Returning to Myself
a winter writing immersion
You’re invited to Return…
a little video invitation to introduce this amazing immersion!
A 6-week writing immersion with Dana
Returning to Myself is a signature immersion weaving together intimate 1:1 guidance, somatic writing, and sacred community.
Throughout our time together, you'll be lovingly supported by Dana, two special Friends of the Apothecary — a flower essence practitioner and an herbalist — and a circle of women devoted to returning to themselves through writing.
The essentials:
Our Writing Ceremonies gather live on Zoom every Wednesday from 5–7 PM Central.
Start date: January 6th (all dates listed in FAQ section)
What you get:
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This is the heart of The Poetry Apothecary.
The Writing Ceremony is a space to get out of your head and return to your body. To soften your inhibitions, awaken your senses, and allow what's stirring within you to find its way onto the page.
Through meditation, somatic practices, and guided writing, we create the conditions for something honest and unexpected to emerge.
And then comes one of the most beautiful parts: the opportunity to be courageously witnessed.
To share your words without apologizing for them. Without explaining yourself. Without needing to be anything other than who you are.
There is something profoundly liberating about this.
You begin to trust your voice.
You begin to feel again.
You become curious about your own inner world.
And slowly, that aliveness begins to spill beyond the page.
You find yourself reading more. Writing more. Reaching for your phone less. Having deeper conversations. Noticing the light coming through the window. Feeling moved by the smallest, most ordinary things.
Your life may look exactly the same on the outside.
But something within you has changed.
You are no longer waiting for life to make you feel alive.
You are participating in it.
You are resensitizing.
You are returning to yourself.
You remember that you belong to yourself.
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Two hours of personalized guidance devoted entirely to you — one session at the beginning of our immersion and another toward the end. Drawing on my gift of clairsentience (intuitive feeling), I'll tune into what I sense is stirring beneath the surface, while inviting you to explore what resonates as true for you.
Together, we'll uncover what wants to be expressed, and I'll guide you through a personalized meditation and intuitive writing practice designed to meet you exactly where you are.
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Meet one-on-one with a Friend of the Apothecary for a personalized flower essence consultation. You'll receive your very own custom blend of flower essences, thoughtfully selected to accompany your journey of self-discovery.
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Another Friend of the Apothecary, a gifted herbalist and naturopathic doctor, will meet with you virtually for a 1:1 experience to explore the gentle wisdom of plants and deepen your connection with the natural world.
Together, you’ll explore your intentions, current wellness needs, and what you feel called to nurture in your life.
After your first session, she’ll take time to thoughtfully choose three herbs that align with your individual needs, considering their traditional uses, properties, folklore, and magical correspondences.
During your follow-up session, you’ll explore these plant allies together and discover simple, nourishing herbal rituals to support your well-being and weave a deeper connection with plants into your everyday life and personal practice.
What's Included:
Two 45-minute virtual 1:1 sessions, from exploring your current wellness needs to meeting your three chosen plant allies.
A personalized selection of three herbs thoughtfully chosen with consideration for your health, individual needs, and goals.
A custom PDF guide featuring your chosen herbs, their traditional uses and magical correspondences, and simple ways to incorporate them into your daily rituals and personal practice.
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Need a remedy?
The Apothecary's warm light is on.
You're welcome to drop into these optional, unrecorded weekly Zoom gatherings whenever you need a little creative medicine. Bring whatever ails or delights you, and receive a personalized writing prompt to carry back to the page. Drop in or stay for the hour. Be quiet or be witnessed. This time is for you.
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Between ceremonies, you'll receive a daily contemplative writing practice to continue the ceremony long after the Zoom room closes.
This practice is a newer one I have been testing out myself before bringing it to you. It is a powerful 30 minute practice that can be tailored to a shorter time, if necessary!
Investment:
$2,200
Payment plans are available.
For so much of my life, I sought extremes to make me feel alive.
Men. Intensity. Novelty. Drama.
I pushed things to their limits because I couldn't quite sit with ordinary life.
It took a very toxic marriage, religion and divorce to finally bring me to my knees.
The constant chase for unavailable men, external validation, and busyness wasn't a sign of being alive. It was an avoidance of life itself.
I experienced big feelings, but I had very little capacity to stay in my own body.
To sit with discomfort. To witness my own grief.
Being in my body felt unsafe.
So I ran.
I filled my calendar. I played the "good girl."
I lived for the praise of others.
Resensitizing myself began with slowing down.
Becoming willing to look at what — or who — I reached for when I felt empty.
