The Decade Retreat for Women with Sara Szal MD and Elena Brower

The Decade Retreat for Women is a four-day wellness retreat at Rising Circle Ranch in Santa Fe, New Mexico, led by Sara Szal, MD and yoga and meditation teacher Elena Brower. It is for women who sense that something in their lives or bodies is shifting and want to meet the next ten years with clear information, steady practice, and room to think. The retreat combines medical science, contemplative practice, and stretches of silence.

What to Expect

The retreat is built from three elements: science, practice, and time to be silent. Together they help you understand what may be changing, consider what supports you now, and make thoughtful choices about how you want to feel, live, and care for yourself over the next decade.

Sara Szal, MD brings the science, and Elena Brower guides the practice. The silence is part of the design rather than a pause between sessions. It gives you space to take in what you have learned and notice what is true for you before deciding anything. If you are searching for a women's retreat in Santa Fe that pairs a physician's perspective with yoga and meditation, this is that kind of gathering.

About Elena Brower

Elena Brower is a yoga and meditation teacher, author, and podcast host whose work centers on cultivating attention as a spiritual and creative practice. She graduated from Cornell University in 1992 and spent nearly a decade designing textiles and apparel before turning to yoga and meditation teaching full-time. She has taught asana since 1999 and began formal study and practice of Zen Buddhism in 2020. She is currently a candidate for Buddhist chaplaincy.

Her approach draws on yoga philosophy, Zen Buddhism, and mindfulness. She emphasizes what she calls spiritual intelligence, the capacity to meet uncertainty with awareness and care. Rather than staying within a single lineage, she weaves together classical yoga, contemporary meditation science, and the ceremonial discipline of Zen practice.

The Setting

The retreat takes place at Rising Circle Ranch in Santa Fe, New Mexico, where the four days unfold in one place.