The Shamanic Retreat | Gateless Writing

The Experience

This is the call of the wild retreat. In the land of surface dwellers, this retreat is for the deep diver who wants to play in the haven of the sacred and write from the bliss of the unconditioned mind. Designed to crack open convention, this high touch, 10-person retreat is curated as a sanctuary and tonic for the creative within. You will spend four days experiencing breathwork, channeling, Thai head massage, Reiki and the critically-acclaimed Gateless methodology, built to burst through blocks so you can take unprecedented risks on the page.

The Space

This retreat takes place in the heart of Joshua Tree, California at the home of former retreat participants Mariska and Kelly. Our writing room opens up to a cathedral of sunsets, and wildlife, including over 250 different bird species, a sea of spectacular wildflowers, kit foxes, black tailed jack rabbits, and our very own labyrinth for walking meditation. You will sleep in a private room surrounded by the quietude of the desert and wake to the extraordinary light of the Mojave. Our intuitive chef Alysa Osvog will be providing the gourmet.

The Inspire

Our house is at the mouth of one of the most beautiful landscapes in the world, Joshua Tree National Park. Along with embodiment practices, we will venture into that 800,000 acre wildlife preserve with its range of fantastic ecosystems and massive granite monoliths. One morning will be spent witnessing the sacred poetry of this landscape, where billion year old rocks are said to hold the power to ground and restore the nervous system. Writers find that this wild oasis opens doors to the rich rooms in the self where you find creative power and agency. You will leave forever changed.

“I After my first Gateless Retreat, my life completely changed. I was flying so high, I wasn’t sure that I would ever land. But I did land, and what transpired as a result is nothing short of a miracle. I am so grateful.”

~ Mary Gauthier, author of the memoir, Saved by a Song.

Our Schedule

Arrive by about 3:00. Gourmet and love will be waiting. Opening ceremony: 4:00, including Thai head massage and Reiki and your first writing salon. Dinner at 6:30. Shamanic calling in at 8:00 followed by a bedtime writing session. Every morning, we breakfast at 8:30, embodiment + writing session at 9:15, lunch at 12:30. Free time. Writing+ embodiment at 3:00. Dinner at 6:30. And an evening session at 8. We close on the 18th at Noon after breakfast and a writing session.

The Result

Shamanic Gateless Retreats are a confluence of some of the most sacred embodiment practices in the world combined with understanding writing as a guru, teacher and healer that can break the hold of old memory and heal the body and the soul. Feedback allows you to see through the mirage of the critical conditioning so that you can enter into a life of rich profundity and systemic integration. Retreat participants are often astounded by how the experience shifts their lives, bringing in brand new opportunities and a holistic understanding of themselves as master creatives that they never could have imagined.

To Sign Up

If you would like to come, please send an email to gatelesswriting@gmail.com so that we can accommodate you. Most writers fly into Palm Springs, an hour away by Uber. Or LAX, two hours away. Some stay the night in Joshua Tree the night before, so they can experience the town and be well rested when the party begins 🙂 We do offer payment plans for retreat participants. You can pay through paypal, venmo, check. Our accountant, Michelle, will be in touch about payment.

3 meals a day, all embodiment practices, writing salon, trip to Joshua Tree and private room: $3200. This retreat fills very quickly!

“Now I can quit my day job!”

~ Dulcie Whitman, after her first Gateless Retreat.

Your Retreat Leader:

Suzanne Kingsbury is an award-winning, internationally-acclaimed author, whose work has been translated widely abroad and optioned for film.

In 2007 after graduating from the Iowa Writer’s Workshop Novel-Writing program with Frank Conroy and the Bennington College Masters in Fine Arts in Writing and the Literary Arts, Suzanne founded Gateless Writing, a global literary arts organization whose unique methodology combines brain science, ancient Zen techniques, and therapeutic nurturing to develop writers’ unique talent and singular genius, enabling them to move through residual blocks and create domain-changing prose.

Suzanne is the recipient of a Fulbright Award and the Oxford Town Fiction Award and her work has been profiled in Rolling Stone Magazine (European edition), the Guardian, the L.A. Times, O Magazine, BuzzFeed, Bustle, Ms Magazine, Thrive Global (top writing retreat of 2017), NPR syndicates, and more …

Suzanne is also trained in Reiki and certified in Thai Head Massage and can “read” a writer through touch. She began working as a scribe channel while she was leading her first Gateless Teacher Training in 2014, receiving messages from a divine source of unconditional love that helped writers find clarity and power in their words. As a writing intuit, she uses the sacred spirit of the word to understand deep patterning and repeated archetypes in a writer’s work, that lead to profound alchemy in their lives.

Through retreats, workshops, one-on-one intensives, and career training programs, Suzanne has helped countless writers on their way to landing top agents, signing lucrative book deals and winning prestigious literary awards. Her writers have also been profiled in some of the world’s top media outlets including The New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, CBS, NBC, ABC, Forbes, USA Today, the Jane Pauley show, and more.

She believes if you are a writer, you have been tapped by the divine to be a conduit for a message only you can tell and you have the power can move a crowd with your story.

Joshua Tree

The singular magic of the Shamanic Journey and the bliss of Gateless Writing find confluence in this once-in-a-lifetime retreat