This weekend Hestia Retreat will put on its second annual Women’s Day of Wellness, an event organizers say will provide relaxing activities for women as well as give a preview of what they hope to one day offer at an actual retreat center on Vashon.

The event will be from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. Saturday at Vashon Cohousing. Women can attend for a full or half day.

“It’s a time for women to take time out for themselves, which is really what Hestia Retreat is all about and what the center will be about when it’s up and running,” said Mela (Pam) Bredouw, a founder of Hestia Retreat and an event organizer.

The idea for Hestia Retreat was born in 2009, when Bredouw, a life coach and retired urban planner, teamed up with Valerie Manusov, a professor of nonverbal communication at the University of Washington, over a shared vision to provide a place where Vashon women could find both an opportunity for solitude and renewal as well as a sense of community with other women.

Now, Hestia Retreat, with a eight-person board, offers monthly workshops on topics such as contemplative dance, yoga and finding authenticity, while also fundraising to build a retreat center for up to 50 women.

“Even though we are in a beautiful, pastoral setting, many women are overly busy with either their jobs or taking care of their kids. … They tend to put themselves last,” Bredouw said. “The idea is that women can serve best if their own cup is full.”

Unlike last year, Bredouw said, the Day of Wellness isn’t being billed as a fundraiser — they expect to barely break even. But, she said, it will give island women a chance to sample what they hope to one day offer in abundance at Hestia Retreat. Attendees can practice yoga, meditation and dance, and take workshops on topics such as Ayurvedic Healing and Shamanic Journeying. There will be quiet areas to simply relax, and a slate of practitioners will offer sessions of foot massage, acupuncture, life coaching and more at steeply discounted rates.

“We wanted women to have a taste of all these different healing modalities that they might not sample otherwise,” Bredouw said.

Hestia Retreat organizers recently made a major move toward realizing their goal of a retreat center when they identified an 11-acre, partially wooded parcel they believe would be perfect to build a  center with cabins, a lodge, a dining room and  bathhouse. They hope to make an offer on the property, which is on the market, and soon apply for building permits.

The group is also raising funds to hire a professional fundraiser they hope will help them bring in approximately $3 million to complete the center. Bredouw said they hope a few major donors will cover the bulk of the costs.

“It feel like everything is going absolutely perfectly,” she said. “There’s been a smooth and consistent increase in support. We all still have a lot of energy for it.”

To register for Women’s Day of Wellness, visit hestiaretreat.org, email info@hestiaretreat.org or pick up a form at Vashon Bookshop. Full-day participation is $90, and a half day is $50.