Rushing Waters Retreat Center
The land
called us home.
A story of lineage, synchronicity, and the sacred work of stewardship.
How it began
We didn't find this land.
It found us.
John and Michele were looking for more than a home. They wanted a place with enough space to gather people — to do healing work, to bring community together. They believed, deeply, that if people could find spaces to heal, something larger might shift in the world around them.
John found the listing in 2016. Creek, barn, house, three and a half acres against the Centerville foothills. Michele was skeptical — she'd grown up in Centerville and couldn't picture where such a place could be. Then the address sparked something. A memory from childhood. Ponies in the scrub oaks. Family gatherings.
Then he read her the address. And she remembered her Aunt Betty's home.
"It was my Aunt Betty's house — the original home of my father's family. The land had been in our lineage all along. It was waiting."
They made an offer. They moved in during the spring of 2016.
And almost immediately, the land began to show them what it was for.
Moving day
A stranger came to bless the land
On the day the movers came, a man appeared at the top of the driveway. He appeared to be of Native origin. He asked John if this was his house. John said yes — they were just moving in.
The man asked if he could walk the land and offer a blessing. John said yes.
For the next hour and a half, they walked together through every quadrant of the three and a half acres — up the hills, through each of the buildings, along the creek. The man prayed. He saged. He cleared and cleansed every corner of the land with intention.
When they finished, he walked back down the driveway. John went to tell the movers about their visitor. They looked at him blankly. There had been only the two of them. They had seen no one. No vehicle. No explanation.
"The space was blessed and open for that. We believe he was brought to our door through spirit."
A pipe ceremony followed months later and during the event, a dear friend shared:
"Many people would be entering through your doors."
By November of 2016, Rushing Waters hosted its first healing ceremony with a traditional Lakota road man.
The land had already begun its work.
What we believe
A sanctuary for every kind of healing
Rushing Waters exists to hold a safe container — a sanctuary for the soul — where individuals can come and ground and calibrate their nervous system. A place where prayers can be offered and each person feels safe and respected in their own healing journey, whatever that may look like.
We believe that healing is not linear, not singular, and not limited to any one tradition or practice. This land has welcomed ceremony, somatic work, yoga, song, grief, celebration, fire, silence, and water.
All are welcome. All have been honored here.
Meet Our Founders & Hosts
Michele
Co-Founder & Lead Practitioner
Michele’s path into healing began with a profound personal reconnection to the natural world’s rhythms. Her background in somatic integration and energy work allows her to hold a space of deep safety for those navigating transitions. At Rushing Waters, she anchors the sanctuary’s nurturing presence, ensuring every guest feels seen and supported. Her work is a testament to the quiet power of presence and the wisdom found in stillness.
John
Co-Founder & Land Steward
John’s journey was paved by a lifelong commitment to land stewardship and the ancestral traditions of wilderness survival. He discovered that true healing occurs when we strip away the modern noise and sit with the mountain and the stream. At Rushing Waters, he manages the primal elements of the retreat, from the architectural flow to the physical safety of the land. John holds the vision of a sanctuary that remains as raw and honest as the wild foothills surrounding it.
Our Shared Journey
Michele and John first met while facilitating community healing circles, discovering a shared lineage of respect for the land and the human spirit. Together, they spent years scouting the foothills before the creek at Rushing Waters called them home. This sanctuary is the co-creation of their individual strengths—a balanced union of grounding stewardship and ethereal energetic flow, designed to invite others into their own process of becoming.
We invite you to experience the stillness of the waters with us.