There’s a New Summer Camp for Adults in the Poconos (And It Sounds Lovely)

This ladies-only camp experience comes complete with yoga, meditation, hiking, kayaking, acupuncture and more. 

Camp Canadensis | Photo courtesy Rise Gatherings

Camp Canadensis | Photo courtesy Rise Gatherings

Ladies, ladies, ladies: Go ahead and clear your schedules for May 12th through 14th. That, my friends, is when the ladies behind Rise Gatherings will be putting on their very first “women’s transformative adult summer camp experience” at Camp Canadensis in the Poconos, about two hours from Philly. And the whole thing sounds like something I made up in a dream. Think: a weekend filled with waterfall hikes, rock climbing, yoga, vision and goal-setting workshops, 305 dance fitness classes (YASSS), and no boys allowed. I think that calls for another YASSSS.

Philly area-based Rise Gatherings founders Rachel Rubin (you know her as the Kettlebell Kundalini queen), Alexa Syd Rosenthal, who owns a creative agency aimed at helping women “bridge the gap between profit and purpose,” and Tami Relles Astorino, a longtime yoga instructor with a masters degree in counseling psychology, described the event, their first under the Rise Gatherings umbrella, to me as “a summer camp for adults meets women’s retreat meets Canyon Ranch.” We can dig it.

The whole idea of the summer camp experience (which is really a spring camp experience, if we’re being technical) is to bring knowledge-filled workshop facilitators — they’ve got 15 on the roster, from yoga teachers to holistic skincare experts to success mindset coaches and more, most of them Philly-based — and 250 women together at Camp Canadensis for a weekend that’s all about empowering you to live with intention and purpose, and helping you get a jumpstart on creating a life that you’re excited about (yes, please).

As Rubin, who grew up going to Camp Canadensis, says, “You can create the life you want. And that’s really what we want people to get out of this. And the struggle is so real of people being in their own minds and getting in their own way. This is what that’s about: Gifting them this space.” Astorino goes on to say, “I have mom friends who say, ‘When is it my turn to go to summer camp?’ As women, we’re doing so much work. We’re caretakers, we’re mothers. This is a time to really reflect.”

Okay, so what does learning how to live with intention and purpose entail, you ask? Well, you can check out the full schedule for the weekend here, but let us break it down for you a bit: On Friday afternoon, you’ll check in and hang out — there will be dinner, a bonfire ceremony, and then you’ll head to bed in your bunk. Then, the real fun begins on Saturday, with full-blown day of workshops and activities, from yoga to cooking demonstrations to 305 (a super-fun dance fitness class not available in Philly) to something called “Empowering Sexual Wholeness,” plus chances to hop in a kayak or go for a guided hike, and more. Yeah — they’re covering a lot here, people. The night will end with a Rise Up celebration, which is just code for a giant dance party. Then, Sunday morning, it’s time for breakfast — think: Ezekiel bread french toast (!!) — and you’ll head home for Mother’s Day festivities.

I repeat: It sounds like a dream, right?

If you want in, a ticket will run you $499, or $799 for a mother-daughter ticket (while it’s billed as an adult experience, teenage daughters over 14 are welcome, too), or $1299 for two tickets, complete with a private bunk and bathroom. If you can’t make it this time around, do know: they plan on hosting more summer camp-like experiences at Camp Canadensis in the future, along with Rise Gatherings events in the city. So be on the lookout, ladies!

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