Most of us are familiar with navigating the ups and downs of relationships, from the joy of simpatico moments to the crash of misunderstanding.
It’s normal to confront communication and trust issues as we learn about someone new. Restoring equilibrium often requires honesty, curiosity, and active choice. Do we want to unpack this together? Will we spend the time it takes? Are we willing to shed whatever shit is getting in the way?
It takes practice, awareness, and intention to build a bridge strong enough to hold whatever life brings.
This weekend retreat offers a container to experience your relationship with your body through a similar lens to any other friendship. You don’t need to be an expert on body somatics, human biology, or any medical modality to learn how to hear the whispers inside your own skin. You have the right and the ability to listen, whether you’ve tried before or not.
Moving through my own health crises taught me how very powerful my relationship with my body can be and IS—not as a substitute for medical care but rather as a complementary practice. Science proves to us over and over the brilliant, innate intelligence our bodies hold. While I can’t access that on your behalf, I fully believe you can! As with any other friendship, getting to know your body will deepen over time. I’ve curated this retreat to jumpstart the process, introduce you to resources, and offer take-home tools for your own practice.
This retreat is a warm, welcoming, inclusive space. We will all be participating in horizontal relationship, fully recognizing the inherent power that each of us holds as sovereign, wondrous individuals. I will be learning and growing alongside you!
We’re gathering at Prairiewoods in Hiawatha, Iowa. This will be my fourth retreat there, and I can promise you— it’s a lovely sanctuary. I’ve invited my friend Davel Patel of AURABREATH to facilitate a special Breath Journey Workshop on Saturday afternoon. This new breathwork offering is unique for our gathering and has never been offered in Iowa before!
When you register, you can add on a private session with Davel and/or me for Friday afternoon. More details below. Please reach out with any questions. I can’t wait to spend time together.
Neither the content on this website nor the retreat itself is intended to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Always seek the advice of a qualified health provider with any questions you may have regarding a medical condition.
Registration ends June 10
$565 / Use EARLYBIRD to save $50 by May 5
Self-Selected Scholarship Details Below
LOCATION
We’re gathering at Prairiewoods, a Franciscan retreat and conference center focused on ecology, spirituality, and holistic health.
This event is not affiliated with any particular religious or spiritual lens. Persons of all backgrounds and belief systems are welcome and respected.
Nature: Located on 70 acres of prairie and woods in Hiawatha, Iowa. Include hiking trails and Cosmic Walk (outdoor photos above courtesy of Prairiewoods).
Lodging: The Guest House offers simple single and double rooms with sink and shared bathroom. Retreat fee is for double occupancy. Attending with a friend? At checkout, you’ll have the option to request rooming together. You’ll also be able to select a single room for $40 more.
Food: All meals are included from Friday dinner through Sunday lunch. (If you’re arriving early on Friday, you’ll have the option to add lunch for an extra $15.) When possible, food is locally grown, seasonal, and organic. Vegetarian, vegan, gluten-free, dairy-free, and diabetic diets accommodated with advance notice.
Group Spaces: We’ve reserved the Lounge for our gatherings. The Guest House also has common areas and kitchenette on each floor.
During down time, experience the onsite labyrinth as a meditation-in-motion to help you wind to the heart, both within and without. Photo courtesy of Prairiewoods.
A short walk to visit the magnificent Grandmother Oak (she even has her own sign!) is also well worth your time. Photo courtesy of Prairiewoods.
ITINERARY
Yes, we’re packing a lot into these few days! But the atmosphere will be relaxed and nurturing, without any pressure to perform or conform.
Schedule subject to minor changes. All meal times set by the facility.
If you elect to add a private oracle card reading with me (Kara) or a 1:1 Breath Session with guest facilitator Davel Patel of AURABREATH at check-out, we will contact you individually to schedule those for Friday afternoon. More details below.
Noon: OPTIONAL LUNCH (add for $15 at check-out)
1 to 4:30 pm: Check-in. Optional 1:1 sessions with Kara and/or Davel (charged separately).
