Medicine and Community Weekend Retreat
Beginning on Saturday night once Shabbat has ended — hosted by Aaron Stefansky, and shaped around preparing well and returning home with something you can actually use.
The whole weekend is the work.
Ceremony is the doorway. What lasts is built on either side of it — in how you prepare, and in what you do with it afterwards. So the weekend is treated as one continuous thing: the breathwork, the circles, the conversations, the hours with nothing scheduled. None of it is separate from the rest.
It is easy to get lost in the sheer bigness of a night like that — dazzled by it, and home by Tuesday with nothing you can actually use. The work here is to help you find the few real things in it and carry them into your relationships, your habits, your work, and the way you show up on an ordinary day.
We want people to feel the true spirituality of this life, gifted to us by our Creator. We also want you to come home with something you can live by. Those have never been competing aims.
What the weekend includes.
- Two nights' accommodation on the property
- All meals — vegetarian and kosher, prepared on site
- Preparation guidance before you arrive
- Orientation before anything begins
- Two evening ceremonies
- Breathwork
- A gentle movement session
- Sharing and integration circles
- Conversations that help make sense of the experience
- Space for prayer, reflection and rest
- Company and support across the whole retreat
How we hold it
We serve this the way we were taught to meet it — through the discipline of the master plant dietas, the long quiet work of sitting with the plant teachers until what they have to teach lives in the body rather than in a notebook. We don't talk much about that during a ceremony. We would rather it simply be felt: in the steadiness of the room, and in the quality of attention we bring to it.
Integration is not an afterthought
It is where the work becomes yours. In the sharing and integration circles we slow down and make meaning together, so that what happened does not evaporate the moment you drive out of the gate. A ceremony may open something. Integration is how you come to understand it, hold on to it, and live it.
Safety and humility
We hold this with both — clear-eyed about what we are working with, never above it, and in service to the people who trust us to sit with them. You are safe here to go as deep as you need to go.
What it feels like.
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Saturday night
Shabbat ends, and the retreat begins about an hour and a half later. Arrive, settle, and meet the people you will spend the next two days with. Orientation before anything else, so everyone knows what the night holds — then ceremony, and something light to eat afterwards.
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Sunday
A slow start. Movement, then the first integration circle — time to say out loud what the night was, which is often where it starts to make sense. Lunch, then a long stretch with nothing scheduled. Breathwork in the afternoon, and the second ceremony that night.
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Monday
Breakfast, a final integration circle, and a closing circle. We finish around the middle of the day, so nobody is driving home exhausted.
The shape of the weekend varies. This is the rhythm, not a timetable.
Who comes to this.
- People who feel called to go deeper — looking for clarity, prayer, connection, and a more honest relationship with themselves and with G-d.
- People who are not after a quick escape, but a meaningful process held with care, humility and respect.
- People willing to do the preparation. It is asked of everyone, and it makes more difference than most expect.
- Anyone under a clinician's care, or taking prescribed medication, should talk to them before registering. Some conditions and medications make participation unsafe, and that is covered properly at intake.
Sacred medicine ceremonies within this retreat are conducted by Tikkun Healing Center, an affiliated spiritual organization.
Retreat registration, accommodations, programming, and payment are managed by Tikkun Retreats. A donation is made to Tikkun Healing Center on the participant's behalf for ceremony participation.
Where you sleep.
| Room | Per person |
|---|---|
| General (air-conditioned ceremony area)Shared sleeping space | $1,540 |
| Twin ShareA shared room | $2,040 |
| Loft — single room | $2,240 |
| Queen Room | $2,340 |
Sliding scale and payment plans may be available where cost is genuinely the obstacle. Ask.
Registration should reach us seven days before the retreat, so there is time to prepare properly.
Your facilitator
Aaron Stefansky
Facilitator
Aaron leads retreats at Tikkun. Like many people who end up doing this work, he came to it through his own years with addiction, and he is direct about that being where the change began.
He keeps studying — long dietas with master plants in the Peruvian jungle and here in Florida — and what he teaches comes back, mostly, to trust: stepping into your heart and out of analysis. Fear is allowed. It just should not be the thing doing the driving.
His starting point is that people arrive already whole, and that much of the work is separating what someone is carrying from who they actually are.
Before you register.
When should I arrive?
This retreat begins on Saturday night, about an hour and a half after Shabbat ends. Exact arrival times come with your registration.
Is there anything to do beforehand?
Yes. There is a preparation period before the retreat, including dietary guidance. It is sent to you after you register, and it matters more than people expect.
What are the meals like?
Vegetarian and kosher, cooked on site, and eaten together. Tell us about allergies and dietary needs when you register.
Do I need to have done this before?
No. Plenty of people at any given weekend have not. Nobody is expected to arrive knowing how this works.
What if I would rather not take part in a ceremony?
Say so. The rest of the weekend — the meals, the circles, the breathwork, the grounds — stands on its own, and nobody is pushed.
Can I come with a partner or a friend?
Yes, and Twin Share exists for exactly that. Some people find it easier; some find it gets in the way. Worth a conversation first.
What should I bring?
Comfortable clothes for indoors and out, something warm for the evening, and a notebook if you use one. There is nothing you need to buy.
