The Guiding Lights Retreat

Bringing light to others starts with deepening its source in you.

Join us for a special 5-month virtual retreat which blends personal and professional development in an intimate and generative space. Hosted by David, it is your opportunity to to reconnect with yourself, release what no longer serves you, and expand your capacity to fully meet this moment.

Watch this video to learn more.

You've been carrying a lot.

Not just the projects. Not just the people.

But the questions that don’t have easy answers.

The emotional weight of a changing world.

The pressure to keep showing up — even when you’re not sure how much of you is left.

You’re the one others lean on. The one who holds space for others. Who listens deeply, responds intentionally, and keeps it together even when things feel uncertain.

But lately, it’s been harder to find your footing.

Harder to hear your own voice amid all the noise. Harder to show up with the presence, compassion, and clarity you know you're capable of — because there's just so much in the way.

You may be feeling tired. Not just in your body, but in your spirit. You long for a different pace. A deeper connection.

A safe space to soften, reset, and come back to yourself.

If that’s you — you're in the right place.

The Guiding Lights Retreat includes deep inner and outer work that will enable you to bring yourself, your life, and your work back into fuller alignment.

It is designed for practitioners who are serious about serving as a guiding light for others. People like you . . .

You don’t have to carry it all alone.

Maybe you’ve tried to journal your way through this feeling. Maybe you’ve signed up for trainings, hoping more knowledge would equal more ease.

And still… the weight lingers.

Because this moment doesn’t call for more doing.

It calls for deeper being.

It calls for the maturity and courage to live – and lead — from a more conscious place.

That’s what the Guiding Lights Retreat is here to offer.

Welcome to the Guiding Lights Retreat.

This is not just another professional development program. It is a sacred, collective space in which you can return to who you are beneath the noise.

The Guiding Lights Retreat is a 5-month virtual experience designed to help you reset, realign, and mature in the ways that feel most essential for you right now.

You’ll be guided in meditative practices rooted in The Five Maturities framework, cross the threshold at each of the GATES on the way (Grief, Attachment, Trauma, Embodiment, Shadow), and be held in a warm, open space where nothing needs to be performed — only witnessed and released.

Your ability to support people’s growth (including your own) and master your craft is based in who you are and how you are with others — not how much is in your ‘toolbox’.

New to The Five Maturities? You can download the report here.

“The Five Maturities have opened me to a new approach to my work that fills my heart and soul.”

- Diana Stepner

What You'll Experience at the Retreat

Each month, you’ll explore a different Maturity (Personal, Spiritual, Professional, Social, and Contextual) through a rhythm of initiation, integration, peer reflection, and personal action.

You’ll also be invited to use the GATES resources to cross the thresholds between the Maturities using simple yet profound inquiries into your own unfolding.

Live Sessions with David

Engage in the material, guided practices with David, and open reflective discussions with peers.

Peer Dialogues

Connect in small pods (by time zones) for deeper insights, personal support, and greater integration.

Dedicated Forum

Share questions, insights, and actions to deepen your connections and learning from each other.

Participant Handbook

Maximize your experience and its benefits through a space to reflect on and record your journey.

Take a Peek Inside the Sessions

Every session is held on Tuesdays at 10:00am ET and 5:00pm ET (New York).

You can attend either session and every session will be recorded.

Live Sessions

Orientation

Personal Maturity – Initiation session

Personal Maturity – Grief threshold

Spiritual Maturity – Initiation session

Spiritual Maturity – Attachment threshold

Professional Maturity – Initiation session

Professional Maturity – Trauma threshold

Social Maturity – Initiation session

Social Maturity – Embodiment threshold

Contextual Maturity – Initiation session

Contextual Maturity – Shadow threshold

Reflections on your journey

Stepping onto a new path

Reflections on your first steps

Celebration

Dates

July 15

July 22

August 5

August 12

August 26

September 2

September 16

September 23

October 7

October 14

October 28

November 4

November 18

December 2

December 9

Limited Seats Available!

This exclusive retreat is limited to only 40 participants to ensure the deeper connection that is required for the journey we will be on together.

This is your opportunity to renew yourself and to recalibrate your life in service of what matters to you most right now. Register today for The Guiding Lights Retreat!

“The combination of the people in our pod, together with the material, created a highly welcoming, generative space.”

“I also found the examples David shared while teaching extremely helpful as I began internalizing / learning / becoming more familiar with the Five Maturities. Overall what I would like to offer is that there is a way in which the teaching, the group discussions, the exercises and the pod discussions combined to create a whole. There was a way in which things flowed and were mutually supportive across the whole experience.”

- Perri Strawn

What Makes This Retreat Different?

The Guiding Lights Retreat meets you where you are and supports you in finding your own rhythm, your own path, and your own way forward — with support from a wonderful group of kindred spirits.

It is:

A space of permission, not performance, so yo are free to be yourself
A blend of inner and outer work, so your insights lead to real shifts
A living experience of The Five Maturities and The GATES you can feel
An oasis that welcomes all of you: the tender, the unresolved, the becoming

You’ll walk away with a deeper experience of who and how you could be in the world — plus a process and the scaffolding you can take with you to live into it beyond the retreat.

Guarantee

We stand behind The Guiding Lights Retreat. We are confident that you will benefit in meaningful ways from this experience.

However, if for any reason you find that it’s not the right fit for you, we offer a 100% money-back guarantee up to August 12th.

FAQs

Will there be a Certificate of Completion?
We will instead provide a Certificate of Participation for those who complete the program.

How many ICF CCE hours will there be?
There are 23 applicable ICF Resource Development hours: 18 for the Main Sessions and 5 for the Peer Sessions.

When will the live sessions with David take place?
All live sessions are held at 10:00am ET and 5:00pm ET (New York). Your peer pod will determine its own schedule.

What if I join and then find out it is not for me?
We offer a 100% money-back guarantee through August 12th if you decide that now is not the right time for you.

How much time will I need to dedicate each week?
People spend 1.0-1.5 hours per week on live sessions, pod discussions, and personal reflections to get the full value.

What support will I have during the program?
You’ll have access to live sessions with David, a dedicated discussion forum, and peer sessions to connect with others.

Is there any prerequisite knowledge or experience required?
The retreat is for practitioners who are ready to deepen themselves and their practice. There are no prerequisites.

What happens if I miss a live session?
All live sessions will be recorded and made available to participants, so you can catch up at your convenience.

“This is healing and transformational work.”

- Kent Wilson

A Final Word from David

For years, I facilitated live retreats all over the world. They were the most direct and powerful ways I could share my work.

To reach more people and reduce my carbon footprint, I decided to offer a new kind of retreat that is virtual: one that blended my Five Maturities framework with my experience helping people find greater healing at the GATES.

✨The Guiding Lights Retreat is that space. ✨

My hope is that this experience helps you compassionately yet courageously tend to what’s asking for your deepest attention. To reset, release, and renew. . .

To access the courage and compassion you need to become a guiding light — in your life, your work, and your world.

— Dr. David Drake