RETURNING TO SOURCE
YEAR-END SILENT RETREAT
with Johan Gace and Jenelle Troxell
December 27-30, 2025
(Saturday to Tuesday)
with optional one-night extension
(December 30-31, to Wednesday)
Program Description
Facilitators
Registration information
PROGRAM DESCRIPTION
This retreat is an invitation to reconnect with source—however you understand it.
Source might be the earth beneath your feet. The inner light. The presence of God. The essential self. Something you sense but don’t have words for yet.
Over three days of silence at Woolman Hill on the Pocumtuck Ridge, you’ll have space to listen to the land, to the quiet, to what’s within and what’s without.
Winter on the ridge is beautiful. The land is stripped to what’s essential, and so are we. As you walk the outer terrain of winter’s landscape through the bare woods, you’ll also walk the inner terrain. The two mirror each other.
This is threshold time: the year ending, the new year not yet begun. This is a container for releasing what’s complete and opening to what wants to emerge.
WHAT THE RETREAT INCLUDES
– Extended silence as spiritual practice (noble silence begins Saturday evening, continues through Tuesday morning)
– Daily walking meditation through winter landscape—slow, embodied, attentive to what the land is teaching
– Periods of Quaker-style expectant waiting worship
– Solo time for deep contemplation, rest, and listening
– Vision walking practice: moving with soft gaze and peripheral awareness, letting the landscape come to us
– Silent art-making: space for creative expression without words, materials and invitations provided
– Collaborative earth mandala: creating ephemeral beauty together using what the land offers, then letting it return to the earth
– Shared meals eaten together in silence, with mindfulness and gratitude
– A common space for journaling, reading, and silent creating
– Fire ceremonies (weather permitting): threshold rituals for releasing what’s complete and opening to what wants to emerge
WHAT YOU CAN EXPECT
– Saturday evening arrival, dinner, and opening circle to set the container
– Wholesome meals provided and eaten together in shared silence
– A common space for art supplies, devotional literature, and reflection
– Walking meditation in the woods sometimes together, sometimes solo
– Board games, puzzles, community games & fun in silence (if you feel social)
– All practices conducted in silence, offered as invitations rather than requirements
– Periods of Quaker-style expectant waiting worship
– Tuesday morning gathering for breaking the silence, closing circle, lunch, and departure
– Other invitations by the group, as the Spirit and the season move us
WHO THIS RETREAT IS FOR
All are welcome: Quakers and those from other traditions or no explicit tradition. Experienced practitioners of silence and those entirely new to it. Young and old. Those who come knowing exactly why they’re here and those who come not quite sure.
A THOUGHT
If you’re planning to come, is there someone in another generation older or younger who might want to accompany you? Or who you might want to encourage to also register?
Winter’s teaching and year-end silence are gifts we can share across generations.
DATES & OPTIONAL EXTENSION
The retreat runs December 27-30, 2025 (Saturday arrival through Tuesday departure).
For those who wish to deepen the integration of this practice and cross into the new year from the held container of Woolman Hill, we are offering an optional fourth night (December 30-31).
Those staying the optional night will:
– Continue in personal silence and contemplation
– Have access to the land, meetinghouse, and common spaces for practice
– Prepare simple meals together in silence (food provided)
– Complete the year in whatever way feels right: in silence, in solitude, or in the quiet company of others
– Depart Wednesday morning, December 31, carrying the practice forward into the new year
This extension is self-guided—facilitators depart Tuesday afternoon; the space remains available for continued retreat. This option is for those who feel called to integrate the silence more deeply before returning to daily life, and who are comfortable holding their own practice without facilitation.
Cost for the optional night is $70 (covers lodging; food provided, participants coordinate their own simple meals). Please indicate on registration if you wish to stay the optional fourth night.
