​For many women, there comes a moment when insight is no longer enough — when understanding what we carry does not restore a felt sense of center. Inherited patterns, cultural expectations, and the intensity of our times live not just in our stories, but in our bodies and nervous systems. This retreat is an invitation to move beyond analysis and into lived, embodied transformation.  

Rooted in Celtic myth and imaginal tradition, this experience engages the Great Mothers not as symbols to study, but as archetypal currents to encounter. Through guided meditation, movement, music, creative process, and shared reflection, participants enter a grounded, relational field where integration can take root. This retreat reconnects with the Celtic Great Mothers material first brought to Hope Springs in 2007, reengaging a living presence long held in this land.

The work of this retreat is the restoration of sovereignty. Not dominance or control, but a cellular remembering of your own center — the kind that changes how you walk into a room. A steady, embodied knowing that no longer requires constant analysis or external validation. The capacity to remain present in complexity and act from grounded wisdom rather than fear or fragmentation. Women leave more fully inhabiting their bodies and more steady in how they move through the world.

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Lineage and Stewardship

This gathering marks a renewed engagement with the Celtic Great Mothers material first brought to Hope Springs in 2007 by Kate Fitzpatrick of Co. Kerry, Ireland. Following her pilgrimage to Ireland in 2022, Julie entered into mentorship and formal training with Kate, deepening her relationship with this work. Kate has invited her to carry the lineage forward, and Julie now holds authorization to steward and facilitate this material with integrity, allowing the work to unfold in living relationship with the land and community.

Meet Your Facilitator, Julie Henderson

Julie Henderson, MS, LMT has been helping women find their way through seasons of change since 1994. She began her work as a licensed massage and craniosacral therapist, where she witnessed firsthand how mental, emotional, and cultural stress live in the body. Those decades of hands-on practice shaped her deep respect for the intelligence of the nervous system and the quiet wisdom carried in the cells.

Over time, Julie returned to her academic roots in developmental psychology, deepening her understanding of adult development and women’s lived experience. Today, as a Creative Depth Coach and retreat facilitator, she weaves guided meditation, movement, music, and creative process into deeply experiential spaces where insight can take root in the body and become lived transformation.

Julie has been in relationship with Hope Springs for over fifteen years as a participant, volunteer, facilitator, and friend of the land. Since 2010, she has offered annual retreats here, including the five-day women’s retreat, A Sacred Pause.