Fall Fallowing: A Seasonal Retreat
2025-11-19 13:00 - 2025-11-20 16:00 (America/Chicago) | Holy Wisdom Monastery, 4200 County Road M, Middleton, WI, 53562, United States
A changing landscape palette… the final harvests from the garden… the departure of migratory creatures… these seasonal milestones are reminders to notice and integrate past growth, honoring it for its role in nurturing future growth. This fall retreat invites you to pause and mark transitions – on the prairie and in your own life and heart. It will hold space for attention to both.
Seasonal Retreats
Each season this year, we will offer a different seasonal retreat. They will open spaces where each different season can offer its unique wisdom to us in the changing seasons of our lives. Each retreat is a two-day, one-night experience at Holy Wisdom with cozy accommodations, delicious meals, spacious time periods for solitude, reading and rest and contemplative conversations with other retreatants. There will also be a variety of opportunities to explore the prairies and the season and discover their gifts for you.
Fall Fallowing Date/Times
Wed., November 19, 1:00 pm – Thu., November 20, 4:00 pm, 2025
Arrive between 11:30 am and 1:00 pm on November 19 to check into your room. The retreat begins at 1:00 pm on November 19 and concludes at 4:00 pm on November 20.
Exact schedule TBD. Will include rest, solitude, walking meditations, movement and art.
Cost
$250/person – Early bird registration until October 11, 2025
$295/person – Full price cost starting October 12, until sold out or November 12, 2025
The cost of the retreat includes program, meals (Wednesday dinner, Thursday breakfast and lunch) and overnight room.
Register
The registration deadline for this retreat is November 12, 2025, or when the retreat fills.
Cancellation policy – if you register but must cancel your registration, you can receive a 75% refund up until November 12, 2025. After that, a 50% refund is available until the retreat starts.
After you register, if you would like to request a double room with another retreatant or if you have other questions about accommodations, please contact Brooke Livingston at blivingston@holywisdommonastery.org.

Winter Rest: A Seasonal Retreat
2026-01-14 13:00 - 2026-01-15 16:00
“It all was wonderful! Amy (Alstad) and Pam (Shellberg) put together a wonderful program that balanced contemplative time and more active time. I loved the various quotes that spurred thought and contemplation. I appreciated the camaraderie with my fellow retreatants and had some wonderful conversations. It was nice to balance alone time with time with others and always the choice to do what was right for me at the time.”
–2025 Winter Rest participant

As the earth rests under blankets of cold and snow, we also need to rest. This retreat invites the season of winter to teach us to stop striving; it invites you to a time of tranquility and silence. It will open the space to consider how winter prepares us for the other seasons of our lives, to rest in deep quietude, to be held by the stillness of the prairie.
Conversations about the season, walks on the prairie, a long winter’s nap, art, movement, journaling, great meals and warm beds will all be a part of what you can expect when you arrive. A renewed connection to yourself and to nature are what you can expect to take with you when you leave.
Seasonal Retreats
Each season this year, we will offer a different seasonal retreat. They will open spaces where each different season can offer its unique wisdom to us in the changing seasons of our lives. Each retreat is a two-day, one-night experience at Holy Wisdom with cozy accommodations, delicious meals, spacious time periods for solitude, reading and rest and contemplative conversations with other retreatants. There will also be a variety of opportunities to explore the prairies and the season and discover their gifts for you.
Winter Rest Date/Times
Wed., January 14, 1:00 pm – Thu., January 15, 4:00 pm, 2025
Arrive between 11:30 am and 1:00 pm on January 14 to check into your room. The retreat begins at 1:00 pm on January 14 and concludes at 4:00 pm on January 15.
Exact schedule TBD. Will include rest, solitude, walking meditations, movement and art.
Cost
$250/person – Early bird registration until December 7, 2025
$295/person – Full price cost starting December 8, 2025 until sold out or January 7, 2026
The cost of the retreat includes program, meals (Wed. dinner, Thurs. breakfast and lunch) and overnight room.
Register
The registration deadline for this retreat is January 7, 2026, or when the retreat fills.
Cancellation policy – if you register but must cancel your registration, you can receive a 75% refund up until January 7, 2026. After that, a 50% refund is available until the retreat starts.
After you register, if you would like to request a double room with another retreatant or if you have other questions about accommodations, please contact Brooke Livingston at blivingston@holywisdommonastery.org.

