The Sanctuary
A Feminine Presence Collective
A haven for women who want to feel more alive in their bodies, bring beauty to their days, and fill life with exquisite presence through the senses
There are many things we humans want.
Love, success, belonging, beauty.
At the heart of everything we want is to truly be here.
To feel alive and awake in our bodies.
To feel whole and present with our people.
To live from deep purpose.
Presence is the key to actually being in our lives.
Presence is the one thing we humans look back on—and wish we had tasted more fully.
So why not start at the end?
Instead of trying to fix and manage everything in life, why not focus on the one thing we always wish we had more of?
You weren't made to white-knuckle your way through your days.
You were made to taste, touch, savor and experience life, through your body.
Building this aliveness happens through tiny shifts, small decisions, and micro-moments of peace and pleasure.
Presence is the one thing that has the power to change everything else.
For women especially, there is a deep need to reclaim our sense of embodied presence.
• 75% of women report burnout at work (compared to 58% of men)
• 71% of all mental health leaves are taken by women
• Only 11% of women describe their relationship with their body as positive
• Women perform 2.5x more unpaid labor worldwide
• 4 out of 5 single parents are women
The world needs feminine presence like dry soil needs rain.
And yet, why do mindfulness and presence practices often feel like just one more thing to get right?
Do you ever feel like you’re failing at stillness?
Like no matter how long you sit and breathe to find contentment, it still feels like just something to check off the wellness checklist?
That’s because most mindfulness practices were built with masculine—sometimes even monastic—nervous systems in mind.
But your system speaks a different language.
Your system finds center not through shutting down your senses, but by coming fully alive within them.
The Feminine Path To Presence Is Different
Most mainstream presence practices, while powerful, are designed by and for masculine nervous systems.
Feminine systems literally speak a different language.
For feminine folks, presence comes from our deep connection with–not detachment from–life through the senses.
Aroma, touch, taste…
Dancing, art, expression…
Style, tea, sensory pleasure…
These are our portals back to the moment, our prayers in motion, and our road home to the sacred within ourselves.
While rigorous solitary practices have their place, feminine presence blooms through connection, through the senses, and through shared life experiences.
For us, presence isn’t found by rising above the body—but by sinking more deeply into it.
The Sanctuary is community that approaches presence from a sensual, feminine lens.
Inside you’ll discover a secret garden of luxurious lessons, practical tools, and kindred connection to feel more alive, more relaxed, and more like yourself, every day.
“Every time I log in to The Sanctuary I remember how to be in my body.”
I find myself seducing beauty back into my life and, moving my body in ways it delights in. Allowing my intuition to speak through The Sanctuary practices has brought back pieces of myself I didn’t even know I missed.”
LEANN DAMERON
“I’ve reunited with pieces of myself I didn’t even know I missed.”
“I came to The Sanctuary tired of walking through a dulled version of life. I found a secret garden of delight for my inner child, and my senses have woken up. Allowing my intuition to speak has brought back pieces of myself I didn’t know I missed so much.
Remember who you were before the world told you who to be? Allow Mary’s gentle guidance to help you call all of the pieces of you back, like a lantern in a window.”
SAMANTHA
Meet Mary
YOUR SANCTUARY GUIDE & CREATOR
Hello Beautiful Being!
I’m Mary Lofgren, creator of The Sanctuary. My career in the embodied arts spans over 22 years. I’m an award-winning certified Feminine Embodiment Coach, a licensed esthetician, and a certified intuitive movement facilitator many times over. I’m delighted that you are here, sniffing and sensing to see if The Sanctuary is right for you.
To help you discern if this is the place for you, here’s a glimpse into my story, and how the Sanctuary came to be.
I grew up very religious, in love with lace veils, incense, and the ever-present ache to be close to what we called God (what I now often call Love).
There was a strong foundation of spiritual connection within me from day one. But as I grew up, the stories about being born a woman making me inferior, untrustworthy, and inherently sinful, began to sink in.
So I learned to tuck in my desires, to starve my hungers, and to suppress my body's wisdom. Later, I searched for the divine in yoga studios, retreats, and meditation centers. But even as wise and lovely as those places were, I still felt like something about me was always spilling out the sides.
