GUEST SPEAKERS

Conversations That Nourish Body, Mind, and Perspective

Our guest speakers reflect the heart of this retreat: evidence-based wellness, creative inquiry, and meaningful connection. Through talks, discussions, and interactive sessions, you’ll explore how food, mindfulness, storytelling, and lifestyle choices shape long-term vitality—offered in a way that feels accessible, human, and deeply relevant.

  • Christine Chitnis is a journalist, photographer, and bestselling author of East Coasting, Patterns of Portugal, and Patterns of India. As a contributor to publications including the New York Times, Vogue, Travel + Leisure and Condé Nast Traveler, Christine has not only earned a reputation as a multi-talented storyteller, but as a trusted strategist in the lifestyle publishing sector. She resides in Providence, Rhode Island, with her husband and three children, Vijay, Vikram and Meera, where she is at work on her next two books. Follow along on her travels @christine.chitnis.

Creating Space for the Creative Life

WITH CHRISTINE CHITNIS

This guided session invites you to slow down and reconnect with your creative instincts—whether they show up through writing, art, work, home, or the way you move through your days.

Through a gentle, structured 60-minute guided exercise, Christine will lead participants through reflective prompts designed to help clarify creative goals, uncover what’s quietly calling for attention, and identify what’s been standing in the way. The focus isn’t productivity or output, but creating the internal and external space needed for creativity to feel possible—and sustainable.

Following the guided portion, you’ll have 30 minutes for journaling and worksheet-based reflection, allowing time to process insights, map intentions, and translate inspiration into something tangible you can carry forward beyond the retreat.

This session is ideal for anyone feeling creatively curious, creatively blocked, or simply craving more room to listen inward—and to reimagine how creativity fits into their life right now.

  • Sandra Musial, MD is a physician specializing in food as medicine, with a focus on supporting women’s health through midlife and beyond. Her work centers on how whole, plant-based nutrition can support energy, metabolic health, gut balance, and healthy aging—especially during the hormonal and lifestyle shifts that occur in midlife.

    She is triple board certified in Pediatrics, Obesity Medicine, and Lifestyle Medicine, and holds a BS in Nutritional Sciences from the University of New Hampshire and an MD from the University of Massachusetts Medical School. Sandra has worked in private practice and at Hasbro Children’s Hospital, where she taught medical trainees from Brown University.

    Through years of clinical experience, she has seen both the strengths and limitations of conventional medicine—particularly when it comes to preventing chronic disease and supporting women as they age. She founded Plant Docs to make practical, evidence-based nutrition education more accessible, and now focuses exclusively on Food Is Medicine programs and consultations that empower women to use food as a daily tool for vitality and longevity.

Food is Medicine:
Top 10 Foods for Vitality

WITH DR SANDRA MUSIAL MD

In this informative and empowering session, Dr. Sandra Musial explores how everyday food choices can become a powerful foundation for long-term health. Centered around her Top 10 Foods for Vitality, this talk breaks down how whole, nutrient-dense, plant-based foods support cellular health, stabilize energy, nourish the gut microbiome, and promote healthy aging.

Rather than focusing on restriction or rigid rules, this session emphasizes practical, evidence-based guidance you can actually use—helping you understand why these foods matter and how to incorporate them into daily life with confidence and ease. You’ll leave feeling informed, inspired, and better equipped to make nourishing choices that support resilience, longevity, and overall well-being.

  • Mariah Stump, MD is a physician specializing in integrative and lifestyle medicine, with a focus on stress resilience, mindfulness, and whole-person health—particularly for women navigating the pressures and transitions of midlife. She is triple board certified in Internal Medicine, Lifestyle Medicine, and Integrative Health, and holds an MD from the University of Vermont College of Medicine and an MPH in women’s health from Johns Hopkins University.

    Mariah is an attending physician at Brown University Health and an assistant professor and clinician educator at The Warren Alpert Medical School of Brown University, where she leads lifestyle and culinary medicine courses and develops integrative medicine curricula for medical trainees. She is also affiliate faculty at the Mindfulness Center at the Brown University School of Public Health.

    In addition to her clinical and academic work, Mariah is a yoga teacher, mindful movement instructor, and medical acupuncturist—bringing a uniquely embodied, compassionate approach to mindfulness that bridges science, movement, and lived experience.

Finding Peace in a Frantic World

WITH MARIAH STUMP, MD

This interactive mindfulness session explores how simple, science-backed practices can help calm the nervous system, reduce stress, and support emotional resilience—especially during demanding seasons of life. Grounded in concepts from Finding Peace in a Frantic World, the session blends evidence-based insight with experiential practice.

Participants will explore mindfulness through the lenses of acceptance, gratitude, and the power of pause, with practical tools that are easy to integrate into daily routines. Rather than striving for stillness or perfection, this session invites a more compassionate, sustainable approach to mindfulness—one that supports clarity, presence, and well-being both during the retreat and at home.