Winter Solstice: Enter the Threshold
Community Weekend at Just Love Forest 2025! 🌲💚
You have the flexibility to choose which events you'd like to attend all under a single registration!
While the weekend begins with meditation at 4:30 PM on Friday, you’ll join at the start time of the sessions you select (e.g., Saturday at 10:30 AM, Saturday at 4:30 PM, or Sunday at 10:30 AM). Simply pick the sessions you want when you register! Read more below.
Join us for a heartfelt Winter Solstice weekend at Just Love Forest, a gathering devoted to stillness, service, and honoring the land as we cross into the longest night of the year. We begin with an overnight guided meditation on Friday, followed by morning puja, aarti, and breathwork on Saturday. The afternoon is dedicated to community service, held outdoors or in the heated yurt depending on the weather. Saturday evening brings our joyful annual winter kirtan with Gina and Gershone, along with a vegan and vegetarian community potluck.
On Sunday we enter a day of prayer, blessing, and beauty. We gather for sound healing with Sarah Woolson, a cacao circle with Bala, and a traditional despacho ceremony guided by Robin Guidice. A despacho is a sacred offering of gratitude and reciprocity, created as a prayer bundle for harmony and blessing. We end with a walk to Shagbark Vista to offer fruits for the forest animals and honor the four directions with a fire ceremony led by Brandon Sutton.
This weekend is a gentle, communal way to close the year, celebrate the turning of the light, and offer our love and support to the beings who share this land with us.
Have special needs or questions? We're here to help! Email Bala at bala@justloveforest.com, and we’ll ensure you’re all set for an unforgettable experience.
What’s Happening?
Friday: JOIN US FOR A DONATION-BASED Meditation Overnight AT THE JUST LOVE FOREST ASHRAM 🧡
4:30 PM Arrival
Just Love Forest is now being held as a Forest Ashram, rooted in the living traditions and lineage of the great Indian saint Neem Karoli Baba, and following the path of Bhakti Yoga, the yoga of love.
To honor this shift, for the remainder of 2025, our Friday Evening Meditation Retreats will be donation-based. Everyone is welcome. Simply offer what you can to help us offset food costs and maintain the space.
Each evening will include:
Guided Meditation – open to all paths, lineages, and traditions.
Pooja & Aarti Ceremony – an ancient Vedic practice honoring the elements and the four directions.
This sacred space is open to people of all faiths. If you feel called, you may bring a sacred object from your own tradition with a spiritualist, Christian, Jewish, Muslim, Buddhist, or otherwise to place on the altar and receive blessings.
If these practices are new to you, don’t be afraid. Come with curiosity, come to learn, come to share in community. Our invitation is simple: all hearts are welcome.
As part of this we will offer an Indian food dinner before our meditation. You're welcome to come for the evening and depart around 8pm or stay overnight in one of our canvas bell tents, all donation based.
Saturday morning we will wake up and offer the Pooja & Aarti Ceremony again at 7:00am, followed by a silent meditation from 7:30am - 8:30am, followed by breakfast.
Join us in the forest. Breathe. Sit. Pray. Share the sacred.
Email bala@justloveforest.com with questions. You’ll receive a list of things to bring for your overnight stay upon registering.
🌟 Saturday – A Day of Service & Song
Service Day: 10:30 AM Arrival
Spend the afternoon in community service, tending to the land and supporting the spaces that hold us. Depending on the weather, we will work either outdoors or inside the heated yurt. It is a gentle way to give back to the forest as we honor the turning of the year.
Saturday Night Kirtan: 4:30 PM Arrival
Join Gina and Gershone for our annual winter kirtan, a joyful evening of mantra, music, and shared heart inside the warm yurt. This night is always a highlight of the season, woven with community, song, and a nourishing vegan and vegetarian potluck..
🌟 Sunday – Shinrin- Yoku Forest Therapy
10:30 AM Arrival
Sunday is a day of prayer, offering, and renewal. We gather for sound healing with Sarah Woolson, a cacao circle with Bala, and a despacho ceremony guided by Robin Guidice. We close with a walk to Shagbark Vista to offer fruits for the animals and honor the four directions with a fire ceremony led by Brandon Sutton.
- Foster Love & Joy: Build deep, meaningful connections with a community that feels like family.
- Support Your Health: Enjoy the scientifically backed benefits of time spent in nature.
- Give Back: Contribute to our shared land through purposeful service.
- Create Memories: Share beautiful moments that will stay with you for a lifetime.
This isn’t just a weekend, it’s a new way to reconnect, a way to grow stronger together, and an opportunity to create lasting happiness in harmony with nature.
Pack your bags, bring your loved ones (and your instruments!), and get ready for a transformational experience.
Questions or Special Needs?
We’re here for you! Contact Bala at bala@justloveforest.com for any questions or accommodations.