ENCHANTED
A 4-Day Immersion
Into Embodiment & Wonder
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 This retreat is an invitation to enter your enchanted self...
October 25 – 28, 2026  |  Menla Retreat Center, New York
With Ariel Kiley
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Experience yourself as fully alive. Moving through the world with wonder.  At home in your own body, connected to something larger. Lit up by creativity and meaning.
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Four days in the Catskill mountains as the season turns. The trees shedding their leaves. The air getting crisp. The world growing still and golden. And you — stepping out of the ordinary, into enchantment.
Together we will move, breathe, create, rest, wonder, and reconnect — with the earth, with the sky, with each other, and with the most luminous parts of ourselves.
Before You Arrive
Your Personal Tarot Reading
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Before we gather at Menla, you and Ariel will meet virtually for a personal Tarot reading — a mythopoetic map-making session to help you get oriented: What is this chapter of your life about? What wants to be seen, released, or called forward? The images and symbols that arise will serve as your own private thread of inquiry, woven into what we explore on retreat.
You'll arrive already in the zone. Already tuned-in and curiously listening.
The Journey
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Each day of the retreat is its own little world — a complete experience with its own texture, tone, and invitation. And each embodied movement class is a completely original experience, designed to take you somewhere new. These are not classes you've taken before. They are somatic journeys designed to tap into and awaken the majesty within you.
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Sunday Night — The Cosmos
You arrive. You exhale. You eat a nourishing meal. You let the mountains hold you.
As night falls, we gather under the stars for a yoga nidra meditation and cosmic tune-in — an immersive, dreamy ascent into the open, luminous space where all things feel possible. Where the mind softens and something older and wiser rises up.
This is the threshold. Enchantment is inevitable.
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Monday — The Earth
You wake up in the misty morning mountains and your body knows it. The air is fresh and moist. The trees are old and alive. The ground beneath you is rich and real.
Monday is devoted to the physical — to waking up every cell, to breathing so deeply you remember what it feels like to be fully inhabited in a body. We move through two embodied practice sessions today, each one a journey through what it means to be a creature of the earth: rooted, awake, and gloriously alive.
In between, you're free to explore — solo or with others. Forage for natural treasures, walk in the woods where local wild animals and lush plant life remind us we're part of something ancient and beautiful, or simply rest. In the evening, we gather again for a gently structured time of community connection and reflection.
By the end of the day, you will feel — in the very best way — like your whole natural self.
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Tuesday — The Light Body
There is a field of aliveness that animates you. It's ageless. It doesn't have a diagnosis or a deadline. It's what yogis access through breath and meditation. It shimmers.
Tuesday is devoted to your energetics — to sensing and inhabiting the luminous self that exists beyond your biography. Again, two embodied practice sessions guide us through movement, breath, and creative exploration, touching interconnectedness, timelessness, and the infinite experience of knowing yourself as One.
Your afternoon is yours — wander the land alone or with new friends, or dip into an optional creative arts session. And as the evening settles, we'll come together once more for connection and shared reflection.
You may find that you feel younger here. Lighter. Like you've stepped outside time.
That's because you have.
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Wednesday — The Return
Every pilgrimage eventually turns toward home. But you are not the same person who set out.
Our final morning is devoted to integration — one last embodied journey and a closing circle, asking: what do I want to keep? How do I live more enchanted, every day? How do I weave this aliveness, this wonder, this creative fire back into the tapestry of my life as I head into the colder, darker months?
You'll leave with something intangible, yet real. A felt sense of your deeper self. A lantern to take home with you and illuminate your path forward.
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What's Woven In
- A personal virtual Tarot reading before you arrive, to set your intention for the retreat
- Two embodied movement sessions each day — completely original experiences inspired by yoga, therapeutics, Somatic Experiencing, and more — no two alike, each one a journey
- Daily silent meditation, yoga nidra, and breathwork
- An opening circle and a closing integration circle to bookend your experience
- Gently structured community connection and reflection time each evening
- Optional creative arts practice to deepen your relationship with intuition and inner guidance
- Free time each day to explore nature solo or with others — including optional foraging for natural treasures
- Three nights of accommodations at Menla, with delicious plant-forward meals
- Delightful community — laughter, sharing, connecting
- The special magic of being in the woods with like-spirited people as autumn peaks
The Place
Menla Retreat Center
Menla is a stunning, sacred property nestled in the Catskill Mountains — think old-growth trees, mountain air, Tibetan influences, and a kitchen that will nourish you with delicious plant-forward meals.
Legend has it that a the presence of the Naga — an ancient serpent-dragon — roams the woods of Menla. Tibetan Masters and Indigenous elders who have visited Menla describe these Naga as protectors and guardians of profound esoteric wisdom. We will keep our hearts open for it.
Because the retreat runs Sunday through Wednesday, the campus will be quieter — we'll have this wonderful place to gather and roam. We'll be staying in two very special cabins, one of which served as the Dalai Lama's private residence during his visit in 2006.
Our movement and practice home will be the Tara Sanctuary — a beloved space with unique septagonal architecture and enormous bay windows facing the southern mountain ridge. Light pours in. Nature presses close. It is just the right space for this kind of experience.
Hike up into the hills. Take nature walks to spot local wildlife. Sit with a cup of tea and let the trees whisper to you.
