Join Diana Wassef and Sasha Botanica October 16–18 in Napanoch, NY, for a women's weekend retreat during the height of autumn in the Hudson Valley.
As the leaves turn, the days shorten, and the natural world begins drawing its energy inward, we will gather to explore this seasonal threshold as a time for reflection, release, and preparation for the quieter months ahead.
Our weekend will weave together seasonal herbalism, embroidered talisman making, nourishing meals, time outdoors, Finnish sauna, rest, and women's circle. We will also be joined by special guest Emily Morrison, LAc, MAOM of Valley Spirit Wellness Center for Autumn Energetics & Qigong, exploring the season through the lens of Chinese medicine and embodied practice.
Throughout the weekend, Emily will also offer a limited number of private 1:1 acupuncture and integrative sessions at a discounted rate for retreat participants. These sessions are optional and can be booked in advance for those who would like to experience Emily's work more personally during their stay.
Surrounded by peak foliage at Mabel's Rest, this weekend is an invitation to slow down, work with our hands, reconnect with the rhythms of the season, and gather in community before winter begins.
❋ Body Movement
Throughout the weekend, we will work with gentle movement and rest through morning Qigong, and evening Yoga Nidra. These practices will invite us to move with the slower rhythm of the season, reconnect with the body after a busy summer and create space for grounding, reflection, and deep rest.
❋ Gathering in Community
We'll spend the weekend together in a shared space. Sitting in circle, talking, listening, and moving through each part of the day as a group, this is a supportive, respectful environment that encourages ease, connection, and openness.
❋ Creative Handwork
We will create embroidered talisman pouches as symbols of protection for our descent into the darker months. Featuring a Mokosh-inspired motif and filled with dried mugwort, each pouch becomes a small protective vessel to carry the intention of the weekend home.
❋ Downtime and Exploration
The property includes 130 acres of woods with walking trails, cozy fire pit and a Finnish sauna. There will be open time throughout the weekend for you to use the space in whatever way feels best—walking the trails, resting, or spending time outside.
Acupuncture Only ($75): 30–45 min
A personalized acupuncture session rooted in Classical and Traditional Chinese Medicine, tailored to your individual needs and what is present in the body at the time of your appointment. Emily will work with carefully selected acupuncture points to support balance, encourage the body's natural healing processes, and address areas of physical, emotional, or energetic tension.
Integrated Treatments ($175): 60 min
Emily offers deeply personalized sessions that blend Classical and Traditional Chinese Medicine with Jin Shou Tuina™, a rare manual lineage system passed down through the North American Tang Shou Tao Association. Each treatment is shaped around what is present for you physically, emotionally, and energetically at the time of your appointment and may include acupuncture, craniosacral therapy, Tuina, and/or cupping depending on your individual needs. Rather than following a set treatment format, Emily draws from these different modalities to create a session responsive to your body and where support is most needed.
Slowing Down
As part of our weekend, we will slow down and work with our hands to create small embroidered pouches featuring a simple Mokosh motif designed by Sasha and inspired by traditional Eastern European embroidery. Associated with the earth, fertility, women's work, spinning, and weaving, Mokosh is a figure deeply connected to the cycles of the land and the ancient relationship between women, cloth, and the work of the hands. As autumn draws us toward the darker half of the year, we will work with her image as a symbol of grounding, protection, and our connection to the earth beneath us.
Through the repetitive rhythm of needle and thread, we will explore embroidery as a quiet, contemplative autumn practice—a way of gathering our attention inward as the natural world does the same. Each finished pouch can be kept as a personal talisman, holding an intention for the season ahead, or filled with dried mugwort and placed near the pillow as a dream sachet. It is something small and tangible to carry home: a piece made slowly by hand, marking our passage across the threshold into the darker months of the year.
As we work on our embroideries we will gather in circle to explore where we are in our own cycles, whether that is in our menstrual cycle, in perimenopause, or in a wider season of life. This is an open conversation, rooted in shared experience and listening, exploring what it means to rest deeply in the season of life we are in and what the body may be asking for as we move into the quieter months ahead. This is an intergenerational space, where women at different stages of life share their stories and learn from one other.
Friday, October 16th
Arrival & Opening Circle
Saturday, October 17th
Descent of Autumn
Sunday, October 18th
Closing Circle & Departure
Accommodations
Room 1
Shared Room — 2 Queen Beds
$625 each
Room 2
Private Room — Queen Bed
$625 each or Solo $800
Room 3
Shared Room — 2 Twin Beds
$600 each
Room 4
Private Room — Queen Bed
$625 each or Solo $800
About Us
Sasha Botanica
Sasha is an herbalist and artist living in the Hudson Valley whose work is rooted in local plants, seasonal rhythms, and hands-on creativity. Through herbal medicine making, foraging, natural body care, plant dyes, and traditional handcrafts, she creates opportunities for people to engage with the natural world in tangible and sensory ways. Her workshops follow the changing seasons and bring together plant knowledge, creativity, and community, encouraging a deeper relationship with the land and the practices that connect us to it.
Diana Wassef
Diana Wassef is a sustainable fashion designer, Licensed Menstrual Health Coach, Natural Fertility Educator, and founder of Cremona Studios. Diana is a Lebanese-Egyptian cycle educator living in the Hudson Valley, whose work centers on menstrual cycle awareness, natural fertility, and cyclical living as a path to deeper embodiment. Through her guidance she supports women in reconnecting with their inner rhythms, and through Cremona Studios — her sustainable fashion label — she weaves the phases of the cycle into garments and stories that honor the wisdom carried in the body.
Emily Morrison, LAc, MAOM
Emily Morrison is a licensed acupuncturist and the founder and director of Valley Spirit Wellness Center in Beacon, NY. With over 20 years of experience in bodywork, Chinese medicine, and internal martial arts, her work draws from Classical and Traditional Chinese Medicine, acupuncture, herbal medicine, Qigong, and lineage-based movement and bodywork practices. Emily brings a deeply embodied approach to her work, helping people reconnect with their bodies and develop a greater awareness of the rhythms and transitions that shape our well-being.
"Sasha and Diana created a nourishing, welcoming container that immediately felt both sacred and disarming. The vulnerability, wisdom and power shared in the group was spell binding and spell breaking. Every being on this earth is so worthy of the sanctuary to be able to create, heal, release, hear and be heard."
– Genevieve
"Diana and Sasha, thank you for your creativity, intention, thoughtfulness, and attention to detail. Sasha, your internal and external beauty is unmatched. Your aura exudes coziness, openness, and true childlike joy. Diana, you have so much depth and a pure heart that is palpable to all. You are so silly and playful and such a wise woman all at the same time. That is ... bad ass."
– Tulsi
"Diana and Sasha, your retreat was truly magical! You both created a beautifully safe space for all of us to simply 'be.' The food was incredible. Your spirits, lightness, and enthusiasm were a reminder that heartfelt communities can exist during difficult times."
– Kris
