Silvae Spiritus

Stories the Land Holds: Renewal and Care
2026-04-16 18:30 - 20:00 (America/Chicago) | Lutheran Church of the Good Shepherd, 4801 France Avenue South, Minneapolis, MN, 55410, United States
The Land Speaks: Stories the Land Holds
a six-part series presented by
Lutheran Church of the Good Shepherd
Minneapolis, Minnesota

Can the land speak—and if we listen, what might we hear? Together, we’ll explore how the histories held in the neighborhood lands between the Mississippi and Minnesota Rivers have shaped our shared life today. Embedded in the rock and soil are traces of what has lived, moved, and changed over billions of years, as well as more recent human stories: Who has called this place home? Who has been welcomed, excluded, or displaced? How have these realities shaped us—and how might they guide us toward living in harmony with one another and the Earth, our common home?
All are welcome. Events are free; no sign-up required.
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PART FIVE: Stories the Land Holds: Renewal and Care
Thursday, April 16, 2026
6:30 – 8 pm

Join us for a restorative experience with certified forest guide Leigha Horton, co-founder of Silvae Spiritus, a meditative nature retreat near Finlayson, Minnesota. Through guided reflection and time spent both indoors and outdoors, we’ll slow down, reconnect with creation, and explore living with intention, harmony, and care for the land. This event will take place both inside and outside.
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Silvae Spiritus at KIEPO Solutions: Holistic Wellness Day
2026-04-18 10:00 - 17:00 | KIEPO Solutions, 499 Arrowhead Lane, Suite 2, Moose Lake, MN, 55767, United States
We’re delighted to join our friends at KIEPO Solutions in Moose Lake (just 30 minutes north of Silvae Spiritus) for their April Holistic Wellness Day, Saturday, April 19, from 10 am to 5 pm! The sister company next-door to the newly opened HWS Cannabis Co., KIEPO Solutions promotes not only physical and mental health and wellness, but also strong community connections and engagement. It’s a joy to collaborate with them, as their integrity and kindness come from a place of deep authenticity.
The day’s schedule is a la carte:
11 am – 12 pm: Painting Nature (hands-on workshop) – $20
12 pm – 1 pm: Cannabis for Wellness (presentation) – $20
3 pm – 4pm: Forest Herb Burn Bundles (hands-on workshop guided by Leigha Horton of Silvae Spiritus) – $20
4 pm – 5pm: Meditative Sound Immersion (presented by Travis Norman of Silvae Spiritus) – $20
Additionally, visitors can call to schedule:
20-minute Chair Massage – $20
30-minute Reiki Session – $30
20-minute Intuitive Tarot Readings – $20
Snacks, refreshments, and product samples will be available in their Lotus Lounge, and visitors are also welcome to shop the products available at KIEPO Solutions (many hand-crafted tallow soaps and lotions, other herbs, crystals, books, and more) and HWS Cannabis Company (including their new, fresh stock of flower as well as their usual CBD and THC drinks, gummies, etc.)
Limited space available; reservations are required: to schedule your day, call Breana at KIEPO Solutions: 218.460.6916.
Insider tip: plan for a meal at The Lazy Moose while you’re in town. You’ll be happy you did.

Spiral Path: Seasonal Ceremonies
2026-05-03 12:00 - 18:00 | Silvae Spiritus Northwoods Nature Retreat, 68441 Rhine Lake Road, Finlayson, MN, 55735, United States
Spiral Path: Seasonal Ceremonies
presented by Silvae Spiritus and Sisu Nordic Sauna
A four-part series:
Spring: Sunday, May 3, 2026 – 12 noon – 6pm
Summer: Sunday, August 2, 2026 – 12 noon – 6pm
Autumn: Sunday, November 1, 2026 – 12 noon – 6pm
Winter: Sunday, January 31, 2027 – 12 noon – 6pm
Ages 18+