5 pm: Welcome Circle
5:30 pm: Dinner
7 to 9 pm: Icebreaker Circle - Drawing on the works of Sonya Renee Taylor, Tanmeet Sethi, David Bedrick, Sophie Strand and others, we’ll explore body relationship through both individual introspection and group discussion. We’ll also experience a short meditation to invite an animal, botanical, or elemental guide to support you throughout the weekend and beyond.
8 am: Breakfast
8:45 to 10:30 am: Timeline Activity - Written prompts and art elements will invite you to reflect on the evolution of your body friendship at different life stages.
Free time to hike, read, color, chat, play, etc.
Noon: Lunch + rest
2 to 4 pm: Returning to the Body - a brand-new Breath Journey Workshop exploring relationship with your breath featuring guest facilitator Davel Patel of AURABREATH.
Free time to integrate, journal, nap, move, dance, etc.
5:30 pm: Dinner
7 to 9 pm: Body Communication Workshop - how to set the stage, how to listen, how to build trust. Includes guided meditation with opportunities for dialogue with your body, worksheet for recording your experiences, and group discussion.
8 am: Breakfast
Midmorning: Check-out of rooms + free time
9:45 am to Noon: Integration Activity and Closing Circle
Noon: Lunch and travel home on your own schedule.
ANCHOR
Kara Simons, founder of Joyful Resonance, is a nature-inspired spiritual seeker, writer, mom, and attorney.
Claiming my right to joy, self-direction, and enough-ness (independent of any metric) motivates me to support others in doing the same. My reverence for nature as a mirror of the unseen spiderweb that connects everything, and for each being’s right to source belonging within the whole, are foundational to my offerings.
I create accessible oracle decks with universal themes and detailed structures. These tools empower users to understand and love their authentic selves and then live from this knowing in a way that fosters harmony, freedom, and abundance across the web. At workshops and retreats, I facilitate circle discussions, offer 1:1 sessions, and share original guided meditations for plugging into the loving energetic support surrounding us from the beyond. My words anchor portals to experience magic as real. Feeling leads to believing leads to trusting—and taking action.
If you’re new to my work, I invite you to explore my website for more about my background and my offerings.
GUEST FACILITATOR
Guest facilitator Davel Patel of AURABREATH will lead us through a special Breath Journey Workshop on Saturday.
Davel Patel is shaped by a life lived across many cultures and inner landscapes, learning early to attune to what is felt but not always spoken. Her work grew from a clear turning point: realizing that without resolving her own conditioned patterns with compassion and honesty, they would remain entrenched and continue to distort her life in subtle, unconscious ways.
As a certified breath and Integrated Eye Movement Therapy practitioner, she brings a grounded, soma-based intuitive presence to her work, supporting people from all walks of life. Through her work with AURABREATH, she works with the intelligence of the whole body, supporting its ability to tune, respond, and evolve toward greater balance across the auric and etheric space. Her intention is to help people notice and trust the quieter signals within-especially when intensity or sensation might pull attention elsewhere.
“I contain the space where women can begin to sense their own innate alchemy for healing, guided by their readiness to meet and move through what surfaces for release. The rest arises from within.”
To Davel, ethical practice is sacred, recognizing that personal integrity is never separate from the widerwhole, but is continually shaped through our relationship with it.
RETURNING TO THE BODY: On Saturday, Davel will lead us through a breathwork offering specially customized for the retreat — moving at a significantly slower pace and orienting attention toward subtle internal signals of the body.
In this two-hour breath journey, participants will be guided through some preparatory exercises before moving into a deep but gentle exploration rooted in the body’s natural intelligence. Using breath and awareness, you’ll be supported to notice physical sensations, emotions, and subtle energetic shifts as they arise-without needing to interpret or fix them.
The focus is on presence, spaciousness, and meeting whatever emerges with curiosity and compassion, allowing a natural sense of integration. Rather than analyzing what comes up, the emphasis is on staying in gentle relationship with your experience as it unfolds, including moments of intensity, numbness, and/or allowing the body’s natural responses to move at their own pace- at the pace that is true for you, without pressure to reach a particular outcome.
What to bring with you: yoga mat or blanket, eye mask/soft material to place over the eyes, extra pillow for head/under knees.
Davel Breathwork Testimonials
My husband and I did breathwork with Davel, together as a couple and separately. Our experience has been nothing short of amazing. Davel’s intuition, expertise and care create an environment where expansion, learning and growth are within reach. I’ve learned breathing techniques I’ve never tried before and I love them. I’d highly recommend AURABREATH!
