Highly Sensitive Person Retreat Details

In-person Retreats include Breathwork, the quickest path for deep emotional healing.

Location: Young Harris, Georgia, USA

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May 18-19. Register by April 18, 2024.

July 20, 2024. Zoom. Register by July 1.

October 5-6. Register by September 5, 2024.

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Attend more than one retreat. They’re always different.

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• Have you ever been told you are too sensitive, just get over it?
• Do you have intense emotions that fire rapidly and last longer than others?
• Are you an empath? Do you absorb other people’s emotions and after a while you feel drained? Or, maybe your body feels tension or pain when you are around people who are upset. 
• Do you become overwhelmed by conflict and aggressive people?
• Do you feel distressed when others don’t understand you?
• Does anxiety increase when you have too much to do in too little time?
• Do noisy crowds irritate you?
• Does meaningless social chit-chat bore you?

If so, you might be a highly sensitive introvert.  Take the quiz.

Breathwork helps you get in touch with emotional pain that needs to be healed. You are able to put the pain in a place where it can’t hurt you. If you want to be the real You and enjoy life … take the time, spend the money, make the effort to attend. It is a life changing event that you can’t afford to miss.  ~E.K. 

Highly Sensitive Person Retreat Goals and Objectives

The retreat process evolves organically according to the goals of each participant. Each participant will complete a form two weeks in advance stating their goal for the retreat. It is not pre-scripted, and each retreat is different tailored to the participants.

We  co-create activities so everyone is involved in the healing activities. You might be coached individually while the rest of the group learns vicariously. We might role-play to build competency with assertiveness and conflict management skills. If you want hands-on healing, I will do that to promote deeper healing. We might hike through a forest along the lake and find a place to meet outdoors.

1. I’ll help you understand the highly sensitive person trait so you can increase your self-awareness and self-worth. For example, being an empath is a blessing, but it can leave you emotionally reactive and exhausted.
2. You’ll grow in your ability to know your true identity as a highly sensitive person and have the courage to express your Authentic Self even when others judge you.
3. You’ll receive expert guidance to do deep emotional healing to reduce anxiety, depression and eliminate self-defeating patterns.
4. You’ll enjoy more fulfilling healthy personal and professional relationships.
5. You’ll be able to create a more fulfilling career so that your work is an expression of your soul.
6. You’ll receive encouragement to create a balance between taking good care of yourself and helping others. You are worth it. Your body will thank you.
7. You’ll learn to create win-win solutions so everyone has a sense of belonging.

Benita has incredible energy. She gives off unconditional love and is one of the most authentic people I have ever met.  She is committed to over-delivering and helping us attain extraordinary results. I’d recommend her to everyone! ~M.B.

Nearly 4 years ago I was attacked and I almost died. While the memory eventually faded and life went back to “normal,” I had lost my innocence. I could never really be the person I was before the attack. After the Breathwork session, one of the things that Benita and the rest of the group said to me after the breathwork was that I looked more innocent. What a gift. That was the very part of me that I had lost and all of the fun of being innocent.  I was able to not only heal this one trauma, but also many other smaller events. After the breathwork, I was free from all of the baggage that had been weighing me down, free to rekindle my energy, power and enthusiasm for life. I am still noticing changes in my attitudes and behaviors that bring tears of joy as I realize how much of myself I had lost over the years and how wonderful it is to have me back. I can’t thank you enough for this life changing experience. ~ E.G.

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Research on Highly Sensitive People (HSP)

A new personality type emerged from Dr. Elaine Aron’s groundbreaking psychological research reported in her book, the Highly Sensitive Person (HSP), 1997.

Only 20% of the population is highly sensitive. That means 80% of the population is wired differently than we are. No wonder we feel misunderstood.

Gifts of the Highly Sensitive Person

We’re conscientious and responsible. We are deeply moved by the beauty of Nature and the arts. We are touched by the feelings of those around us. Many of us are empaths. That means that we actually feel the emotions of others. That helps us be adept healers, friends, lovers and team members. We’re troubled by conflict, and we want to decrease the violence in the world. Our intuition tells us what needs to be done to help people feel comfortable, and we truly want what is best for everyone. Sometimes we can predict the future. We easily see outcomes that others can’t see. We love deeply and passionately. When emotional intimacy is combined with sexual intimacy in a loving healthy committed relationship, there’s nothing better. We are happy when our creative juices are set free. A world filled with harmony, mutual respect and creativity sounds just right to us.

Typical Highly Sensitive Person Challenges 

Anxiety and depression are familiar, especially if our personal or professional relationships are not healthy, or if we grew up in a dysfunctional family.

