Co-founders, Anna Goldsworthy (left) and Nina Durfee Courtesy Photo Nina Durfee of Duvall and Anna Goldsworthy of Kent, logged 5,000 hours combined going to retreats before deciding to start a business together. They wanted to offer women the same “richness and growth” they had gained from the retreats they attended by starting a retreat, Wisdom Well Retreats, for ‘overworked, overcommitted or overwhelmed’ women.

“We are looking for women who want to be in a participative environment,” said Anna. “Thisis not about listening to a lecturer at a big, impersonal conference. It is about women who really want to make a change.”

“You’ll never change the other person,” said Nina. “But it is in your power to change yourself. When I make the internal shift, it evokes a response from others...a shift in things around me.”

The women have been through some challenging times.

“We had life-threatening experiences with our children,” explained Anna. “We have been fortunate to have our partners work shoulder to shoulder with us to get through it.”

“My husband lost numerous jobs when we first had our kids,” she continued. “How I behaved made the difference.” Both women have marriages that have lasted more than thirty years.

The pair said they understand what it feels like to be over-committed. Both have had corporate-level experience as well as experience raising children and caring for parents. Nina was a legal assistant working for lawyers and judges for thirty years and Anna held an equally long career at Boeing.

“The retreat offers a break from the commitments of daily life; a chance to step outside and to be ‘on hold,’” said Anna. “How do I want to be different when I push the ‘play’ button again?”

Nina agreed, saying that she enjoys getting away for retreats. “It is an escape from the hustle and bustle and the phones...Once in that space where you’re not bombarded, it’s a place for me to find centering.”

The women said that having a space in which to look at the situation from a new perspective is invaluable. Having the chance to change one’s perspective and to “be different to make a better situation” is helpful.

Anna recalled her childhood, building “retreats” made of Army blankets and the picnic table in her parents’ backyard. Even then, she created a place in which she could be “in charge” of herself, in her own space, which “gave [her] the freedom and the autonomy to be who [she] was.”

She said the same feeling of autonomy and personal space is carried into the retreats that she and Nina offer today.

The new business provides a “comfortable, private and peaceful” setting for women who want to “live not by default, but by design.”

“It is beautiful and private but not elegant or luxurious,” said Nina. “It is about comfort, safety and privacy...a relaxing and connecting place.”

The retreat, located at a waterfront home on Hood Canal, handles anywhere from two to six women, and provides a one-on-one, more intimate and intense environment, according to the founders.

Don’t go to the retreat expecting a lot of hiking and outdoor activity. This is a chance to “withdraw from activity,” they say.

“There is not a lot of structured activity,” said Anna. “It is free-flowing, in the moment.”

The majority of the retreat is about group involvement. “You get out what you put into it.”

The women agreed, “When people look at what we have to offer, if they are ready for it, they will be naturally drawn to it.”

On September 19-21, Nina and Anna will launch their first-ever Wisdom Well Retreat. Theyplan to offer the retreat on a monthly basis.

Visit www.wisdomwellretreats.com for details.