Westlake
If the retreat draws the response Free is hoping for, she said it could become an annual tradition — a seasonal gathering the Elemental community looks forward to again and again
