About Nurture Through Nature and Staff
Celebrating our 10th Year of Retreat Leading!

"Your spirit imbues this place with energy and passion.
I value so much how authentic you are and how authentic you try to make this place."
Rita Alfonso-LaBarbara, Portland, Maine

Jen with her cat Mollyocket

Beginning our 10th season (!), NTN is led by founder and owner, Jen Deraspe, Licensed Maine Guide, group facilitator and university educator. She finds her passion in guiding people back home, to their hearts, by accessing the wisdom & healing power found in nature and in themselves.

Jen has extensive outdoor recreational experience, having led women on excursions for the past 13 years. For her professional life, Jen has instructed in higher education in the areas of health, wellness and sports medicine. After 17 years of service, Jen is stepping down from her adjunct faculty post at the University of Southern Maine in order to fully devote herself to her passions in retreat leading, group facilitation, and walking in her own truth in the moment at hand.

A life-long learner, Jen is passionate about wild, natural places and has been led down the path of yoga, meditation, and mindfulness practices, as well as the study of wellness, alternative therapies, and the universal Truths found in many spiritual practices. In Jen's experience, the most direct, simple and profound method she has found to find freedom and lasting peace is through The Work of Byron Katie.

Jen is a graduate of The School for The Work of Byron Katie and loves to share the simple and transformative process of questioning our stressful thoughts for the love of truth with those that are open to it. The Work work's miracles for those willing to look within for the possibilities found in questioning the beliefs that cause so much suffering and stress. Seeing the benefits first hand in her life and in her clients, Jen is passionate about sharing her love for The Work through the eclectic program offerings at Nurture Through Nature. Also a yoga and meditation instructor and Registered Maine Guide, Jen's weaving of holistic offerings and her love for nature brings great possibilities through a great variety of methods.

Master of Science Degree: Sports Medicine/Athletic Training, Indiana State University, 1989 Bachelor of Science Degree: Physical Education and Athletic Training, Plymouth State College, 1987
Certified Athletic Trainer: Athletic Health Care Specialist; AMA Allied Health Professional, 1989-1999, University of Southern Maine
University of Southern Maine College of Nursing and Health Professions/Adjunct Faculty & USM's Center for Continuing Education Faculty/Presenter 1999-present
Certified Hatha Yoga Teacher-May 2005-current
Graduate: Byron Katie's 9 Day School of The Work-March 2006 Facilitator of The Work of Byron Katie
Staff selection for Byron Katie's 9 Day School of The Work-June and Oct 2007
Licensed Recreational Maine Guide-1999-present
Founder: Nurture Through Nature, providing holistic canoe trips and wellness retreats for women ~Holistic Retreat Facilitator since 1999

A Maine native, Jen's playground was and remains the woods, mountains, and clear waters of western Maine . Fun-spirited and playful, Jen is most at home in nature, taking in the gifts, teachings, quiet and beauty found there.

Nurture Through Nature is an EPA Green Power Partner! The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) would like to thank Nurture through Nature for making a significant green power purchase. Your commitment, along with those of other Green Power Partners, helps to reduce the risks associated with climate change by supporting technologies that are more sustainable for businesses and communities.

Nurture Through Nature is a member the Maine Business Listing,
out performing other Maine businesses in reliability, quality and customer service.

"The serenity, growth, and insights available through our programming and in our carefully selected natural places that we share with you has proven again and again to be transformative and healing. If you are investigating your life and are ready to invest in you, are seeking greater peace, of learning in a safe and supportive space, please join our ever-expanding circle.

The greatest gift I can give, both to you and to me, is to expand my consciousness~my awareness. As I do, I am adding to the expansion of the Universe, and All-That-Is by my expansion. As my mind gets clearer, my heart opens more and more and I am finding myself in love and appreciation more than I ever have before.

I see and draw to me, through Divine Love, those who seek self-realization through the processes that work for me and that I share with humility and honor.

Source Energy, I ask to clearly speak your words; my words, to help lead others to broader understandings. I come to share how I have found freedom and possibility in my life as well as the places where they are still obscure to me. I come to serve and to share my loves with you."

Jen Deraspe, owner, Nurture Through Nature

Words Inspired by the Teachings of Abraham, Byron Katie & in witnessing my life unfolding along my journey home.

Why do we specialize in retreats for women?
We have no competitive element in our outdoor adventure experiences and instead focus on groups coming together in cooperation and community, providing support for each other in all situations, roles and settings. There is power in honoring the comaraderie of women in nature. In creating a cooperative spirit in all that we do, our retreats lead to special bonding amongst our participants. Many strong friendships are established and maintained as a result of time and rich experiences shared in nature. Many client's husbands or partners do not prefer spending time in outdoor recreation or holistic retreats. We create a safe space for women to join in with other women who want to "get away", obligations and responsibilities left behind for a much needed respite. We value the company of women. Sharing in a new experience with other women has proven again and again to be a healing, fulfilling and rewarding experience for our participants. We are weaving an ever-expanding web of women who honor and remember their authentic spirits as they rise up above the preconceived roles and expectations set by self and others.

We incorporate gentle nature explorations to integrate body and spirit. Our circles provide a balance of depth & lightness, group and solo space, movement and stillness. We create space for reflection and restoration in the natural world, deepening our connection to the living eart and all of its dependents, including ourselves. Those ready to delve into their inner world in a safe and supportive environment will gain a new awareness that is priceless.

We offer Holistic Canoe Trips in Maine and the southwestern US, as well as Weekend Retreats at our home base in Denmark, Maine, in the heart of the lakes and mountains of Western Maine. The retreat land rests on 33 acres on Pleasant Mountain, pictured above, in lofty view of the White Mountains, near the Maine~New Hampshire border.

Civility and Diversity Policy
Nurture Through Nature (NTN) is a growing community of women from diverse backgrounds committed to providing equal access for all community members to learn and retreat together. In addition, NTN has an anti-discrimination policy which requires that this access be available to all people regardless of race, color, religion, sexual orientation, national origin or citizenship status, age, disability, or veteran status.

NTN is a place for the active examination, the exchange of ideas, and the investigation of our internal workings. NTN strives to maintain a climate of justice and safety marked by mutual respect for each other. We are committed to the highest standards of civility and decency, and to promoting and supporting a community where all people can work and learn together in an atmosphere free of abusive or demeaning treatment.

NTN is not a place for threats or intimidation of others on any basis. NTN rejects acts of discrimination or harassment based on race, ethnicity, age, disability, sexual orientation, religion, veteran status, and political beliefs. NTN encourages staff and guests to report any behavior which targets individuals or groups based on race, color, religion, sexual orientation, national origin or citizenship status, age, disability, or veteran status. All reported incidents of alleged violations of this policy will be investigated.