Getting curious about the sensations moving through my body instead of running from them.
Learning to stay with myself, even when it was uncomfortable.
There is an immensity of pleasure to be found in slowing down. In being present. In allowing ourselves to be moved by life instead of constantly chasing the next thing that might make us feel alive.
I want women to experience the fullness of their own humanity.
Their pleasure and their pain.
Their tenderness and their rage.
Their grief and their joy.
Their extraordinary capacity to be moved by an ordinary life.
THE RESENSITIZED WOMAN
The art of resensitization
Pablo Neruda once wrote that poetry came in search of him.
Poetry came in search of me, too. It slowed me down.
It taught me how to stay with myself. To listen to my body. To find beauty in the ordinary. To create something meaningful without needing anyone else's approval.
Writing became my way of returning to myself.
The more deeply I connected with my own inner world, the more alive I felt in the world around me.
This is what I call resensitization — the art of becoming available to your own life again.
And it's the heart of everything we do at The Poetry Apothecary.
What if you didn't need to change your life to feel more alive within it?
What if you could become so deeply connected to your own inner world that you no longer needed to look outside yourself for permission to feel worthy, beautiful, or whole?
This is the invitation of Returning to Myself.
Not by pushing harder, becoming better, or fixing what's broken.
But by slowing down enough to feel.
By listening to the wisdom of your body.
By releasing the words, songs, and poems that have been waiting within you.
By allowing yourself to be witnessed in all your tenderness, strangeness, and beauty.
And by learning to become your own source of nourishment.
The Poetry Apothecary Framework
☼ Soften.
Come home to your body through movement, breath, meditation, and somatic awareness.
☼ Express.
Liberate your authentic voice through uninhibited writing.
☼ Be Witnessed.
Experience the courage and intimacy of sharing your words in sacred community.
☼ Nourish.
Tend to your inner world through personalized intuitive guidance, contemplative practices, and the gentle companionship of flowers and plant allies.
☼ Bloom.
Carry your newfound aliveness beyond the page and into the ordinary, beautiful moments of your life.
Cozy, candlelit cabins.
The silence of a snowfall.
Evergreens covered in powdered sugar. Apres Ski. Cold hands around a warm drink.
Pink noses and chattering teeth.
The sound of skates against ice.
The tenderness of your lover wrapping a scarf around your neck, so the cold doesn’t get in.
Winter is a magical time to write… as the world around us is frozen, we nuzzle our pen to paper, our hearts to one another, our noses into our furry friends — and we come alive. So sweetly alive.
Winter is our theme
frequently asked questions
Answering your most burning questions below. Please include any other inquiries when you fill out your application.
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This is the heart of The Poetry Apothecary.
The Writing Ceremony is a space to get out of your head and return to your body. To soften your inhibitions, awaken your senses, and allow what's stirring within you to find its way onto the page.
Through meditation, somatic practices, and guided writing, we create the conditions for something honest and unexpected to emerge.
And then comes one of the most beautiful parts: the opportunity to be courageously witnessed.
To share your words without apologizing for them. Without explaining yourself. Without needing to be anything other than who you are.
There is something profoundly liberating about this.
You begin to trust your voice.
You begin to feel again.
You become curious about your own inner world.
And slowly, that aliveness begins to spill beyond the page.
You find yourself reading more. Writing more. Reaching for your phone less. Having deeper conversations. Noticing the light coming through the window. Feeling moved by the smallest, most ordinary things.
Your life may look exactly the same on the outside.
But something within you has changed.
You are no longer waiting for life to make you feel alive.
You are participating in it.
You are resensitizing.
You are returning to yourself.
You remember that you belong to yourself.
-
When: Writing Ceremonies are held on Wednesdays from 5-7 pm central
Where: from the coziness of your home on Zoom
Our Writing Ceremony Dates
December — Holiday Prelude Exclusive
December 16
January
January 6
January 13
January 20
January 27
February
February 3
February 9 (Tuesday)
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As a group, we will come up with a time that works best for the majority. It will likely be during a weekday lunch hour.
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My goodness, yes!!
Register by Black Friday, November 27th, and receive two special gifts:
An extra week of immersion: Before our official January beginning, we'll gather on December 16th for an intimate, holiday-inspired writing ceremony. A beautiful opportunity to slow down, turn inward, and reconnect with yourself amidst the bustle of the season.
A complimentary ticket to my December writing ceremony at Pink Couch Books in Wilmette on December 9th.
