A journey with Lindsay James & Jenni Alma Rose
Earth Stewardship Immersion
Lake Atitlán & Comalapa, Guatemala · May 2027 · Dates TBD
A ten-day regenerative service retreat and cultural immersion. Three days building alongside a highland village, then to the lake for ceremony, reflection, and integration.
Guatemala Service Retreat · a living invitation
This immersion is a return to relationship.
With land. With culture. With community. With the deeper parts of yourself that awaken when you step out of routine and into something real.
In the highlands, we work alongside local students to build sustainable infrastructure for families — practical systems that support daily life and strengthen community resilience.
At Lake Atitlán, beneath ancient volcanoes, we soften into ceremony, reflection, and integration. The water holds you. The land steadies you. The rhythm slows enough for you to listen.
This journey weaves together:
- Hands-on regenerative service
- Sustainable building practices
- Living Mayan culture
- Sacred ceremony
- Ethical partnership
- Daily embodied practice
- Deep community connection
You don't come here to consume an experience. You come into relationship. And something in you shifts because of it.
Earth stewardship
Beneath ancient volcanoes, the rhythm slows enough for you to listen.
The heart of the journey
Service in Comalapa.
We spend three days in the highland village of Comalapa in partnership with Long Way Home — an internationally recognized regenerative education nonprofit that has been transforming education and sustainable construction in Guatemala for over 15 years.
In the highland village of Comalapa, we collaborate with a nonprofit that builds schools from recycled materials — tires, bottles, adobe — while training local youth in sustainable construction. This is hands-on, place-based learning rooted in dignity and skill-building.
Design & build community projects
We build it together.
Alongside students from 5th grade through 11th grade, you'll help complete real infrastructure projects for local families, including:
- Fuel-efficient ovens
- Retaining walls
- Water catchment systems
- Compost latrines
For three days, you become part of the build. You'll work in small teams. Travel to family homes. Learn sustainable construction methods. Share meals and stories. Celebrate together when the project is complete.
This is not charity. It is reciprocity.
Book a call →
Service becomes embodied
Contribution becomes personal.
- Mix cement and carry materials
- See the direct impact of your effort
- Form relationships with students and families
- Participate in community celebration
Dignity-centered service. Mutual learning. Shared humanity.
Culture that is alive
Comalapa, the "Florence of the Americas."
The village is alive with color, music, and the rhythm of daily life. Murals tell the story of Guatemala's civil war. Artists pass painting traditions through generations. Women still wear traditional Kaqchikel traje.
During our time in the highlands, we will:
- Visit the traditional market
- Walk with a local cultural guide
- Learn the history held in the murals
- Take part in a traditional painting experience
- Celebrate with the community in music and gathering
All meals are prepared by a local chef using traditional Guatemalan foods, with dietary needs honored.
Integration at Lake Atitlán & Tzununa
Then we journey to the water.
After our three days of service, we journey to the waters for four days to integrate, reflect, and receive. Formed in a volcanic caldera and surrounded by three majestic volcanoes, Lake Atitlán carries a deep, magnetic stillness.
- Morning yoga overlooking the water
- Swimming and paddleboarding
- Jungle waterfalls and quiet trails
- Slow meals shared in community
The nervous system resets. The heart opens. The body exhales.
Ceremony & sacred practice
While at the lake, we gather.
- Traditional Mayan cacao ceremony
- Sound healing with a local ceremonialist
- Temazcal (Mayan sweat lodge)
- Fire ceremony in a cave
- Evening reflection circles
Ceremony is not performance. It is relationship.
Each experience is offered in partnership with local guides and ceremonialists who carry these traditions with deep cultural lineage.
Visiting San Juan La Laguna
A Tz'utujil Maya village.
During our time at Lake Atitlán, we visit San Juan La Laguna — a vibrant Tz'utujil Maya village known for women-led weaving cooperatives, natural dye traditions, cacao cultivation and chocolate making, and honey production and medicinal plants.
We meet artisans. We learn directly from women preserving ancestral skills. We support local cooperative economies.
This is cultural appreciation through presence and respect.
Journey overview
Ten days, end to end.
Arrival
Welcome cacao ceremony and opening circle.
Comalapa
Market immersion and a cultural walking tour.
The build
Volunteer build projects with Long Way Home, and a community celebration.
To Lake Atitlán
Travel to the lake, with a traditional Mayan cacao ceremony.
Lake integration
Swimming, yoga, weaving co-ops, temazcal, fire ceremony, waterfall hikes, and more.
Departure
We close the circle and carry it home.
(Detailed schedule provided upon acceptance.)
Meet your facilitators
Two guides, one journey.
Jenni Alma Rose
Energy Worker · Embodiment & Movement Guide · Ceremonialist · Service & Cultural Immersion Leader
Jenni Alma Rose brings a grounded, heart-led presence to this immersion. A wellness educator, breathwork facilitator, and retreat guide with over 30 years in the health and wellness field, she is devoted to creating experiences that reconnect people to themselves, to community, and to the land.
