The Beginning

It was a normal Sunday and I sat hunched over my phone scrolling through Instagram, liking and saving every inspiring post and making a mental note to come back to them later as this other *very* important post about a chimpanzee being reunited with his human caretaker was more pertinent.

Meanwhile, my husband was lounging on the couch beside me flipping through the local newspaper. He loves the newspaper. Me, well, I love the aesthetic: comfortable seat on the couch, right ankle stacked over left thigh, steaming hot coffee, and not a phone in sight. The sounds, the smells—how just the sight of him transported me to 19-something.

I wanted that aesthetic. I wanted that time to myself—to sit and ponder 4 across while scratching my head with a number 2 pencil. So I ask him for a section. And it was—for lack of a better word—a snooze.

What I really wanted to read in the newspaper wasn’t really “news” at all. I wanted to read about everything cool & inspiring I was seeing on Instagram—slowly and mindfully— sans distractions. I wanted to go deeper than the highlight reel: I wanted to hear about the success and the rock bottoms. I wanted to shine a light on the women who were living and sharing their purpose, so that readers could think: if she can do it, then I can do it, too. I wanted to bring back the nostalgic charm of holding stories in your hands—with nothing but a cup of coffee and curiosity. And so The Retreat was born. What started as a wellness & spirituality newspaper has transformed into a global community of women disconnecting from their devices to reconnect with themselves through stories, interviews, practices, prompts, and in-person retreats. I’m so glad you’re here.

Carley

Meet Our Team

  • Carley DeMarco

    FOUNDER & CREATIVE DIRECTOR

    Carley is a writer and yoga teacher originally from Pennsylvania. Before founding The Retreat, she was a women’s health ghostwriter and the founder & owner of Clayton Yoga, the first yoga studio in her small North Georgia mountain town. After selling her studio in 2024, she moved with her husband and two dogs to Woodstock, GA. On weekends you can find them driving through the country and mountains, exploring new towns, and swimming in rivers. On weekdays you can find Carley experimenting with Joni Mitchell’s crop rotation theory for creativity: painting, taking random classes, and cooking new recipes (sans recipe)—none of which she is particularly “good” at, but all of which she is very fond of. As someone who grew up obsessed with telling and listening to stories, she can’t believe that this is her job.

  • Mallory Pendleton

    EDITOR-IN-CHIEF

    Mallory is a writer, education strategist, and lifelong learner. She can frequently be found googling restaurant menus, inhaling podcasts at an unhealthy pace, referencing people’s full human design and astrological charts, staying up reading way past her bedtime, and dreaming up questions for next month’s muses. She lives in Rhinebeck, NY, with her wife Laura and their ever-blooming collection of books.

  • Anna Hull

    ASTROLOGY

    Anna is a professional astrologer, yin yoga teacher, and writer based in Brooklyn, NY. She uses astrology, yoga, and meditation to help people find true alignment with the rhythms of the cosmic and earthly seasons. Inspired by the lunar phases, Anna’s work centers on grounding astrology into the body, fostering sustainable growth, and building a life in tune with natural cycles. She offers private astrology readings, virtual community classes, and a weekly substack, bringing cosmic insights into everyday practices. Follow her writing at annahull.substack.com or find her other offerings at annahull.com 

  • Amy Dong

    DATING & RELATIONSHIPS

    Amy is a psychotherapist, breathwork facilitator, and writer. If you're curious about 1:1 work, you can find Amy at the-softening.com.

  • Joanna Steblay

    HERBALISM

    Joanna Steblay is an herbalist and postpartum doula. Her mission is to help people reconnect to the rich lineage of plant medicine and to make herbalism approachable to those with little to no experience working with herbs. Joanna also writes a monthly newsletter, “The Mosaic”, where she celebrates mind, body, spirit, and the everyday fragments that nourish the whole. Find out more about her herbal products, education, and other offerings on instagram @mammalherbs and her website mammalherbs.com.

  • Jordan Phillips

    NUTRITIONIST & HORMONE EXPERT

    Holistic nutritionist Jordan Phillips takes a deep dive into the inner workings and magical mysteries of female hormones and how they influence our relationship to the world around us. You can find her at her website www.jordanphillipsnutrition.com and on Instagram @jordaninthesun

  • Alyssa Donato

    TRAVEL

    Alyssa Donato is an astrogeographer, writer, and guide who blends astrology with the art of travel. Capricorn sun, Virgo rising, and Aquarius moon, Alyssa explores how celestial energies shape our experiences of the world. As the travel columnist for The Retreat, Alyssa offers a cosmic lens on destinations, revealing the astrological magic that can be discovered through the practice of place. Follow her on Instagram @alyssa.donato

  • Nora Nürnberger

    POETS ON POETS

    Nora is a writer, social worker, yoga teacher and visual artist from Cologne in Germany. She writes poems both in German and English, fictional letters and diary style essays. She is currently in the process of launching her second T-Shirt label with screenprinted shirts entirely produced in the privacy of her own bedroom - soon to be found online. She is inspired by ambient music, rocky green cliffs by the ocean, seventies style interior design, plants, the colour orange, Rick Rubin, Women Who Run With The Wolves, snowy mountains, foggy beaches, wood, milky coffee and white chapels. Follow her on Instagram: @_noringer and subscribe to her substack: noringers newsletter

  • Sheila Ewers

    JUNGIAN LIFE COACH - DEAR SHEILA

    Sheila is an ERYT500 and YACEP trained in multiple yoga modalities, a life-long meditator with training in mindfulness and yogic meditation, a Jungian life coach, and a writer who taught at the college level for 15 years. Above all, though, she is a seeker—pursuing answers to life's biggest questions, such as Who are we? What are we here for? What is my purpose in this world? How do I know truth? In search of these answers, Sheila travels the world, explores other cultures, and indulges in philosophy, poetry, and literature to learn from wisdom holders throughout the ages. Sheila shares what she has learned and continues to learn with other seekers and searchers here, and through her business Seek Yoga & Travel.

  • Elise Bradfute

    ART

    Elise loves anything and everything that expresses authentic creativity. As a former elementary art teacher, she truly believes we all have an inner child artist just waiting to be explored. She thoroughly enjoys making digital illustrations and collages for The Retreat and being apart of something so meaningful and inspirational to so many women (and so many women to come). “It’s exciting to collaborate with Carley’s creativity and her intentional theme for each month”

    Currently Elise is experimentation mode having left the wallssand time restrictions of being a full time classroom teacher. As a mixed media artist she creates through illustration, collage, and writing. She finds freedom and satisfaction in the fact that everything and anything can be used to create. Elise has a BFA in Art Education and is a 500 RYT. She has years of classroom experience as an art teacher and is now leaning into being a full time creative alongside teaching yoga, breath-work/meditation and creative journaling to people of all ages in her community in Greenville, SC.

    At the moment Elise is just in an open and playful state - doing what lights her up and seeing what comes her way alongside embodying her new role as mother to her new son, Benji.