These gifts are exclusively for those who register by Black Friday! Spots are very limited.
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Yes. As a songwriter myself, I know the power of a devoted writing practice. Somatic writing will guide you to find your greatest lyrics.
You may use the writing ceremony time to work on a song, or use it as your writing practice. The writing you do within ceremony will leave you with so much lyrical content to choose from.
All of the writing practices we use in this program are perfect for any and all writers — journal keepers, poets, creative writers, novelists, songwriters! You are all welcome.
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Once you register for the immersion, I will personally reach out and schedule you for your 1:1 intuitive writing sessions. I generally would suggest scheduling one near the beginning and one near the end of the immersion.
Keep in mind that my availability for 1:1 intuitive writing sessions is mainly on Tuesdays and Thursdays between 10-4 pm central. -
Great question!
First of all — how dreamy is it that we’re including these in your experience?! I asked myself what my dream immersion would look like and the partnership with these two beautiful practitioners bubbled up to the surface. I’m so grateful to be able to include these services for you and connect you with two incredible women to add to your team of light bearers.
Upon registering, I will connect you to Ellie, our flower essence practitioner. You will meet with her first.
About halfway through the program, you will meet with Stephanie, our herbalist.
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Yes, of course!
I'm happy to offer flexible payment plans. The full investment for the immersion is $2,200, which can be paid in full or spread out over time.
Once you've submitted your application and been accepted, I'll send you a registration link with several payment options so you can choose what works best for you.
1 payment of $2200
2 payments of $1100
3 payments of $735
4 payments of $550
A Little Holiday Magic
An exclusive invitation for those who join by Black Friday.
The holidays have a way of pulling us in a thousand different directions.
What if, this year, you gave yourself the gift of returning to yourself?
Although our immersion officially begins in January, women who enroll on or before Black Friday, November 27th, will receive two special gifts from The Poetry Apothecary:
♡ An Extra Holiday Writing Ceremony
We'll gather on December 16th for a special holiday Writing Ceremony — an intimate evening of slowing down, reflecting, and making space for yourself amid the beautiful chaos of the season.
A little sanctuary before the new year begins.
♡ A Ticket to Our Holiday Gathering at Pink Couch Books
You'll also receive a complimentary ticket to my December writing workshop at Pink Couch Books, a cozy romance bookstore, where we'll gather for a little holiday magic, poetry, and connection. This meeting is on December 9th.
Consider these gifts a gentle head start on your journey.
A chance to begin tending to yourself before January arrives.
The investment remains $2,200. This is not a discount, but an invitation to receive a little more of the magic.
Available exclusively to women who enroll by November 27, 2026.
About Your Guide
〰️
About Your Guide 〰️
Hey, I’m Dana. I'm a folk singer-songwriter, poet and intuitive somatic writing mentor who believes writing is both playful and ceremonial, and in that, deeply medicinal.
I’m a lover of lyrics and storytelling. Mountains, evergreen trees weighed down by powdery snow, the smell of rosemary held up to my nose, my bare feet against the earth, and exploring new places and new parts of my heart with my partner. I love my mom’s laugh, my dad’s stoic tenderness, my ride-or-die siblings, my nephews and niece, and my late golden retriever Nash - my forever soul dog.
I’m a Greek & Irish Chicago woman with a wild heart.
Credentials
While I believe some of our greatest wisdom comes from lived experience, here are a few credentials that may interest you:
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University of San Diego — Degree in Theology & Religious Studies
As a lifelong explorer of the mysteries of being human and what lies beyond the veil, I weave a deeply spiritual, contemplative, and sometimes mystical element into my Writing Ceremonies.Moving the Human Spirit — Trauma-Informed Coaching Certification
An approach rooted in compassion, curiosity, and honoring the unique experiences we each bring into the room.200+ Hours of Yoga Teacher Training
My background in yoga informs the somatic movement, breathwork, meditation, and embodied awareness woven throughout our ceremonies.Youth Mental Health First Aid Certification
A Lifelong Devotion to My Own Growth
Beyond formal training, I've invested thousands of hours and dollars in my own development — working with mentors and coaches, studying, creating, and continually deepening my capacity to lead and hold space for others.I believe that if I'm going to invite you into a deeper relationship with yourself, I have a responsibility to keep tending to my own.
And that is a devotion I take seriously.
Kind Words
APPLICATIONThese writing immersions are so sacred, so please take some time to fill out this application so I can get to know you, your desires and your hopes for the immersion. You will receive a response from me after I read through your application. Thank you!