Grace & Reflection: A Courage & Renewal® Weekend
2026-02-20 19:00 - 2026-02-22 12:00
Grace & Reflection: A Courage & Renewal® Weekend
Each renewal weekend will include creating a quiet, focused, and enlivened space — a Circle of Trust® — where personal, inner wisdom can be heard. There will be a mix of time spent in large group, small group, and individual reflection along with poetry, teaching stories, wisdom traditions, nature, and activities for exploration. We will use these experiences and other rich metaphors to symbolize and discover and explore life questions. Together, we will experience creating spaces in our lives to tend and nurture our desire to live fully with courage and resilience.

Revitalize your commitment to the values that give meaning to your life.
Increase your ability to listen openly and be present.
Learn reflective practices to become more intentional.
Explore questions to build and sustain community.
Expand trustworthy and authentic relationships.

The Circle of Trust® approach is based on the work of Dr. Parker J. Palmer, Founder and Senior Partner Emeritus of the Center for Courage & Renewal, who is a world-renowned writer, speaker and activist. Explore the principles, practices and resources from the Center for Courage & Renewal: https://couragerenewal.org/courage-renewal-approach/
This program is being independently organized and led by a Courage & Renewal Facilitator(s) prepared by the Center for Courage & Renewal.
Schedule
Friday, February 20
3:00 pm – Check-in for Retreatants Staying in RGH
6:30 pm – Registration
7:00-9:00 pm – Session One
Saturday, February 21
9:00-10:15 am – Session Two
10:15-10:30 am – Break
10:30 am-12:00 pm – Session Three
12:00-1:30 pm – Lunch and Free Time
1:30-3:00 pm – Session Four
3:00-3:15 pm – Break
3:30-5:00 pm – Session Five
5:15 pm – Dinner
Sunday, February 22
10:00 am-12:00 pm – Session Six
Leaders – Mary Louise Peters, MSE & Amy Christianson, EdD

Mary Louise Peters is a Courage & Renewal® Facilitator, providing retreats and renewal experiences since 2010. She has worked as an educator and consultant at local, state and national levels to improve early childhood and special education for children and families, teaching practices and conditions for staff, and state educational systems.

Amy Christianson recently completed the Courage & Renewal® Practicum Program. Amy has been a participant in a number of seasonal and Circle of Trust retreats. She has a long professional career in education within early childhood, K-12 and higher education settings. Amy’s background includes educational leadership, organizational change and working with diverse populations.

Cost
$250 commuter; $435 residential
Register
Please register by February 13, 2026. The maximum number of participants is 18 and registration will close when full.
Cancellation policy – if you register but must cancel your registration, you can receive a 75% refund up until February 13, 2026. After that, a 50% refund is available until the retreat starts.

Upcoming Courage & Renewal Weekend
Save the dates for the next Courage & Renewal Weekend, May 29-31, “Wonder and Hope”

Spring Emergence: A Seasonal Retreat
2026-04-14 08:00 - 2026-04-15 12:00
A faint gauze of spring green is appearing on the prairie’s winter browns, welcoming you to look for your own signs of new growth. What is emerging can’t be hurried, but calls for patient restraint and holding a space for quiet wonder. This spring retreat invites you sit with the first indications of a new season of life – on the prairie and in your own life and heart. It will hold space for your hushed anticipation and gentle tending.
Conversations about the season, walks on the prairie, naps, art, movement, journaling, great meals, and welcoming accommodations will all be a part of what you can expect when you arrive. A renewed connection to nature and to yourself, along with joy in the anticipation of new things emerging are what you can expect to take with you when you leave.
Seasonal Retreats
Each season this year, we will offer a different seasonal retreat. They will open spaces where each different season can offer its unique wisdom to us in the changing seasons of our lives. Each retreat is a two-day, one-night experience at Holy Wisdom with cozy accommodations, delicious meals, spacious time periods for solitude, reading and rest and contemplative conversations with other retreatants. There will also be a variety of opportunities to explore the prairies and the season and discover their gifts for you.
Upcoming Retreats

Summer Plentitude – July 14-15, 2026 (Wed./Thu.)

Fall Fallowing – October 16-17, 2026 (Fri./Sat.)

Spring Emergence Date/Times
Tue., Apr. 14, 8:00 am – Wed., Apr. 15, 12:00 pm, 2026
Cost
$260/person
The cost of the retreat includes program, meals (Tuesday lunch, dinner and Wednesday breakfast) and overnight room.
Register
The registration deadline for this retreat is April 2, 2026, or when the retreat fills.
Cancellation policy – if you register but must cancel your registration, you can receive a 75% refund up until April 3rd. After that, a 50% refund is available until the retreat starts.
After you register, if you would like to request a double room with another retreatant or if you have other questions about accommodations, please contact us at retreats@holywisdommonastery.org.