Who This Is For
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This retreat is for people of all ages, genders, backgrounds and abilities who:
- Feel a deep love for nature and the more-than-human world
- Know they would benefit from an enchanted escape to the mountains before the holiday season kicks in
- Want to inhabit their bodies more fully — to feel at home in their own skin
- Are creative, heart-centered, and also like to laugh and have fun
- Love the idea that the journey through this life can be a mythopoetic quest of meaning and depth
- Enjoy sharing meaningful experiences with great people
- Are inwardly grounded enough to meet deep somatic work with openness, not crisis
If you read that list and felt something — a yes, a pull, a quiet recognition — I'd love to have you at the ENCHANTED Retreat.
How You'll Feel
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Nourished in the way that only nature can provide.
Cared for by the incredible chef, the wonderful Menla staff, and Ariel's thoughtful facilitation.
At home in your body after a series of rich embodiment practices.
Lit up with creative energy sparked by meditation, breath-work and an artistic activity.
Connected — to nature, to community, to the vibrant thread of your own life.
More in love with the miracle of this existance.
Ready for what comes next.
Kind, cosy, hygge — and revelatory.
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Join Us!
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Sunday Oct. 25 – Wednesday Oct. 28, 2026
Menla Retreat Center, Catskills, New YorkÂ
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PRICINGÂ
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RETREAT FEEÂ (paid to Ariel)
- Early bird (through Aug. 5): $800
- After Aug 5th: $850
- Includes: virtual Tarot reading before the retreat, plus all classes and activities with Ariel and the group during the retreat
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+ ACCOMMODATIONSÂ (paid to Menla)
- $702–732 for 3 nights — includes all meals and access to amenitiesÂ
- Commuter (non-overnight) option available at a reduced rate
- You'll receive a separate registration link for accommodations after registering for the retreatÂ
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REGISTER FOR ENCHANTED
Testimonial from past retreat
Ariel's retreats are always magical and special in ways that I'll never know precisely until I am there discovering them. She brings together a community of thoughtful and inspiring people and creates a joyful and nurturing environment. The movement and spiritually charged practices plus the incredible food nourishes me and makes me feel safe and cared for.
Testimonial from past retreat
I'm never disappointed by Ariel's offerings. Ariel carefully curated a profound, luxurious, exquisitely planned retreat. The daily schedule was thoughtfully planned and communicated. The accommodations were gorgeous, clean, calm and invigorating. The food nourished us and dazzled our senses. What a treat to have delicious, beautiful, nutritious food prepared for us! The worst part was that it had to end. I still feel like I am carrying the energy of the retreat around and encountering life with a new perspective.
ENCHANTED Sample Schedule
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Sunday, October 25th - The Cosmos Day
3-6pm: Arrive, settle in your cabin, and Check-in
6-7pm: Dinnertime
7:30-9 pm: Opening Circle, Restorative yoga and Night Sky Yoga Nidra meditation
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Monday, October 26th - The Earth Body Day
7:30-7:50am: Silent meditation (optional)
8-9am: Breakfast
10am-12pm: Earth Themed Embodiment Journey
12:30-1:30pm: Lunch
1:30-3:30pm: Free time to explore, rest, and enjoy nature - optional foraging for natural treasures
3:30-5:30pm: Grounding and opening deep stretch, therapeutic yoga and meditation
6-7pm: Dinner
7:30-8:30pm: Gently structured community connection and reflection time (optional)
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Tuesday, October 27th - The Light Body Day
7:30-7:50am: Silent meditation (optional)
8-9am: Breakfast
10am-12pm: Luminous Self Themed Embodiment Journey
12:30-1:30pm: Lunch
1:30-3:30pm: Free time to explore, rest, and enjoy natureÂ
2pm: Optional creative arts project time
3:30-5:30pm: Consciousness-expanding stretch, breath-work and meditation
6-7pm: Dinner
7:30-8:30pm: Gently structured community connection and reflection time (optional)
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Wednesday, October 28th - The Return Day
7:30-7:50am: Silent meditation (optional)
8-9am: BreakfastÂ
10am-11:30am: Embodied Integration Journey + closing circle
12:30-1:30pm: Lunch & Departure
REGISTER FOR ENCHANTEDAbout Ariel Kiley
Ariel Kiley is an embodiment teacher, trauma resolution practitioner, program designer, published author, people person, and wild woman.
She holds certifications as a Yoga Therapist (International Association of Yoga Therapists), an E-RYT 500 yoga teacher, a Somatic Experiencing® Practitioner, a lead teacher trainer for Tune Up Fitness®, and a certified Lumia® transformational life coach. For over a decade, she has taught thousands of yoga, meditation, and therapeutic yoga classes in New York City, Los Angeles, and beyond.
Ariel has designed programming and led teacher trainings in therapeutic yoga, anatomy, trauma-informed yoga, and fitness therapy for Equinox Fitness, Tune Up Fitness®, Dou Yoga, Prema Yoga, and more. She designed and starred in the Yoga Fundamentals program on Daily Burn, and has taught stress reduction and trauma resolution techniques to Harvard Medical students, Yale University, and numerous corporations and workplaces — alongside her private work helping individuals resolve the physiological patterns of trauma.
Ariel’s background as an actress and writer informs her approach to movement ~ as something creative and imaginative… There is always an unfolding story to harmonize with, and when we do, meaning and depth are amplified!
She regularly hosts retreats in transporting locations around the world, including Costa Rica, Joshua Tree, and the Catskills. Her virtual embodied fitness program, FitBodLife.com, has run for over five years with a thriving online community, and her program Lady Quest helps people reconnect with purpose through nature. She also hosts The Lady Quest Podcast, sharing stories and techniques around self-development. Ariel is presently based in the Joshua Tree area of California.
Ariel's ongoing mission is to awaken her students to their extraordinary potential to generate joy and wellbeing in their bodies, and to access the wisdom within.
