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Healthy Family Wellness Retreat

Ogelbay Resort | August 1-2, 2026 | Overnight Family Friendly Retreat

You’re Our Special Guest

Join us for a restorative family wellness experience rooted in mindfulness, connection, fun, and joy. Through movement, nature, community, and intentional rest, families are invited to slow down, reconnect, and experience wellness together. While every family’s journey is unique, no one has to navigate it alone.

Nurture Your Well-Being

Welcome to Self MAED, I’m glad you found us. We’ve been waiting for you.

I’m Shannon Mae, the Founder of Self MAED (Meditate Align Enlighten Discover). At Self MAED, we specialize in curating wellness retreats tailored to nourish and empower families on their journey of growth, healing, and self-discovery. Having experienced firsthand the daily stressors of life, parenting, work, and relationships, I understand the importance of prioritizing self-care.

This year, it’s all about learning new skills to balance life stressors with joy and connection. That’s why we’re thrilled to introduce the Healthy Family Wellness Retreat.

From the moment you step into our care, you’ll be embraced with warmth and familiarity. Here, everybody is welcomed as part of our community in a safe haven designed for your ultimate comfort and relaxation.

Get ready to unwind, recharge, and discover the magic that lies within you.

Are you constantly pouring into everyone around you while quietly running on empty?

Have you been carrying the emotional weight of parenting, caregiving, work, relationships, and everyday life without enough space to pause, breathe, or be cared for yourself?

Do you find yourself overstimulated, emotionally exhausted, or disconnected from your own wellness because your energy is always going toward meeting the needs of others?

The Healthy Family Wellness Retreat was created to remind families that wellness matters for caregivers too.

You Deserve Rest, Too...

Parents and caregivers, often carry the invisible weight of everything and everyone around them. Between caregiving, work, financial pressures, emotional labor, pregnancy, postpartum transitions, and the everyday stress of simply trying to hold it all together, rest can begin to feel impossible instead of necessary.

This retreat is more than a weekend away.

It is an opportunity for families to slow down, reconnect, and experience wellness in a way that feels accessible, supportive, culturally grounded, and real. Through mindfulness, movement, restorative experiences, family connection, nature-based activities, and community care, families are invited to step away from survival mode and into intentional moments of rest, reflection, joy, and healing.

Rest is not simply sleep or silence. Rest is feeling supported. Rest is being able to exhale. Rest is having space to reconnect with yourself while creating meaningful memories with your children and community.

What becomes possible when families feel nourished, supported, connected, and well?

This retreat creates space to begin discovering that together.

Are You Ready to Be Nutured?

Imagine a weekend where you do not have to carry everything alone.

Picture your family surrounded by nature, laughter, meaningful connection, nourishing meals, wellness activities, and moments of true rest. A space where your children can play, explore, and build joyful memories while you are also cared for.

The Healthy Family Wellness Retreat is intentionally designed for parents and caregivers who are constantly pouring into others while rarely having space to pause themselves. Through mindfulness, movement, family-centered activities, restorative experiences, and community connection, this retreat creates opportunities for families to slow down, reconnect, and simply breathe together.

Set within the peaceful surroundings of Oglebay Resort, families will experience nature walks, mindfulness activities, family recreation, wellness workshops, community meals, reflection spaces, gentle movement, and restorative experiences designed to support both caregivers and children. Parents can participate in prenatal or restorative massage experiences, grounding workshops, and wellness sessions while children engage in thoughtfully coordinated activities and family bonding experiences.

You are invited to participate in as much or as little as you need. Whether that means joining every activity, resting in your room during quiet moments, taking a reflective walk outdoors, laughing during family game night, or connecting with other parents who simply understand, this retreat is designed with flexibility, care, and real life in mind.

Our focus is simple: create a warm, safe, and welcoming environment where families feel supported, restored, connected, and reminded that their wellness matters too.

What is a Healing Circle?

At the heart of our retreats are the skillfully facilitated healing circles led by Shannon Mae. These circles serve as sacred spaces where authenticity, vulnerability, and support intertwine. Here, we gather to explore the essence of parenting, learning and embodying the principles that define our journey.

Throughout the retreat, parent-hood and community take center stage. More than a mere gathering, it’s a bond forged in shared experiences, mutual growth, and the celebration of each unique journey.

What is Mindfulness?

Mindfulness is the practice of being present, aware, and intentional in the middle of everyday life, especially during stressful moments.

For parents and caregivers, mindfulness is not about being perfect, calm all the time, or “getting it right” every day. It’s about learning how to pause, respond instead of react, regulate emotions, and create moments of connection with yourself and your children.

At the Healthy Family Wellness Retreat, mindfulness is introduced as a practical parenting tool that can support patience, communication, emotional wellness, stress management, and family connection. Through movement, breathwork, reflection, grounding activities, and family-centered experiences, participants will explore simple wellness practices that can be carried home and used in real life long after the retreat ends.

Sometimes the real parenting superpower is learning how to breathe before responding.

What's Next?

Applications close July 27, 2026, but space is limited and families will be accepted on a rolling basis, so we encourage you to apply as soon as possible.

After applying, you’ll receive a confirmation email inviting you and your family to join a private virtual information session with other participating families. This relaxed pre-retreat gathering is an opportunity to ask questions, meet retreat coordinators, learn what to expect, and begin building community before the retreat experience begins.

Once you attend the pre-retreat information session, your family’s retreat attendance will be officially confirmed.

We can’t wait to welcome you into this experience of rest, connection, joy, and wellness.

Testimonials

“The biggest benefit of coming on this retreat was having the opportunity to just focus on me and release a lot of my emotional baggage. It was a time of healing and relaxation. I was provided with the opportunity to bond with some of the most beautiful, ac complished, and talented black women I have ever met in my life. The environment created by Shannon Mae at the villa allowed us to establish sisterly bonds and presented us with the opportunity to express our feelings and opinions in a healthy safe space. It was a time where I was heard, supported and felt included. I had the opportunity to let my hair down and just be me, and that was okay.”

“You changed my life! Gave me a whole new perspective.”

"It's refreshing to connect with a crew of sisters who mirror your journey and vibe. No need for pretenses or explanations – they just get it, you know? We're all rocking our unique styles, yet there's this unspoken understanding that binds us together. These safe havens are crucial for our growth and restoration. Now, I've forged bonds that'll last a lifetime."

Being around like - minded black women and hearing affirming stories made me realized that my issues aren’t unique. I realized that I needed to lean on my support system. I needed to ask for (and accept) help.

A Self MAED Retreat is where you can learn, share, bond and unify without judgement. It brought together women at the right tim e for the right reasons with the right process. An amazing experience that I will never forget and a connection with other sisters that will continue to grow after the retreat.

Self MAED retreats are designed to be small and intimate, providing a personalized and deeply nurturing experience for each participant. For this reason, we limit attendance. Reserve your spot now and be part of this unique and intimate retreat experience.

1 night private accommodations per family
All On-Site Meals
Dedicated Babysitters on-site for children under 5.
Healing Massages for Mommas & Poppas
Beginners Restorative Yoga Class
Signature Ubuntu Healing Circle
Mindfulness Skill Building Workshops and Activities
Cultural Off-Site Experience
Welcome Gifts
Opening Ceremony
Curated Workshops for Parents & Adults
Ending Ceremony
Roundtrip Group Transportation
Low-Sensory Zones
Children over 5 paired in groups with trained Self MAED Workshop Leaders
Children On-Site Activities, Include: Train Rides Zoo Trampolines Playgrounds Nature Trails Crafts and more!