Fierce Compassion: Women's Day Retreat
Now more than ever, we need compassion: for ourselves, for each other, for the world. Compassion can be tender, like offering kindness. But it can also be fierce, like holding healthy boundaries, saying no, and standing up for ourselves and others. Developing this essential quality takes time, intention, and practice — especially given that females are often rewarded for doing the opposite.
This retreat is a one-day version of Karen & Carolyn’s popular weekend retreat on the same theme. Perfect if your schedule does not allow overnight retreat, or if you’re ready for a tune up. No experience necessary.
This retreat will be mostly held in silence, cultivating space for awareness, introspection, and personal growth. Plan to put your phone away for the day
This Retreat Day Includes:
Gentle Yoga
Sitting Meditation
Walking Meditation
Warm Community
*All who identify as women are welcome.
SCHEDULE
Saturday September 19, 2026
9:00 am - 4:00 pm PT
TEACHERS
COST
$150 - $230 (or $38 – $58/month)
- Sliding scale: Choose what’s right for you.
- Payment plan option: 4-months, no-interest.
- Limited scholarships available: No need to apply; just choose a scholarship tuition during registration.
TEACHERS
Karen Schwisow
(she/her) Executive Director & Director of Teacher Training
karen@mindfulnessnorthwest.com | 360-830-6439 x4
Karen Schwisow is the Executive Director of Mindfulness Northwest. A certified MBSR teacher through the Center for Mindfulness at UMass Medical Center, she has been teaching yoga and meditation in hospitals, clinics, and community organizations since 2005. She co-created and directs Mindfulness Northwest's MBSR Teacher Training Program and has been training mindfulness and yoga teachers since 2012.
Karen has been in the room with a lot of people navigating hard things. She teaches with warmth, humor, and an honest reckoning with how hard and how beautiful ordinary life can be. People come to her classes looking for calm and leave with something more useful: a different relationship with whatever is actually happening.
Carolyn McCarthy
(she/her) Strategic Advisor ~ Organizational Insight, Teacher
carolyn@mindfulnessnorthwest.com | 360-830-6439 x6
Carolyn teaches in the hopes of moving us, individually and collectively, toward healing, wholeness, and love. With a degree in Latin American Studies and Women's Studies, she uses mindfulness to support the work of social justice, turning toward the difficult within and without. Carolyn is a certified teacher of Mindful Self-Compassion (MSC) and Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR). Zest, warmth, and wit enliven her teaching. Core practices: sitting meditation, time outside, solo living room dance parties. Visit her online at www.carolynmcc.com.
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