Imagine yourselves taking a break from your busy life at home and work and traveling to a magical mountain town in the Southern Colorado foothills.

You arrive to a landscape filled with towering ponderosa pines and a Milky Way night sky, where the sounds of Nature provide the soundtrack.

You check in to your private lodging option where you have no neighbors close by or anyone to disturb you.

You are greeted by your Retreat Hosts Helene and Dave Van Manen who will support you as you begin a retreat experience that is for the two of you alone.

Welcome to a Green Couples Retreat!

A Green Couple Retreat will provide you the time and space to relax and renew your couple connection while providing numerous opportunities to get inspired about what is next for you.

Your retreat will be designed to meet the two of you where you are at. Dave and Helene Van Manen are masters at helping couples grow their connection and find a clear path through life’s transitions.

“The Van Manens are wonderful at establishing ‘community’ and bring an authenticity to the intimacy, trust, and respect that so quickly takes hold in the retreats they offer. Both David and Helene bring an autonomy to their endeavors: David with a zeal for the planet and Helene for connection and humanity with people.”

~ Thom Roberts, psychotherapist

Green Couples are couples who love living in harmony with each other and our home planet and making a difference in the world through their relationship.  Green Couples are committed to staying connected through all the changes and chances of life, and know that by investing in their relationship, they have greater love, intimacy, and fun.

On a Green Couples Retreat, you may find your way back to each other, create a new way of being together, or you may uncover ways you can navigate the changes you are both going through. You may be a couple married a long time, or a couple that has just found each other. You may have children or grandchildren or no children. But more than anything, you both want to learn how to love more and connect at a new level. You believe in each other and want to know how to become even closer.

 

Plus…if you love music…let us treat you to a private concert on a mountaintop.

Retreats are 4 days / 3 nights and take place in the mountain hamlet of Beulah, located in Colorado’s Wet Mountains.  We find that this is the perfect amount of time for retreating: a blend of time alone with time coaching, time for powerful conversations, and time to simply be in Nature. Upon inquiry, we will send you a list of local lodging options and available dates.

The retreat format includes:

• You both meet with Coach Helene daily for a coaching session where you can work on whatever you both need most while identifying  your “Couple Superpower”. Couples coaching is like taking your relationship for well-check ups. It will give you each a chance to celebrate what you have created together as a couple, and help you expand your connection by getting clear on what you both want and need right now. Coach Helene is a master at asking beautiful questions that open the doors for more love and intimacy.
• Daily time walking / hiking/ visiting beautiful places in Nature led by Naturalist “Ranger Dave”. He will inspire you to see things in new ways out on the trail and link this awareness to your own inner processes and your process as a couple. Each daily activity will be based on your fitness level, so not to worry.
• You will enjoy a whole foods dinner each evening hosted at The Van Manen home, where our shared couple conversation will open up doors for more ideas to contemplate, discuss and explore.
• Your retreat agenda will hold the perfect balance of time for coaching, outdoor exploration and couple time alone.  Your days will feel spacious, fun, and enlightening. You will return home having experienced something very special for your relationship. You will make a memory.
• You’ll have downbeat time alone without interruption, allowing more opportunity to come away from the retreat with a clearer vision for your path to success. Plus, your time together will be in a most beautiful setting sure to renew your hearts.

If you are a couple that loves the outdoors, walking, quiet time, listening to the wind in the tall pines… then come to this beautiful  retreat location for a private retreat that will restore your connection and give you direction for your business/career.

We are pleased to offer Green Couples Retreats customized to support what you both need most.

The cost of your retreat will include the full retreat program, including pre-retreat prep questions to get you ready for retreat (questions you ask each other) and a follow up coaching session 1 month after the retreat. After other details of your retreat are determined and we design the perfect Green Couples Retreat for you, you will receive a detailed info sheet that includes the fee and all other pertinent details.

Note that you are responsible for your transportation to Beulah, Colorado and your lodging and some meals.  We will cover all supplies, dinners, and more.

A committed relationship is like base camp. Safe, warm and full of reserves. It is the place from which we take our journeys both as individuals and as a couple.

Frequently Asked Questions:

Who is right for a Green Couples Retreat? 

Couples who want to renew or grow their connection and get inspired.

