Sanctuary
of the Heart
A sacred 5 day retreat for those who carry others
You give so much to others. This retreat exists to give something back to you. A fully personalized 5 day immersion to release accumulated burden, restore your spiritual reserves, and return to your calling renewed.
You show up in rooms where others cannot hold themselves together. You witness grief, trauma, and suffering without flinching. You remain steady when everything around you is not.
And somewhere underneath all of that...
The weight does not announce itself. It accumulates quietly. A heaviness that rest alone does not lift.
You find yourself going through the motions of your own spiritual practice without feeling it.
You are present for everyone else and absent from yourself.
You give from a place of duty rather than love and you are not sure when that changed.
You wonder whether you have anything left to give and then feel guilty for wondering.
This is not weakness.
This is what happens when someone who gives deeply has never been given the space to receive the same way.
SANCTUARY OF THE HEART
Standard wellness programs treat symptoms.
This retreat addresses the root.
What accumulates in the body of someone who witnesses suffering daily is not stress in the ordinary sense. It is a spiritual and somatic weight that requires a different kind of care. One that meets you at the level of the heart, the nervous system, and the soul simultaneously.
Sanctuary of the Heart was built for exactly this. A structured 5 day immersion rooted in Sufi wisdom and contemplative practice, designed specifically for those who serve others in high stakes environments. Available in person in Edmonton, Alberta or virtually from anywhere in Canada.
WHAT THIS RETREAT OFFERS
Where Your Healing Begins
Spiritual Grounding
Contemplative practices rooted in the Sufi tradition to help you return to your source. Sacred remembrance, guided reflection, and heart opening practices drawn from universal spiritual principles of compassion, mercy, and peace.
Rebuild your spiritual reserves. Reconnect to what sustains you.
Mind Body Integration
Gentle somatic practices to release the accumulated weight of others' suffering from your nervous system. What you carry does not only live in your mind. This work meets it in your body, where it is actually stored.
Release what you have been carrying. Restore your capacity to give.
Equine Gestalt Coaching
A specialized 3 hour session facilitated in partnership with Equine Reflections. Horses mirror the nervous system with extraordinary precision, offering a form of non verbal emotional processing that goes where words cannot reach.
Process what language alone cannot hold. Experience something different.
Structured Restoration
Five days held in a sacred rhythm of silence, guided practice, and deep personal reflection. A complete pause from the pace of your life so your system can genuinely rest and your spiritual reserves can begin to refill.
Return to your calling renewed. Leave with practices that last.
WHO THIS IS FOR
Designed for Those Who Serve
This retreat was built for people who hold sacred space for others in high stakes environments. If your work asks you to remain present in the face of suffering, this is for you.
Military and Hospital Chaplains
Providing spiritual care in crisis, trauma, and end of life situations where words are never enough and presence is everything.
First Responders
Police, fire, and paramedics who carry the weight of emergency response long after the shift ends.
Healthcare Professionals
Nurses, doctors, and therapists who bear witness to suffering daily and rarely have space to process what that costs.
Clergy and Spiritual Leaders
Ministers, priests, imams, and rabbis who hold sacred space for entire communities while rarely being held themselves.
Social Workers and Nonprofit Leaders
Advocates and humanitarian workers whose calling demands more than any system was designed to sustain.
Educators and Counselors
Those who support vulnerable people through trauma, transition, and crisis while absorbing what that work asks of a person.
Not sure if this is the right fit? The discovery call exists for exactly that question.
BEGIN WITH A CONVERSATIONTHE 5 DAY SANCTUARY EXPERIENCE
A Sacred Flow
Every retreat is fully personalized around you. What follows is the rhythm and arc of the experience — the container that holds the work.
Initial Consultation
A 75 minute conversation before the retreat begins. We take the time to understand your specific stressors, professional context, and what your heart most needs. This shapes everything that follows.
The Sacred Pause and Release
Crossing the threshold from duty to retreat. Arrival, settling in, and an opening session that helps your nervous system begin to understand it is safe to let down. The day is yours to arrive.
