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Nov 1-9 | Starting at $?Shema Neshema Retreat
A 7 day Trauma-Informed Pilgrimage Through Holocaust Memory, Ancestral Healing & Embodied Renewal
There are journeys you choose and there are journeys that call you.
The kind that arrive quietly…or all at once…as a knowing you cannot ignore.
A pull toward something ancient. Something unfinished. Something waiting for you. Shema Neshama is one of those journeys.
A listening.
A remembering.
A Once-in-a-Generation Journey to Meet Your Ancestors & Return to Life
What This Is
This is not tourismThis is not a typical retreat.And this is not remembrance as you’ve known it.❋ This is a trauma-informed ancestral healing pilgrimage through the lands where history lives, through the body where memory is held and through the lineage that lives within you.
This retreat that invites you to:
Witness what was
Feel what has been carried
Return to life with deeper truth, connection, and choice.
The Deeper Why
There is a wound many of us carry that is rarely spoken out loud.
A fragmentation. A quiet question:
Where do I belong?
For generations, Jewish identity has been shaped by:
exile
survival
adaptation
silence
And even now…That history lives in the body.
In the nervous system.
In the way we relate to ourselves, to each other, to the world.
Sometimes as anxiety. Sometimes as disconnection.
Sometimes as a longing we cannot name.
This retreat begins there.
Not to fix you.
But to meet what has always been waiting.
The Origin
This work did not begin as a business. It began as a calling.
On New Year’s Eve, in a moment of stillness, a vision came to Dr. Galya Loewenstein, Shema Neshema Founder: Go to Europe. Plan nothing. Let your ancestors lead.
And so she did.
Two months across Germany, Poland, Hungary, and beyond.
Following intuition. Following memory.
Following something deeper than logic.
Finding names on walls.
Standing on the land where stories lived.
Listening.
And in that listening… something opened.
A path. A responsibility. A return.
Shema Neshama Retreat was born from that walk she lived.
And this is your invitation to live it too.
Why the Land Matters
There are things the mind can understand, and then there are things only the body can know.
You can read about history. You can study it. You can imagine it.
But when you stand on the land…Your feet meet the soil where it happened, your breath moves through the same air and your body feels what your ancestors may have felt…
Something shifts.
Something somatic. Something cellular. Something real.
This is why we go.
Not to relive the past, but to meet it.
To witness with dignity, feel what is ready to be felt and to allow something new to emerge.
This is a week-long retreat through sacred sites across Europe. A carefully held arc that moves through four phases:
Arrival & Belonging
Landing in the body. Softening into presence. Establishing safety, connection, and trust.
Lineage & Preparation
Exploring identity, ancestry, and inherited memory. Preparing the body and heart to witness.
Witnessing
Visiting historical sites, including Auschwitz. Holding space for what arises both individually and collectively. Moving with reverence, care, and guidance.
Integration & Return
Processing grief. Reclaiming life. Anchoring joy, meaning, and forward movement.
The Journey
This retreat weaves together:
Holocaust remembrance and historical context
Jewish spiritual teachings and ritual
Somatic healing practices
Breathwork, song, and voice activation
Traditional Chinese Medicine and acupuncture
Guided reflection and integration
Community connection and shared witnessing
All within a container designed to be intentional, trauma-informed and deeply transformative.
What You’ll Experience
The Transformation
This is not about becoming someone new.
It is about remembering who you are.
When you leave this journey, you may find:
a deeper connection to your ancestry
a more grounded sense of identity
a softened relationship to inherited pain
a renewed capacity for joy, expression, and life
Because the truth is:
The highest form of remembrance is not grief.
It is life.
To live fully. To love deeply. To embody the very existence your ancestors fought for.
Meet the Team
This work is held by a team devoted to integrity, care, and depth.
Dr. Galya Loewenstein
A practitioner of Chinese medicine and lifelong student of trauma and healing, Galya’s work is rooted in both personal lineage and professional devotion. Raised in an Orthodox Jewish community with three Holocaust-survivor grandparents, her path has been one of deep listening…to history, to the body, and to the unseen threads that connect them.
Founder
Feather Groves
A trauma-informed facilitator and experienced guide, Feather integrates her background in trauma recovery, community leadership, and victim advocacy to hold the structure and flow of the journey with grounded care and intuitive responsiveness.
Container Steward & Integration Support
Media Director, Vocal Embodiment & Song HealingEleanor Parks
A professional musician, transformational breathwork facilitator, and vocal embodiment coach, Naia integrates her work in youth healing, ceremony, and media to guide participants into expression, release, and authentic voice while capturing the journey in a way that honors its sacredness and integrity.
Who This is For…
Simply put, this retreat is for those who feel the call.
You may be:
seeking deeper connection to your Jewish identity
exploring ancestral or generational healing
longing to understand your lineage in a more embodied way
ready to meet both grief and joy with honesty
You do not need to have it all figured out. You only need to be willing to listen.
Practical Details
Each retreat includes:
group lodging accommodations
daily meals
guided workshops and practices
site visits and cultural excursions
Shabbat experience and synagogue visits
acupuncture and healing sessions
full facilitation and integration support
*Small group size ensures intimacy, safety, and depth.
There is a moment…when something inside you says:
It’s time.
Not because you understand it fully.
But because you feel it.
If you are reading this and something is stirring…
We invite you to begin the conversation.