Soul’s Winter Sleep – Gathering the Bones
A Women’s Retreat
Friday–Sunday, 26–28 February 2027
Kestikievari Herranniemi, Vuonislahti, Finland
Facilitated by Katariina Elonkehrä and Helena Karhu
Held in the embrace of midwinter, as our ancient bear ancestor, Oksi—the Bear—gives birth in her winter den. During this time, we women gathered in a circle, journey deep into our innermost layers, into our bones and our lineage. We bring the past to completion, call our own energy back, and release what was never ours to carry.
As sacred Lake Pielinen rests beneath its heart of ice, we gather at the historic Herranniemi Guesthouse, surrounded by Finland’s iconic national landscape. Together, we gather and reclaim our bones, bringing the scattered parts of our body–mind–soul selves into integration, becoming ever more whole before the awakening of our inner and outer nature into the light of spring.
In Herranniemi, you can often see incredible Northern Lights.
Winter, in the turning of the year, is a time for dreaming and visions, intuition, premonitions and dreams of the heart. It is a time for inner awakening and wisdom, for reflecting on what we have lived and experienced.
Winter is the season of the Water element, to which the bones are also connected in traditional Chinese medicine. The human body is largely made up of water. Water remembers; water carries our lineage and ancestry. Water is the womb, the mother, the primordial sea, the feminine, our emotions and our affective life. A seed needs water to germinate and grow. Without water, nothing can live.
You can try ice-swimming during the retreat, if you want.
Water is the home of all possibilities, where heavenly knowledge of the path of life meets the form shaped by inherited energy and the mediating energy that connects and brings a being into existence.
Water follows its own course. Every river has its own flow, yet all share a common destination. In human life, the course of water reflects the path each of us must follow in our own unique way. The nature of the sea and the river is very different. One rests in a vessel shaped like a valley and “moves of its own accord”, always in a unique way; the other, the river, is set in motion. “My existence is a path I must travel in order to arrive at another kind of Water.”
During this women’s winter retreat, held with gentleness, care and a sense of safety, we look deeply into the ancient and the human within us, coming together as women and as a community. A woman knows another woman through her own body: Her wounds, roots, strength and wisdom.
Katariina Elonkehrä (Gaiariina) brings to our weekend multidimensional dance-based and somatic practices, along with simple yet powerful constellation exercises that open the way to an ever-deeper systemic and intergenerational understanding.
Our retreat culminates in communal, ancient-inspired Closing the Bones ceremonies. The body is gently wrapped and held in rebozo cloths, whose embrace invites us to reclaim our own strength and the parts of ourselves we have left behind, while bringing the past to completion.
During the retreat, Helena invites us into a profound connection with the waters of Pielinen and the surrounding lakes. She holds the space for circle work and ceremonies, listening to the currents and walking alongside the participants. Helena is also preparing a special inspirational talk on the soul’s winter sleep, listening for the heartbeat of Oksi in her winter den and journeying into the messages of winter sleep, connecting them with the steps along the life paths of the children of nature. Through stillness, listening, exploration and sensing, we attend to what longs to be held and nurtured among women during the retreat. Throughout the weekend, we will also embark on a shamanic journey, in which archaic sounds and consciousness-attuning rattles will carry our shared imagination and creative process forward.
Facilitators
Katariina Elonkehrä
I am a passionate creator, a woman of nature, a dancer and a mystic, drawing deeply from my connection with nature, my ancestors and my northern roots. I am the mother and guiding spirit of ecstatic dances, a body therapist, a traditional Finnish blood cupper, a facilitator of dance and movement therapy practices, a ceremonial practitioner and a somatic coach. Through two home births, I have also been initiated into motherhood and into the role of guardian of birth, cycles and rites of passage.
I have been following a rich path of body therapy, dance and somatics for over 12 years and have facilitated groups for nine years. Through diverse university-level studies in environmental disciplines, I found my way back to the grassroots—to the BODY—in search of tools for the evolution of inner awareness. I see this as essential work towards a more sustainable world that honours all beings.
At present, I work primarily in the Pirkanmaa region of Finland and online, both in one-to-one sessions and with a wide variety of groups, from women’s circles to businesses and workplace wellbeing groups. I am currently training in Family Constellations, a powerful group therapy method.
Together with an animistic connection to nature and a grounded, embodied presence, free and authentic movement and expression have been the greatest sources of integration and liberation in my life. This is a power I wish to share with others.
Helena Karhu
I am a companion and guide from North Karelia, Finland, rooted in nature, northern wisdom traditions and nature spirituality. I facilitate courses and retreats inspired especially by northern animistic and shamanic traditions. I have also facilitated mindfulness, silence and Tibetan Buddhist retreats, among others. Likewise Katariina, I am also a traditional Finnish blood-cupper and shamanic healer.
My life’s work is expressed through Karhun Talo, the organisation I founded to help us remember our deep connection with nature as a source of awareness, wellbeing and connection for everyone in our community.
I am a mother bear to twins, and my academic background is in cultural studies (my PhD dissertation on Finnish shamanism is on 30th Oct 2026). My passion is to bring forward the collaborative and empowering aspects of the traditions carried by my ancestors.
It is important to me that everyone can rest as they are, and that we have the freedom to become who we truly are. As a facilitator, I aspire to be an inspiring and positive companion, guided by the understanding that simplicity and a natural way of being are at the heart of life.
Retreat Venue
Kestikievari Herranniemi
Vuonislahdentie 185, 81590 Vuonislahti, Finland
Our fire place for sacred circle by the frozen lake.
Herranniemi is one of the most beautiful destinations in North Karelia and lies along one of the most scenic shores of sacred Lake Pielinen.
Kestikievari Herranniemi is Finland’s oldest continuously operating inn. It delights visitors with its warm, atmospheric setting, excellent traditional Karelian cuisine and peaceful location amid exceptionally beautiful natural surroundings, in the charming cultural village of Vuonislahti in North Karelia.
The iconic Koli landscape can be seen directly across the lake from Herranniemi.
Vuonislahti is conveniently accessible by train via Joensuu from anywhere in Finland. Vuonislahti railway station is within walking distance of Kestikievari Herranniemi. If you are joining us from abroad, you can fly (Finnair) or take train (www.vr.fi) via Helsinki to Joensuu, and continue by train from Joensuu to Vuonislahti. We also help with possible car pools.
Please note: This is an alcohol-free and substance-free retreat.
Registration and Retreat Fees
Register using this form:
If you experience any difficulties with the form, you can also register by email:
The retreat fee is offered on a sliding scale, according to your financial circumstances:
€250 – Reduced rate for those with limited financial means
€350 – Standard rate
€450 – Supporter rate, helping to sponsor the retreat and make it accessible to others
The fee includes the retreat programme, including the Closing the Bones ceremony.
Accommodation and meals are charged separately. Information about accommodation options will be provided upon registration.
Preliminary Schedule
Friday, 26 February
16:00 onwards – Arrival at Herranniemi (you are also welcome to arrive earlier in the day by train)
17:00 – Retreat begins, including dinner
18:00 – Opening circle and circle work
Saturday, 27 February
08:00 – Breakfast
09:00 – Retreat activities
12:00 – Lunch break
Afternoon – Break and time to rest
15:00 – Retreat activities
18:00 – Dinner
19:00 – Lakeside sauna
Sunday, 28 February
08:00 – Breakfast
09:00 – Retreat activities
12:00 – Lunch
13:00 – Departure
Valokuva: Herranniemi.