It’s free. It’s powerful. And it’s waiting for you.
Unlock Your Creativity at Our Free Mini Writing Retreat
Ready to give your words—and yourself—a little room to breathe?
Join us for a Free 3-Hour Mini Writing Retreat, a soul-nourishing preview of our signature Feminine Healing & Creativity Writing Workshop.
For the past five years, Gal’s Guide has guided writers through a powerful 12-week journey of healing, creativity, and women’s history. Now, for one special day, we’re opening the castle doors and inviting you into a shorter, free retreat where you can experience the magic for yourself.
This Mini Retreat Blends:
- Guided writing sessions that spark your imagination
- Mindful meditation to ground and refresh your spirit
- Stories of women’s history that inspire resilience and courage
- The Mother Castle Method—developed by Dr. Leah “Riwo” Leach—that transforms emotional wounds into creative expression
New to Gal’s Guide workshops? This retreat is the perfect way to dip your toes in and experience how we hold space for your voice and your story.
Returning student? Think of this as a chance to re-enter the Mother Castle and refill your creative cup.
This is your invitation to step away from the noise of daily life, pick up your pen, and reconnect with yourself and your creativity.
It’s free. It’s powerful. And it’s waiting for you.
Sunday
November 9, 2025
Live Online
1:00 pm Eastern | 12:00 pm Central | 11:00 am Mountain | 10:00 am Pacific | 6:00 pm Irish Standard Time
The mini retreat will last 3 hours.
Schedule
- What is the Mother Castle Method?
- First two ingredients of the Mother Castle Method
- Contemplation worksheet
- Last two ingredients of the Mother Castle Method
- Contemplation worksheet
- Guided meditation into the Mother Castle
- Free write time
- Guided meditation into the Empathy Room of the Mother Castle
- Contemplation worksheet
- Group discussion
- Guided mediation about empathy
- Free write time
- Q & A
- Announce the 2026 Gal’s Guide Anthology Theme
- Registration opens for the full 12 week course
Meet Your Instructor
Dr. Leah “Riwo” Leach is the founder of Gal’s Guide. Leah is an award-winning writer, filmmaker, and podcaster with two honorary doctorates. She was awarded 2024 Arts Leader by Noblesville Creates. She is related to the legendary Minnesota librarian Gratia Countryman. Leah has been a Buddhist practitioner for over 30 years. Her Dharma name, Riwo, means “mountain” in Tibetan. She is part of the Magyu, the Mother Lineage, that traces back to a female teacher in 11th Century Tibet. Leah has adapted her storytelling training into the unique way Gal’s Guide teaches and writes about history.
Mother Castle Method
Developed by Dr. Leah “Riwo” Leach, the unique Mother Castle Method draws from mythology, guided meditation, and compassion practices to transform emotional wounds into creative expression. After being guided through a metaphorical castle containing women from history, Leah creates a space for you to heal the hard stuff and write with intention and wisdom.
Testimonials
“The Feminine Healing and Creativity Writing Workshop taught by Riwo not only provides the connection to all the women that came before and parallels their lived human experience to ours, but also provides you with the confidence to write in your story after learning from theirs.”
-Maggie Ingram
Award-winning author
2024 Participant
“Leah has a way of making a space so warm and encouraging. This class embraced a mantra of there is no right or wrong way to write and I loved that message.”
— 2023 Participant
“It was more than just “how to write” – it was about unlocking the writer within”
— 2022 Participant
“Leah was amazing! Best writing teacher I’ve had in a long time.”
— 2021 Participant
Support Our
Scholarship Fund
We offered this free 3 hour mini-retreat because we’re worried about how many people will be able to take our full 12 week class due to finance limitations. We wanted to offer a free resource to help heal and inspire creativity in the world.
In previous years, Gals Guide Library’s was awarded grants that made economic space to offer financial resources to writers. More than half of the students who have taken the full workshop, did so because a scholarship was available. Due to federal funding limitations, such grants are on pause.
We need your to help us keep this transformative workshop accessible. $5 $20 or $150 helps offset the costs to a writing student.
Gal's Guide 