The Ground of Trust
Establishing a foundation of inner safety and nervous system regulation. Morning spiritual practice, guided mind body integration, evening dialogue. The day moves between practice and stillness.
The Heart's Surrender
Exploring authentic connection and boundaries. This is also the day of your Equine Gestalt Coaching session with Equine Reflections — three hours of non verbal emotional processing that goes where words alone cannot reach.
Receiving and Remembering
Turning burdens into wisdom and opening to nourishment. Most people who give deeply have never been taught to receive. This day exists to practice exactly that.
Embodying the Light
Consolidating insights and building a sustainable personal practice for your return to service. You leave not just rested but equipped. The work continues through you.
Integration Guide and Personal Practice Plan
A personalized plan and curated resource package to carry the retreat forward. The benefits do not end when you leave. They are designed to continue unfolding.
THE DAILY RHYTHM
YOUR INVESTMENT
What This Retreat Truly Covers
If you are looking at this number and feeling something, that is worth staying with for a moment. Not to push through it. Just to notice what is underneath.
In person in Edmonton or virtually across Canada. Exact investment confirmed on your discovery call. Payment plans available.
- Pre retreat consultation (75 minutes) to customize your experience
- 5 days of fully facilitated retreat with daily spiritual practice
- Private sanctuary space and accommodation in Edmonton
- Equine Gestalt coaching session (3 hours) with Equine Reflections
- Post retreat integration guide and personal practice plan
- Curated resource package and materials
Available in person in Edmonton, Alberta or virtually from anywhere in Canada.
This is a professional development intervention. An investment in your capacity to continue serving with wholeness, clarity, and renewed purpose.
What this investment is truly for
For 5 days you are not also a caregiver, a colleague, or a person with a to do list. You are someone being held. In most lifetimes, people never give themselves even 5 days of that kind of uninterrupted presence. This retreat exists to make it possible.
Is this the right timing?
This may be right for you if you have been carrying something for a long time and feel ready to set it down in a held space. This may not be the right timing if you are in acute crisis and need clinical support right now.
The discovery call is not a sales call
It is a conversation between two people to help you discern what is true for you. Khadijah may say yes, come. She may say not yet. Both are acts of care.
QUESTIONS YOU MAY HOLD
Clarity for Your Journey
No. This retreat welcomes sincere seekers from every background. The practices are rooted in the Sufi tradition but the universal spiritual principles at the heart of this work — compassion, mercy, and inner stillness — are accessible to anyone. You are welcome exactly as you are.
Yes. The retreat is available in person in Edmonton, Alberta or virtually from anywhere in Canada. The virtual format is equally powerful because the healing work happens at the level of the heart and nervous system, not the physical location. The Equine Gestalt session is available for in person participants only.
Yes. This retreat is structured as a professional development intervention and a full program overview document is available for employers, HR departments, and funding bodies. Many organizations support this kind of investment in their people. We are happy to discuss documentation and invoicing on your discovery call.
Standard wellness programs address symptoms. This retreat addresses the root — the spiritual and somatic accumulation of others' suffering in your body and nervous system. Every day is structured around your specific stressors and professional context. It is fully personalized, not a group program.
Each day moves through a sacred rhythm of morning spiritual practice and intention setting, midday contemplation and rest, and an evening session of mind body integration followed by spiritual dialogue. The pace is intentionally slow. You are not being optimized. You are being held.
Yes. Everything shared within the retreat is held in complete confidence. This is a private one to one experience. Nothing you share with Khadijah is disclosed to your employer, organization, or anyone else.
If you are asking, you are closer than you think. The discovery call exists precisely for this question. It is not a sales call. It is a conversation to help you discern what is true for you right now. Khadijah may say yes, come. She may say not yet. Both are acts of care.
THE GARDEN HAS BEEN WAITING FOR YOU
You cannot pour
from an empty well.
This retreat is your sacred pause. Not a reward you have to earn. Not something to defer until things are calmer. A 15 minute conversation is all it takes to begin. Khadijah will meet you exactly where you are.