Slow down, strengthen and soften.
Join Dr. Sara (Gottfried) Szal, MD and Elena Brower for a weekend retreat inward.
ABOUT the Retreat
Our weekend together is your time to fortify, rest, and listen. Our focus will be on learning, practice and nurturance.
Hormones are potent molecules of love, connection, stress, and focus.
Hormones drive so much of your daily life: what you care about, where your attention goes, and how you feel. When fluctuations begin around 35-40 in perimenopause, you might feel like you're entering a new realm, about which nobody's warned you. Becuase you are.
Perimenopause and Menopause invite us to realms of mystery and magnificence, and often into confusion. Our long weekend together is a chance to explore information, education, and embodiment that's typically missing from most of our lives regarding how to elegantly navigate this sacred time of life, as we shift from reproductive agents to wisdom keepers.
Acclaimed physician and New York Times bestselling author Sara (formerly Gottfried) Szal MD will offer powerful discussions and Q&A sessions alongside bestselling author, artist, yoga and meditation teacher Elena Brower.
Explore how your hormones initiate you into deeper states of being. Welcome the details of aging with true grace, covering everything from bio-identical hormone therapy to longevity, all with a keen eye to the unique vulnerabilities of women currently missing from typical discourse on menopause. Together we'll cross the bridge between women's health and spirituality.
Elena will lead us in transformative yoga and meditation practices to regulate your system, precisely what Sara needed when she sought Elena's teaching to ease her own hormonal transition in her forties.
All ages welcome: You're never too young to learn the operator's manual for your body, and it’s never too late to master yourself.
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September 12-16, 2025
Schedule
Arrive Santa Fe Friday afternoon; rest. We'll gather for a delicious group dinner with a small crew of women to learn the flow of our weekend together.
On Saturday, Sunday and Monday, you'll have morning meditation, yoga, and bodyweight strength practices with Elena. After breakfast on your own, we'll come back together for talks and discussion with Dr. Sara, to lift the veils and answer questions about your process, thoughts, and lifestyle choices, so you can feel more vibrant and in balance.
Enjoying two lunches and our final dinner together, each afternoon you'll have movement, lecture and writing practices with both of us. Expect plenty of free time to hike, swim, receive, connect to yourself, explore Santa Fe, and rest.
Sara (formerly Gottfried) Szal MD is a physician, researcher, educator, mother, and seeker. She graduated from Harvard Medical School and MIT, and completed residency at UCSF, but is more likely to prescribe a CGM and personalized nutrition plan than the latest pharmaceutical. Dr. Szal is a global keynote speaker and the author of four New York Times bestselling books about trauma, hormones, and health. She is Clinical Assistant Professor in Dept. of Integrative Medicine and Nutritional Sciences at Thomas Jefferson University, and Director of Precision Medicine at the Marcus Institute of Integrative Health. Her focus is at the interface of mental and physical health, N-of-1 trial design, personalized molecular profiling, use of wearables, and how to leverage these tools to improve health outcomes.
Teacher, artist, mother, author of four books and host of the Practice You Podcast, Elena Brower has been teaching asana since 1999, studying and practicing Zen meditation since 2020. After receiving the Buddhist Precepts from Roshi Joan Halifax at Upaya Zen Center in 2023, she's a candidate for Buddhist Chaplaincy, offering time in hospice and penitentiary settings. Her journals, books and courses walk us through stages of practice, life and listening; her weekly yoga classes are featured on Glo; her spoken word poetry can be heard on Above & Beyond's Flow State albums, for which she's received an RIAA-certified Gold Record. Elena elevates bright futures for girls, women and children through ongoing support for Girls on Fire Leaders, On The Inside and Free Food Kitchen.