Black Womxn’s Dream Lab: Home
A Solstice-to-Equinox Journey of Rest, Ritual & Remembering
Dear Dreamers,
The Black Womxn’s Dream Lab would like to invite you to join us in a retreat journey that will begin from our individual homes with 1:1 intention setting and preparatory materials that will be released on the Summer Solstice (June 21, 2026) and culminate with an in-person retreat gathering at River Mountain Resort on September 17–20, 2026, the eve of the Fall Equinox.
The Invitation
To pause.
To breathe.
To be held by forest and sky, guided by lineage, and witnessed in a circle of beings who believe in magic, memory, and transformation.
Black Womxn’s Dream Lab: HOME is a three-month arc that opens on the Summer Solstice (June 21, 2026) and culminates in a 4-day / 3-night retreat (September 17–20, 2026) on the threshold of the Fall Equinox — a seasonal moment often associated with harvest, grounding, and return.
Over the course of this journey, participants are invited to explore the many dimensions of belonging — within their bodies, their communities, their lineages, and the futures they are imagining. Together, we engage in practices that center listening, reflection, and meaning-making, including showing up to bodily awareness, honoring the stories that shape us, and gently envisioning pathways forward.
Through intentional practices of self-in-relationship, deep-time storytelling, dream and rest exploration, and shared meals rooted in care, the space is designed to support connection, reflection, and presence — offering a refuge where spirit and soul can be tended, at each person’s own pace.
The Black Womxn’s Dream Lab lives at the intersections of Black liberation and the Archetypal Feminine. While participants of all identities are welcome, this is a Black-centered, Black-led container that centers Black womxn, femmes, and non-binary magicians, creators, and visionaries as the cultural and spiritual leaders of the work.
What This Journey Makes Possible
By the end of our arc together, you will have opportunities to explore:
A Felt Sense of Grounding & Belonging
Moments of rest, softness, and embodied presence within a carefully held container.
Space to explore what belonging feels like — in your body, your story, and your relationships.
Meaningful Rest & Ritual Practices
Guided opportunities to explore rest, rhythm, and ritual in ways that feel nourishing and resonant.
Practices you can continue adapting long after the retreat ends.
Connection to Story, Symbol & Embodied Wisdom
Reflections on the stories that shaped you — and the ones you’re choosing to carry forward.
Optional engagement with ancestral, cosmic, or philosophical lineages through ritual and imagination.
Shared Presence & Community
Time in circle with others who value deep listening, creative expression, and mutual witnessing — with the possibility of ongoing connection beyond our time together.
This Is For You If…
• You feel called to rest as a practice of ritual and liberation, not something to be earned after exhaustion.
• You’re longing for a deeper sense of belonging in your body and your life.
• You want to re-member the stories braided into your existence.
• You wish to participate in community with care that feels alive, honest, magical, and culturally grounded.
• You’re seeking an experience that honors spirituality, psychology, lineage, and liberation.
• You are open-hearted and curious.
• You feel resourced enough — emotionally and logistically.
• You desire a journey.
Your Retreat Experience Includes
Preparation
HOME Digital Retreat Guide (Available June 21)
Private Intention-Setting Session (1:1 on Zoom) (July)
Dreamers Virtual Meet & Greet (August)
Retreat (September 17–20, 2026)
4 days/3 nights at River Mountain–All-Inclusive, Glamping Pod for One Person in Shared Retreat Cabin
Nourishing community meals + daily grazing boards
Forest time + nature immersion
Community breathwork circles
Collage workshop
Deep time storytelling
Dream + Rest Recovery Circles
BWDL surprises
Integration
Post-Retreat Virtual Wisdom Circle (October)
Gentle Note on Experience
Each person’s journey through Black Womxn’s Dream Lab: HOME is their own. Participation is always invitational, and you are welcome to engage at the pace, depth, and level of presence that feels supportive for you.
Retreat Experience & Investment
Early Bird Rates available until January 19th
25% Deposit to reserve today - remaining balance charged 30 days before your retreat!
Thursday, September 17 - Sunday, September 20, 2026
All-Inclusive
4-Days, 3-Nights
All-Inclusive Glamping Pod for One Person in Shared Retreat Cabin - $1,500, plus taxes and fees.
