Our Team
We bring different perspectives to the table, but we’re united by a love for purposeful work, thoughtful design, and real connection.
Dr. Galya Loewenstein
With a vision for building something meaningful, our founder brings a blend of big-picture thinking and hands-on experience.
Dr. Galya has spent the last 7 years in deep study of epigenetic healing, the power of song and prayer to change cellular structure, and the impact of traveling to historical sites of trauma while applying ancient Chinese Meridian theory to heal Holocaust trauma.
With 3 of her grandparents being Holocaust survivors, and raised orthodox in Monsey, New York, Dr. Galya is very connected to her Jewish roots. Whether singing in Hebrew Prayer or making Latkahs, the connection to her ancestors runs deep in her blood and bones.
These retreats were founded on Dr. Galya’s personal 2 month solo Ancestor walk, in which she traveled throughout Germany, Poland, Budapest, France, Amsterdam, and Portugal by train and foot. She retraced the steps of her great Grandmother’s journey into Gurs concentration camp, and found her grandfather’s photo hanging in a Holocaust museum.
Founder
Feather Groves
Feather is a trauma-informed facilitator and seasoned guide of multi layered transformational spaces. While not of Jewish descent, her work is rooted in deep respect for ancestral healing and a lived commitment to lineage repair and collective remembrance. She comes to Shema Neshema with humility, care, and a listening presence that honors both personal and shared histories.
At seventeen, during a solo backpacking journey through thirteen European countries, Feather visited Auschwitz for the first time. That experience left an indelible memory, shaping her understanding of witnessing, and the responsibility of presence in places imprinted by profound loss.
With over a decade of involvement as a coaching mentor, tour manager and professional organizer, Feather has supported individuals and groups in traversing threshholds of transformation within ever changing environments. Her work emphasizes embodied wisdom, intuitive discernment, and the co-creation of spaces where healing can unfold in ways that feel both held and self-directed. Accustomed to containers where many moving parts coexist, she has a honed ability to sense flow , stewarding both logistics ( Chronos) and the unseen rhythms that shape meaningful experiences (Kairos). Skillfully balancing linear schedules while remaining responsive to the magic that emerges in the spaces in between.
In this retreat, she is honored to hold much of the logistical and temporal architecture, ensuring that the journey feels adventurous, grounded, and aligned, allowing participants to move bravely between the practical and the spiritual with trust and grace.
Retreat/Journey Steward
Logistics, Flow and Container Support
Naia Kete
Media Director, Vocal Embodiment CoachA songstress of soul and ceremony, Naia Kete brings the healing power of voice and story to Shema Neshema Retreats. As Media Director and Vocal Embodiment Coach, she supports the sacred transmission of this work—shaping how it’s seen, felt, and shared with the world.
Naia’s path has been one of deep listening and liberatory expression. A professional musician, transformational breathwork facilitator, and founder of Song Healing Trauma, her work bridges the worlds of art, activism, and ancestral healing. From the streets of Los Angeles to global stages and sacred circles, her voice has always been her vessel—for truth-telling, remembrance, and reclamation.
With roots in urban-reggae and recognition from Rolling Stone as an “earthy soulstress,” Naia guides participants into deeper resonance with their own voice. Her coaching supports a return to embodied authenticity—where grief can move, stories can sing, and new truths can rise.
At Shema Neshema, Naia’s role is to help you access the sound of your soul. Through breath, tone, and devotional presence, she invites participants into an intimate journey of healing and vocal liberation—one that honors both the pain of the past and the possibility of who we’re becoming.
Customer Service ManagerArianna “Air” Gradow
Friendly, attentive, and always ready to help, our retreat service manager ensures every interaction is a positive one. They keep communication clear, timely, and human.