Thank you for joining our waitlist for the Menla retreat. Stay tuned for updates and registration opening in mid-August!
To learn more about Menla Retreat Center, click here!
In this powerful and inspiring retreat, Jade and Camellia will weave polyvagal theory with aromatics and somatics to provide you with the tools you need to support yourself and your clients in healing and in building resiliency.
The retreat will take place at Menla - a hidden oasis set in a secluded valley beside an enchanting stream in the heart of the Catskill mountains. A truly unique venue and a project of Tibet House US – the Dalai Lama’s cultural center in North America – Menla is a modern resort and destination spa surrounded by thousands of acres of unspoiled wilderness.
In this 3 day retreat, you will learn how to utilize aromatic plants, essential oils, herbal teas, and somatics to help heal the impact of trauma and chronic stress on the body/mind/psyche.
Menla Retreat: Upstate New York
November 9th thru 13th
Wednesday thru Sunday
Wednesday (November 9th) Arrive at Menla between 3-4pm to check into room | Dinner 6pm | Circle Gathering 7:30-9pm
Thursday, Friday, Saturday (November 10, 11, and 12th): 3 Full days of Class (Breakfast, Lunch, and Dinner)
Sunday (November 13th) Breakfast 8am-9pm | Checkout, Forest bathing walk | Lunch 12:30 to 1:30pm | Depart
Meet Your Instructors
Meet JADE:
With over 32 years in the field of aromatherapy and holistic health, Jade is bringing her knowledge and experience through her own personal journey with trauma, both acute and complex, to the forefront of her work. Over the past seven years, Jade has studied Polyvagal Theory at the Polyvagal Institute, Jungian Somatics with Jane Clapp, Herbs and Somatic Practices for Stress, Trauma and Resilience with Larken Bunce, and Integrative Somatic Trauma Therapy at the Embody Lab including Polyvagal Theory and Pathways to Connection with Deb Dana.
She has completed "Embodying Nature: Exploring the 5 Elements Inside" and "Intersections with Somatic Experiencing: Promoting Post-Traumatic Growth Using SE and Hakomi" with Somatic Experiencing International.
Jade has studied with the BlueKnot Foundation in Australia and holds a certificate in 'Foundations for Building Trauma Awareness' and 'Introduction to Energy Psychology for Working with Trauma and Complex Trauma' from BlueKnot. She also holds a certificate for 'Trauma-Informed Herbalism in Clinical Practice" from the American Herbalist Guild and 'Healing Trauma' with Dr. Peter Levine through the Embody Lab.
She is currently studying "Transforming The Elements: Supporting the Mental & Emotional with Essential Oils" with Tiffany Carole.
Throughout her studies, Jade has been most interested in the intersection between trauma, aromatics, and somatics. This retreat is the result of her own journey with both acute and complex trauma, its far reaching impact on the body/mind/psyche, and the power of aromatics, our sense of smell, and somatics in supporting healing and building resiliency.
Meet Camellia:
Camellia’s inherent path of wellness and healing comes under the tutelage of her maternal grandmother at an early age, exposure to Chinese folklore medicine, aromatic ritual practices, and reverence. These early experiences shaped and ultimately informed her career in the holistic health and wellness industry.
As a highly acclaimed Licensed Massage Therapist, Camellia has spent close to two decades working in holistic integrative medical establishments and reputable spas before she co-founded a wellness center in the heart of New York City. Certified in Biodynamic Craniosacral Therapy with Roger Gilchrist in 2013, it enabled Camellia’s work to deepen into the subtle energetic field and fluid rhythms of the body to support greater resiliency for the nervous system. She holds a Certificate on Hands on Trauma training informed by Peter Levine’s work on trauma and its effect into the cranial practice with Osteopath and Craniosacral Therapist, Katherine Ukleja, DO of the Karuna Institute in England.
Aromatherapy has always been woven into the heart of her bodywork practice and in 2018 Camellia embarked on a Foundation Aromatherapy Level 1 certification training with Jade Shutes and David Crow of Floracopeia. Her handcrafted aromatic product line, Root and Resin, is designed with the intention to support ritual and embodied awareness to facilitate balance and wellbeing. Under this mission, Camellia has collaborated on special projects in the hospitality industry to craft bespoke signature scents and for wellness workshops and retreats. In 2019, she co-led a wellness program with a focus on resilience and trauma for the staff of emergency room doctors and nurses at Lenox Health Greenwich Village, NYC under the Northwell Health Medical System, to which an aromatherapy synergy blend was uniquely designed for the medical team.
A consummate student, Camellia’s deepening of somatic practice as it relates to understanding and healing of stress and trauma of the nervous system is supported by the current study of the work of yoga teacher, Patty Townsend of Embodyoga® , a culmination and ongoing exploration of 50 years of sustained inquiry into the nature of awareness, body, and mind. Informed by the published work of Stanley Rosenberg, “Accessing the Healing Power of the Vagus Nerve”, she is currently enrolled and studying with Deb Dana and Stephen Porges, in the course, “Polyvagal Informed Therapy Master Class”.
Camellia’s mission to share resiliency strategies and resources through her passion for aromatics, embodiment practices and ritual is in response to distress and overwhelm as witnessed in her private practice and cumulative experience of conditioned patterns of trauma, ancestral lineage, and stress identified on both an individual and collective level.
Engaging in community in a way that is meaningful to us is one of the most reliable paths to resilience.
- Larken Bunce