WHERE QUEENS ARE MADE

A Joyful Midlife Initiation for Women in the Costa Rican Cloud Forest

December 12-18, 2026 | Verdesana | Cartago Costa Rica

Held in the regenerated cloud forest of Costa Rica, an ecosystem reborn from devastation into lush, living beauty, this retreat offers space for your own renewal. A pause. A remembering. A chance to listen to what is quietly, powerfully emerging within you.

If you’re called toward a deeper, more authentic way of living and are ready to release outdated roles and expectations, join us for a joyful retreat and come away grounded, clear, and anchored in your own inner authority and self-trust.

Your next chapter begins here.

If something in your life feels like it’s shifting—but you can’t yet name what comes next, you’re not lost. You may be standing at a threshold.

Society gives us a tidy map of a woman’s life: Maiden, Mother, Crone. Three stages. Three archetypes. But for many women, that map has always felt incomplete.

There is often a powerful, unnamed chapter in between a phase where authority turns inward, identity reshapes, and a woman begins to live from her own internal compass rather than external expectations.

We call this the Queen phase.

This is not a time of decline. It’s a time of consolidation, clarity, and choice. A moment when a woman senses that the ways she’s lived before no longer fit and that something truer is asking to be lived.

If this resonates, you’re not imagining it.

Do any of these ‘belong’ to you?

  • A quiet but persistent sense that something important is changing
  • Questioning who you are as long-held roles begin to shift
  • Fear of becoming less visible, less relevant, or overlooked
  • A gap between the life you’ve built and how fulfilled you actually feel
  • Chronic stress, or difficulty slowing down without guilt
  • Feeling disconnected from your body, or unsure how to care for it now
  • Body image challenges, fatigue, hormonal shifts, or changing energy

None of this means something is wrong with you.
It often means you’re at a threshold and thresholds deserve to be honored, not rushed.

A Different Kind of Support for the Queen Phase

This retreat is for women who sense a deeper truth emerging and are ready to explore it with clarity, courage, and care.

Here, you’ll be supported to:

  • Clarify who you’re becoming and begin living from inner authority rather than obligation
  • Release outdated roles and expectations and establish boundaries that honor your energy and truth
  • Restore nervous system balance and build emotional resilience you can rely on
  • Rebuild confidence in your changing body, voice, and intuitive knowing
  • Experience joy, pleasure, and connection, being witnessed by women who truly see your strength

This time together isn’t about fixing yourself.

It’s about listening deeply and choosing what comes next.

A Unique Experience

This is not a spa vacation or a surface-level women’s getaway, though you will rest deeply. This is a guided initiation for women in one of life’s most powerful transitions.

Led by a master teacher with decades of experience, this retreat blends embodied practice, spiritual wisdom, and grounded self-inquiry to support your rise into clarity, sovereignty, and self-trust.

Your journey includes:

  • Energy-shifting yoga, breathwork, and meditation for nervous system strength
  • Teachings drawn from ancient wisdom, guided reflection, and journaling
  • Mythic ritual exploring the Queen archetype as a lived path
  • Partner and group practices that deepen insight and inner authority
  • Sacred sisterhood with women walking the same threshold

This is not about escape. It’s about embodiment.

Imagine this…

Wake to soft mist drifting through the cloud forest. Your day begins with energy-shifting yoga, breath work, meditation and narratives that bring you home to your body and your truth.

At midday, gather with your circle for teachings on the Queen archetype and guided journaling that helps you clarify what’s calling you forward. There’s time to wander the trails, rest, or simply breathe in the magic around you.

Afternoons invite soft unwinding restorative rituals, embodied wilding practices, optional partner or group work, a stroll through jaw dropping beauty, a dip in the refreshing river or a long soak in the hot tub as the forest hums around you.

In the evenings, we share stories and mythic teachings around the bonfire. Here, reflection comes more easily and sisterhood feels natural.

Throughout the week, beautiful, nourishing plant based meals, sacred rest, and a guided hike through the regenerated cloud forest help you reconnect with both your wildness and your wisdom.

This rhythm is designed not just to renew you but to awaken you, Queen!

About the Location

Verdesana is a luxurious retreat center nestled in the cloud forest near San José, offering a serene escape focused on wellness, creativity, and nature immersion. Verdesana features stunning landscapes with regenerated forests, rivers, abundant hummingbirds, gourmet plant-based food, and transformative experiences for personal growth, all set within beautifully designed spaces that foster calm and connection with the earth.

It sits on over 100 acres, with a stunning river flowing through the campus, exquisite lodging (think river and/or mountain views from your private deck, and the only sounds you’ll hear coming from the natural surroundings) and a thoughtfully designed campus that honors slowing down and looking up.

From the moment you board the shuttle at the airport for the beautiful 1.5 hour ride to the campus, you are taken care of at an unwavering five star level by the staff, who will soon feel like family. Think concierge service from beginning to end. Almost no request goes unfulfilled, from your choice of morning beverage delivered to your door to the sweet hot water bottles that will warm your bed for a great night’s sleep. Think warmth, smiles and genuine delight to have you there.

