Longing to Belong Retreat

Where I end, you begin, and we still belong.

Somatic movement & embodied practice | Shamanic clearing & release | Breathwork | Meditation & sound healing | Breathtaking desert views & hikes | Experiential group sessions | Boundaries & connection practices | Rest & spaciousness | Fire & release ceremony | Ayurvedic-inspired meals | Meaningful connection & integration

April 1-4, 2027

What if belonging didn’t require you to abandon yourself?

Step into three days and three nights of connection, reflection, and transformation in the tranquil desert sanctuary of Blisstopia in Peoria, Arizona.

Maybe you’ve spent years trying to find your place. You long for deeper friendships, more meaningful relationships, or a community where you feel truly seen. Maybe you’re surrounded by people who love you and still somehow feel outside of the circle. Or perhaps you’ve become so good at being independent, accommodating, helpful, or easy to be around that somewhere along the way, you stopped asking what you need.

Longing to Belong is an invitation to explore the space between you and me, independence and dependence, closeness and distance, giving and receiving, boundaries and walls. Not to find the “right” side, but to discover what healthy, honest connection looks like for you.

Through somatic movement, breathwork, meditation, shamanic practices, group experiences, nature, ritual, and intentional spaciousness, we’ll explore what happens when you stop performing for your place and begin trusting that your needs, dreams, time, body, and boundaries matter too.

Guided by Cynthia Flynn and Raschel Biagioli, this retreat is open to men and women ready to deepen their relationship with themselves while learning new ways of being in relationship with others.

Because belonging isn’t about disappearing into the people around you.

It’s learning where you end, where another begins, and discovering that there is room for both.

  • Two women hugging outdoors during sunset, one with dark hair, glasses, and sunglasses on her head, the other with light skin, long hair, and a pink top, in a natural setting with trees and a fence in the background.

    BELONGING

  • Person in a red dress playing singing bowls on a black mat on wooden floor.

    SURRRENDER

  • A group of three people practicing yoga or meditation indoors, sitting on a colorful blanket on a wooden floor, with a window with closed blinds and orange curtains in the background.

    CONNECTION

  • Red rock formations and natural arch in a desert landscape with green vegetation and distant mountains under a cloudy sky.

    RISE

  • A group of women and girls participating in a meditation or prayer session indoors on a wooden floor with candles and string lights in the background.

    TRUST

  • A backyard with a small waterfall, two green trees, a gravel area, and a mountain in the background under partly cloudy blue sky.

    EXPLORE

  • A woman in a red dress is standing inside a room, holding a string of large seashells. The room has a window with horizontal blinds, and the walls are decorated with a small framed picture and other wall hangings. A blanket covers someone lying on the bed.

    RELEASE

A look into a typical retreat day.

Each day at Longing to Belong is intentionally designed with a rhythm of meaningful inner work, connection, movement, nature, and spaciousness—because transformation doesn’t only happen in the sessions. Sometimes it happens in the quiet moments between them.

Mornings begin slowly, with the option to greet the Arizona desert on a sunrise hike before returning for a relaxed breakfast. From there, we move into somatic movement, breathwork, meditation, and embodied practices designed to help you notice what your body has been trying to tell you—when you need closeness, when you need space, when something is a yes, and when something is enough.

Afternoons weave together experiential group sessions, shamanic practices, hiking, reflection, and plenty of room to simply be. You might find yourself journaling in the sun, resting by the pool, walking the labyrinth, soaking in the hot tub, enjoying the infrared sauna, having a meaningful conversation, or choosing a little solitude. This spaciousness is intentional. Part of belonging is learning to recognize and honor what you need.

Throughout the retreat, we’ll explore the space between independence and dependence, closeness and distance, giving and receiving, boundaries and walls, self and others. Rather than searching for one “right” way to belong, you’ll have opportunities to experience what connection can feel like when you don’t have to perform, shrink, over-give, or abandon yourself to receive it.

As evening settles over the desert, we slow down. We gather over nourishing Ayurvedic-inspired meals, integrate the experiences of the day, connect, laugh, rest, and allow whatever has surfaced to settle. Our time together will also include sound healing, ritual, and a fire + release ceremony beneath the Arizona sky.

There is work here—but there is also rest, play, beauty, laughter, nature, good food, and space to breathe.

You don’t have to fill every moment.
You don’t have to connect every moment.
You don’t have to perform your way through this experience.

Your place in the circle is already yours.