Many of us are empaths. It’s easy to feel what other people feel, and we can understand people at depth. But, we may feel like we are losing ourselves in a relationship, especially if people don’t nurture us in return. We tend to give more than we receive. Some of us highly sensitive people take on the pain of others, which helps the other person heal, but leaves us exhausted. Before we understand this trait, we may not know that we are taking on emotions that belong to others. Our bodies may experience chronic fatigue and pain and we may not know why.

It may be challenging to assert ourselves and express our needs because we defer to people-pleasing. When we’re non-assertive, we withdraw and sometimes let others walk on us. That leaves us feeling depleted. We want harmony. We want to keep the peace. Ironically, we can also become harsh and aggressive if we have not yet mastered the art of setting boundaries tactfully. Sometimes we bottle up and then blow up.

We can feel like a ball tossed around on turbulent ocean waves, unable to find a stable base inside ourselves.

We might try to get family members to change so we can feel calm inside. But it rarely works, even though we may use that approach for years before we become exhausted.

We need to commit to cultivating inner peace no matter what is happening on the outside.

Too much stimulation from the environment stresses us. We’re like cats whose sensitive whiskers and ears sense tiny movements all around us.

We tend to be light sleepers and insomnia is common especially when traveling and sleeping in strange environments.

Because we are so sensitive, we need daily relaxation just to stay centered. We need to meditate to restore our inner peace and regain energy.

In a world that values high productivity and undervalues naps, HSPs can get burned out if we don’t take a stand for good self-care. That includes healthy food, 7.5-8 hours of good quality sleep, exercise, supportive relationships and fulfilling work.

During the retreat, I felt loved even when I was coming apart at the seams. In that messy vulnerable place, I felt Benita’s commitment to my healing and wholeness, and I felt my partner’s commitment. Their love enabled me to love myself in my darkest hour. Nothing has ever been so life-changing for me. ~J.H.

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The Needs of the Highly Sensitive Person

Highly sensitive people need authentic, genuine emotional connections more than most people. We feel empty inside when we don’t get it.

There’s a deep ache. We need quiet time to go inside. Our spirituality is important to us. We need to learn how to regulate our emotions when we’re stressed. We need beauty. We need to meditate. We need to slow down. We need to be creative.

We need help to learn how to manage our highly sensitive qualities.

We have incredible gifts to help people make the world a better place.

We are counselors, healers, artists, writers, philosophers, teachers, parents, IT geniuses and pastors. We facilitate healing for people, we’re creative team members, and we understand people at depth. We’re intuitive and spiritual.

We must take good care of ourselves, or we have a high price to pay, higher than most. When not balanced, we get irritable, sick, exhausted, anxious, depressed or feel physical pain.

Like Goldie Locks in the story of the three bears, we like our porridge not too hot, not too cold, but just right.

Activities for Highly Sensitive Person Retreat

This is a psycho-spiritual healing format nested in a grace-filled inclusive Christian theology. There’s no judgmental piousness here.

1. The first step is to help the group bond so everyone feels safe and supported. We’ll do some ice-breaker get-acquainted activities.
2. We’ll do guided meditations with soothing music.
3. There will be one-to-one coaching while the group learns vicariously followed by Q&A. Some people feel safer by watching others before they feel comfortable being coached in front of the group.
4. We’ll do group activities to accelerate healing and growth of the collective.
5. Breathwork is the most powerful part of the in-person retreats.

Breathwork is one of the primary transformational healing processes used in this retreat when we meet in person for two days.

Breathwork accesses the deep inner recesses of your unconscious subcortical brain and your spirit so you’re likely to experience impressive results.

We work directly with the body-mind-spirit to access unconscious emotional memory, sometimes as far back as in-utero and infancy. We want to heal the very beginning of life-long patterns to get you freed up to be who you really are, your Authentic Self.

As I said before, this retreat is not for beginners. Participants must be willing to feel deep emotions so they can heal the root of unconscious material.

Most participants have prior counseling, life coaching or group work. You may be currently working with another therapist and use this retreat as an adjunct to your therapy.

When I arrived at your home, you were so welcoming which was very comforting. The intention-setting and prayer you shared were confirmation that I was where I needed to be. The Breathwork session yielded more than I could have expected. Seeing my promiscuity and assault was painful, but I am now able to be more compassionate with myself. My father expressing his love for me with sincerity in his eyes and the love of God surrounding me and letting me know all was well was amazing. As part of my meditation today, I did the self-reparenting assignment you gave me. It was much more effective than it would have been if I’d done it before Breathwork, which shows me the long-lasting impact of Breathwork. Thank you for your obedience to the Holy Spirit, your heart and the work you do.  ~L.S.