Why the Cloud Forest?

Because regeneration is its origin story. Once stripped bare, Verdesana’s forest was intentionally protected, replanted and allowed to rebirth itself. It is now lush, diverse, thriving — a sovereign ecosystem that reclaimed its place on the land.

It mirrors the inner transformation of a Queen who releases what no longer serves, rises rooted and strong and reclaims her domain.

About The Cuisine

Verdesana is renowned for their gourmet, creative, plant based meals. Think Michelin star, eco-style. Gorgeous, delicious and plentiful, the food here is unmatched and unique. Daily, three sumptuous meals plus luscious snacks available in between will leave you feeling nourished and indulged. Every day is a delight for the taste buds, with signature mocktails, fresh juices, to-die-for coffee a plenty. Accommodations are made for dietary preferences.

About Your Guide: Lauren Toolin

For over four decades, I’ve taught and lived the deeper practices of Yoga, Tantra, and Ayurveda and Miracle Minded Life Coaching and guided thousands of women through meaningful transformation. But my truest initiation came in midlife.

A health scare that shook my certainty. A marriage that required radical honesty, and eventually, dissolution. A business that demanded reinvention. And an inner knowing that the identities I had mastered were too small for who I was becoming.

Midlife asked me to strip down, listen deeply, and rebuild from intention and an emboldened spirit rather than fear and habit. What I discovered is the truth I now teach: Midlife isn’t a decline. It’s a coronation. I’ve walked this territory, the unraveling and the rising, and I know the power of lineage-based practice, inquiry, and embodied wisdom to reshape a woman’s life from the inside out.

This retreat is the container I wish I’d had, a place where you are honored, your voice is welcomed, and you are supported in consciously stepping into the next chapter of your life. I would be honored to walk beside you as you cross that threshold.

Accommodations Options     •       Accommodations Options     •       Accommodations Options     •Accommodations Options     •       Accommodations Options     •       Accommodations Options     •

  • 1 BR Shared (Shared bedroom and bath, 4 cabins available)- $4,097
  • → Video Tour
  • 2 BR Cabin (separate bedrooms, shared living room and bath, 4 cabins available)- $4,597
    → Video Tour
  • Private Cabin (3 available)- $4,897
    → Video Tour
  • VIP Cabin (upgraded cabin with fireplace, stunning views, luxe tub)- $5,397
    → Video Tour

Early Bird Save $400 per person if paid in full by June 1, 2026. Payment plans may be available. Inquire with Lauren for details.

Ready to Join Us?: A $750 non-refundable deposit secures your space.

Please contact Lauren for individual guidance regarding your trip, reservation and payment information.

What’s Included:

  • Six Nights, Seven Days: Eco-luxury accommodation in the heart of the cloud forest (accommodations and pricing vary, see above)
  • Exclusive use of the Verdesana campus, reserved just for our group
  • Curated Guides: Detailed travel and packing guides for a seamless experience
  • Daily Farm to Table Meals: Three organic, plant-based meals crafted by a 5-star chef, with a nightly four course dinner
  • All-Day Snacks & Beverages: Complimentary tea, coffee, fruit, and snacks
  • Daily classes including yoga, breath work, dharma talks, and facilitated introspection sessions with Lauren
  • All yoga equipment is provided
  • 24/7 staff assistance for any retreat related needs
  • Reliable Internet campus wide
  • Wellness Bar: Superfood smoothies, detox elixirs, and other specialty drinks (at an additional cost)
  • Massage and bodywork (at an additional cost)
  • Luxury van Transportation to and from SJO on arrival and departure days

What’s Not Included

  • International Airfare and baggage fees to/from SJO flight changes, medical and travel insurance (highly recommended*), costs associated with passports (required)
  • Gratuities and taxes for personal services, spa services, and any optional tours/excursions

*Cancel for any reason travel insurance ensures you are covered should any unexpected event arise. A personal, political, environmental, health or weather-related incident or pre-existing medical condition may prevent or interrupt your travels.

Logistics, Terms and Conditions

  • Booking Flights: You’ll fly into and from SJO, Costa Rica’s main international airport.
  • Space is very limited and $750 non refundable deposit is required to secure your spot. The balance will be due no later than Sept 1, 2026. You will receive an invoice and reminders. Payments can be made through Venmo, Credit Card via Stripe or via cash or personal check.
  • If you register on or after balance due date, you’ll need to pay in full. These payments are nonrefundable at that time. If you made any payment other than the deposit before the balance due date, the remainder of your payment will be refunded to you less the $750 deposit plus an additional $150 cancellation fee.
  • If you cancel after the balance due date for any reason including, without limitation, physical or mental illness or injury, voluntary departure, and personal emergencies:
    • You will not be entitled to any refunded amounts, and will forfeit all payments paid before that date.
    • These payments are transferable if you send someone in your place. No pro-rata refund is available for late arrivals, early withdrawals, or dismissals with cause. This Cancellation Policy is firm and there are no exceptions, due to the contractual commitments made to our vendors who do not offer refunds or transfers of funds..

Step into your throne.

Your Queen phase starts here.