“The world needs your light, your authentic self, and I am here to help you on the path to discovering it.”
— Julie Stevens
Founded in Oakland.
Urban Retreat Center
Nestled in historic North Oakland, the Urban Retreat Center brings forth a space for healing, allowing all those who enter to unplug from the bustle of city life. When you step through the gate of the Urban Retreat Center, a sense of peace and tranquility overcomes you and an interweaving of different sensory experiences begins. You are welcomed by the scents of sage, cedar and tobacco to clear your aura as you take in the sights and smells of this hidden sanctuary. Next, the smells of medicinal herbs used for healing flower baths wash over you; lemon verbena, rose, geranium, mint, rosemary and shiso. The wind whispers through the leaves of the Meyer lemon and magical fig trees, canopied over the healing waters of the hot tub, bringing further relaxation to the senses. Wind chimes sparkle and tinkle over the crackling of the ancestral fire pit. Your energy shifts as you feel the healing that has been done on this land. You know you are held. You are here to heal and awaken your inner healer. You feel the work of the lightworkers that have come before you. You have arrived to bring your medicine to the ones yet to come. You are home.
Photo by Carolina Abolio
Julie Stevens Founder
Julie Stevens grew up in Southern California and moved to the San Francisco Bay Area in the late 1970’s at the age of 13 to live with her two moms. This was a powerful time of global change and creativity filled with beautiful art, music and culture culminating at the confluence of the Civil Rights marches, Women’s Rights, and the LGBTQ Movement.
As she grew up, Julie grappled with her identity and her mission of finding inner peace due to early life family turbulence began. She felt a lack of personal value and direction and turned to drugs and alcohol. While on this path, her salvation came from her community; her two moms, her grandmother, mentors, and role models who helped her find her confidence and sense of purpose.
Her mother’s words resonated within her, “ If this isn’t working for you then create your own reality.” This instilled in her the value and need to create a strong community that brought equity, diversity, inclusion and a network of support for herself and others.
A long-time veteran of the hospitality and service industry Julie worked as a chef, owned a hair salon and became an entrepreneur. All the while, Julie worked to continue her own healing and studied many different modalities such as traditional Peruvian Shamanism, Somatic Work, personal coaching, Intuitive Healing, Trauma Resiliency, Craniosacral Therapy and Neuropathway work. She realized offering the healing she received in return was also a part of her divine mission. It became clear to her that creating a space where she could share her gifts while helping others to connect, create, elevate and discover their divine purpose was the reality she wanted to create. The need to build a transformational space where ancient earth-based practices and medicines are made accessible to those who are seeking them (without the need to travel far from home) was clear.
In 2015, Julie founded the Urban Retreat Center, building that bridge to fully manifest the reality she was dreaming of. The Urban Retreat Center fulfilled her vision and became a space where healers, light workers, and soul searchers could visit, release their fears and doubts and unplug from city life. Diversity, equity, inclusion and community connection are the core offerings of the space alongside, events, rituals, retreats and one-on-one sessions to help others discover the tools they need to connect with their own deepest healing.
The URC draws inspiration to create its space and offerings from many teachers, practices, and lineages. The center hosts many inspiring teachers from various traditions. This community space continues to remain open for teachers and students from all walks of life to bring further light, knowledge and healing wisdom through their doors.