Down To Earth Retreat : MKs for MKs
Hampton Roads, Virginia
Down to Earth
3 nights · 4 days · MKs for MKs · 18+
Welcome
Finally. The first retreat of its kind.
We’re hosting DOWN TO EARTH, a 3-night, 4-day retreat created by MKs, for MKs (and those from ex-evangelical backgrounds). This is an adult retreat, open to MKs 18 and older. It’s co-ed, intentionally small, and built around something we kept noticing in ourselves and each other; the need for community and for joy.
We crafted every element of this retreat around feeling, creativity, and fun. Our goal is to connect you into a community of fun and your childlike self. Because we believe healing should also be fun.
Is this for you?
Burned out, tired, craving more joy and play in your life?
Want to create? Make new friends? Explore?
Have an adventure with your fellow MKs?
“For those craving community, moments of joy, rest, and connection — and carrying a difficult or complex missionary kid experience.”
We made this retreat for you. 🤎
You’ll leave feeling
Lighter. More joyful. More connected to yourself and the people around you. Creative, expressive, and alive in a way you maybe haven’t felt in a while.
Connected
More grounded in your identity
Less alone in your story
Part of a community that understands
With language for your experience. Finally
The Details
What to expect
Retreat Info
Location
Hampton Roads, Virginia (NorFolk – ORF Airport)
Dates
August 13th – 16th 2026 (3 nights / 4 days)
Age
18+
Cost
$1,000 per person · $350 deposit to secure your spot (non-refundable after 60 days)
What’s included:
We offer payment plans of 1, 3, or 5 months. We’re also working on scholarship spots and flexible options. If cost is a barrier, don’t let it stop you from reaching out.
Questions about travel or payments? Email mary@levapsych.com
Once you secure your spot we’ll reach out with all the details. 🤎
The Experience
What will happen at the retreat
Every element of Down to Earth was chosen intentionally — to help you feel, create, connect, and rest. Here’s a glimpse of what we’ll do together.
Who We Are
About Us
Mary
Hypno-Breathwork · Psychiatric NP
Mary grew up between Tanzania and Manila as a missionary kid, eventually finding her way out of evangelical spaces, at first walking, and later running. Before studying the mind, she was an artist. Creativity was her first language, and that’s never really left. Her work lives at the intersection of creativity and the body, bringing together somatics, breathwork, movement, and expressive arts to create spaces where people can safely feel, process, and reconnect with themselves. After attending the MK Safety Net Gathering in 2025, she felt a pull to create something specifically for MKs, spaces that are honest, grounded, and free from pressure or pretense.
Moon
Hypno-Breathwork Facilitator
Moon has lived in Seoul, Rhode Island, Manila, and New Zealand, and is currently figuring out what it means to actually stay somewhere in Toronto. She grew up as both a missionary kid and a CODA (child of a Deaf adult) in white evangelical spaces, navigating worlds that rarely had room for all of who she was. It’s been a long journey. But somewhere along the way she discovered that joy and play weren’t just nice to have, they were the actual medicine. Through hypno-breathwork, she learned self-compassion, released shame, and found her way back to her most alive self. Now she helps other people find that too.
The Team
Meet our facilitators
We are so excited to introduce the people who will be holding space with us at Down to Earth. Every person on this team was chosen with intention — and we trust them completely.
Liz Burkholder, PhD
Mind-Body Doctor · Holistic NP · GoWithin Hypno-Breathwork
Liz is a Doctor of Mind-Body Medicine and double board-certified Nurse Practitioner (FNP + PMHNP) with nearly 30 years of healing experience. She’s trained in somatic work, breathwork, inner child healing, reiki, and hypnotherapy — weaving it all into her own modality, GoWithin Hypno-Breathwork. Her own healing journey began after a traumatic childhood and a life-altering arrest at 17, and that experience is the foundation of everything she does. She believes anything can be healed. Having witnessed her work firsthand, so do we. At the retreat, Liz will lead our Hypno-Breathwork sessions and grounding somatic exercises.
Amy Walters
Activities Facilitator
Amy is a Certified Life Coach, Family Mediator, and Hypno-Breathwork Practitioner who has spent years helping people break free from trauma, people-pleasing, anxiety, and emotional overwhelm. After her own journey through an emotionally abusive relationship, she found her way back through somatic healing, inner child work, and spiritual reconnection. She lives what she teaches: “I lived it. I healed it. I shifted it.” At the retreat, Amy will be leading our activities and holding space throughout — the warm, grounding presence that makes the whole thing feel safe enough to actually let go.
Jade
Trauma-Informed Yoga Facilitator
Jade brings a grounded, compassionate approach to trauma-informed yoga, creating a space where students feel safe, supported, and empowered in their practice. Through mindful movement, breath, and intentional connection, her classes invite students back to “self” — encouraging softness, presence, and the ability to reconnect with the love that already exists within.
How you’ll be supported
This is a trauma-informed space, which means you won’t be pushed past your capacity. Your nervous system and your safety come first. You’re supported, not forced — always.
We’re bringing together facilitators with deep experience holding spaces like this — people trained in somatic work, breathwork, expressive arts, and authentic connection. Every person on our team brings real experience in deep work and genuine, lasting connection. We’re MKs too. This space was built because we needed it.
Stay in the loop
Are you interested?
Want updates on dates, pricing, facilitator announcements, and how to apply? Subscribe to our newsletter and you’ll be the first to know everything as it comes together.
Support the Community
Can’t make it? You can still help.
We know that cost is a real barrier for many MKs who need this space. Through our partnership with MK Safety Net — a nonprofit dedicated to advocating for and supporting adult missionary kids — we’ve set up a scholarship fund so that no one has to miss out simply because of finances.
Every dollar donated goes directly toward getting an MK in the room. Donations are tax-deductible through MK Safety Net. You can give to the general fund or designate your gift for a specific person by including their name.
Where your donation goes
Donations are tax-deductible through MK Safety Net.
Learn more about MK Safety Net →