New Year Ritual Retreat
Join us for a weekend retreat to welcome the new year with ritual and ceremony
Rivendell Retreat Centre, Bowen Island
January 17-19th 2025
Step into 2025 with intention and community
Every January, we host a weekend retreat offering rituals to welcome the new year. Together, we release what we need to let go of from the previous year, find stillness in the present moment, and create a vision board to guide us forward. This is a wonderful way to set new intentions for what’s to come, surrounded by a community of care in a natural environment.
Who is it for?
This retreat is ideal for women of all ages and stages in life who are looking to invite more ritual into their everyday life and start the year with an intentional community. Whether you’re curious about ceremony or are a seasoned ritualist, this will be an opportunity to learn, share and connect with others in a magical setting.
Where is the retreat?
This 3 day retreat is hosted at Rivendell Retreat Centre on Bowen Island, BC. A short ferry ride from West Vancouver, the Lodge at Cates Hill is set in a tranquil, natural environment, surrounded by forest, lakes, and sweeping ocean views. We will have the Lodge to ourselves, which sleeps 25 people in private and shared rooms.
What can I expect?
We will explore rituals to release what was, find stillness in the present moment, and set intentions for the future. There will be meditation, movement, art, music, and time in nature. We’ll be crafting our own story vision boards that capture the story we want to tell in the year ahead, and we will be sharing our visions in a community of care.
Schedule of Events
Please arrive at Rivendell by 3pm on Friday, January 17th. We begin our Opening Circle at 4pm, followed by dinner and rituals to release the year gone by. We will spend Saturday crafting our vision boards and tapping into our creativity, with lots of time in nature. On Sunday, we'll share our 2025 visions and set intentions for the year ahead. We will leave Rivendell at 3pm with plans to be on the 4pm ferry home.
Investment
The cost for the retreat is $950 for a semi-private room and $1,150 for a private room. This includes two nights accommodation, six catered vegetarian meals, workshop supplies, and treasures from the heart. This does not include travel to or from Bowen Island. Full payment is requested upon registration and is non-refundable. We have a few partial scholarships available if finances are challenging, and a 50/50 payment plan is available to those who request it.
The Space
We will host our workshops, circles and meals in the Lodge at Rivendell. We will sleep upstairs and have the entire space to ourselves. There is a beautiful meditation house, a community labyrinth, hiking trails, and lots of beautiful nooks to pause and soak up the majestic views. Please note that as part of Rivendell's focus on service, we are asked to clean our own rooms and the lodge before we leave.
Accommodations
Most rooms are shared, with two single beds (side by side) and modest furnishings and a private shared washroom. You can request a private room for an additional fee (limited availability, on a first come basis). All of the rooms are located in The Lodge where we will be gathering throughout the day.
Meals
We'll have a caterer on site, cooking delicious family-style meals for us. The menu will be vegetarian and we can accommodate most dietary needs if given advanced notice. Meals include Friday dinner, Saturday all meals, and Sunday breakfast and lunch. We will have snacks throughout the day.
Sharing Our Gifts
We are fortunate to have so many talented people joining us on our retreat. If you have a gift you would like to share with the group - whether it's leading us in song, with yoga, on a hike, or in conversation, we invite you to share your gifts so we can celebrate them and learn from each other. Please reach out with any offers or requests for our time together.
Retreat Application
FAQs
After our opening circle on Friday, we’ll have dinner together and then participate in a release ritual to let go of anything you want to shed from the previous year. Saturday morning we’ll have breakfast together and then an artistic day spent crafting and curating our vision boards. There will be a long afternoon pause to choose your own adventure – you can go for a walk, drive to the beach for a swim in the winter sea, take a nap, or connect with a new friend. Saturday evening, we will have dinner followed by a dance party! Sunday will be spent sharing our stories and visions for the ahead, finishing with our closing circle. We will leave Rivendell by 3pm with plans to be on the 4pm ferry back to Vancouver.
Yes! Be sure to note the fact you’re planning to attend with a friend and we will do everything we can to place you in the same room. Please note that rooms are available on a first-come basis and may fill up. If you’re sharing a room with someone new, we will introduce you ahead of time so you can get acquainted!
We made the decision to offer these retreats to women, and those who identify as women, to help with feelings of safety, transparency and shared lived experiences. We connect with all of our applicants before approving registration to ensure that everyone joining is aware of the topics and circumstances of the weekend.
Prices are in CAD. Full payment is requested to secure your spot. A 50/50 payment plan is available upon request, with 50% due upon registration and the remaining 50% due 30 days prior to the retreat. An invoice will be sent to you within a couple of days of registering.
If you cancel before 30 days of the retreat, we will refund your payment less a $200 administration fee. If you cancel within 30 days of the retreat, we cannot provide a refund of any kind.
Due to the limited number of spaces available and the financial commitments incurred to book the lodge and caterer, we cannot make any exceptions to this refund policy, not even for personal emergencies. We recommend that you take out travel insurance to protect yourself against illness, emergencies and changes in your circumstances.
In the unfortunate event you are unable to attend the retreat, you may transfer your spot to a friend or someone on our waiting list if available, subject to our approval. If we have to cancel the retreat due to events beyond our control, we will reschedule the retreat for a later date. If you cannot attend the new date, we will provide a full refund.
To make our retreat more accessible, we offer two partial scholarships with a priority for marginalized communities, including BIPOC, LGBTQ2S and people with disabilities. We will reach out to those who apply for a scholarship during our application process to share more about your circumstances. If you do not qualify for a scholarship, you can request financial assistance in the form of a payment plan or small subsidy to support your attendance.
Absolutely! As part of our tuition model, we welcome those who are able to offer an extra scholarship to a participant in need. Please reach out if you have the means to add to our scholarship program.
Yes, this is a BYOB retreat and we will not be serving alcohol. If you would like to bring wine, spirits or mocktails to share, you are welcome to do so. We will have flavoured fizzy waters, coffee and tea to share.
Yes, of course. Our time is carefully scheduled but not packed. There will be time on Saturday to rest and recharge in whatever way you need. This could include taking a nap, going for a walk in nature, cold plunging in the ocean, or doing yoga in the meditation hut.
We set up a RideShare spreadsheet for our guests to request and offer ride sharing. We’re also happy to help you connect with the many bus, taxi, and private car services available between Vancouver International Airport and Bowen Island, BC. Please note that there are no taxis on Bowen Island and the lodge is located at the top of a very steep hill. We suggest finding someone in our rideshare to drive you from the ferry to the lodge.
Our retreat facilities are not set up as a conventional hotel, so you cannot stay at Rivendell longer than our allotted timing. However, we would be delighted to suggest options for extending your vacation on Bowen Island or in Vancouver.