FACILITATORS
JENELLE TROXELL
Jenelle teaches literature and cinema at Union College and writes about mysticism, memory, and the contemplative imagination. Her work explores how stillness and story shape one another, and how quiet attention to the natural world can open spaces of renewal. She has long been drawn to Quaker practice and to the generative effects of silence. She looks forward to communing with retreat participants within the winter landscape at the turning of the year.
JOHAN GACE (Kripalu-Certified Mindful Outdoor Guide)
For the past year, Johan has made Woolman Hill his home, walking these trails daily, sitting with the land through all seasons, letting this place shape his practice. Living here taught him what it means to return to source, to be present, and to listen deeply. Johan came to this path after years of working in technology, discovering the journey from head to heart. What this land gave him, he’s honored to share with you.
For Johan, this retreat is also a practice in learning to hold space and trust what the land teaches.
Our role as facilitators:
We’ll be in silence with you, practicing alongside you. Our role is to hold the container and trust that what each person needs to hear will emerge in its own time.
Between the year that was and the year yet to come, we walk together into silence. We practice returning.
COST & REGISTRATION
3-Night Retreat (December 27-30):
The standard rate for this retreat is $400, with a sliding scale of $275-475. The fee includes program, lodging, and food from Saturday dinner through Tuesday lunch. Commuter rate is $275.
Optional 4th Night (December 30-31):
Additional $70 for lodging (Tuesday dinner and Wednesday breakfast included, self-coordinated).
We are committed to financial accessibility: please pay what fits in your personal budget (at whatever amount), encourage your faith community to financially support your participation if that is appropriate, and let us know if you have additional questions related to fees.
A non-refundable deposit of $50 is required to hold a space for the program unless otherwise arranged. If you need to cancel, the deposit can be applied to a future workshop within 18 months. The balance is due at the beginning of the workshop.
REGISTER HERE
ARRIVAL & DEPARTURE
Saturday, December 27: Plan to arrive after 4:00pm, in time for dinner at 6:00pm.
Tuesday, December 30: The workshop will end by 2:00pm on Tuesday.
Wednesday, December 31 (optional extension): Those staying the optional night will depart by noon on Wednesday.
We are centrally located in western Massachusetts, close to both I-91 and Route 2. For those arriving by car, we will send directions prior to the event. Please let us know if you’d be interested in car-pooling.
The nearest Amtrak train station is in Greenfield (MA), ten minutes’ drive away. Vermont Transit and Peter Pan bus lines also stop in Greenfield. Please contact us in advance to see if we can arrange a ride from these stations.
ROOM & BOARD
Our 19th-century farmhouse has hand-hewn beams and wide pine floors, with simple lodging (typically double occupancy) with shared bathrooms. The meetinghouse and the first floor of the main building are wheelchair accessible. Our rustic cabins have electricity, woodstoves and outhouses.
We serve nourishing, home-cooked meals and always offer vegetarian options. Please let us know if you have any dietary restrictions. Part of the community building at each retreat includes the joyful sharing of meal chores and final clean-up.
Note for optional 4th night: Those staying December 30-31 will coordinate simple meals together (food and kitchen access provided).
WHAT TO BRING
Please bring your own toiletries, towels, and bedding (sleeping bag, blankets or comforter, sheets and pillow case). Pillows are provided.
Essential for winter:
- Warm layers for outdoor walking (we will be outside daily, even in cold)
- Waterproof boots with good traction
- Warm hat, gloves, scarf
- Indoor slippers or comfortable shoes
Optional:
- Journal and pen
- Flashlight or headlamp
- Personal meditation cushion for indoors (chairs and cushions are also available)
- Cushion or pad for outdoor meditation/sitting
- Book or devotional reading material (we will have some available)
- Any additional supplies for personal practice
Please do NOT bring:
- Pets or candles
- Devices (we strongly encourage leaving phones off or in your car)
We have limited internet access and cell phone reception. We encourage guests to consider how device use may detract from the experience of being fully present, here and now, in this threshold time.
We look forward to welcoming you to the hill!