Our vitality and interconnectedness with all of life is an inherent gift – one we’re all born with – and yet our Western culture often dismisses it, or worse, actively suppresses it.
Spiral Path: Seasonal Ceremonies, co-created by Silvae Spiritus and Sisu Nordic Sauna, is a four-part wellness series reflecting and honoring the natural rhythms of an entire year. Each session building upon the last, each season meeting us where we authentically are. Through sauna, cold plunge, and the mind, body, and spirit-tending Latvian thermic ritual of pirtis; deeply connective Forest Bathing and mytho-poetic herbcraft through the lens of animism; meditative and intuitive journaling; and the practice of community connection via The Way of the Circle, each gathering will focus on the profound wisdom and expansive teachings of a season and those most connected to it.
Inspired by the Celtic Wheel of the Year’s cross-quarter days between the Solstices and Equinoxes, we step together into a calendar of moons and ancient traditions. One where time is told by blossom and harvest, darkness and light. Join us on the Spiral Path – a yearlong exploration of ritual, tenderness, connection, and reflection.
Visit the Spiral Path: Seasonal Ceremonies event page for more information and to register! Event space is limited to 12 participants.

Spring Evening Forest Bathing at Dodge Nature Center
2026-05-14 18:30 - 20:30 | Dodge Nature Center – Main Property, Farm Entrance, 1701 Charlton Street, West St. Paul, Minnesota, 55118, United States
Join Silvae Spiritus Nature & Forest Therapy guide Leigha Horton, certified by the Association of Nature and Forest Therapy Guides and Programs, for a guided spring evening forest bathing experience!
Forest bathing is a slow-moving, deeply sensory, mindful and “bodyful” walk in nature that has shown to result in measurable physiological, cognitive, and emotional benefits. Much like walking meditation or yoga, these activities can be practiced on one’s own, almost anywhere, and yet the benefits greatly increase with regular practice. Forest bathing is significantly more immersive when facilitated by properly trained and certified guides—you’ll be guided by an expert through this program!
Over the course of this walk, you will be given a series of invitations and suggested ways to connect to your natural surroundings. This experience will be mostly silent, honors each participant’s personal space, and covers just about 1.5 miles over generally flat surfaces.
At the end of each invitation, the group will have an opportunity to share a few words of reflection, integrating the experience both internally and within community. The walk concludes with tea and light snacks.
Reservations required – register with Dodge Nature Center here.

Community Forest Bathing + Community Sauna
2026-05-24 11:00 - 15:30 | Silvae Spiritus Northwoods Nature Retreat, 68441 Rhine Lake Road, Finlayson, MN, 55735, United States
Forest Bathing is a slow-moving, deeply sensory, mindful and “bodyful” walk in nature that has shown to result in measurable physiological, cognitive, and emotional benefits. Much like walking meditation or yoga, these activities can be practiced on one’s own, almost anywhere, and yet the benefits greatly increase with regular practice. And much like meditation or yoga, the experience can be significantly more immersive when facilitated by properly trained and certified guides.

Over the course of this two-and-a-half-hour Community Forest Bathing walk at Silvae Spiritus Northwoods Nature Retreat, you will be given a series of invitations—suggested ways to connect to the surrounding 30 acres of woods and meadows. The experience will be mostly silent, honors each participant’s personal space, and covers just about a mile and-a-half over generally flat surfaces. At the end of each invitation, the group will have an opportunity to share a few words of reflection, integrating the experience both internally and within community. The walk will be led by Leigha Horton or Travis Norman, Silvae Spiritus Nature & Forest Therapy guides who have been Certified by the Association of Nature and Forest Therapy Guides and Programs.

The walk concludes with tea and light snacks, and allows for a 30 minute break before the start of the 2 pm Community Sauna session.

