The Retreat
We are thrilled to welcome psychotherapist and author of Quarterlife: The Search for Self in Early Adulthood, Satya Doyle Byock, for our inaugural retreat at Saturn’s Return, a 42-acre working farm and inn on San Juan Island, WA. (Read more about us here and here.)
For three full days and four nights, a small group of participants will have the opportunity to sink into two daily workshops with Satya, intimate community discussions, and silent reflection, while enjoying beautiful shared meals by chef & writer, Gracie Gardner—all against the backdrop of Saturn’s Return during peak August abundance.
In one morning and one afternoon session each day, Satya will lead us through exercises to guide us toward finding stability and meaning in our lives. Through self-investigation, group sharing, journaling, and dialogue with Satya, we’ll explore and clarify the steps we each need to Separate from past dynamics or belief systems that no longer serve us; Listen to our bodies and souls for what they know about our paths; and clarify what we need to Build (or deconstruct) to make a life of stability and meaning possible. Breathwork and embodied movement will also be incorporated, and there will be plenty of space for alone time, sweet conversation, and enjoying the summer sun!
In addition, all group participants will have the opportunity to explore our relationships to food and cooking and how they can support us in cultivating lives of stability and meaning. Led by Gracie, these workshops will include conversation, writing, and likely some snacks. In your downtime, you can join Emma Rastatter of Saturn's Return to harvest for our meals and learn more about the workings of the farm.
We are also excited to be welcoming Leslie Stephens of Morning Person Newsletter as an assisting facilitator!
Food
Three daily meals will be provided by Gracie, along with an opening dinner on Wednesday and closing breakfast on Sunday.
Breakfast will be located at the inn and will be open for self service according to your own morning schedule. Lunches and dinners will be an opportunity for us to gather, whether at a long table, a beach picnic, or in the surrounding fields.
All food will be sourced as intentionally and as close to home as possible, at the height of the summer harvest! Most dietary restrictions can be accommodated, just let us know your preferences ahead of time.
Participants & Cost
This retreat is intended for people in Quarterlife, between the ages of 21 and 39. If you are outside of that age range and are interested in attending, let’s talk! Everyone is welcome. If you have questions about whether this will feel like a safe or welcoming place for you for any reason, please don’t hesitate to inquire: hello@saturnsreturn.com.
The retreat cost, including 11 bountiful farm meals, is $1650 plus lodging + tax. A range of rooms is available.
We expect this retreat to fill up very quickly, so please register if you know that you are interested or send us a note ASAP. To create an intimate container, we will be capping at 12 participants.
If finances would prohibit you from joining us but you are very interested in attending, please do send us a note. We have set aside space for at least one scholarship or two discounted rates. We will not ask for any proof of need or a lengthy application but would love to know what would make attendance possible for you (i.e. could you come at 50% off). We will do our best to accommodate need but expect to receive multiple requests. [Update: We've filled our scholarship positions and are unable to accommodate new requests.]
Lodging
All participants will be staying on-site at the inn at Saturn’s Return, nestled in San Juan Island's West Valley where farmland and forest converge. We offer a range of rooms:
The Deluxe King's floor-to-ceiling windows welcome in expansive views of West Valley, Young Hill, and the wetlands. Best enjoyed from the comfort of your organic Avocado King mattress and Coyuchi linens. The room features our largest en suite bathroom with a walk-in shower and organic Baina bath linens. If you would like to share this room with a friend or partner, please let us know! $1,415, plus tax, for 4 nights. SOLD OUT
The Deluxe Queen is in the heart of the original one-room schoolhouse, featuring its 1915 fireplace and Douglas fir floors. Enjoy views of Garrison Creek and our flower field from your organic Avocado Queen mattress, Coyuchi linens, and Fir Oak Farm wool duvet insert. Its private bathroom next door has a shower-bath, organic Baina bath linens, and bathrobes from Block Shop Textiles. $1,035, plus tax, for 4 nights. SOLD OUT
The Queen bedroom with en suite bathroom features a comfortable bed with organic Coyuchi linens, a Fir Oak Farm wool duvet insert, and windows that let in birdsong and views of the farm or Garrison Creek. Its small en suite bathroom has a walk-in shower and organic Baina bath linens. $965, plus tax, for 4 nights. SOLD OUT
The second-floor Queen bedroom with shared bathroom looks out over farm and forest. Catch golden sunlight through the south-facing window from your cozy bed with organic Coyuchi linens and a Fir Oak Farm wool duvet insert. It shares a generous bathroom with the Double Full bedroom next door, appointed with organic Baina bath linens and bathrobes from Block Shop Textiles. $700, plus tax, for 4 nights. SOLD OUT
The second-floor Double Full is a shared bedroom, with two beds overlooking Garrison Creek, organic Coyuchi linens, and Fir Oak Farm wool duvet inserts. It shares a generous bathroom with the Queen bedroom next door, appointed with organic Baina bath linens and bathrobes from Block Shop Textiles. We will book each bed separately, so you can either coordinate to share with a friend or meet someone new! $390/bed, plus tax, for 4 nights. SOLD OUT
Getting Here
Please arrive on Wednesday between 3-6pm. You’ll have time to settle into your room, drink in the ocean air, and walk the grounds before we convene at 7pm for our first dinner together. Our retreat will end on Sunday after breakfast, with departure requested by noon.