Prerequisites for the in-person Highly Sensitive Person Retreats

Please read these articles and watch Dr. Stan Grof’s videos before applying for the two-day Breathwork Retreat. This could take 4+ hours. There are 2.5 hours of videos.

Breathwork is my most intense healing modality and you must be prepared for it. When you are ready for intense transformation, breathwork will most likely produce outstanding results. 

1. Breathwork Description
2. Breathwork Client Anecdotes
3. Breathwork Q&A
4. Breathwork Testimonials
5. * Breathwork Stan Grof

.Please read at least five of the client anecdotes above in #2.

If you are a new client:

You must attend a minimum of three private sessions before the registration deadline which is one month before each retreat.  We need to get to know each other and build a trusting relationship. We will be able to make a more informed decision as to whether this retreat is the best place for you. Most retreat participants have been working with me for several months. This is an intensive retreat, so for that reason, additional sessions could be required. I recommend that you schedule your private sessions as soon as possible. My schedule is very full. The private session fee is in addition to the retreat tuition. You will receive expert counseling in these preliminary sessions.  

Please complete the questionnaire on the Contact Page so we can begin to get to know each other.

Credit: Benita A Esposito

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Venue for in-person Highly Sensitive Person retreats:

Young Harris, Georgia, USA

Overlooking Lake Chatuge and the Blue Ridge Mountains

Two hours from Atlanta, Chattanooga and Asheville

Schedule for in-person Retreats

Group session 9:30am – 11:30pm (Eastern)

Lunch Break  11:30 – 12:30pm

Group session  12:30 – 2:30pm

Break 2:30-3:30pm

Group session 3:30-5:30pm

Please arrive early for the beginning of each session. Please be flexible on the ending time because we may need to accommodate the needs of the group.

I recommend that you take off work the day after the retreat to rest. These retreats can be demanding.

Before the Retreat, my lack of ability to tell my truth to other people caused me a lot of anxiety. I had a hard time making decisions and sticking to them. I wanted my Authentic Self to show up. During Breathwork, I released a lot of anger, and I reclaimed three different parts of myself that had been missing since I was a little girl. Now it is easier for me to communicate my true feelings and thoughts. I can make decisions and I stick to them without suffering about communicating my decisions. I just come right out and say what is on my mind.  I regained my personal power. Thank you! ~R.T.

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1. Hero’s Journey to the Authentic Self ~ Overview
2. How I Discovered I Am an Intuitive Empath
3. Healing from an Abusive Marriage: Devon’s Story
4. Spiritual Healing for the Inner Child: The Power of Inner Dialogue
5. Empaths Feel the Weight of the World Crisis
6. Healing for Lonely Abandoned Hearts
7. How I Healed Chronic Pain Without Drugs
8. My Journey Toward Wholeness, Remaining a Square in a Triangle World
9. Healing Trauma with Breathwork: Abortion and Open Heart Surgery
10. Attachment Styles and Highly Sensitive People. What predicts healthy romance?
11. Healing Hurtful Relationship Patterns with Breathwork
12. Turning Fear into a Friend: A Breathwork Story

My Breathwork experience was wonderful! As you instructed us to breath deeper and faster, I kept breathing and breathing and nothing was happening except my stomach muscles were getting sore from breathing so hard. I began to think, “Why would anyone want to do this?” Then in an instant, I was in a spiritual state and suddenly things about my life that had been very confusing became crystal clear. I was able to ask questions and receive answers. It was such a profound experience that a river of tears began to flow. That’s unusual for me, being a man. I was unaware that I had been holding anger towards myself for past mistakes. Before, I was able to forgive everyone except myself. Now I can do that. Forgiveness is strong medicine. I would gladly do Breathwork again. Our lives are only reflections of what we are inside. Through Breathwork we can discover the things we are holding onto inside that need changing. ~T.M.

About Your Facilitator: Benita A. Esposito

Click here to read Benita Esposito’s credentials and story.

Benita Esposito. Credit: Alysia Hargus Photography

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Refund Policy

All refund requests must be made via email. Complete the contact form.

• 30 or more days before the retreat, there will be a full refund minus a $50 processing fee.

• No refunds 0 – 29 days before the retreat, but you may apply your fee to private sessions or another retreat within one year, minus a $50 fee.

The Breathwork retreat helped me tremendously as well as the work with you individually. I now recognize when my body is sending me signals, and I pay attention to it. I am learning to put my hands on the pain and be patient with it. I have come to recognize how hard I am on myself, and that it is difficult for me to be still. However, I know that recognizing this is the first step to getting better. ~J.J.

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Your Authentic Life. Anything Else is a Compromise.