Guatemala Service Retreat & Cultural Immersion August 10–19, 2026 | Lake Atitlán & Comalapa, Guatemala
Receive the full retreat guide, itinerary, FAQ, packing list, and immersion details.
Join our free live Guatemala Information Session & Q&A to learn more about:
• The service projects with Long Way Home
• Lake Atitlán and cultural immersion experiences
• Accommodations and travel logistics
• Ceremony and wellness practices
• Pricing, payment plans, and registration
• Live Q&A with facilitators
📅 5:00pm PST June 17, 2026
📍 Online via Zoom
This immersion is a return to relationship.
With land.
With culture.
With community.
With the deeper parts of yourself that awaken when you step out of routine and into something real.
In the highlands, we work alongside local students to build sustainable infrastructure for families — practical systems that support daily life and strengthen community resilience.
At Lake Atitlán, beneath ancient volcanoes, we soften into ceremony, reflection, and integration. The water holds you. The land steadies you. The rhythm slows enough for you to listen.
This journey weaves together:
• Hands-on regenerative service
• Sustainable building practices
• Living Mayan culture
• Sacred ceremony
• Ethical partnership
• Daily embodied practice
• Deep community connection
You don’t come here to consume an experience.
You come into relationship.
And something in you shifts because of it.
We spend three days in the highland village of Comalapa in partnership with:
Long Way Home is an internationally recognized regenerative education nonprofit that has been transforming education and sustainable construction in Guatemala for over 15 years.
In the highland village of Comalapa, we collaborate with a regenerative education nonprofit that builds schools from recycled materials — tires, bottles, adobe — while training local youth in sustainable construction.
This is hands-on, place-based learning rooted in dignity and skill-building.
Alongside students from 5th grade through 11th grade, you’ll help complete real infrastructure projects for local families, including:
Fuel-efficient ovens
Retaining walls
Water catchment systems
Compost latrines
For three days, you become part of the build.
You’ll work in small teams.
Travel to family homes.
Learn sustainable construction methods.
Share meals and stories.
Celebrate together when the project is complete.
This is not charity. It is reciprocity.
Contribution becomes personal when you:
• Mix cement and carry materials
• See the direct impact of your effort
• Form relationships with students and families
• Participate in community celebration
This is dignity-centered service.
Mutual learning.
Shared humanity.
The village is alive with color, music, and the rhythm of daily life.
Murals tell the story of Guatemala’s civil war.
Artists pass painting traditions through generations.
Women still wear traditional Kaqchikel traje.
During our time in the highlands, we will:
Visit the traditional market
Walk with a local cultural guide
Learn about the history held in the murals
Participate in a traditional painting experience
Celebrate with the community in music and gathering
All meals are prepared by a local chef using traditional Guatemalan foods, with dietary needs honored.
This portion of the immersion is rich in history, artistry, and humility.
After our three days of service, we journey to the waters for four days to integrate, reflect, and receive.
Here, we soften.
We integrate.
We let it all land.
Morning yoga overlooking the water.
Swimming and paddleboarding.
Jungle waterfalls and quiet trails.
Slow meals shared in community.
The nervous system resets. The heart opens. The body exhales.
Women-led weaving cooperatives
Natural dye traditions
Cacao cultivation and chocolate making
Honey production and medicinal plants
We meet artisans. We learn directly from women preserving ancestral skills. We support local cooperative economies.
Day 1 – Arrival, welcome cacao ceremony & opening circle
Day 2 – Market immersion & cultural walking tour in Comalapa
Days 3–5 – Volunteer build projects with Long Way Home and Community Celebration
Day 6 – Travel to Lake Atitlán, traditional Mayan cacao ceremony
Days 6–9 – Lake integration: swimming, yoga, weaving co-ops, temazcal, fire ceremony, waterfall hikes, etc.
Day 10 – Departure
(Detailed schedule provided upon acceptance.)
Meet your facilitator
Energy Worker • Embodiment & Movement Guide • Ceremonialist • Service & Cultural Immersion Leader
Jenni Alma Rose brings a grounded, heart-led presence to this immersion. A wellness educator, breathwork facilitator, and retreat guide with over 30 years in the health and wellness field, she is devoted to creating experiences that reconnect people to themselves, to community, and to the land.
Her work integrates breathwork, somatic practices, movement, energy healing, and holistic wellness. Jenni has facilitated service-based retreats and community volunteer projects that bring people together to support regenerative initiatives and local communities.
Her early years with Up with People included global travel centered on cultural exchange and community service — experiences that continue to shape her approach to meaningful, service-centered travel.
Reverence for Indigenous wisdom traditions, ancestral knowledge, and the living intelligence of the earth sits at the heart of all she does.
Jenni supports:
• Breathwork and integration practices
• Group facilitation and experiential learning
• Wellness and embodiment practices
• Community connection and service leadership
Jenni is passionate about guiding experiences where service, cultural exchange, and personal transformation unfold through connection to land, community, and purpose.