Community Sauna sessions at Silvae Spiritus are appropriate for all experience levels, and an opportunity to deepen your nature immersion, and your sense of deep relaxation and vitality, while enjoying the company of others. The 90-minute sessions are guided (information, science, and light coaching available) and the fire(s) fully tended, so that guests can fully luxuriate in the experience. The wood-fired hot tub will made be available to all guests at no additional charge if the Community Sauna Session reaches full capacity (8 guests), so bring your friends! Relax, connect, rejuvenate — together.
Community Forest Bathing + Community Sauna Sessions must meet a minimum of three people; cancellation notices and full refunds issued 24 hours prior to event start if minimum attendance is not met.

Pre-registration is required. Program registration must be made 36 hours (11:30 pm on the Friday preceding the event) or more in advance. Register here.

Interbeing 11: DAWN
2026-06-05 16:00 - 2026-06-07 15:00 | Silvae Spiritus Northwoods Nature Retreat, 68441 Rhine Lake Road, Finlayson, MN, 55735, United States
With the sun’s rise, long shadows stretch across the landscape. The East brings the medicine of new beginnings and rebirth and joy, yes, but not without alchemization and metabolization of the darkness that has come before. More info about the year’s first of two celebrated weekend-long camping retreats coming soon.
In past years, Interbeing retreats have typically focused on a single theme or wellness modality; in 2026, we are delighted to offer retreats that offer a little something for every part of your whole being: from prompted journaling to dance parties, guided meditation to yoga for all bodies, sound bathing to nature relation, ephemeral art to spaciousness, thermic cycling to naps, music to story circles. Guests will be invited into a weekend of relaxation, curiosity, shared wisdom, open-heartedness, and community.
Visit the Interbeing 11: DAWN event page for all the details and to register.
Ready to register? Use code EARLYBIRD2026 before April 19, 2026 to get $96 off!

Act fast – this event is limited to 25 participants.

Spring Evening Forest Bathing at Dodge Nature Center
2026-06-11 18:30 - 20:30 | Dodge Nature Center – Main Property, Farm Entrance, 1701 Charlton Street, West St. Paul, Minnesota, 55118, United States
Join Silvae Spiritus Nature & Forest Therapy guide Leigha Horton, certified by the Association of Nature and Forest Therapy Guides and Programs, for a guided spring evening forest bathing experience!
Forest bathing is a slow-moving, deeply sensory, mindful and “bodyful” walk in nature that has shown to result in measurable physiological, cognitive, and emotional benefits. Much like walking meditation or yoga, these activities can be practiced on one’s own, almost anywhere, and yet the benefits greatly increase with regular practice. Forest bathing is significantly more immersive when facilitated by properly trained and certified guides—you’ll be guided by an expert through this program!
Over the course of this walk, you will be given a series of invitations and suggested ways to connect to your natural surroundings. This experience will be mostly silent, honors each participant’s personal space, and covers just about 1.5 miles over generally flat surfaces.
At the end of each invitation, the group will have an opportunity to share a few words of reflection, integrating the experience both internally and within community. The walk concludes with tea and light snacks.
Reservations required – register with Dodge Nature Center.

Healing Minnesota: Becoming the Sweetgrass - A Community Healing Gathering
2026-06-27 11:00 - 17:00 | Belwin Conservancy, 1553 Stagecoach Trail South, Afton, 55001, United States
HEALING MINNESOTA
JUNE 27TH I 11:00 AM – 5:00 PM
Becoming The Sweetgrass—A Community Healing Gathering
Soften-Reconnect-Remember

Ages 12+
Youth ages 12-17 must be accompanied by a parent.

