Retreats

Black woman with curly hair in athletic wear lying on her back on a white towel, one hand on her chest, eyes closed, looking up toward the sky

You don’t have to carry it all alone.

At Compassion Collective we create intimate, culturally attuned spaces where successful Black women can lay their armor down and be held with tenderness. Our retreats are not escapes. They are practices where rest is not a reward, but a birthright.
Body of water with red flowers in the foreground and mountains in the distance

The Courage to Bloom Catskills Spring Retreat

  • On Heartache, Renewal & Self-Nurturance

    When was the last time you allowed yourself to be held while your heart was hurting?

    This retreat is for the woman carrying quiet sorrow — the grief of a relationship that ended, the loss of someone you love, or the slow, unspoken exhaustion of always being the strong one. It’s for the part of you that is tired of “pushing through,” and ready to be met with something gentler.

    Over four days in the soft bloom of spring in the Catskills, we’ll explore how to tend to your own heart with patience and reverence. You’ll be guided through practices that invite rest, emotional release, and the courage to feel again. Here, healing is not rushed. Grief is honored. And blooming is still possible, no matter how many times your heart has been broken.

  • Arrival: Wednesday, April 29 (2:00–4:00 PM)
    Departure: Sunday, May 3 (10:00 AM–12:00 PM)
    Location: A private retreat home in Greene County, NY just 2.5 hours from NYC, surrounded by quiet woods and expansive sky.

    • 4 days and 3 nights in a serene, luxury retreat home in the Catskills

    • Your choice of private or shared accommodations, surrounded by quiet woods and mountain air

    • All meals prepared by a private chef: breakfast, lunch, dinner, and nourishing snacks

    • Daily guided meditation and tea rituals

    • Facilitated group sessions supporting healing around heartache, renewal, and self-nurturance

    • Creative and experiential practices to help you process, release, and reconnect

    • Access to hot tub, fire pit, and nearby nature trails

    • Thoughtful welcome gifts and personal touches throughout your stay

    • Pre-retreat preparation materials to ground you before arrival

    • Ongoing community support through the Compassion Collective after the retreat ends

  • From $643 per person

    Early Bird Special: 15% off if you register by December 31, 2025

    This experience is intentionally intimate. We welcome only 6 women to ensure there is space, emotionally and physically, for depth, softness, and true transformation.

Book Your Experience

Not sure which experience is right for you?

Take our Readiness Quiz to discover the offering that best aligns with where you are on your journey. Whether you’re seeking reflection, connection, or deep restoration, this quiz helps you identify the Retreat, Salon, or Supper that meets you where you are.

Additional Offerings

Dining table with a half-filled champagne glass, pine and fruit centerpieces, and place settings with plates and cutlery.

Soft Life Supper Winter Solstice 2025

  • The Winter Solstice marks the longest night of the year — a threshold where darkness reaches its fullest expression before the slow return of light. It’s a moment that invites us to acknowledge what lives in our shadows: the grief we carry, the anger we’ve quieted, the desires we’ve tucked away.

    Together, we’ll explore the interplay of divine feminine and masculine energies, not as gendered ideas, but as complementary forces within all of us: the receptive and the active, the soft and the strong, the rest and the doing.

    Too often, we’re taught to choose. To be nurturing or ambitious. Gentle or powerful. Vulnerable or protected. But true wholeness requires both. And the Solstice, a moment suspended between darkness and light, reminds us that we can hold all of ourselves with compassion and communal care.

    This evening is for women ready to stop abandoning parts of their hearts and learn to embrace their fullness with honesty, softness, and courage.

    • You’re ready to stop hiding parts of yourself to be “easy” or “palatable”

    • You’re curious about shadow work but want to explore it in community, not alone

    • You’ve been running on overdrive and need permission to rest without guilt

    • You seek connection with women who value healing as much as ambition

    • You want a glimpse of what the Compassion Collective retreat experience feels like

Black woman with short hair wearing a white suit, sitting at a table with a laptop and looking out the window while sipping from a copper cup with straws.

Virtual Gatherings Year-Round Salons 2026

  • Our Virtual Gatherings bridge the distance—between retreats, across cities, and for women at different points in their Compassion Collective journey.

    Held on the 2nd Thursday of each month, 6:45–8:00 PM EST, each 75-minute session blends guided mindfulness, reflective practice, and meaningful dialogue.

    For those who have experienced the depth of our retreats, these gatherings provide ongoing connection and support, no matter where you are in the world. For newcomers, they offer a chance to meet Esther, explore our core frameworks, and see if this community feels like home.

    • Practical tools and frameworks you can immediately apply to daily life, from mindfulness prompts to self-compassion practices

    • Ongoing support and connection for retreat alumnae to stay grounded between in-person gatherings

    • A welcoming introduction for new participants to experience the intimacy, luxury, and cultural resonance of Compassion Collective

    • Space for personal reflection to explore how core themes can reshape your daily rhythms

    • Direct access to Esther, including a 15-minute Q&A after each session for questions, guidance, and tailored support

Black woman with curly hair in athletic wear lying on her back on a white towel, one hand on her chest, eyes closed, looking up toward the sky

Embodiment as Reclamation Spring Salon 2026

  • Everyone’s talking about embodiment. But what does it really mean to live in your body when you’ve spent years ignoring its signals?

    For high-achieving Black and Brown women navigating a world that polices our bodies, dismisses our pain, and demands constant strength, embodiment isn’t a trend. It’s a reclamation, a practice of listening to the body you’ve been conditioned to override in pursuit of productivity, palatability, or survival.

    This Salon moves beyond surface-level conversations to explore what it truly means to be present in your physical self. Together, we’ll discuss somatic practices, the politics of Black women’s bodies, pleasure as a pathway to presence, and how to reconnect with the wisdom your body has been offering all along.

    • You’ve heard “listen to your body” but aren’t sure how, after years of overriding its signals

    • You want to explore embodiment through a lens that honors the realities of living in a Black woman’s body

    • You’re curious about somatic practices but want more than surface-level wellness content

    • You seek intellectually rigorous conversation grounded in lived experience

    • You want to be in community with women who understand the complexity of reclaiming your physical self

Voices from The Collective

  • "A Compassion Collective retreat is like the exhale on a Jill Scott song. Restorative, supportive, energizing."

    Laurie P.

  • "What differentiates this retreat is the continued support even after the retreat. I love knowing I have this collective of women in my life."

    Kasandra J.

  • "My experience in one word? Peaceful. The villa and meditations allowed my busy body to be still and find pleasure in the quiet solitude."

    Lindsey B.