NICA CELLY & JOLENE BEILSTEIN PRESENT:
understory:
a 3-day retreat
exploring body,
word, & landscape
Friday - Sunday, August 21-23, 2026
Ratna Ling Buddhist Retreat Center
Cazadero, California, 2 hours north of San Francisco
in the understory, subtle perception finds form.
Through encounters with word, body, and Nature, perception expands: from micro to macro, breath to landscape, and individual to collective.
Over three days and two nights, we will slow down to sense and reconnect with the fertile, unseen layers that sustain life both within and around us to restore resilience and wonder in collaboration with the More Than Human World.
Jolene Beilstein and Nica Celly will offer breath, movement, and creative practices to explore somatic wholeness so that you may discover and tend to your personal understory. This retreat is for those seeking a gentle, immersive, and creative experience.
No pre-requisites are required, only an open curiosity and a willingness to begin.
an inderdisciplinary exploration:
pranayama
forest bathing
creative writing
yin & hatha yoga
your guides
the intention
& experience
The practices in this workshop-style retreat are fundamental to our personal and professional inquiries. We are thrilled to collaborate to activate therewith you, and collaborate for a rich, tactile, and connective restful experience of perception and awareness.
We believe that diversity of age, gender, and background enriches our collective exploration of the understory. Again, no prior experience with these practices is necessary, only a willingness to begin.
The schedule is simple:
We will breathe, walk, pause, inquire, nourish, move, and write together.
All of this is to introduce experiences that allow a listening beyond default conditioning and patterns to create space for what might emerge.
We are deeply grateful to our hosts at Ratna Ling for preserving and serving the Tibetan Buddhist lineage and its radiating community in the heart of the forest that has held and supported our work.
We hope you will join us.
With love,
Jolene and Nica
about ratna ling
We are thrilled to be sharing this retreat at Ratna Ling, a contemporary Buddhist retreat center that functions as much as a place of preservation and practice as it is an upscale retreat center.
Lodging is shared with two bedrooms (one person per bedroom) in each cabin, beautifully appointed with luxe bedding, a jacuzzi tub, and tea and coffee service in mini kitchens. The space is impressive, spacious, and set amidst the redwood forest with extensive paved walking trails between buildings.
Meals are lacto-vegetarian with enough variety and protein to nourish and delight. While we try to accommodate as many allergies as possible (vegan options are available, please let them know when you register), we can't accommodate everything - but you are welcome to bring snacks and extra food, and keep it in the fridge in your cabin.