Where Burnout Ends and You Begin Again
The Sanctuary
A restorative, in-person membership in Northeast Portland for Burnout recovery and meaningful connection.
You're allowed to stop holding it all together here.
This is a space for people who are deeply burned out — and ready to feel like themselves again.
The Sanctuary is a restorative, in-person membership in Northeast Portland for those facing burnout, loneliness, or the slow fade of creative spark.
Here, healing happens gently—through nervous system nourishment, meaningful connection, and sensory sanctuary.
No fixing. No performing. No endless self-optimization
Just room to breathe, soften, and begin again.
What Your Membership Includes
Phase 1: Pre-Launch Community Building (Starting Now)
Building the foundation together:
In-person gatherings in Portland exploring sensory tools and materials from the future space
Private online community for gentle connection and co-creation
Share Ideas: Help shape the physical Sanctuary and the community culture and agreements with your input and ideas
Phase 2: The Physical Sanctuary Opens (Late Summer/Early Fall)
Your weekly sanctuary experience:
One dedicated 90-minute session per week (3 weeks per month) in our intimate space
Choose your time: Morning restoration, midday renewal, or evening sanctuary
Small groups only: 6-10 members maximum for true intimacy
Premium sensory sanctuary: Weighted items, fidgets, art materials, aromatherapy, herbal teas, and curated tools for nervous system support
This is a space for nervous system repair, creative renewal, and meaningful connection — designed to meet you exactly where you are.
🌿 Why Self-Directed Actually Creates Real Change
When you're burned out, your nervous system is hypervigilant — constantly scanning for the next demand, the next performance, the next thing you need to get right.
Traditional approaches add more pressure: Learn this technique. Follow this program. Show up this way.
The Sanctuary works differently. Here, your nervous system gets to experience something radical: No one needs anything from you.
What happens when you're not performing for anyone?
Your body starts to soften instead of brace
Your breath naturally deepens
Your creativity emerges organically instead of being forced
You remember what your actual preferences are (not what you think you should want)
You connect with others from authenticity instead of masking
This isn't just rest — it's nervous system re-education. Your body learns, through felt experience, that safety is possible. That you can exist without having to earn your place.
As a disabled founder, I designed this space to run without requiring anyone's constant performance — including mine. There is always someone available if you need someone, but the real teacher is the experience itself.
What You’ll Find Inside the Sanctuary
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Sensory Soothing
🌿 Support for your nervous system
Soft textures and grounding objects
Gentle fidgets and tapping tools
Calming visuals and imagery
Soothing scents and herbal tea
Individually wrapped treats for sensory grounding
Everything here is chosen to calm the body, settle the mind, and gently shift your state.
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Creative Expression
🎨 Gentle ways to explore what’s inside
Art journaling materials and visual prompts
Oracle and inspiration cards
Ephemera to spark curiosity
No pressure, just pathways back to your creative self.
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Personalized Pathways
🌀Follow what you’re drawn to
Whether you’re craving:
💤 Rest
🎨 Creativity
🫂 Quiet connection
✨ Inspiration
This space meets you there.
You’ll find gentle guidance cards if you’re not sure where to start.
There’s no right way to use this space — whatever you feel is right, is exactly what to do.
🌿 Connection Without Pressure
Healing happens in relationship — even quiet relationship.
In The Sanctuary, connection doesn't mean you have to share your story, process your feelings, or be socially "on." It means:
Co-regulation — your nervous system naturally calms in the presence of other regulated nervous systems
Shared understanding — being around people who just get it, without having to explain
Permission to be exactly as you are — tired, quiet, creative, restless, whatever feels true
Community that doesn't drain you — because there's no expectation to give anything you don't have
You might find yourself naturally connecting with others, or you might prefer to simply exist peacefully in shared space. Both are perfect. Both are healing..
Mishka’s Story
“I didn’t set out to build a space like this.”