Me as a kiddo playing what I wanted to be the most when I grew up, a Priest!
Everything changed when I began to explore seeing my body as sacred, pleasure as loving presence, and beauty as my direct line to the divine.
When I began to center my senses, something inside of me woke up.
Not just my pleasure, but my instincts.
I began to see myself more clearly. I set boundaries more cleanly. I found I could trust my intuition, that guided me away from masculine goals I never really wanted in the first place, and into deeper truer devotion to letting my heart love what it truly loves.
This shift allowed me to reclaim the most precious thing of all: the ability to feel alive and present in my body.
We can have all the success, beauty, and accomplishment in the world—but without presence, it slips through our fingers like water over stone.
Presence can turn a single raspberry into heaven’s gate.
Presence transforms hard walls into soft landings, and old patterns into new possibilities.
The Sanctuary lays out a rose petal path for you to return to the wisdom of your body and the radiance of your presence—one small, sensory ritual at a time.
How The Sanctuary Flows
WHAT YOU’LL RECEIVE
Each month you receive a beautiful flow of rituals, inspiration, and little luxuries.
Monthly Embodied Living Workshops with Mary (Live)
Each month begins with a garden party workshop and ritual – a chance to sip, learn, and root into the rhythm of the month ahead.
Mary’s workshops offer practical tips, soulful wisdom, and luxurious feminine presence practices to nurture the sanctuary of your home, body, mind, and spirit.
Each month we gather to mark time, not just by calendars and clocks, but by savoring life through the seasons and the senses.
Weekly Live Embodiment Practices (Live)
Each week we gather for a 30-minute, live experience of communal Feminine Presence Practice. It is a chance to move your body, be guided in a live beauty treatment, and generally party with the present moment alongside Mary and your fellow Sanctuaryettes.
The Weekly Charm: Lessons + Rituals For A Luxurious Path To Presence
Each week we spotlight a brand new ritual of presence, peace, and everyday pleasure. You’ll find soulful movement rituals, nourishing beauty treatments, private podcast audios, and radiant recipes to fill your mind, body, home and heart with radiant, feminine presence.
Want to see some examples of what you’ll find in the Sanctuary Charm Gallery? Check out some examples here.
Bonus Writing Prompts + Little Luxuries
Each Friday, you’ll receive an evocative journaling prompt to close the week—along with a tiny treasure, such as curated playlists, artisanal finds, beloved books and more nourish your mind and body.
Browse Our Upcoming Workshops
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Sacred Curves
This month we honor the body as a temple of the sacred, and explore a rounder, curvier, approach to embodying our sacred spark and enjoying the skin we’re in.
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The Flirtatious Fork
‘Tis the season of ripe fruits, grilled veggies and picnic blankets–a perfect time to tune your tastebuds to the sensual joy of simple food, and reclaim your kitchen as oasis of creativity and pleasure.
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Powder Your Nose, Polish Your Spirit
This month we explore one an often overlooked portal to presence and pleasure by fine-tuning your rituals of pampering and preparing, to greet the day feeling radiant and relaxed.
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Feathering Your Nest for Autumn
As the days grow shorter and the air chills, this workshop will teach you how to curate your home into a cozy nest of warmth and comfort.
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Embodying Enchantment
Learn how to layer tiny moments of enchantment into your daily life, and reclaim a feminine, sensory, embodied spiritual practice through the senses.
Your Weekly Rhythm of Presence & Pleasure
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Monday: Inspiring Love Note + Theme of The Week
A soft landing for your Monday, you’ll. receive a written and audio love note to spark your spirit, and a guided ritual of the week to weave soft presence and sweet pleasure into your week from the very start.
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Wednesday: Live 30-Minute Embodiment Practice
A weekly, 30-minute live practice of embodiment, beauty, breath and movement with Mary and your fellow Sanctuaryettes. These gatherings are a mid-week spa treatment for your body, mind, and soul.
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Friday: Journaling Prompt & Little Luxury
A sweet, simple close to your week: an end-of-week love note with an evocative journaling prompt, and a tiny recommended luxury such as playlists, artisanal treasures, books, practices, and more.