To learn more about getting to San Juan Island, see our Welcome Guide. You can take a ferry from Anacortes or a short flight from Seattle; both journeys are beautiful and require advance planning. Reach out with any questions as you book your travel!
And if you’d like to extend your stay at Saturn's Return before or after the retreat, let us know and we can likely add to your reservation.
When you're ready, reserve your spot here. If you have any questions, please send us an email: hello@saturnsreturn.com.
Team
Satya Doyle Byock (facilitator) is a psychotherapist and the author of “Quarterlife: The Search for Self in Early Adulthood” (Random House, 2022). She is also the director of The Salome Institute of Jungian Studies, where she teaches online, and co-host of the (now completed) podcast on Carl Jung’s Red Book. She recently started a Substack called “The Quarterlifer,” where she writes twice a month. Her work has been featured on NPR, The New York Times, Oprah Daily, and Literary Hub. She lives in Portland, Oregon.
Gracie Gardner (chef) dislikes a bio, but if she has to, she will. Gracie is a chef based in New York City. She spent her whole life in New York until an odd series of events (primarily Covid) led her to a small island off the West Coast of Canada called Salt Spring. There, she and her husband opened a catering business called Nellie’s, a pandemic pivot that stuck. On Salt Spring and through Nellie’s, she learned what it meant to feed and participate in community, both through the food itself and also the storytelling that went into each new weekly menu and newsletter. Prior to Nellie's, Gracie worked for over four years at Blue Hill at Stone Barns, in the kitchen and on the farm with the affiliate Stone Barns Center for Food and Agriculture.
When she’s not cooking, she’s reading and writing, sharing her musings on her Substack, “This Morning”. Gracie's favorite time of day is the early morning, where she drinks her coffee on the stoop and stares into space. Nothing to do, just rest and feel the day.
(Here's Gracie cooking Emma & Wiley's wedding dinner at Saturn's Return!)
Leslie Stephens (asst. facilitator) is the creator of the popular newsletter Morning Person, which is among Substack's Top #10 Culture Newsletters with over 22k subscribers. Her work has appeared in the Los Angeles Review of Books, Eater, Apartment Therapy, and Tasting Table, among other outlets including Food52 and cupcakes and cashmere where she worked as an editor. A graduate of Wellesley College and the Columbia Publishing Course, she is currently earning her Master’s in Professional Mental Health Counseling, with specializations in addiction and ecotherapy, at Lewis and Clark College in Portland, Oregon.
Emma Rastatter (host) is the co-owner of Saturn’s Return, along with her husband, Wiley.
She started pulling the thread of human health in college, studying biology and pre-med at Stanford then working in health tech for four years. Per Satya’s sage guidance, Emma followed her intuition upstream of the medical system to the wellspring of human and ecological health: food and farming. She worked at Blue Hill at Stone Barns as the chef Dan Barber’s assistant, where she gratefully crossed paths with Gracie.
Late 2020, she set out for a practical education in agriculture, working on a different regenerative farm each season for a year in Washington, Hawaii, Massachusetts, and New York. She and Wiley ultimately fell in love with the farming community on San Juan Island and bought Saturn's Return on the summer solstice last year, where she'll weave the threads of health, food, and wholeness.
We look forward to searching together,
— Emma, Satya, Gracie, and Leslie