Her work integrates breathwork, somatic practices, movement, energy healing, and holistic wellness. Her early years with Up with People centered on cultural exchange and community service — experiences that continue to shape her approach to meaningful, service-centered travel. Reverence for Indigenous wisdom traditions, ancestral knowledge, and the living intelligence of the earth sits at the heart of all she does.
- Breathwork and integration practices
- Group facilitation and experiential learning
- Wellness and embodiment practices
- Community connection and service leadership
Lindsay James
Somatic Practitioner · Integration Guide · Ceremonialist · Threshold Guide
Lindsay James brings a deeply rooted and compassionate presence to this immersion. A certified death doula, somatic practitioner, and ceremonialist, her work centers on guiding individuals and communities through life's sacred thresholds with reverence, honesty, and care.
With a background in Peace & Reconciliation Studies and over a decade of work in community care and leadership training, Lindsay weaves somatic healing, breathwork, embodiment practices, and earth-honoring ceremonial traditions into the spaces she holds. Her passion lies in creating environments where people feel safe to soften, reflect, and reconnect with their deeper truth.
- Group integration
- Service coordination
- Cultural sensitivity
- Embodied practices and reflection
Together, Jenni and Lindsay guide a journey where service, ceremony, and connection to land and culture support meaningful transformation for everyone involved.
Shared humanity
You are not consuming Guatemala. You are entering into relationship with her.
Who this is for
Travel with intention.
This immersion is for people who feel called to travel with intention — not just to see a place, but to be in relationship with it. It is for those who feel the pull toward meaningful service, cultural exchange, and a deeper connection with the land and the communities who call it home.
You may feel drawn to this experience if you:
- Long to contribute your time and energy to projects that support local communities
- Feel called to learn from Indigenous cultures with humility and respect
- Are seeking a retreat that combines inner growth with meaningful action
- Value authentic connection, shared experience, and community
- Want to travel in a way that leaves both you and the places you visit changed for the better
You do not need prior retreat or service experience, only an open heart, a willingness to participate, and a respect for the cultures and communities we are entering into relationship with.
What makes this different
Ethical service & cultural partnership.
This journey is rooted in ethical partnership, regenerative impact, community collaboration, cultural humility, sacred ceremony, and slow travel.
The service projects we participate in are developed in partnership with local leaders, organizations, and community members who identify their own priorities and needs. Our role is not to "fix" or impose solutions, but to offer our time, labor, and presence in support of initiatives that are already community-led.
We approach this experience with the understanding that we are guests — learning from the land, the culture, and the wisdom of the people who call this place home. Our intention is to engage in service that is collaborative, respectful, regenerative, and reciprocal.
This journey is not about charity. It is about relationship, learning, and shared humanity.
Reserve your place
Limited to twelve, to preserve intimacy and impact.
Includes
- Airport transfers (GUA)
- All lodging
- All meals
- Volunteer coordination
- Cultural guide
- Daily yoga
- Ceremonies & sound healing
- Lake boat transport
Not included
- International airfare
- Travel insurance
- Personal purchases
Payment plans are available. Let's talk it through on a call, and we'll find the way that works for you.
See the full itinerary & details →Before you come
Frequently asked questions.
When is the Guatemala retreat?
The Earth Stewardship Immersion runs in May 2027 (exact dates to be confirmed) — ten days end to end. The first three days are service in the highland village of Comalapa, and the following four are integration at Lake Atitlán, with travel and arrival and departure days on either side. A detailed daily schedule is provided once your place is confirmed.
Where in Guatemala does the retreat take place?
Two places. The service days are in Comalapa, a highland Kaqchikel village known as the "Florence of the Americas," in partnership with Long Way Home. The integration days are at Lake Atitlán and Tzununa, in a volcanic caldera ringed by three volcanoes, including a visit to the Tz'utujil Maya village of San Juan La Laguna. Airport transfers from Guatemala City and boat transport on the lake are included.
Is this a volunteer trip?
It is both service and retreat. For three days you join real, community-led infrastructure projects with Long Way Home — fuel-efficient ovens, retaining walls, water catchment, compost latrines — working alongside local students. This is not charity; it is reciprocity, guided by local leadership. Then the journey turns toward rest and ceremony at the lake. You give, and you receive, in equal measure.
Is this also a wellness retreat?
Yes. Alongside the service, the immersion holds daily yoga, a traditional Mayan cacao ceremony, sound healing, temazcal, a fire ceremony, waterfall hikes, and evening reflection circles. The days at Lake Atitlán are devoted to integration and rest, so your nervous system settles and the experience has room to land. Wellness and service are woven together, each deepening the other.
Do I need previous volunteer or retreat experience?
No. You do not need prior retreat or service experience, only an open heart, a willingness to participate, and a respect for the cultures and communities we are entering into relationship with. The building work is hands-on, and there is always a way to contribute that meets your body where it is. Come ready to learn, to serve, to rest, and to be changed.
Come build. Come heal. Come remember.
The invitation is open.
Take care of yourselves.
Take care of one another.
And take care of the little patch of Earth you've been entrusted with.
Bit by bit, we thrive!
With Love & A Steady Flame,Lindsay James