Cydnie Jocelyn Cydnie Jocelyn, the resurfacing business

Wide Open · The Gatlinburg Edition

Five days in the Smokies.

A small group retreat for women, in a private house at the edge of the national park. You land in Knoxville and somebody is already waiting on you. Everything after that is handled.

Hold your room for $500 What the week holds
Dates
–
Where
Gatlinburg, Tennessee
Group
Fifteen women
With
Cydnie and Kayla
From
$1,490
To hold a room
$500

Why this exists

You are not lacking anything. You are under something.

Five days will not remove the weight. It gets you out from under it long enough to look at it straight, next to women who will not need you to explain yourself first.

A covered deck with a long table and rocking chairs, looking across bare spring woodland to a mountain ridge under a clear sky.

The deck, and what it looks at

The five days

Full enough to matter. Thin enough to breathe.

  1. Every morning starts with movement, led by Kayla. Optional every morning, and nobody is counting who came.

  2. Two workshops, in the house. Led by Cydnie and Kayla together. Goal setting is one of them. Nothing to prepare.

  3. Twice in the week you leave the property. Getting there and back is arranged and inside the price.

  4. Long stretches with nothing on them. On purpose. The porch, the town, or sleep.

  5. Every meal is included and eaten together. Except Friday dinner, which is out and on your own.

The last retreat, Costa Rica

In their words.

The fact that you’re even considering it should tell you that you should go. You’ll come out the other end with new people in your life.
Kristi Retreat guest · asked what she would say to someone afraid to come alone
I walked in carrying fear that the experience would take more from me than I had to give. I left being able to breathe, with old and new friends who cared about me.
BJB Retreat guest · Costa Rica
Intimate group size, and leaders able to make us think, laugh and cry without judgement. No waiting, no rushing.
Carol Retreat guest · Costa Rica
I was burnt out and struggling to figure out why I always felt behind. My need to be perfect and always reliable had become the reason I failed to show up for myself when I needed it the most.
Kristi Retreat guest · Costa Rica
If you are weary from life and want to reset and refresh yourself, take a chance on an experience that will not disappoint you if you attend with open hands and heart.
Carol Retreat guest · Costa Rica
The friends you meet will be there for you if you are willing to reach out and share yourself. Costa Rica will remain in my heart forever.
BJB Retreat guest · Costa Rica
It greatly surpassed all my expectations. My only regret was that I did not pack more swim suits.
Alice Retreat guest · Costa Rica
Melissa, speaking to her phone camera in her car on the way home from the retreat. Play Melissa’s video about the Costa Rica retreat
“I learned that I matter too.” Melissa, on the drive home from Costa Rica. Three minutes, filmed on her phone.

Where you stay

A private house, and all of it is ours.

Fifteen women, one house. You sleep, eat, move and do both workshops here, with two hot tubs that belong to the house and a deck facing the mountains.

Early rate through 31 October

The great room, sofas and armchairs around a stone fireplace under a timber ceiling.
The room everyone ends up in
The living room from the far side, a throw over the arm of the sofa and the deck doors behind.
And the other end of it
A long counter with a row of leather stools, open to the kitchen on one side and the living room on the other.
Where most of the talking happens
The kitchen, a green cabinet run with a stone island in the middle of it.
Every meal but one is cooked here
The kitchen from the counter, pendant lights over a long island with stools along it.
The island, and the stools around it
A four poster king bed with white linen, facing glass doors onto a private balcony.
A private king suite
A king bed with a bench at its foot, facing tall doors onto the deck.
Another of the king rooms
A bedroom with a framed ridgeline above the headboard and doors onto the balcony.
Mountains from the bed
A bunk room with white metal bunks made up in white and grey linen.
The shared room
A second bunk room, bunks made up in blue and white under a pine ceiling.
And the other bunk room
A bathroom with a round mirror over a stone counter and a window onto the trees.
Bathrooms throughout
A double vanity under a wide mirror against a green panelled wall.
Two basins, no waiting
A walk in shower, white tile with a pebble floor.
The shower
A gym under a pine ceiling with treadmills and a cable machine on black matting.
The gym, open to us all week
The gym from the far end, treadmills and a cross trainer along the window wall.
Enough of it for everyone
A row of reclining cinema seats under film posters.
The evening nobody planned
A pool table on a patterned rug, with chairs and a door onto the deck behind it.
Or this, if the evening goes that way
A porch swing hanging on chains at the end of a covered deck, the valley beyond the rail.
One of the open hours
A covered deck with a long table and rocking chairs, looking across to a mountain ridge.
The deck, and what it looks at
The house on its wooded slope at dusk, windows lit, the ridgeline behind it.
The house, last thing
A hot tub on a covered deck with a bench beside it and the treeline beyond the rail.
One of the two hot tubs
A hot tub set against a stone wall on an open deck.
And the other one
A high bar table along a deck rail, looking west to the ridge under a sunset sky.
The end of most days
A long bar table and stools on the deck, rocking chairs beyond it and the mountains past the rail.
Where the afternoon goes