Couples in Business: If you are in business together and want to explore how to make changes in your business, then this retreat is perfect for you. Coach Helene specializes in coaching people in business and can help you get clear on what struggles, challenges and more that you want to change.

Couples in Leadership:  This retreat is perfect for couples who are in leadership roles (one or both of you). There are many delicate intricacies and challenges that come with being a leader, and these can put stress on a relationship. Come and explore how to become a more balanced, dynamic leader without it taking a toll on your relationship.

Couples Wishing To Do Something Big:  The Van Manens believe in possibilities. Plus they have vast experience in developing big projects. If you have one, come retreat and work with us.

Couples Seeking Work/Life Balance:  Busy with kids? Caring for elders? Overwhelmed by the job and overbooked schedules? You will regroup and find new ways of setting scheduling boundaries, etc.

Couples in Transition: Getting ready to have a baby, dealing with a health crisis, or changing jobs and homes can create a sense of unsettledness. Is your nest emptying? Want to retire but can’t figure out how to overcome the obstacles? Retreats help you re-find your center.

Who is not right for a Green Couples Retreat?

• This retreat is not for couples who are in crisis and considering ending their relationship.
• This retreat is also not for couples who do not like visiting rural America.
• This retreat is not for couples who are not both in agreement to attend. If only one person wants to do this and is pressuring the other to do this, then this is not for you. (Contact Helene about a private retreat.)

About the Beulah, Colorado location:

Beulah is a hidden hamlet that few people have discovered (yet). It is located 70 miles from the Colorado Springs Airport in southern Colorado. It is a most beautiful place to run away to.  You will book an airbnb rental which is yours alone for privacy and quiet and connection. When you contact us abut designing a couples retreat specifically to fit your needs and wants, we will begin the process of finding dates and will give you recommendations on places to stay locally.

Does this sound right for you? If so, send Helene an email and let’s get started in planning your Green Couples Retreat.   coachhelene@gmail.com

You Have Options!  Come To Us or We Can Come To Your Location

Options are also available to meet at other locations where your retreat experience can be customized to meet your location and interest needs.  Email us about what you have in mind.  coachhelene@gmail.com

Plus…. Reach out to us if a day long retreat may be best for you (if you live locally).

About The Van Manens

Helene Van Manen is the Founder and Director of Training at www.RetreatCoaches.com and holds a Master Certified Coach degree from the International Coaching Federation. On the faculty at Coach University, Helene is a seasoned teacher that designs and trains leaders to create retreats that are successful and profitable. Specializing in mentoring new coaches and developing leaders, Helene has trained hundreds of students to lead retreats, workshops, trainings and other programs.  Coach Helene leads retreats for leaders, professional women, self care retreats, staff and organization retreats. Helene brings her love of music and poetry to her work and leading style and empowers others to listen deeply to their creative selves. Read more about CoachHelene

​Dave Van Manen (Ranger Dave) was the Founder and Executive Director of the not-for-profit Mountain Park Environmental Center. He has a passion for developing special projects and programs, and designed and launched the Earthkeeper Nature School in 2018. Ranger Dave has been working in the field of education, with both children and adults, for over forty years. His background includes being a nationally known children’s musician, performer, and recording artist with a specialty in environmental music and storytelling. He is the author of the field guide Plants of Pueblo Mountain Park. Dave is a recipient of the Enos Mills Lifetime Achievement Award from the Colorado Alliance for Environmental Education. Originally from Brooklyn, New York, Dave has been a resident of the town of Beulah for 45+ years, where he and Helene raised their two children.  He is an avid hiker, has a passion for public lands and is a climate change activist. Together with Helene, he trains men and women to lead Nature Retreats and makes a difference in the world by helping people find ways to contribute to earthkeeping. Learn more about him at DaveVanManen.com

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​Dave and Helene have been supporting couples to make healthy choices about their lives since they were childbirth educators in the early 80’s. They understand the difference that couples can make in the world when couples live deliberately. When working with couples, they know that many couples do not have others to have open conversations with about how to navigate the struggles, challenges and speed bumps that arise in long-term relationships. They love helping couples find their own special way of loving each other.  They have led couples on retreat for decades and bring their own couple wisdom to their 46+year marriage. Read more about their work as consultants here.