New Companion Journal
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New Companion Journal
New Companion Journal • New Companion Journal
The Everyday Sensualist Journal
A beautiful, full color, 30-day workbook of beauty, peace and pleasure, delivered to your door. Over the course of 30 days, you’ll be guided through one gentle, sumptuous practice per day. Each day is different, and offers a simple prompt, a poetic reflection, and playful ritual designed to help you awaken your senses and fill your life exquisite moments of presence.
Included as a PDF for monthly members, and a hard copy for annual members.
Annual Member Bonus Benefits
Join annually and you’re receive a special savings, plus these three special benefits
Seasonal At-Home Retreats
Savor + celebrate the seasons through your senses
Each season offers new joys to taste and new beauty to behold. Our seasonal virtual retreats are a chance to press pause, gather up the gold of the season past, and plan your enjoyment of the season ahead.
Our Next Retreat, The Joys of Summer, will happen June 28th at 4pm EST, and all new members are cordially invited!
The Art of Self Massage
Where self-love meets your own two hands.
With 8 on-demand videos guiding you through soothing massage rituals for the face, neck, chest, belly, legs, feet, and head, you’ll learn how to melt tension, awaken your senses, and tune in more deeply to your body’s needs and wants through exquiste touch.
The Everyday Sensualist Journal Delivered To Your Door
A real life, full color, 30-day workbook of beauty, peace and pleasure, delivered to your door. Over the course of 30 days, you’ll be guided through one gentle, sumptuous practice per day. Each day is different, and offers a simple prompt, a poetic reflection, and playful ritual designed to help you awaken your senses and fill your life exquisite moments of presence.
“If you’re looking for a way to slow down and be saturated in life's wonder, The Sanctuary is it.”
“I came to the Sanctuary looking for an oasis, a moment in the shade, and a relief for my soul. I found a treasure trove of trinkets with endless possibility for delight and satiation. I have so much more reverence for my body and my inner wisdom - exactly as I am. If you’re looking for a way to slow down and be saturated in life's wonder, The Sanctuary is it.”
Nadee Guy
Through the movement, sensual practices and creativity Mary offers, I have found myself able to engage life with a zest I thought I had lost. Every time I visit, it’s like being in a fluffy nest where I remember how to be deeply present.
If you are looking to embrace your feminine, sensual nature then I would say The Sanctuary is calling you. Take the opportunity to become the woman waiting within you.
MAYA
“I’ve reconnected with a zest I thought I’d lost.”
“I now know how my nervous system can and should feel.”
“Leaving a demanding job I had worked at for a very long time, I knew I needed the type of renewal Mary’s work offers — slowing down the mind, tuning into the body, and cultivating the gifts of the feminine.
The Sanctuary is an antidote to the way modern life demands so much. The embodiment underlying everything, Mary’s inspired way of expressing her ideas, and the thoughtfully designed sessions - it feels like a garden of understanding, wisdom and calm.”
PKM
Presence gets easier with practice.
Come make radiant presence your
NATURAL WAY OF BEING
JOIN US IN THE SANCTUARY TODAY
Say Yes To The Sanctuary
Monthly Membership
$95/month
A flexible way to join, one month at a time
Live Embodied Living Workshops with Mary
Live Embodiment Practices with Mary
Weekly, Charmed Feminine Presence Practices
Little Luxuries (love notes, prompts, playlists, and more)
An Intimate Private Community Space (connect with Mary and members around the world)
X Annual Member Benefits:
X The Everyday Sensualist Journal
X Save $190
X The Art of Self Massage Course
X Seasonal Retreats
Annual Membership: $1140
$950
A year of The Sanctuary and save $190
Live Embodied Living Workshops with Mary
Live Embodiment Practices with Mary
Weekly, Charmed Feminine Presence Practices
Little Luxuries (love notes, prompts, playlists, and more)
An Intimate Private Community Space (connect with Mary and members around the world)
💐 Plus Bonus Annual Member Benefits
✓ The Everyday Sensualist Journal, delivered to your door
✓ $190 Savings - Two months free!
