Healing Wisdom for Modern Times: You Are Your Greatest Healer

Healing Wisdom for Modern Times: You Are Your Greatest Healer is a healing retreat at Kripalu Center for Yoga & Health in Stockbridge, Massachusetts, led by ceremonial leader and wisdom keeper Erika Gagnon. Drawing on traditional healing wisdom, it is for anyone who wants to work with ancestral lineage, ritual and ceremony as a way to realign body, mind, spirit and soul, whether these practices are new to them or familiar.

The weekend begins from a simple premise: you are your own greatest healer and greatest medicine. Together the group looks at what that means in the context of modern daily life.

What to Expect

Erika Gagnon guides the group through traditional healing wisdom: the importance of ancestral lineage, ceremonies and rituals, sacred altars, medicinal plants, and the origins of dis-ease in the physical, mental, emotional, spiritual and soul bodies. Participants take part in three traditional healing ceremonies, with the aim of transforming trauma and unhealthy patterns. The invitation is to reconnect with your own wisdom and power through clarity, gratitude and forgiveness, and to strengthen your connection to the sacred in everyday life by honoring and healing your ancestral lineage. Reflective journaling and a community devoted to healing run through the program.

The retreat spans four days. It opens with check-in from 2:00 pm, a Kripalu Yoga class from 4:45 to 6:00, dinner, and an evening program session from 7:30 to 9:00.

Full days follow a steady rhythm:

- 6:30 to 7:45 am: Kripalu Yoga class
- 7:30 to 9:00 am: silent breakfast
- 9:00 to 11:30 am: program session
- 11:30 am to 1:30 pm: lunch
- 1:30 to 4:00 pm: program session
- 4:45 to 6:00 pm: Kripalu Yoga class
- 5:30 to 7:30 pm: dinner

On the closing day, yoga and silent breakfast are followed by a final program session from 9:00 to 11:00 am, then lunch and departure. Times may shift, and the schedule given at check-in has the final details and room locations.

About Erika Gagnon

Erika Gagnon is a ceremonial leader and wisdom keeper. She guides this retreat's exploration of ancestral lineage, ceremony, sacred altars and medicinal plants, and leads the three traditional healing ceremonies at its center.

The Setting

Kripalu Center for Yoga & Health in Stockbridge, in the Berkshires of western Massachusetts, is a residential yoga and wellness center. Its accommodations are intentionally simple, meant to help you unplug and feel grounded. You can choose a private room for solitude and personal reflection, or a shared, community-style dormitory room that fosters connection with other participants. Rooms are ready by 4:00 pm, and a luggage room is available if you arrive earlier. Three meals are served each day, and the grounds are open for movement and solitude between sessions.

Before You Go

All experience levels are welcome. Yoga classes are offered daily at varying intensities, and the healing and ceremonial work is accessible whether you are new to these practices or have established experience. The retreat is taught in English.

Please bring a journal, and items for the group altar, such as photographs of loved ones and ancestors and sacred objects that have meaning for you.

Your stay includes:

- accommodation, with room type varying by selection
- three meals a day
- more than ten yoga classes over the program
- all program sessions and the three healing ceremonies
- access to the Kripalu grounds and amenities

Healing Arts sessions, items from the Kripalu Shop and Cafe, and travel to and from Kripalu are not included. Check-out on the day of departure is at 10:00 am, and you may remain on campus and take part in workshops until 2:00 pm.