As a disabled, Autistic parent navigating burnout while raising three neurodivergent kids, I already spent decades studying what actually heals nervous systems. My lifelong special interest in Relational Neuroscience became my expertise — understanding what builds trust, what repairs connection, and what brings us back into regulation together.
I left my software career during the pandemic and shifted into coaching families through complex challenges. That's when I realized what I was really offering wasn't just parenting advice — it was Emotional Regulation, Polyvagal Theory, and the healing power of Relational Safety.
But here's what I learned the hard way: what burned-out people need isn't another expert telling them what to do — it's a space that trusts them to know what they need.
My body couldn't keep up with the pressure to perform, produce, or pretend I wasn't running on fumes. I couldn't find anywhere I could just be. That's when The Sanctuary came to me — not as a business plan, but as a lifeline.
So I designed it differently. This space runs without me needing to be the center of it. It isn't about me facilitating your healing — it's about creating the container where your own wisdom can emerge.
What I kept hearing from exhausted parents, caregivers, and entrepreneurs: "I feel like I've lost myself." "I'm so burnt out I don't even know what I need anymore." "I miss being creative. I miss feeling inspired."
They didn't want another program to fix themselves. They just wanted to feel okay again — to be seen, to feel safe, to reconnect to what makes them feel alive.
The Sanctuary is my answer: a self-led space for burnout recovery, creative renewal, and nervous system relief. It's built on Relational Neuroscience, Polyvagal Theory, and Neuroplasticity — but you don't need to understand the science to feel the benefits.
The science is solid. The feeling is the medicine.
If you're burned out, overstimulated, or craving connection without pressure — The Sanctuary is for you, too.
A note from the founder, Mishka Willis, Attachment and Relational Neuroscience Specialist
Investment & Commitment
💌 Early Membership Pricing
$97/month (billed monthly, cancel anytime)
$970/year (2 months free)
There’s no long-term commitment — stay as long as it’s nourishing.
(But once you’re in, we think you’ll want to stay.)
Why this investment level?
This isn't a digital course or online community. This is a premium, curated sensory sanctuary with high-end materials, intimate group sizes, and a carefully designed physical environment on private property.
Every element — from the weighted lap pads to the premium art supplies to the organic herbal teas — has been specifically chosen for nervous system support. The space can only hold 6-10 people at a time, ensuring the intimate, safe environment your nervous system craves.
Your Founding Member rate is locked in for life — as long as you remain a member, you'll never pay more than $97/month, even as we expand and enhance the offerings.
✨ This Is Not For Everyone
The Sanctuary is designed for a very specific person:
✅ You're exhausted — not just tired, but running on fumes with a nervous system stuck in overdrive
✅ You're self-aware — you understand you're not broken, you just need different support
✅ You're science-minded — you want approaches grounded in research, not just feel-good platitudes
✅ You're ready for repair — not just coping strategies, but actual nervous system healing
✅ You value intimate community — you prefer deep connection with a few rather than shallow interactions with many
❌ This is NOT for you if: You're looking for therapy, coaching, or someone to fix you. You want quick tips or surface-level solutions. You prefer large groups or high-energy environments.
✨ This is an experiential space — which means the transformation comes from what you feel and do here, not from learning more or trying harder.
Your nervous system is the student, and the space and community itself is the teacher.
It’s cozy, quiet, and inviting. It feels good to be here — and that feeling is the work.
The magic is in the experience.
You’ve Survived So Much. Now What?
You’ve kept going. You’ve held it together. You’ve done what you had to do.
The Sanctuary is here for what comes next: repair, rest, and reconnection.
Early members will help shape what this becomes—for themselves and for others who need it.
✨ This is where it starts.
Join The Sanctuary
Early Member Investment: $97/month or $970/year
Rate locked in for life • Cancel anytime • Only 30 spots available
BECOME AN EARLY MEMBER
Questions? Email hello@mishkawillis.com - We personally read and respond to every message.
