Do you like to be creative? To spend your time learning something new? Learn a practical ancestral skill of hand sewing a natural, more sustainable garment? Have fun with like minded women? Being surrounded by Nature and recharge?

Welcome to our 4rd annual Sewing Spring Forest Retreat.

APRIL 10-14, 2025. Cable, WI

Lodging, food and instructions are included in the package.

3 night/4 day weekend, where we can focus on the following:

• cut your size dress pattern, and sew a garment by hand,
• dye our fabric with real natural indigo in shibori style
• do critical alignment therapy (style of yoga) every morning and learn how it can benefit the spine health
• learn about Gene keys method and how it can benefit our self growth and development
• make herbal beeswax candles,
• learn about the benefits of Blood Type Diet and enjoy meals that benefit all types (vegetarian options will be available)
• take forest walks,
• learn about cleanses with clay and herbs and create Spring roots herbal capsules to take home,
• get professional photos taken by Susanne (her unique prints and art will be for sale at the retreat too)
• enjoy chair massage with Lola.

The spring is time for new beginnings. We will craft, create something new and unique. Also you will be able to take home new ideas about health, start new practices that will promote longetivity and structure and balance in mind. 

Traditional Hand Sewing with Yulia

We will learn the tradition of creating beautiful,  sustainable and natural clothing (basic dress) with a protective cut in mind. We will use our own measurements without relying on the measuring tape or patterns. We will learn how to create folding or tying designs on our fabric using real botanical indigo, and how it was done historically. We will seal our desires and wishes in every stitch, using our hands and intentions. We will discuss how modern clothing went so far away from mindful and practical ways, and how to get it back to wholeness. After you wear your first dress for awhile, you will realize how comfortable, feminine, wise, full of energy it  makes you feel. It is like an all day long spa for the body.

With concentrating on sewing, you should be able to finish or almost finish your dress by the end of the weekend. Even if you only know sewing basics, you will be able to catch on and create something beautiful.

Introduction to Indigo and Shibori

We will cut the white or pastel color fabric and transform it into a shibori creation with the help of natural botanical indigo dye. 

Beeswax candles with Yulia

Learn about benefits of beeswax and  create a beautiful herbal candle for you to take home. 

Spring cleanse with clay and herbs with Yulia

We will discuss the importance and benefits of spring cleanse for your body. We will learn about the spring herbs and their properties for our bodies and health.

Gene Keys with Susanne Von Schroeder

Susanne will offer an introduction lecture to The Gene Keys. She will show us how to read our profile and explain the Golden Path – a series of sequences we can journey through.

“Who am I? What’s the purpose of life?”

These are the questions that have dominated my life since my teenage years.

My quest led me to spiritual teachers/Masters who taught me mediation, yoga practices and gave me insights into the deeper mysteries of life.

When I came across the Gene Keys teachings by Richard Rudd it was like I found the missing puzzle piece that helped me to understand who I am  – to see the gifts and potentials within me that were hidden due to limiting belief systems and programming from childhood, ancestral lineages and past lives.

The Gene Key teaching is a path of gentle transformation, a path of self illumination. It is a wisdom teaching and living transmission that invites us to develop our humility through embodying the four qualities that lie at the heart of the Gene Keys: Contemplation, Inquiry, Gentleness and Patience.

I am very new to the Gene Keys but feel like sharing my experiences in these times of change and uncertainty. 

My other interests are being in nature, photography and gardening.

I have been in the greenhouse industry for most of my life and operated my own business for 10 years.

My nature photography (Soul Centered Photography) has been published in magazines and I have attended many art shows over the past 15 years.

I live in the beautiful Blue Hills near Bruce, WI (Rusk County) with my cats and dog.

We have a hidden HIGHER purpose which is encoded in our DNA.

We each contain an inner message – an essence. The point of the gene keys is to unlock the code and release your special essence, your genius into the world.

Our Hologenetic profile is a precise imprint of our life and map of consciousness, calculated from our date and time of birth and location.

It shows us the patterns that govern our life and depending on frequency will manifest either as shadow, gift or siddhi (divine gift).

Our attitude to life programs our DNA and determines your frequency.

The shadow frequency are our victim patterns, the gift is the field of transformation and the siddhi is the arising essence.

The Gene Keys are a voyage of Self Illumination, a path of gentle transformation. The art of contemplation offers a path to wholeness and prosperity. It takes time and is not a quick fix!

Every shadow contains a gift – the great truth of the gene keys.

This sentence alone has opened doors for me I could never have imagined.

Therefore I would like to share my personal experiences with that and hope to inspire others as well.

Websites to check out:

https://www.soulcenteredphotography.net/

www.genekeys.com

www.soulcenteredphotography.com

Morning Critical Alignment Therapy

Blood Type friendly Food Lecture and Cooking Experience

Yulia will teach us about food diet that relates to our particular blood types. We inherited a certain blood type that our ancestors evolved to have. You will learn which foods are great, neutral or on the avoid list for your particular blood type. If you do not know your type, we will have test kits available at the retreat, that you can purchase to self test. Adopting your blood type diet can help you achieve your health goals quicker, by managing inflammation and auto immune conditions. 

Each participant can purchase and take home a booklet on their particular type of blood diet.

Chair Massage with Lola

Lola Fransway  from Lelya Rejuvenation and Relaxation is a certified massage therapist with years of experience. She has offered massage therapy at Yulia’s every retreat for several years. She will have a sign up sheet for you to get a slot. She practices out of Lake Nebagamon studio. 

https://lelyarnr.amtamembers.com

IMPORTANT DETAILS ABOUT THE RETREAT

We can host 10 people WITH LODGING. The sleeping arrangements are queen and twin beds plus pull out beds, with a couple of cots as options. 4 bedrooms/4 baths.

Please let us know of special health/food related needs, that you would like organizers to be aware of.

Lodging and sewing instructions are included. Choose NO LODGING if you are local, and just want to come for the day, and go home at night. Local people, if you are interested in a discount, please message Yulia to negotiate. 

All the food and beverages are included in the cost. You are welcome to bring NEUTRAL snacks of almonds, walnuts, pecans, raisins, figs, dates, apples, pears, prunes, apricots, cranberries.

All the bedding and utensils, 2 fridges plus laundry are on site.

What to bring: 

 1. NEUTRAL snacks  of your choice from the above list (otherwise food is included). Or ask Yulia if your snack idea is neutral for all the blood types. 

 2. Headlight to sew by, or clamp lamp.

3. Thread of corresponding color.

 4. Washed FABRIC of your choice of solid WHITE OR PASTEL color (no design, we will be Indigo dyeing our own design). 4-5 yards. If you are tall, go with longer yardage. Natural fibers are best (cotton or linen).

Make sure your fabric is the wide kind. Cotton, linen. 

Pay attention to density, if you want lighter fabric for summer, go with smaller number of oz/yd2 (2-3 oz) or warmer fabric (5 oz) is more dense. It will be possible to wear a simple white tank top and white skirts under our linen dress, if it is a lighter density, so see through is not going to be an problem.

Linen fabric can be found on https://fabrics-store.com. USE the code ILOVELINEN to get 7% discount!

5. Notebook to write things down.

6. Slippers/comfortable warm clothing if the weather is cold.

7. Dresses/skirts for our women’s circles.

8. Clothing for dyeing process that can get stains on.

9. Sharp fabric scissors if you have one.

10. Yoga mat is important. Yoga clothes. 

11. Your own tea cup/mug if you like so we can tell whose cup it is.

To get inspired…

Please read this book for inspiration. It is a great documentary based story on the history of Indigo plant growing in the USA.