Awake With Us

A Fundraising Event in Support of Awake Ranch

September 19-21, 2025 | Mulino, Oregon
45 minutes from Portland, nestled in the embrace of nature


STEP INTO THE RYTHMS OF LEADERSHIP, LIFE & TRANSFORMATION

Join us for a unique guided experience to nourish your mind, body, and soul while giving back to the space that holds us. All proceeds support essential retreat improvements, creating a more restorative sanctuary for personal and collective connection, growth, and renewal. Explore what you are ready to bring forth in your life and how the wisdom of nature and animals can guide you in this journey.

LODGING & MEALS

For this experience, we will be indulging in the comforting arms of nature's embrace. You are welcome to bring your own tent or camp trailer (plenty of space available to park) or you can enjoy sleeping under the stars as a group in our authentic tipi. Awake Ranch has 40 beautiful acres of flat, grassy, ground, perfect for camping.

Nourishing intentionally prepared meals designed to support your journey. Enjoy vibrant, light bites and wholesome grab-and-go options with fresh, seasonal ingredients. Each dish is mindfully created to honor your body's needs, with flexible offerings that adapt to dietary preferences.

TRAVEL INFORMATION

The closest airport is the Portland International Airport (PDX). Participants should arrange transportation to Awake Ranch in Mulino, OR, approximately a 45-minute drive from Portland.

The Circle Up Experience has guided hundreds of experiences over the last twelve years that are similar to this. You are in safe and experienced hands. The Circle Up Experience has also built and facilitated small and large programs for individuals, couples, families and groups. To learn more about our customized offerings, be sure to visit our website.

Pricing options

What Awaits You:

  • Equine Coaching & Personal Development: With the horses as our guides, we will reflect on our relationship to ourselves, each other, and the ecosystems where we lead and reside.

  • Daily yoga offering/practice: Mindful movement connected to conscious breath allows us to explore the mind-body connection and build heat from within. This slow, dynamic practice blends strength and surrender in an approachable, empowering way, with modifications to support all levels.

  • Somatics offering: A body-based approach to healing that fosters awareness, resilience, and self-trust—somatic work integrates physical sensations with emotional insights to release tension, process emotions, and cultivate ease.

  • Personal & Group Reflection: There will be individual and facilitated group time together to share the projects, dreams, and transitions you are bringing forth. Discuss what you are ready to release and what you are welcoming into your life. We will use our collective nervous system to process and integrate our intentions, experience, and growth edges in a supportive and loving container.

  • Facilitated medicine ceremony: Our retreats rely on multiple modalities to aid in personal healing and transformation. Utilizing our collective experience with western and ancient practices, the retreats provide tools that are accessible and meaningful to a wide range of people, regardless of where they are on life’s journey.

  • Nature-Inspired Connection: We believe that nature is not just our medicine, but our teacher. We will immerse ourselves in the protection of vast mountains, the serenity of expansive farmland, and the wisdom of ancient trees offered to us so graciously by Awake Ranch.

Located in Mulino, Oregon, just 45 minutes from Portland, Awake Ranch provides an idyllic setting for deep rest and renewal. With rolling fields and expansive views, Awake Ranch is a working dressage barn, but also the headquarters of The Circle Up Experience.

Pricing options

This retreat is for those who:

  • Are stepping into or deepening their leadership in work, school or life

  • Crave connection with nature, animals, and a supportive community

  • Desire to explore the intersection of leadership, inner wisdom, and the natural world with expert heart-led facilitation

Why We Gather

Circle Up’s model of Natural Leadership and experiential learning with horses and other mammals integrates human psychology, animal behavior, and natural systems to offer a unique approach to personal and professional development.

Humans have lived in “herds” for thousands of years — communities, big or small, that have provided us a safe haven for sharing resources and leaning on each other for support and fellowship. Even in these highly technological times when self-sufficiency is the norm, we still long to be connected. It’s how we truly thrive.

When we stray from our herd and stop practicing the basic elements of community-building and trust-growing, our groups and relationships suffer. Through meaningful experiences and intentional conversation, we can reclaim and revive this simple but essential part of our human story.

Gather

Why We Engage With Horses For This Work?

See yourself through the eyes of a horse, and you see your true nature.

Our starting point with any group is with our horses. Simply put, horse work is our assessment tool. While more traditional approaches can be valuable to how we understand ourselves and each other, few are so immediately transformative.

Our equine-assisted activities (non-riding) allow the horses to teach you and show you parts of your leadership that need more room to play.

As prey animals, horses possess exquisitely attuned emotional systems and they are able to pick up on the ever-changing nuances of mammals’ internal workings (that includes humans) as they assess for safety. The cohesion of the herd is at the heart of the group’s survival.

They rely on a radical commitment to awareness and to an ever-present feedback system flowing through their herd. This unique sensing system allows the horses to read each other and their environment so they can detect danger and look for opportunities to rest in safety.

It also allows them to read us and to notice the places where we are blocked. Because so much of our innate power is trapped in our thoughts and often self-defeating scripts, our truest desires are just out of our reach.

This is an opportunity to get honest AND gentle feedback from your equine teachers and coaching and support from your human facilitators.

You will leave this experience with an open channel of your authentic power ready for you to bring into your world.

Testimonials

“The weekend at Awake Ranch was healing to my body and soul in ways I didn't even know I needed. From the land to the horses and the intuitive guides, I felt supported to face and feel parts of myself that I was previously unwilling to experience. I wholeheartedly recommend this retreat to anyone who is eager to wake up to patterns and love themselves more fully.”

