I Went to a Cannabis Retreat for Grown-Ass Women
As I pushed through a set of heavy wooden doors into my home for the next three days, my eyes fell on a handful of women clad in sweatsuits, pajamas, and slippers, giggling nervously around a sideboard covered with cannabis edibles, marijuana pre-rolls, loose buds, and more. “Which end goes in your mouth?” asked one of them, picking up a vape pen. This wasn’t a college party in someone’s off-campus apartment; these were all women in their 30s and 40s, and I’d just arrived at a luxurious ski lodge near the Canadian border.
I had driven six hours in the rain to attend a weed retreat for women over 30 in upstate New York, where recreational marijuana has been legal since 2021. I’m fairly new to cannabis—I started using it during the pandemic to curb my spiraling anxiety and the stifling boredom of being indoors around the clock. I wasn’t sure what to expect—would everyone else be longtime smokers or total potheads? But I soon found out that half of our intimate group had never smoked before. The unlimited menu of curated offerings, from THC seltzers to artisan pre-rolled joints scented with lemongrass or lavender, would soon change that. Guests were free to try what they liked, whenever they liked, with suggested pairings, explanations, and advice readily available.
The weekend was hosted by MoodRXtreats, which offers getaways to women looking for a safe space to experiment with cannabis. The company is tapping into a different customer base than other female-focused retreats that have popped up in recent years, like DankGirls and Glowing Goddess Getaway. While those are part of a growing market aimed at young women, who sleep in tents and spend weekends as stoned as possible, guests at MoodRXtreats tend to be over 35 and interested in self-love, well-being, and embracing new experiences. Founder and cannabis entrepreneur Holly Teegarden, 50, already owned a dispensary and clothing brand when she founded MoodRXtreats two years ago. She had tried and failed to find a retreat aimed at women like her who wanted to partake but not necessarily party. “Taking hits from a penis-shaped bong is so not me,” she told me.
Instead, her wholesome retreats are held in high-end Airbnbs with firepits, hot tubs, and cold-plunge pools. Alongside the extensive cannabis options, guests get access to wellness sessions and hiking or kayaking. A wellness expert named AJ Williams brings the “woo,” offering spiritual readings, singing bowl sessions, and self-love practices. A personal chef, Jaci Miller, serves meals that combine indulgences aimed at stoners (a sweet and sticky French toast casserole for breakfast, “high tea,” featuring THC-infused lemon bars) and healthy choices that ensure attendees leave feeling better than when they arrived (maple baked tofu, a chili and baked potato bar). Accommodating up to 10 women who pay up to $1,000 each, the gatherings happen four weekends a year.
Teegarden tells me that the retreats quickly began attracting a population of mature women who lacked people to get high with. “Marijuana is a social drug; you can get in your head doing it at home alone,” she says. “Many women don’t want to tell their friends or do it with their husbands, so they’re left wanting to try things but don’t have the space to do it.” And the demand is only growing, she adds. “I think we’re at a point where we realize that alcohol isn’t the answer, but we also can’t get through this life completely sober.”
I spent much of the weekend getting to know my fellow guests over spliffs and snacks. One attendee, Vicky*, 39, a professional from Philadelphia and mother of two children with special needs, had previously experimented only with edibles before the retreat. “I needed something like this and someone like Holly to guide me,” she told me. “I tried things here I would have been too nervous to do anywhere else. I’m on an educational trip, learning about weed and myself. When else would I get to do this? Never. I’m always working or taking care of my kids and my husband.”
Somewhere between the weekend’s tarot readings, hikes, and long, intense conversations, Vicky found the space she was seeking. Early on Saturday morning, she went to her room and cried for two hours. When she emerged, far from looking depleted, she seemed reborn, sharing with the group that she’d needed to cry like that for months, but her life didn’t allow her the time and vulnerability a good cry required.
For Abbe Roberts, 48—who told me she’d attended a previous retreat with her mom, 68, a former hippie who has used cannabis since the ’60s—the best part of these weekends was the camaraderie. “What I loved was that there were no cliques. We all sat at a long table for dinner and around the firepit together. We were just women celebrating this experience of doing what we need to get through our lives,” she says. “And the woo-woo stuff, the sound bath and the cold plunge—it felt like all the bullshit was draining out of my body,”
Teegarden has noticed some guests struggling with guilt, wondering if they are doing something wrong or if they should call their kids. But Juliana*, 39, believes her cannabis experience makes her a better parent to a preteen daughter who is currently in therapy for anxiety. “Since I started using THC, I’ve been able to talk to her in a way I don’t think I could have otherwise,” she says. “I’m more empathetic. It lets me completely focus and better help her.”
I woke up on Saturday morning feeling great after taking a gummy the night before that I found in the generous swag bag that was left in my room. Contrast therapy, in which participants immerse themselves in hot and then cold water, was on the schedule, and I could hear happy laughter from the hot tub downstairs. As I stumbled down in my robe, watching guests run to the cold-plunge pool and back to the hot tub, my usually cluttered mind felt clear and calm. This experience was exactly what I’d come for.
That afternoon, we sat on the lodge’s covered deck in Adirondack chairs, passing joints as rain poured around us and peppering Teegarden with questions. We discussed everything from why the high from edibles lasts longer than the high from smoking and why a gummy with sugar in it hits you harder and faster than the sugar-free kind. She also talked in depth about the difference between THC, the natural compound in cannabis plants responsible for the psychoactive effects we call a high, and CBD, another compound in the plant that doesn't cause a high but has potential therapeutic effects. Both substances were there for the taking, mostly in low doses. This way, we could sample 2.5-milligram cannabis sodas, 10-milligram gummies, 5-milligram caramels, and a variety of pills, chocolates, tinctures, vapes, and buds throughout the day without getting too stoned.
On Sunday morning, I woke to the sound of singing bowls and found a spot on the living room couch as we all wrote our life mission statements before leaving. Though I was a little too I’ve-been-high-for-three-days to come up with anything great, I knew mine would center on saying yes to more new experiences like this one.
Then we shared breakfast before receiving a protection blessing to get us home safely. Trailing to our cars in a flurry of bags, hugs, and goodbyes, we each left with a little more knowledge and empowerment about ourselves and cannabis—exactly as Teegarden hoped.
*Not her real name.
Upcoming MoodRXtreats are scheduled in New York, Michigan, and Maryland. Follow them on Instagram @theMoodRXtreats.
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