—AS, Des Moines, Iowa
I was not in a huge rush to learn new styles of breathwork . . . until I met Davel. I knew within the first few minutes of talking with her that she could help me push through my current stalling. An auto-immune disease and two near death experiences have had me feeling pretty beat-up and feeling broken.
Davel’s ability to tune into the body and all the nuances of the breath seemed to guide her knowing of where to activate specific acupressure points on me, that released a bunch of heavy, dense energies that most certainly plays into my continued struggles with asthma, chronic pain, maybe even the ADHD.
She does an excellent job of creating a safe and sacred space. It’s EXTREMELY healing.
I HIGHLY recommend her services before I’d recommend trauma therapy, to be honest—I spent the majority of my 30s in trauma therapy. I’m now in my 50s and I look forward to working with her on a regular basis. She is truly gifted and divinely guided! Thank you Davel for your deep wisdom, skills, knowledge and kind heart.
—SD, Des Moines, Iowa
After working with Davel, I gained a really strong awareness of my breath, helping me become calmer and far more aware of my own thought patterns and feelings. I also had some deep insights about myself and I feel more confident knowing I have this “knowing” in my back pocket as a powerful tool to draw on—especially when things get tough. Davel’s way of working is gentle and kind and her regular check-ins have really helped me keep on track with my breathing. I’d highly recommend Davel as a professional breathworker.
—SS, London
I REALLY love the way Davel runs these breathwork sessions. I found the deeper therapeutic breathwork style to be particularly powerful. Her understanding of trauma and how this plays out through my breath has been especially useful. I also appreciate the care that she puts in and her patience as I explore being with my breath. This work with Davel has given me inspiration and hope.
—AnR, London
OPTIONAL 1:1 TIME
For extra support on Friday afternoon, add an individual session with Kara and/or Davel. These options are available in the survey when you check-out. We will contact you separately to schedule and collect payment.
1:1 Oracle Reading with Kara (25 mins) - $40
A tender holding-of-space to move through whatever surfaces with integrity and compassion. Using my original decks, Prairie Majesty Oracle and Song of the Grandmothers, we synergize wisdom from nature beings, insights I receive from the otherworld, and most importantly YOUR inner Knowing for action steps to take next.
1:1 Breath Session with Davel (25 mins) - $33.33
A special solo session offered before the group to explore your individual breath pattern and how your system naturally organizes under awareness. This is a distinct experience from the group journey, offering a quieter space to be met personally. These private sessions are unique, potentially helping you enter the group session with greater self-awareness.
COST
$565 total per person. Includes everything except transportation:
Lodging: Two-night lodging with towels and linens provided in double occupancy room (at checkout, you can upgrade to a single room for $40 more);
Food: Six meals from Friday dinner to Sunday lunch (at checkout, you can opt to add lunch on Friday for $15 more);
Retreat Fee: All community discussions, reflections, and workshops;
Bonus: Private chat group on Signal to foster connections.
Participants are responsible for all transportation to and from the retreat and bringing additional snacks/treats if desired. Any lodging/meal upgrades will be billed as a separate invoice.
REGISTRATION ENDS JUNE 10, 2026.
PAYMENT OPTIONS
These options reflect my intention of reducing financial barriers to support accessibility in light of the ongoing harm caused by systemic racism, white supremacy, queer and transphobia, classism, and ableism. I invite you to use these options if paying the regular price would cause you to be less secure in your ability to meet your basic food, health, housing, or essential needs.
Self-Selected Scholarship: Use coupon code ACCESSIBILITY for retreat fee of $495.
OR Early Bird: Use coupon code EARLYBIRD for retreat fee of $515 if you register before May 5, 2026.
Payment Plan: Use coupon code DOWNPAYMENT to pay $285 now. I will contact you to arrange an additional payment of $280. prior to June 10. To combine with another discount, use the DOWNPAYMENT code at checkout and include a note about the other reduced fee option you want to apply to your second payment.
If you feel called to attend but none of these options make it possible, I get it. Please reach out, and we’ll try to find a creative solution together.