K.H.

“From the moment I arrived, I felt a deep sense of safety and care. The facilitators created a truly sacred and supportive container that allowed me to fully surrender and explore. I felt held with such compassion and presence.”

W.W.

“It took me a few years to build the courage to take part in something like this but now, a few days out, I can't wait to go back. The team running this has found their calling in life and poured themselves into all aspects of the weekend. I left feeling more connected to myself, more curious of all things internal and external, and more hopeful knowing communities like this are dedicated to this work.”

W.W.

Pricing options

Meet your Guides

Brad Lande-Shannon

Owner, Head Leadership Coach

A long-time C-suite executive himself, Brad Lande-Shannon has a first-hand understanding of the pressures and stresses that face company founders, leaders, and high performance teams. This is partly why he first turned to Natural Leadership as he faced his own professional challenges.

Brad's passion for horses has been a life-long pursuit. Having competed with the National Cutting Horse Association as a youth and now as an adult amateur dressage competitor, he’s combined his deep horse expertise with his executive leadership coaching. Over the course of his career, Brad has guided thousands of leaders on values, purpose, emotional intelligence, and well-being.

Certified in the 15 Commitments of Conscious Leadership and following training from The Center for Equus Coaching (formerly The Koelle Institute), Brad enrolled in the Natural Leadership program. Compared to other programs, Brad says Natural Leadership is, “deceptively simple and multi-dimensional in its use cases to apply and teach.”

Brad has an equestrian facility that offers Natural Leadership facilitation, coaching and programming at Awake Ranch, near Portland, Oregon, which he acquired with his husband in late 2022. “We are home to 16 horses, three goats, and two cats surrounded by Pacific Northwest trees and on farmland that regularly displays exquisite sunset and sunrise views.”

Jeanette Christensen

Medical Director

Dr. Jeanette Christensen (Jay) is a licensed psychiatrist, executive coach, and healthcare consultant with over 20 years of experience in mental health and leadership development. She holds a Doctor of Osteopathic Medicine degree and an MBA from Texas A&M University. Jay is board-certified in adult, adolescent, and child psychiatry and is trained in Internal Family Systems (IFS), Integrative Enneagram, and conscious leadership coaching. She also holds certifications in sex therapy and psychedelic-assisted therapy.

Jay is licensed in multiple states, including Colorado, Illinois, Michigan, Texas, and Oregon. She is the Medical Director and oversees CUE’s Mental Health Professional components. Jay’s approach integrates mental, physical, and emotional aspects of health, using horses to foster personal transformation.

When not designing programs, Jay enjoys world travel and spending time with her horse, Titan, always seeking personal growth and ready for her next adventure.

Gentzy Franz

Leadership Coach

Gentzy is an educator, tech leader, and innovative leadership coach. He has a PhD in Organizational Behavior from the University of Illinois (where he remains a member of the Graduate Adjunct Faculty) and has consulted with companies such as Salesforce, Yahoo!, Uptake, Kin + Carta, and Cresset Partners. Through the executive coaching and organizational consulting practice he founded, Lightly, he works with leaders and teams to instill behaviors and mindsets that lead to high performance and personal well-being. In addition to coaching, Gentzy has led over 100 participants through transformational multi-day retreat experiences.

Wellness Facilitators

Kristin Furjanic

Yoga Instructor | Somatic Practitioner

Kristin is a certified Somatic and Integrative Trauma Practitioner (ITP-2) and RYT-500 Yoga Instructor with 14 years of experience in mindful movement and embodiment. She blends somatic practices with experiential mindfulness techniques—incorporating breathwork, body scans, meditation, and intuitive movement, to help clients cultivate safety, awareness, and connection. Through deep attunement and a creative, grounded, trauma-informed approach, Kristin supports nervous system regulation, guiding clients toward a greater sense of presence, ease, and compassion in their bodies.

Anna Davidson

Culinary Expert

Anna has had a love affair with food since a young age. Climbing up to the counter to mix cookies, see what her grandmother was mixing, or simply to make a mess--she's literally had her hands "in it" from early on. Once she was old enough to form some mastery-she began a career in food. She has catered countless events, spent time as a pastry chef, and 12 years ago--opened her own cafe (now with 4 locations). Her career has allowed her to combine her love with food with her love of people. Anna believes deeply in the power of connection. Meaningful connections are the cornerstone of her life. She loves the way food fosters connection. Whether at a holiday, around the table, over a cup of coffee, or starting a project with a team--food brings people together, nourishes, and creates connection. Now, Anna sees food as part of a deep spiritual practice--a sacred calling that brings pleasure and joy.

Kate Bednarski

Shamanic Practitioner / Transpersonal Coach

Kate grew up happiest in nature with a dream of someday being a doctor; yet the medicine she would one day carry was not found in textbooks or hospitals. Drawn to the natural world and the unseen realms, her path twisted through scientific labs and the corporate world before spirit led her far off the map to the Amazonian jungle and sacred mountains of the Ecuadorian Andes. There, over many years with master plant medicines and through rigorous initiations in the Quechuan La Limpia tradition, she began to re-member an ancient way of healing—one that speaks in dreams, visions, energy, sound, rhythm, vibrations, rituals and ceremony. What began as a childhood dream became her soul’s calling. Now, through her company, 5 Stepping Stones and at The Sanctuary, in the foothills of Oregon’s coastal mountains, Kate helps others shed old skins, release patterns born of trauma and return to their essence. And she fulfilled her childhood dream of becoming a doctor…not of the body — rather, a doctor of the soul.