A woman in a red dress standing on a wooden floor in a cozy room with several beds or mats covered with blankets, lit with candles. A vase of flowers is on the floor near the center of the room, and the window has closed blinds.
An older woman is sitting on a yoga bolster, smiling and clapping her hands together in a seated yoga or meditation practice. She is wearing a black long sleeve shirt and black pants, with a watch on her left wrist. There is a colorful blanket next to her on the floor. Other people are seated nearby; one in a blue shirt is partially visible in the background. The room has wooden floors, neutral-colored walls, and string lights along the baseboard.

What’s Included?

Your retreat is designed so you can arrive, settle in, and immerse yourself in the experience. We’ve thoughtfully taken care of the details so you can focus on connection, reflection, rest, and transformation.

  • 3 days and 3 nights at Blisstopia Retreat Center in Peoria, Arizona—a serene, private desert sanctuary from Thursday afternoon through Sunday morning

  • Exclusive use of the property, giving our group space to gather, explore, rest, and connect

  • Nourishing Ayurvedic-inspired meals, including flexible morning breakfast options and chef-prepared lunches and dinners

  • Guided group experiences including somatic movement, breathwork, meditation, shamanic practices, sound healing, experiential group work, and a fire + release ceremony

  • Optional sunrise hikes and desert exploration to ground, move, breathe, and experience the beauty of the Arizona landscape

  • Intentional time for integration, with space to journal, rest, swim, wander, connect with others, or spend time alone

  • On-site wellness amenities, including a pool, hot tub, infrared sauna, meditation and movement spaces, walking labyrinth, trails, fire pit, and outdoor gathering areas

  • Private WhatsApp community for retreat updates, travel coordination, questions, and connection before our time together

Throughout the weekend, there will be a balance of guided experiences and spaciousness—because part of this work is learning to notice what you need and giving yourself permission to honor it.

What’s not?


This list is short:

  • Flights to Phoenix, Arizona

  • Ground transportation to and from Blisstopia Retreat Center

  • Personal shopping, meals outside of the retreat, or additional off-site activities before or after your stay

    We’ll use our private WhatsApp group to help coordinate travel plans and potential carpools as the retreat gets closer.

Is this for you?

You can be surrounded by people and still wonder where you fit.

You can love your family and still feel unseen within it.

You can be fiercely independent and secretly wish someone would meet you halfway.

  • People gathered around a fire with flames rising from a ceremonial fire pit, surrounded by flower arrangements.

    Traditional Fire, Burn and Release Ceremony

  • A plate of Ethiopian injera with various stews, salad, and vegetables, on a granite countertop.

    Ayurvedic Meals

  • Person preparing bowls of salad with fresh vegetables, rice, and beans in a kitchen.

    Group Meals

  • A desert landscape with a mountain in the background, residential houses at the base, and various desert plants and cacti in the foreground under a clear blue sky.

    Time to Hike

  • Silhouettes of three women dancing against a sunset sky.

    Build Relationships

  • A woman wiping a man with a cloth on a bed in a dimly lit room illuminated by candles and sunlight through window blinds and curtains.

    Shamanic Breathwork and Sound Healing

Accomodations

PRICING

  • $2,000

    9 Available

    Enjoy the retreat in our shared accommodations while having your own individual bed and personal sleeping space.

    3% card processing fee
    Pay by check or Zelle to avoid the processing fee

  • $4,500

    Only 1 available

    Reserve this private room with a friend, partner, or family member and enjoy two individual beds and your own private bathroom.

    3% card processing fee
    Pay by check or Zelle to avoid the processing fee

  • $1800

    2 spots available within our shared accommodations

    Share a king bed together and save $200 per person on your retreat experience.

    3% card processing fee
    Pay by check or Zelle to avoid the processing fee

Meet Your Hosts

When we dreamed up Longing to Belong, we kept returning to one question:

How do we belong to one another without abandoning ourselves?

We know what it feels like to navigate the space between connection and independence, closeness and distance, giving and receiving, boundaries and openness. To want meaningful relationships while also learning how to honor our own needs, our own space, and the person we are becoming.

Together, we bring decades of experience in body-based healing, shamanic practice, intuitive wisdom, movement, and transformational work to create a retreat where you don’t have to perform, have it all figured out, or become someone different in order to have a place.

At Longing to Belong, we’ll explore what happens when you begin to trust yourself enough to name what you need—and feel safe enough to allow someone else to need something different.

There is room here for connection and solitude. Strength and softness. Independence and support. You and me.

Because belonging isn’t about becoming the same.

It’s learning where I end, you begin, and we still belong.

Older woman with curly hair smiling with eyes closed, hands pressed together in a prayer-like gesture, wearing a light-colored embroidered blouse.

Contact Us

Cynthia Flynn
ritualwoman@gmail.com

Raschel Biagioli
raschelbigioli@gmail.com
@raschelbiagioli

Book Your Spot.

Your adventure, healing and rise begins here.