Singer Jhené Aiko hosted an intimate wellness retreat in Sonoma that blended sound healing, herbalism, and movement into something genuinely restorative.

Burnout has a way of making itself comfortable. It settles in gradually, borrowing time from sleep, from weekends, from the parts of life that are supposed to feel good. For one beauty editor approaching her 31st birthday with no plans and months of accumulated exhaustion sitting in her bones, an unexpected invitation to Sonoma, California arrived at exactly the right moment.

The retreat was organized by Velocity Black, a membership-based concierge travel club, and held at Montage Healdsburg in the heart of Sonoma Wine Country. Jhené Aiko, the singer and songwriter known for weaving meditation and sound healing into her creative practice, served as the central host. She was joined by Dr. Jonathan Leary, founder of Remedy Place, and celebrity trainer Kirsty Godso.

A sound bath as an opening act

The retreat began on a Sunday evening with dinner and introductions, then moved into a sound bath led by Aiko. Guests settled onto mats as she worked through a guided meditation, using singing bowls and her own voice to create a stillness that felt earned rather than forced. A rose-infused tea before bed completed the evening, and what followed was the kind of sleep that doesn’t come easily after months of deadlines.

It set the tone for everything that followed. The retreat wasn’t built around productivity. It was built around presence.

Jhené Aiko on wellness as a daily practice

Monday opened with a high-intensity workout with Godso that left attendees sore in the best possible way. The group then traveled to Skipstone Winery for an olive oil tasting and lunch, moving through the afternoon slowly and without agenda. A long bath and an unrushed nap were on the schedule and treated seriously.

That evening, Aiko spoke openly about her approach to wellness, describing it not as a rigid system but as a series of small, intentional choices made throughout the day. The philosophy was straightforward: being well isn’t about having the perfect routine. It’s about paying attention to what your body is actually asking for.

For anyone who has spent the better part of a year measuring self-worth in completed to-do lists, it was a useful recalibration.

Tea, herbs, and the kind of conversation that lingers

The third morning included a gym session, time on the balcony with a journal, and then a tea ceremony co-led by Aiko and Jennifer Ndidi Ilonzeh, an herbalist and founder of Plant Magic by Ndidi. Ilonzeh created a custom blend called Bloom, inspired by Aiko, combining rose, hibiscus, lemon balm, and marshmallow root into something designed to calm and nourish.

The ceremony moved slowly and deliberately. Ilonzeh walked the group through the properties of each herb, taking questions on everything from inflammation to skin conditions, and drawing clear connections between gut health, stress, and overall physical well-being. Guests also tried compression pants from Remedy Place, designed to support lymphatic drainage. For anyone managing anxiety, the initial sensation was intense, but breathing through it led somewhere unexpectedly grounding.

Attendees left with Aiko’s Jhenetics CBD Lotion, a small but thoughtful send-off.

A final evening worth remembering

The last full night was spent at Cyrus restaurant, where an interactive appetizer experience guided guests through the kitchen before settling into a multi-course dinner framed by vineyard views. The final day was unhurried: lunch with fellow editors, a spontaneous bike ride, a long afternoon by the pool, and a closing massage.

By checkout, something had shifted. A chronic eczema flare had visibly calmed. The mental noise that had been running constantly in the background had gone quiet. What remained was a version of the person who had arrived, steadier and less depleted.

What the retreat actually taught

The biggest takeaway wasn’t a product or a practice. It was permission to treat rest as something that counts. A slowly made cup of tea counts. A balcony and a journal count. A bike ride with someone new counts.

Wellness, as Aiko has built her life around demonstrating, doesn’t need to be dramatic to be effective. Sometimes it just needs to be real.