MEET YOUR FACILITATOR
Somatic Practitioner • Integration Guide • Ceremonialist • Threshold Guide
Lindsay James brings a deeply rooted and compassionate presence to this immersion. A certified death doula, somatic practitioner, and ceremonialist, her work centers on guiding individuals and communities through life’s sacred thresholds with reverence, honesty, and care.
With a background in Peace & Reconciliation Studies and over a decade of work in community care and leadership training, Lindsay weaves somatic healing, breathwork, embodiment practices, and earth-honoring ceremonial traditions into the spaces she holds.
Her passion lies in creating environments where people feel safe to soften, reflect, and reconnect with their deeper truth.
Lindsay supports:
• Group integration
• Service coordination
• Cultural sensitivity
• Embodied practices and reflection
Lindsay’s steady presence helps create a container where participants feel supported to move through transformation with courage, tenderness, and authenticity.
In Mexico, I danced for the first time in 8 years. I had so much fun. I remember saying, “I haven’t danced like this since I drank.” I felt so free and whole. I love dancing and forgot how much I miss it!
And my beautiful friend said to me, “I don’t think I’ve ever seen a smile so big on your face.”
I went to Mexico to study a day trading strategy that is changing my life. Being able to read the charts and understand is powerful - I got exactly what I came for in that regard but I left with the unexpected - more healing in my heart than I ever anticipated; yoga, sweat lodge, chakra balancing, walks, talks, great food, and amazing animals.
Thank you, Jenni Alma Rose, and every single new friend I made. Cannot wait for our next retreat.
Jenni has a rare gift—she plans and holds a strong container, but always leaves room for the magic to arise on its own.
I've seen this firsthand at the Friends of Breitenbush service weekend, where she showed up organized, communicative, and fully prepared—no small feat when you're wrangling logistics and holding space for a community. At Us Fest, her cacao circle and women's and children's circles were deeply attuned, intentional, and genuinely transformative.
She facilitates in the truest sense—empowering those around her to lead while never losing the thread. Her openings, closings, and integration moments are thoughtful and intentional. When her kids show up, they only add to the beauty of it.
Jenni is someone I trust completely to hold space for transformation.
The retreat takes place August 10–19, 2026.
We spend time in Comalapa, Lake Atitlán, and San Juan La Laguna.
Yes. Participants spend three days supporting community-led regenerative building projects in partnership with Long Way Home.
Yes. The experience includes yoga, ceremony, cacao, breathwork, sound healing, reflection, and integration practices.
No. An open heart, willingness to participate, and respect for local communities are all that is required.
This immersion is for people who feel called to travel with intention — not just to see a place, but to be in relationship with it.
It is for those who feel the pull toward meaningful service, cultural exchange, and a deeper connection with the land and the communities who call it home.
You may feel drawn to this experience if you:
• Long to contribute your time and energy to projects that support local communities
• Feel called to learn from Indigenous cultures with humility and respect
• Are seeking a retreat that combines inner growth with meaningful action
• Value authentic connection, shared experience, and community
• Want to travel in a way that leaves both you and the places you visit changed for the better
You do not need prior retreat or service experience, only an open heart, a willingness to participate, and a respect for the cultures and communities we are entering into relationship with.
This journey is rooted in:
Ethical partnership
Regenerative impact
Community collaboration
Cultural humility
Sacred ceremony
Slow travel
You are not consuming Guatemala. You are entering into relationship with her.
This immersion is rooted in relationship, humility, and respect.
The service projects we participate in are developed in partnership with local leaders, organizations, and community members who identify their own priorities and needs. Our role is not to “fix” or impose solutions, but to offer our time, labor, and presence in support of initiatives that are already community-led.
We approach this experience with the understanding that we are guests — learning from the land, the culture, and the wisdom of the people who call this place home.
Our intention is to engage in service that is:
• Collaborative — guided by local leadership and knowledge
• Respectful — honoring cultural traditions and ways of life
• Regenerative — supporting long-term well-being for people and land
• Reciprocal — recognizing that we receive as much as we give
Participants are invited to arrive with curiosity, humility, and an open heart. This journey is not about charity — it is about relationship, learning, and shared humanity.
The projects we participate in are designed to be genuinely helpful to the communities we partner with. We work alongside local leaders to ensure that the time, energy, and resources contributed by participants support meaningful and ongoing initiatives.
Through this approach, we aim to create an experience that benefits both the communities we partner with and the individuals who come to serve.
This Guatemala retreat is designed for travelers seeking a meaningful alternative to traditional tourism through service, cultural immersion, community connection, and personal transformation.
Includes:
Airport transfers (GUA)
All lodging
All meals
Volunteer coordination
Cultural guide
Daily yoga
Ceremonies & sound healing
Lake boat transport
Not included:
International airfare
Travel insurance
Personal purchases
Spots are intentionally limited to preserve intimacy and impact.
The Impact is real and the invitation is open.
To receive full details and pricing information, click below and send us a message.
Receive the full retreat guide, itinerary, FAQ, packing list, and immersion details.