Caregiving the Caregiver: A Women’s Yoga & Lifestyle Medicine Retreat for Rest, Renewal, and Self-Compassion
This retreat is held in beautiful Valle Crucis, NC during what has historically been peak leaf week in the NC Blue Ridge Mountains. Join Dr. Ginger Garner for our 2nd Annual Mountain Women’s Wellness Retreat, a transformative experience rooted in compassion, empowerment, and science-based healing.
You are used to being the one who holds everything together. You care for your family, your patients, your work, your home, your relationships, and everyone else’s needs—often before your own. Somewhere along the way, your body may have started asking for something different: rest, nourishment, steadiness, softness, and a chance to be cared for, too.
Caregiving the Caregiver is a women’s wellness retreat created for the woman who gives so much of herself and needs a compassionate space to come home to her own body again.
This immersive retreat blends trauma-informed care with Medical Therapeutic Yoga, Pilates, Mindfulness, Meditation, and evidence-informed lifestyle medicine for women’s health. Together, we’ll explore practices for nervous system regulation, self-compassion, pelvic and whole-body awareness, breath, rest, resilience, and sustainable movement.
Over the course of our time together, you’ll be invited to slow down, breathe deeply, move gently, and reconnect with the parts of yourself that have been carrying so much. Dr. Ginger will use her expertise in pelvic health and orthopedics, lifestyle medicine, and functional medicine to help you build practical tools you can take home—supporting stress recovery, better sleep, hormone and nervous system health, emotional regulation, strength, flexibility, and compassionate self-care.
This retreat is especially for women navigating caregiving fatigue, burnout, chronic stress, pelvic health concerns, painful periods, endometriosis, perimenopause, menopause, pregnancy, postpartum recovery, grief, major life transitions, or the feeling that they have been pouring from an empty cup for too long.
During this retreat we will:
• Celebrate imperfection, reject productivity as a measure of worth, and embrace the beauty of living in our own skin.
• Focus on healing the healers and caregivers who spend so much time caring for others.
• Practice integrative and lifestyle medicine for women in every age and stage of life—from postpartum to postmenopause.
• Build strength, flexibility, resilience, and longevity on our own terms. Our goal? To be strong, not skinny.
• Find community in women supporting women within a safe, compassionate, and restorative environment.
All women are welcome, especially those who have experienced medical gaslighting or felt dismissed while seeking care for women’s health concerns. You have a safe space here.
No yoga experience is necessary. You do not need to be flexible, “good at yoga,” or arrive feeling put together. This retreat is designed to meet you exactly where you are.
Retreat includes lodging, all meals, use of the conference center facilities, and all workshop time with Dr. Ginger Garner.
You deserve more than survival. You deserve restoration.
Retreat Details
Your Retreat will begin with an evening class after dinner, and a welcome from Dr. Ginger. This Women's Wellness Retreat will be designed based on YOUR needs, so get ready for a unique experience.
Friday - The first evening, Dr. Ginger will take you through a practice designed to identify and begin to address those needs.
Saturday will start with a morning meditation session, followed by breakfast, the AM Medical Therapeutic Yoga (MTY) Session, and an afternoon of wellness practices designed to help you transition into autumn with the best fit practices on Lifestyle Medicine, Functional Medicine, and Ayurvedic Medicine.
Saturday evening, weather pending, there will be an OPTIONAL drum circle and bonfire. Bring your drums if you have one, but one is not needed to participate.
Sunday the retreat continues with morning meditation followed by breakfast and an AM MTY session.
The Retreat closes Sunday after lunch.
Yes! We understand that the economy can make it challenging to pay for events upfront, and we’re happy to work with you on a payment plan. If you’re interested, please email [email protected] , and Krista will help you get everything set up.
Two nights lodging (private bedroom) with meals included. Meals begin with dinner on Friday and end with lunch on Sunday. Please use the form in the next section to let us know about any food allergies or sensitivities.
The lodging is spread across two homes that are on the National Historic Register. Each home has a lovely front porch that looks over the "Valley of the Heart" (Valle Crucis) and is within walking distances of the retreat center, amenities, and hiking trails. (Waterfall included!). NC has thousands of waterfalls throughout the mountains and I have yet to see even a fraction of them! All rooms are arranged as private bedrooms. Bathrooms are shared.
This retreat is designed to be small and personal, and is limited to 14 women. Spaces are expected to fill quickly so please sign up early.
If you are flying, the closest hub airport is Charlotte, NC (CLT). There are also connector airports in Greensboro (GSO) and Asheville (AVL). All three are about 2.25 hours drive to Valle Crucis. If you are driving, there is plenty of parking at the center, all free
The Valle Crucis Conference Center is a ministry of the Episcopal Diocese of Western North Carolina, part of the Episcopal Church. Located on over 450 acres of mountain woodland and verdant farming valley, the Valle Crucis Conference Center is truly one of the more beautiful places on Earth. With its beauty comes a sense of timeless spiritual grace that transcends denomination or faith tradition. The Valle Crucis Conference Center is located in the historic Mission School, featuring buildings dating from the late 19th Century and early 20th Century, nearly all of which are on the National Historic Register. The Conference Center is open year-round to accommodate groups of 5 to 150. Rates include three hearty, nutritious meals a day and arguably the best towels in Western North Carolina lodgings. Most recently - with its rich history of service, including serving as a school and disaster resource center during the recent devastating Hurricane Helene, we are grateful the Center and all its historic 19th century era homes not only survived but were able to serve others.
The retreat begins with dinner on the 23rd (6:30pm), but you can check-in as early as 4pm. It ends on the 25th after lunch, which will be at noon.
Yes, this will be a fragrance-free and pet-free environment to help support those with sensitivities. In terms of sound, the retreat will be kept very calm and quiet. There will be little to no music, though there may occasionally be gentle elements like singing or sound therapy during certain sessions. We aim to create a space that feels as comfortable and supportive as possible for everyone.
Cancellations received before July 15, 2026 will receive a full refund. Because we need time to fill your space, there will be no refunds for cancellations after July 15. If you have to cancel and you have a friend or colleague who can take your space, we can transfer your registration, but you will have to work out the financials with your friend/colleague.