Wonder & Hope: A Courage & Renewal® Weekend
2026-05-29 19:00 - 2026-05-31 12:00
Are you seeking ways to focus on positivity “these days”?
Register and join us for a spacious weekend at Holy Wisdom Monastery for Wonder & Hope: A Courage & Renewal® Experience, May 29-31, 2026. Within the abundance of Holy Wisdom, our retreat sessions will focus on grounding ourselves within touchstones of presence, welcome, listening to our inner teacher, turning to the wonder of how grace moves in our lives, and carrying hope forward.
Participants comment that “the welcoming spirit, the quiet, the art and poetry, the kindness and the experience of community” support their participation in a variety of experience during the weekend retreat. We trust that the spirit of renewal will move within you during your time in an active circle of participants, time in silence, and opportunities to be in Wisdom Prairie. Bring yourself just as you are — All Are Welcome!
This retreat is based on the Courage & Renewal approach, Center for Courage & Renewal® founded by Parker J Palmer, PhD
“Hope is holding a creative tension between what is and what could and should be,
each day doing something to narrow the distance between the two.” -Parker J Palmer, PhD
Schedule
Friday, May 29
3:00 pm – Check-in for retreatants staying in the RGH
6:30 pm – Registration
7:00 pm – Session One
Saturday, May 30
9:00-10:15 am– Session Two
10:15-10:30 am – Break
10:30 am-12:00 pm – Session Three
12:00-1:30 pm – Lunch and Free time
1:30-3:00 pm – Session Four
3:00-3:30 pm – Break
3:30-5:00 pm – Session Five
5:15 pm – Dinner
Sunday, May 31
10:00 am-12:00 pm – Session Six
Leaders – Mary Louise Peters, MSE & Amy Christianson, EdD

Mary Louise Peters is a Courage & Renewal® Facilitator, providing retreats and renewal experiences since 2010. She has worked as an educator and consultant at local, state and national levels to improve early childhood and special education for children and families, teaching practices and conditions for staff, and state educational systems.

Amy Christianson recently completed the Courage & Renewal® Practicum Program. Amy has been a participant in a number of seasonal and Circle of Trust retreats. She has a long professional career in education within early childhood, K-12 and higher education settings. Amy’s background includes educational leadership, organizational change and working with diverse populations.

Cost
$250 commuter; $435 residential
Register
Please register by May 21, 2026. The maximum number of participants is 18 and registration will close when full.
Cancellation policy – if you register but must cancel your registration, you can receive a 75% refund up until May 21, 2026. After that, a 50% refund is available until the retreat starts.

Summer Plentitude: A Seasonal Retreat
2026-07-14 13:00 - 2026-07-15 16:00
A riot of color on the prairie welcomes you to seek and celebrate your own abundance. This summer retreat invites you sit with the lush growth of the season – on the prairie and in your own life and heart. It will hold space for attention to both.
Conversations about the season, walks on the prairie, naps, art, movement, journaling, great meals and welcoming accommodations will all be a part of what you can expect when you arrive. A renewed connection to nature and to yourself, along with joy in the plentitude and abundance of the season are what you can expect to take with you when you leave.
Seasonal Retreats
Each season this year, we will offer a different seasonal retreat. They will open spaces where each different season can offer its unique wisdom to us in the changing seasons of our lives. Each retreat is a two-day, one-night experience at Holy Wisdom with cozy accommodations, delicious meals, spacious time periods for solitude, reading and rest and contemplative conversations with other retreatants. There will also be a variety of opportunities to explore the prairies and the season and discover their gifts for you.
Upcoming Retreats

Fall Fallowing – October 16-17, 2026 (Fri./Sat.)

Summer Plentitude Date/Times
Tue., Jul. 14, 1:00 pm – Wed., Jul. 15, 4:00 pm, 2026
Cost
$295/person ($260/person early bird registration until June 6th, 2026)
The cost of the retreat includes program, meals (Tuesday dinner, Wednesday breakfast and lunch) and overnight room.
Register
The registration deadline for this retreat is July 6th, 2026, or when the retreat fills.
Cancellation policy – if you register but must cancel your registration, you can receive a 75% refund up until July 7th. After that, a 50% refund is available until the retreat starts.
After you register, if you would like to request a double room with another retreatant or if you have other questions about accommodations, please contact us at retreats@holywisdommonastery.org.
