By Kate Bartlett
The Heron in Chautauqua County is more than The Great Blue Heron Festival and Green Heron Growers Organic Farm. Recently, The Heron began offering Nature and Wellness Weekends nestled on their 400 acres of rolling hills, undisturbed forests, under beautiful dark skies. Hosted by owners Julie and Steve Rockcastle along with accredited spiritual healers and wellness experts, these weekends are sure to leave one more grounded and connected with nature.
The first wellness weekend launched at The Heron in conjunction with the May Day Celebration, with their second being held this past July. This August 31-September 1 marks their third event, welcoming guests for an intimate weekend of connection with nature filled with play, smiles, relaxation and deep appreciation for the natural world. All events are family-friendly, FREE and open to the public, but guests are encouraged to spend the weekend at The Heron in order to fully appreciate the opportunities offered.
Accommodations at The Heron range from primitive tent and car camping, to RV hookup, glamping and a variety of unique Airbnb properties on site. All provide full access to The Heron’s serene properties with breathtaking views surrounded by the great outdoors.
Isa Cardenas has been involved in coordinating the retreats since their inception, and has been on a spiritual journey connecting with nature for over a decade. Having studied with various Indigenous wisdom keepers and healers, Isa has been fully focused on cultivating her spiritual connections and energetic healing since 2021. “I was working in the corporate jewelry industry in New York City for 7 years when I received an intuitive download telling me to leave it all behind to follow my soul’s calling,” recalls Isa. “At this time, I had some spiritual background, but I was craving a deeper connection. I quit my job, got rid of most of my material possessions, bought my car and drove north. Connecting with nature and car camping along the way, I followed synchronicities and followed wherever my journey took me.”
Isa had visited The Heron for several meditation retreats in 2020 and had felt a deep connection with the property. She craved a deeper connection with the land and dreamed of having a place to host wellness retreats infused with spiritual workshops. “It was pure fate that I met Julie Rockcastle in February of 2024 at the NoFA organic farming conference in Syracuse. The stars aligned and we found each other warming ourselves at the same heater. We connected immediately and found ourselves destined to host these wellness weekends on her property; she had the perfect location and was seeking a retreat organizer with a background in marketing. It couldn’t have been more aligned.”
The goal of the weekends is to not only to bring everyone together in appreciation of nature, but to give tools to take home to everyday life. “We teach about forest bathing and mindfulness, not only as a method to build deeper appreciation for nature and the world around us, but to take home as something to incorporate into everyday life. People might not have an hour every day to forest bathe or even have access to nature; but they might be able to take what they’ve learned here and go on a 10-minute reflective walk, or sip tea for 5 minutes more mindfully.”
This August 31 and September 1 the activities will be similar to past Nature & Wellness Weekends, including horse drawn wagon rides around The Heron with mindful moments guided by Jodi Gray, a forest bathing experience and feather bundle workshop with Diane Clark, an open flow movement workshop with Jessica Frombach, dark sky viewing and stargazing with Domenic Rocco, a hands-on-foraging discussion with Harold Reynolds, and a mindful tea time and nature sharing circle with Isa. All ages welcome for all of the activities with supervision of a parent/guardian.
Isa’s favorite thing about the weekend is gathering the community in nature. “It’s so beautiful to have people come out with the desire to connect with nature on a deeper level. It’s an intimate gathering and the energy is lovely; it can be transformational and we hope guests will return again and invite other to join them. We hope the community will think of The Heron when they are seeking a nature and wellness retreat.
The Heron plans to host these wellness retreats monthly during the May-October Season. For more information visit https://theheron.org/ and visit at 2361 Wait Corners Road, Panama, NY call (716) 761- 7190 or email isa.theheron@gmail.com.