$1,700, plus taxes and fees (begins January 20th, 2026)
Upgrade to All-Inclusive Glamping Yurt for Two People - $3,300, plus taxes and fees.
$3,700, plus taxes and fees (begins January 20th, 2026)
Glamping Yurts have two queen beds and can sleep up to Four People. Each additional guests adds $1,200, plus taxes and fees.
$1,400, plus taxes and fees (begins January 20th, 2026)
25% Deposit to reserve today - remaining balance charged 30 days before your retreat!
Meet Your Hosts
sherri taylor
Sherri is a coach, spiritual advisor, and lifelong student of what it means to be fully human.
Her work lives at the intersection of trauma-informed psychological insight, human development, systems thinking, and spiritual inquiry. For more than 15 years, she has worked with individuals and organizations navigating seasons of transition, grief, growth, and awakening — always with deep respect for personal agency and lived experience.
Sherri is also a student of folk traditions, dreamwork, astrology, and mysticism, which she approaches as symbolic and reflective pathways into deeper presence, meaning, and embodied knowing.
Like the work she offers, her life is a practice in staying with what’s real — listening carefully, moving at the pace of trust, and honoring the wisdom that already lives within each person.
aja trotter
At the moment, Aja is a healing practitioner who prioritizes connecting, listening, sharing, and holding space for healing and transformation.
Aja is a Black, Queer Psychologist whose work is primarily informed by and grounded in intuition, relational psychodynamic theory, healing justice, and the pursuit of pleasure, joy, and freedom. Aja has participated in roles as a therapist, clinical supervisor, teacher, consultant, spiritual companion, speed dating host, matchmaker, and facilitator.
Aja is also a mother, dreamer, former athlete, Taurus sun/comfort seeker, and a contemplative. Some current contemplations include stillness (and lots of activity!), beauty, satisfaction, intimacy, death/dying, and aliveness.
Wellness with Nature
Resting on 150 acres, River Mountain is bordered by Sweet Root Creek, Warrior Ridge and Tussey Mountain. River Mountain's stunning spaces are designed for reflection, mindfulness, and good vibrations on your self-care journey. Creekside yoga platforms, a restored barn turned wellness space, and the calm of nature make this the ideal destination for peace and wellness.
Located just a few hours from D.C., Baltimore, and Pittsburgh, in the mountains of Pennsylvania, River Mountain is remote yet easy to access.
THE GREENHOUSE
HAMMOCK HIDEAWAY
RESTORED 1850'S BARN
YOGA PLATFORMS
SPRINGS HOT SOAKING TUBS
SWEET ROOT CREEK
FRESH AIR + OPEN SPACE
EXPLORE
HIKE
STARGAZING
HIKE
CAMPFIRES + S'MORES
MEADOW TERRACE
HONEY + HIVE TOURS
History
Warrior Path
Running parallel to River Mountain's eastern ridge is Warriors Path, the great Iroquois Indian highway from Six Nations country, New York, to the Catawba country in the Carolinas. The historic path along Sweet Root Creek was one of the longest and most heavily traveled land routes in eastern North America, connecting Indigenous peoples over hundreds of miles.
The Underground Railroad
Black Valley was an active route along the Underground Railroad. Local histories principally credit four, free black residents with leading the aid network in this area: Rev. John Fidler, Elias Rouse, Joseph Crawley, and James Graham. Just to the south of the River Mountain property are 13 unmarked graves of enslaved people who died traveling the route to freedom.
Accommodations
Glamping Pods
Modern Design to Align with the Body's Circadian Rhythm
Standard Glamping Pod - Sleeps 1 Guest
Located in Cabin with Other Retreat Guests
Expansive Deck with Patio Seating
Top Pod Skylights to Fall Asleep to the Stars
Bedside Windows to Nature
Nestled Among Trees, Meadow + Creek
Mountain Views of Warrior Ridge
Glamping Yurts
Two Queen Beds
Picturesque Views of Tussey Mountain
Exterior Door Opens to Meadow Views
Electricity + Heated
Bedding, Linens + Towels
Indoor, Private Full Bathrooms with Shower Nearby
Filtered Water Nearby
Fiber WiFi Internet
Fridge + Microwave Nearby
What is the Black Womxn’s Dream Lab?