A ceremony of remembrance and healing, honoring the teachings of sweetgrass and our ability to live with kindness, compassion and unconditional love.
Join Renee Butters, Community Healer & Circle Keeper, and Circle Keeper for Silvae Spiritus’ Interbeing 11: DAWN retreat, for a day of connection, reflection, and learning as we explore the medicine of sweetgrass through guided forest bathing led by Leigha Horton of Silvae Spiritus, experiential practices, and a shared tea ceremony.
This is a free, community centered gathering made possible through the community donations via the Healing Minnesota GoFundMe.
This gathering includes a shared meal upon arrival.
Space is limited – Registration is required.
To register, email: rmbutters@icloud.com
Please include:
• Full name
• Names & ages of any youth attending
• A brief note of interest
• Any GF, DF or VEG dietary need
This space is being held by Renee Butters, Community Healer & Circle Keeper with intention, respect and deep care for each person who joins. All are welcome.
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“Each gathering in this series has carried its own medicine. Together, we have created spaces where people have been able to release what they have been carrying, reconnect with themselves and one another, and remember that they do not have to walk alone.
There is a remembering many are longing for. A returning to kindness. To connection. To the quiet medicine that exists within the natural world and within ourselves.
A remembering that we belong to something larger than ourselves. That healing happens in relationship with the land, with one another and within our own hearts.
Sweetgrass has long been known as a sacred hair of Mother Earth. A medicine of kindness, compassion and unconditional love. Its teachings remind us that even after hardship, we can choose to move through the world with gentleness, gratitude and care.
Becoming the Sweetgrass is an invitation into that remembering.
Through guided forest bathing, ceremony, reflection, community connection and a shared meal, participants will have the opportunity to slow down, reconnect with the natural world and explore what it means to live in deeper relationship with ourselves, one another and all living things.” – Renee Butters, She Heals Noojimo Noojimo’iwe

Summer Evening Forest Bathing at Dodge Nature Center
2026-07-01 18:30 - 20:30, 2026-08-06 18:30 - 20:30 | Dodge Nature Center – Main Property, Farm Entrance, 1701 Charlton Street, West St. Paul, Minnesota, 55118, United States
Join Silvae Spiritus Nature & Forest Therapy guide Leigha Horton, certified by the Association of Nature and Forest Therapy Guides and Programs, for a guided summer evening forest bathing experience!
Forest bathing is a slow-moving, deeply sensory, mindful and “bodyful” walk in nature that has shown to result in measurable physiological, cognitive, and emotional benefits. Much like walking meditation or yoga, these activities can be practiced on one’s own, almost anywhere, and yet the benefits greatly increase with regular practice. Forest bathing is significantly more immersive when facilitated by properly trained and certified guides—you’ll be guided by an expert through this program!
Over the course of this walk, you will be given a series of invitations and suggested ways to connect to your natural surroundings. This experience will be mostly silent, honors each participant’s personal space, and covers just about 1.5 miles over generally flat surfaces.
At the end of each invitation, the group will have an opportunity to share a few words of reflection, integrating the experience both internally and within community. The walk concludes with tea and light snacks.
Reservations required – register with Dodge Nature Center.

Homecoming: A Nature Based Awakening
2026-07-11 10:30 - 17:00 | Silvae Spiritus Northwoods Nature Retreat, 68441 Rhine Lake Road, Finlayson, MN, 55735, United States
Homecoming is a trauma-informed, nature-based retreat created for those seeking a return to rest, connection, and renewal. Together, we will explore what it means to return to ourselves, one another, and the land through nature, community, embodied practice, and collective healing and liberation.

Created in partnership between Harriet’s Wildseed and Acorn Adventure, this experience integrates clinical insight with Afro-Indigenous healing practices, offering a culturally responsive and embodied approach to restoration, reflection, and nervous system regulation.
Held at Silvae Spiritus, a forest sanctuary intentionally designed to support connection with the natural world, this retreat invites participants to step away from constant output and return to themselves, their bodies, and the land.
July 11 carries the energy of completion and awakening. This gathering is an intentional return to Mother Earth as first mother, and to the body as a living site of memory, healing, and wisdom.

Retreat Experience
Homecoming provides a structured and supportive space that integrates education, embodiment, and rest. Participants will move through guided experiences that support nervous system awareness, emotional release, and reconnection to self and community.
Retreat elements include:

sensory-based sound bath and meditative immersion

guided ritual and intentional ceremony

trauma conscious yoga and body-based movement

forest bathing and nature immersion

sweetgrass braiding and cultural practice

facilitated community dialogue and reflection

Each element supports regulation, presence, and access to internal and collective resources.