✓ Four Seasonal Retreats
FAQ’s
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If you identify as a feminine being (which may include women, non-binary folks, trans and genderqueer folks, folks assigned male at birth but wanting to explore their femininity) you’re welcome here! If you have any questions we’re here to help at hello@schoolofsensualliving.com
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We don’t offer scholarships, but we do offer a Resource Redistribution Rate for those who identify as BIPOC, Gender Variant, Sexy Sage (Over the age of 65), Folks with Disabilities, or Single Parent. We also offer this rate to those who live in countries where there is a -3.0 or more difference in the exchange of currency to USD.
Offering this rate is an effort towards the redistribution of resources to those don't experience the same level of privilege as folks who are white, cisgender, able bodied, heteronormative, etc.
We are sorry but we do not have a financial hardship rate available at this time.
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Our weekly format looks like this:
Tuesday Inspiration (3-minutes) : An email including quotes, book recommendations, recipes, etc., to give you some mid-week inspiration.
Thursday Live Embodiment Practice (30-minutes)
Friday Gem with Podcast & Ritual (about 10-20 minutes)
Monthly Enchantment Circles (45-minutes)
All together, if you participate in every moment of the Sanctuary fully, it adds up to about an hour/week.
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We think of growth and mental health like a house: therapy provides the foundation for a safe and steady space, personal growth provides the furnishings.
The safety and well being of our community members is our top priority. Mindfulness can be supportive, and it can also be triggering when there is active trauma on board. Personal growth containers are not a substitute for therapy, and can sometimes distract from the very important foundational work of therapeutic healing.
Therefore, if you are experiencing a time of instability, serious depression and/or anxiety, or are actively recovering from serious trauma or PTSD, we gently suggest that you not join the Sanctuary until you feel you are in a place of stability.
Mary is a certified Feminine Embodiment Coach, which is a trauma sensitive method of coaching. It is not, however, trauma centric, and is not indicated for the direct healing or resolution of trauma.
If you are in a recovery process, we may ask for a note from a therapist confirming that it is safe to participate in a coaching container before joining.
We wish you and all humans grace and support on the journey of healing. If you have any questions on this or any of our policies, please reach out to hello@schoolofsensualliving.com.
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You 'betcha. All live gatherings will be recorded and available in the online Sanctuary Library.
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We do not offer refunds for month to month purchases, but you can cancel anytime before the 30 day renewal mark, and you will not be charged again.
If you purchase the annual or seasonal membership (yay! welcome!) and after 7 days you feel the experience is not for you, you can request a refund for your purchase amount, less a 10% processing/admin fee.
A Love Note From My Heart To Yours
Dear One,
For the first half of my life, I was tangled in the same story so many women carry: that presence and pleasure were a frivolous waste of time, that there were more real and important things to focus on.
But what could be more real and important than knowing who we are, what delights us, and how we can ripple that radiance throughout our lives and our world?
Looking back, every time I abandoned myself in the name of doing, achieving and perfecting, I distanced myself from the only real, valuable contribution I have: the power of my presence.
Since before we are even born, the world tells women what we’re here for, who we’re meant to serve, what roles we should play, and how grateful we should be for it — even if it deadens the very spark of who we are and what we want.
So we numb out, we silence our body’s whispers, bury our intuition, and deny the parts of ourselves that feel the most true and real.
It is time for women to come to our senses.
Coming To Your Senses is a process of waking up the sleeping self who learned to numb in order to survive — and inviting her to feel again, to speak again, to come back to life.
What I’ve come to know, and what I want you to know, is this - delight is not a luxury, it’s a compass home to most radiant, magnetic power.
The things your heart truly loves are breadcrumbs back to you.
That’s why I created The Sanctuary, not as another program to improve yourself, but as a a place to remember how to enjoy yourself.
Come fill the garden of your days color, fragrance, beauty, and presence… one feminine practice at a time.
(Gently patting the seat next to me on a garden bench.)
You can sit with us,
Mary
Your presence is the most interesting thing about you.
Come infuse your life with the richness, radiance, and mangetism of feminine presence.