On January 4, 2019 as a gift to our community and ourselves two soul friends (Sherri and Aja) followed a movement of Spirit and began intentionally holding space for Black Womxn to dream in community. At that time, dream practice was something that we had both been exploring, growing, and transforming through. Witnessing and experiencing our own lives unfold and expand in partnership with the Dream, inspired us to curate a space for Black Womxn to engage in the process together. We initiated the process with the knowledge that in our collective lineages Black Womxn are frequently the seers and dreamers not only for ourselves and our families but also for the health and wellbeing of our community.
The first Black Womxn’s Dream Lab (BWDL) arrived in 2019. Its container was a living room in Oakland California. Since then BWDL has held space for community dreaming in art galleries, writing workshops and through the liminalities of a global pandemic–each arrival bringing and birthing its unique gifts and wisdoms.
The Black Womxn’s Dream Lab is an experience that regenerates and shape shifts according to the needs of each moment. It expands and contracts, in order to hold the specific and expansive nature of our very alive dreams. Dream lab offerings are thematically guided by Spirit.
BWDL Visitations and Offerings
2019 Black Womxn’s Dream Lab First Visitation
2019 Black Womxn’s Dream Lab: The Door
2020 Black Womxn’s Dream Lab: Abandon
2020 Black Womxn’s Dream Lab: Arrive
2020 Black Womxn’s Dream Lab: Lineage
2022 Black Womxn’s Dream Lab: Abundance
2026 Black Womxn’s Dreamlab: Home
Black Womxn’s Dream Lab: Home
A Solstice-to-Equinox Journey of Rest, Ritual & Remembering
Retreat Experience & Investment
Early Bird Rates available until January 19th
25% Deposit to reserve today - remaining balance charged 30 days before your retreat!
Thursday, September 17 - Sunday, September 20, 2026
All-Inclusive
4-Days, 3-Nights
All-Inclusive Glamping Pod for One Person in Shared Retreat Cabin - $1,500, plus taxes and fees.
$1,700, plus taxes and fees (begins January 20th, 2026)
Upgrade to All-Inclusive Glamping Yurt for Two People - $3,300, plus taxes and fees.
$3,700, plus taxes and fees (begins January 20th, 2026)
Glamping Yurts have two queen beds and can sleep up to Four People. Each additional guests adds $1,200, plus taxes and fees.
$1,400, plus taxes and fees (begins January 20th, 2026)
25% Deposit to reserve today - remaining balance charged 30 days before your retreat!
River Mountain Retreat Experience Inclusions:
All Retreat Experiences
150 Acres of Nature
Accommodations
Daily Meals - Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner
Access to Hot Soaking Tubs
Campfire + S'mores
Daily Housekeeping
Fresh Linens, Towels, Blankets
Fiber Internet Wi-Fi
Check-In After 3PM
Check-Out By 11AM
Retreat Policies, Payments, Deposit, and Cancellations:
DOGS ARE NOT PERMITTED ON RETREATS. This is for the safety and wellness of the dog and other guests joining the retreat.
25% non-refundable deposit to reserve. The remaining balance is automatically charged 30 days prior to the retreat start date using the initial card on file used to make the reservation and deposit. If reserving within less than 30 days of retreat start date, the remaining balance is automatically charged within 48 hours after reservation is made.
Please note that because River Mountain retreats are limited to a small number of attendees, to allow for a more personable, intimate experience, our cancellation policy is in place to help guests, hosts, and us alike work together sharing expenses that may arise from unexpected cancellations.
• All deposits are non-refundable.
• Full balance is automatically charged 30 days prior to retreat start date, unless otherwise noted.
• Cancellation requests submitted 61 days or more before the retreat start date, 50% of the total is due.
• Within 60 days of your retreat: full balance due, sorry but no refunds given, no exceptions.
Please know that our cancellation policy is designed to mitigate damages and costs incurred to retreat hosts and River Mountain in order to maintain the retreat experience and affordability for other retreat guests. Exceptions cannot be made for any reason, including weather, injury/illness, or personal emergencies. No refunds or credits for failure to attend or failure to complete the retreat, or for arriving late or leaving early.
For reservations or general questions
Give us a call
Or email
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