Retreats & Experience Design
Retreat & experience design
I architect experiences where every moment earns its place. Nothing is filler. Everything is essential.
Drawing on a career as a professor and decades of learner-centered design (shaping every session around how people actually learn and take things in), I design and facilitate experiences for anyone from one person to many.
I spent years in academia as a professor and head of the Italian department (my PhD is in second language acquisition). I am a pedagogy expert, and I bring that training to every retreat, workshop, seminar, panel and course I build.
- 4 daysof ritual, music and communion at the Goddess Gathering
- 1 to manyfrom one-on-one sessions to a full room
- PhDand a career as a professor behind the design
What I design and facilitate
Experience & retreat design
Retreats
Multi-day gatherings, like four days of ritual, music and deep communion in the Catskills.
Workshops
Experiential workshops that bring people back to play, presence and joy.
Seminars, panels & courses
Built around how people actually learn, for rooms of every size.
Facilitation
I design the experience and I hold the room.
Retreats & experience design
Goddess Gathering
The Goddess Gathering is a four-day sacred women's retreat at the Orenda Retreat Center, on 13 acres in the Catskills, that I co-lead with Erin, a divine feminine mystic, sound healer and Reiki practitioner. Limited to 20 women, it moves through four days, from opening the portal to the Dark Goddess, the Light Goddess and integration, guided by the archetypes of Shakti, Kali and Lakshmi.
The days hold tantric breathwork, a blue lotus tea ceremony, womb oracle sessions, a guided yoni steam ritual, sensual embodiment, ecstatic dance and a DJ set, a sound bath journey, flower crowns and a goddess photoshoot in nature, with meals by a private chef, forest hikes, a sea salt pool, hot tub and sauna. Every intimate practice is optional and trauma-informed. The invitation: release, reclaim and radiate, and come home to yourself in sisterhood.
Dates and booking at goddessgatheringretreat.com (opens in a new tab)
Mystic Moon Retreat
Mystic Moon was a half-day women's retreat in DUMBO, Brooklyn, devoted to womb wisdom and the divine feminine. I guided the circle through devotional yoni practices, sensual temple arts dance, meditation and ritual: a space for women to slow down, come home to their bodies and reclaim their softness, pleasure and power.
At its heart was sisterhood. Women met each other without masks, witnessed one another and left more deeply connected, to themselves and to each other.
Into the Hearth
Into the Hearth was a deep-dive ceremonial retreat at the beautiful Orenda retreat center in the Catskills. Over the weekend we worked with our power animals and our angels, practiced yoga and meditation, and went into inner child work together.
It was a homecoming: warmth, belonging and the space to go deep, held in nature and in a circle that felt like family.
Inner Child Workshops
In my Inner Child Workshops I guide you back to the part of you that still feels like a child: the wonder and the play, and the old hurts too. We begin with grounding, then travel in a guided visualization to your favorite childhood place to meet your younger self, and journal with both hands so your inner child can write back.
You leave knowing the signs that your inner child needs care, with simple ways to reparent yourself every day and a letter to the child you were. We close in a sharing circle.
Questions
Good to know
Can you design a retreat or workshop for my group?
Yes. I design and facilitate workshops, retreats, seminars, panels and courses, for anything from one person to many.
When is the next Goddess Gathering?
The next Goddess Gathering is in fall 2027, at the Orenda Retreat Center in the Catskills, NY. Join the list for dates at goddessgatheringretreat.com (opens in a new tab).
What is your background in teaching?
I spent years in academia as a professor, and my PhD is in second language acquisition. I was head of the Italian department and I am a pedagogy expert. I bring decades of learner-centered design to every experience I build.
What happens at one of your retreats?
It depends on the retreat. The Goddess Gathering is four days of ritual, music and deep communion. Mystic Moon was a half-day women's retreat of womb wisdom, temple dance and sisterhood. The Inner Child Workshops bring people back to play, presence and joy.
Where are you based, and do you travel?
I'm based in New York City. My work has taken me to Miami, Vermont, Philadelphia and the Catskills, and I take on projects in NYC and beyond.
How do I start a project with you?
Email hi@daniela.love or use the form on the contact page. Tell me your date, your location, what kind of gathering it is and how many people you expect.
More ways in
Work with me
Let's co-create something magical and meaningful.
hi@daniela.loveCollaborations, bookings, consultation and commissions.