The Alchemy of Liberation
The Chrysalis
A Journey of Surrender, Transformation & Sacred Becoming
With Leah Johnson · Jeremy Pajer · Stephanie Urbina Jones
Reserve Your Spot →Early-Bird ends July 13 · Lock your rate with a $500 deposit
There Comes a Moment…
…when the life you've carefully created no longer feels like the life your soul is asking you to live.
Perhaps nothing is "wrong." And yet something inside you is whispering that there is another way.
You have spent years gathering wisdom, building a life, caring for others, and doing what was necessary. The stories you've carried have served a purpose. The agreements you've made helped you belong. The identities you've worn helped you survive.
But there comes a season when survival quietly asks to become something more.
Nature reminds us that transformation doesn't happen through force.
It happens through surrender.
The butterfly does not simply grow wings.
It first enters the chrysalis.
A sacred place where everything that no longer serves begins to soften, dissolve, and make room for something entirely new.
This retreat is an invitation into your own chrysalis.
Held by Three Trusted Guides
Three master facilitators — in ceremony, creativity, and the Toltec path — will walk beside you through your becoming. You'll meet each of them below.
Leah Johnson
Facilitator & Guide
Jeremy Pajer
Facilitator & Guide
Stephanie Urbina Jones
Facilitator & Guide
Dreaming a New Dream
The Toltecs teach that we are always dreaming. The stories we tell ourselves. The beliefs we inherit. The expectations we accept. The identities we create. Together they shape the world we experience.
Many of these agreements are formed long before we ever have the opportunity to choose them. They teach us who we should be, how we should love, what success looks like, and what parts of ourselves are worthy of being seen.
Over time, those inherited stories can become what the Toltecs call Mitote — the fog of endless thoughts, expectations, and distractions that pull us away from the quiet wisdom of our own soul.
Throughout this weekend, you'll be invited to gently examine the stories you've inherited, honor the purpose they once served, and consciously choose the agreements you wish to carry forward.
Liberation is not about becoming someone else.
It is about remembering who you are beneath the fog.
Not from fear. From freedom.
Not from obligation. From love.
The Wisdom of the Chrysalis
The chrysalis is one of nature's greatest mysteries. It is not simply a place of waiting. It is a place of profound transformation. Within its quiet darkness, the old dissolves so that something entirely new can emerge.
The Divine Feminine has always understood this rhythm. She teaches us that creation is cyclical. That rest is sacred. That endings prepare us for beginnings. That the fertile darkness is never empty — it is filled with possibility.
During our time together, we'll enter this symbolic chrysalis through ceremony, creativity, movement, nature, reflection, and community.
We'll create space for what is ready to be released.
We'll honor what has shaped us.
And we'll make room for what is longing to emerge.
Creativity as Sacred Practice
Creativity is one of humanity's oldest spiritual practices. Before words, we painted. Before doctrines, we made ceremony. Before we tried to explain mystery, we danced with it.
Color. Symbol. Movement. Story. Imagination.
These have always been the language of the soul.
Throughout the retreat, creativity becomes far more than making art. It becomes a doorway. Medicine painting, guided creative practices, journaling, and symbolic expression allow us to move beyond the thinking mind and into deeper knowing. They reveal what words alone cannot reach and help us see the stories we've been carrying with compassion, clarity, and curiosity.
No artistic experience is necessary.
Only a willingness to be present.
Jeremy Pajer
Jeremy Pajer has devoted more than 20 years to the healing arts and the path of personal freedom. An Ordained Minister of the Healing Arts, master breathwork facilitator, firewalk instructor, and Toltec teacher, he co-founded Freedom Folk and Soul and apprenticed for years in the Toltec tradition of don Miguel Ruiz.
With a grounded, playful, and deeply loving approach, he guides people through ceremony, breath, and shamanic practice — from Nashville to the pyramids of Teotihuacán — helping them release fear and step into a life of freedom.
What You'll Experience
Over four days together, you'll experience a thoughtfully woven journey that includes:
Sacred Creativity & Medicine Painting
Guided creative practices and symbolic expression that move you beyond the thinking mind and into deeper knowing — no experience required.
Toltec-Inspired Teachings
Transformational practices for examining inherited stories and consciously choosing the agreements you wish to carry forward.
Ceremony & Ritual
Sacred space to release what is ready to be released, honor what has shaped you, and welcome what is longing to emerge.
Breath, Movement & Embodied Awareness
Practices that reconnect you with the wisdom of the body and the quiet knowing beneath the noise.
Nature Immersion at Sunrise Ranch
Spacious time on the beautiful grounds of Sunrise Ranch — for reflection, journaling, and renewal.
Authentic Community
Meaningful conversation and connection with fellow travelers, plus spacious time for rest and integration.
Every experience has been intentionally designed to help you reconnect with your inner wisdom and remember the freedom that has always lived within you.
Stephanie Urbina Jones
Stephanie Urbina Jones is a visionary dreamer, Toltec teacher, and artist of life. A #1 Billboard country songwriter and the "Honky Tonk Mariachi" who made history bringing mariachi and the heart of Mexico to the Grand Ole Opry, she is also a best-selling author and co-founder of Freedom Folk and Soul.
Through song, story, and ceremony, Stephanie holds sacred witness for others as they move through their pain and into their purpose — spreading and making magic everywhere she goes.
This Retreat Is For You If…
- You feel yourself standing at the edge of a new season.
- You are ready to release old stories, limiting beliefs, or patterns that no longer reflect who you are becoming.
- You long for a deeper connection with your creativity, your spirit, and your authentic self.
- You are navigating a life transition and seeking clarity for what comes next.
- You desire a community where you can be seen without needing to perform.
- You believe there is wisdom within you waiting to be remembered.
You'll Leave With…
- A renewed connection to your own inner knowing.
- Greater clarity about the stories you choose to carry forward.
- Creative practices that support continued transformation.
- A deeper sense of peace, presence, and personal freedom.
- Meaningful relationships with fellow travelers on the path.
- The courage to consciously dream a new dream.
Leah Johnson
Leah Johnson is a former politician turned painter, TEDx speaker, and #1 best-selling author of Finding Fantastic Joy. After a 25-year career in politics — and a profound unraveling — she found creativity as a lifeline, painting as prayer, and ritual as healing.
Today she guides women through life's hardest transitions into magical transformation, alchemizing pain into beauty through art, ceremony, and the Divine Feminine. She lives in Colorado, lit up by color, connection, and her favorite title of all: mom.
Reserve Your Place at the Chrysalis
Includes retreat programming, accommodations, meals, creative materials, and all group experiences.
Step Into Your Own Chrysalis
Perhaps this season isn't asking you to become someone new. Perhaps it is inviting you to gently release everything that is not truly yours.
To soften. To listen.
To remember.
To trust the wisdom of transformation.
To step into your own chrysalis and discover what has been waiting to emerge all along. If something within you is saying "yes," we invite you to join us.
Your wings already exist.
The chrysalis simply creates the space for them to unfold.