What This Retreat Supports
Participants are supported in:

recognizing how stress and trauma are held in the body

increasing awareness of nervous system responses

accessing states of safety, rest, and emotional spaciousness

reconnecting with the body as a site of healing and intuition

strengthening capacity for regulation, resilience, and relational care

Registration and Add-Ons
Registration includes the full Homecoming retreat experience.

Sauna, Cold Plunge & Hot Tub Add-On ($60)
Extend your Homecoming experience with access to the sauna, cold plunge, and hot tub from 5:30–7:00 PM. This optional offering provides additional time for reflection, integration, and connection in a peaceful natural setting following the retreat.

Available only as an add-on to your retreat registration.

Closing
Homecoming creates space to step out of roles, responsibilities, and constant care for others, and into a space of receiving. Participants leave with practical tools and embodied experiences that support continued healing within their daily lives.

About the Facilitators

Brittany Taylor, M.A. Founder of Harriet’s Wildseed
Brittany Taylor is an Afro-Indigenous healer, somatic-based therapist, and founder of Harriet’s Wildseed, an organization that functions as a ceremonial ecosystem of care, ritual, and reconnection guided by ancestral knowledge systems, trauma-responsive practices, and embodied liberation. Her work integrates somatic and sensory interventions, cultural traditions, and nature-based experiences that supports generational trauma recovery, nervous system healing, and pathways to reconnection, belonging, and collective care. instagram.com/harrietswildseed

Bridgette Loraine, Founder of Acorn Adventure
Bridgette is a Black, queer performance artist, nature-based healer, and the founder of Acorn Adventure, a platform facilitating connection between community and the outdoors. Bridgette believes that we protect what we love and understands that our fierce, collective, organized power will guide us to be loving stewards of Mother Nature. Through guided restorative outdoor adventures, Bridgette joins with community as they explore the life-giving powers of nature. instagram.com/acorn.adventure

Sounding Ground
2026-07-24 18:00 - 2026-07-26 10:00 | Silvae Spiritus Northwoods Nature Retreat, 68441 Rhine Lake Road, Finlayson, MN, 55735, United States
Sounding Ground is a weekend devoted to experiencing the feeling of home in our bodies, our vocal expression, and our relationship to land. Designed by artist and healing-practitioners Laurel Armstrong and Natalie Nowytski, this weekend takes place at the beautiful nature retreat Silvae Spiritus. Participants will experience forest bathing, dawn-yoga, a forest sauna/cold-plunge, and workshops that explore the voice as one of our primal technologies for connection, healing, and expression.
This event is centered on women/femme folk, and spaces are limited to honor the intimacy of the weekend. Meals will be provided both mornings, and on Saturday evening. Participants are asked to bring their own lunch for Saturday afternoon. Nourishing snacks and tea will be available throughout the event.
All workshop tickets include access to the campground where participants can set up their own tents. Lodging in one of Silvae Spiritus’ spa-inspired spaces* can be purchased for an additional cost (availability is limited.) Participants can also stay elsewhere in the area and drive in for workshops and activities, but we recommend staying on the land if possible.
*The Treehouse and Guesthouse sleeping spaces are accessed via narrow staircases.

Interbeing 12: DUSK
2026-09-18 16:00 - 2026-09-20 15:00 | Silvae Spiritus Northwoods Nature Retreat, 68441 Rhine Lake Road, Finlayson, MN, 55735, United States
Save the date! More info about the year’s second of two celebrated weekend-long camping retreats coming soon!
In past years, Interbeing retreats have typically focused on a single theme or wellness modality; in 2026, we are delighted to offer retreats that offer a little something for every part of your whole being: from prompted journaling to dance parties, guided meditation to yoga for all bodies, sound bathing to nature relation, ephemeral art to spaciousness, thermic cycling to naps, music to story circles. Guests will be invited into a weekend of relaxation, curiosity, shared wisdom, open-heartedness, and community.
Act fast – this event is limited to 25 participants.