What the price covers

You land. We handle the rest.

  • Five nights in the room you choose
  • Every meal but one dinner
  • Movement every morning
  • Both workshops
  • Two outings, with the transport
  • Airport shuttles both ways
  • Two private hot tubs
  • The resort gym

Not included: your flight into Knoxville (running $400 to $600 right now), the one dinner out, alcohol, travel insurance, and anything you buy in town.

Where you are

Gatlinburg, at the front door of the Smoky Mountains.

The most visited national park in the country, and in April the wildflowers are coming up.

12mVisits to the park in 2024
848Miles of trail
71Miles of the Appalachian Trail
Getting there
Fly into Knoxville (TYS), about an hour out. Cydnie arranges the shuttles both ways, and you will know who is on your flight before you board.
Getting around
Both outings are driven. The rest of the week, the town trolley is a fifteen minute walk from the house.
April weather
Days in the 60s and low 70s, nights in the 40s, colder on the trails. Pack layers.

Who you are with

Two of us, and neither of us is a guru.

Kayla Freeman, standing outdoors on a path, one hand in her pocket.

Kayla Freeman

Movement · Minnesota National Guard

I’m so excited to be co-hosting my very first women’s retreat. I have served in the Minnesota National Guard for nearly 20 years and I’m in my 13th year of active duty, which taught me a lot about resilience, balance and being intentional with self-care. I’m a wife and a mom to two young kids, 6 and 4, so I know how easy it is to put yourself last. I lead the morning movement: realistic, sustainable, and no overhaul required.

Cydnie Jocelyn, laughing by a window with her hand in her hair, in a white shirt.

Cydnie Jocelyn

Host · Forest Lake, Minnesota

I went on a retreat before I ever ran one, and came home with my head clear for the first time in a long stretch. I’m a wife and a mom, and a rare genetic mutation runs through my husband and both of my kids, so I know how fast a woman ends up last on her own list. These five days are for setting that down. The longer version is on the About page.

Before you book

The practical answers.

Still sitting on something? Ask me or email hello@cydniejocelyn.com. I would rather you booked knowing than booked hoping.

Not ready to decide?

Join the Gatlinburg list. No payment, and nothing is held against you if you never book.

Join the list (opens a short form)
Do I need to know anyone going?

No. Most women come on their own. That is the normal way to arrive at one of these.

Can I come with a friend?

Yes, and plenty of women do. The shared room is the natural fit if you are coming as a pair, and you each book it separately.

What is the difference between the two rooms?

The king suite is yours alone, with your own bathroom and balcony. The shared room is bunk style with other guests. Everything else about the five days is identical.

What if I do not want to do the movement?

Then do not. It is on the schedule every morning and it is optional every morning.

What happens after I book?

You choose your room and how you want to pay. $500 holds it either way. Your invoice, payment terms and contract arrive by email, and from there Cydnie handles the details until you land in Knoxville.

What is the cancellation policy?

It is in your contract, and you see it before you pay anything. The contract is where those terms are binding, so that is where they live.

13 to 18 April 2027 · Gatlinburg

Come up for air in the Smokies.

Fifteen women. $500 holds your room today, and the balance is five monthly payments starting the month after. Or pay in full.

The early rate holds through 31 October 2026. From 1 November the rooms are $2,900 and $1,600.

Private king suite

$2,790

Hold my room, $500 (opens my booking page) Pay in full (opens my booking page)

Shared room

$1,490

Hold my room, $500 (opens my booking page) Pay in full (opens my booking page)

Your invoice, payment terms and contract come straight to your inbox.

Not ready to decide? Join the Gatlinburg list (opens a short form). No payment.