Get your heart back.

It's a journey.
We can guide you.

we find breakthrough again and again.

Where traditional counseling fails,

Like most, you've probably tried everything at this point, including counseling... but it hasn't "fixed" anything. Why? We're trying to treat heart conditions with knowledge, strategy and tools. The failure isn't a lack of trying, it's that your head can't fix your heart.

Why am I stuck?

Most of us run into the same problems in varying degrees. We're tired, busy, having communication break-downs, feeling misunderstood, undervalued and unloved. We're overwhelmed, buried under guilt and shame, numb, and can't seem to change things.

The Problem?

LET's TALK

we need to take action
to heal our hearts.

navah experience

Read more about Navah.

We are often shaped by deeper pains. We are not being seen, known, valued, received, understood or loved in the way we'd best experience it. Our lives suffer the result. We need to heal in these deeper places to experience life again. We'll guide you through it.

Navah is about transformation.

Because it isn't about information.

Why Navah works.

LET's TALK

Let us help you find 
the freedom you were meant for.

These are things you may have given up hope on in your life and relationships, but we see people grab hold of them again as we guide them up their mountains.

It is possible.

Read their stories

"It literally changed our lives."

Dominic

Heart Stories.

"No intention to fix you with a formula"

Taylor

"He is a 'heart whisperer' of sorts."

Heather

For 16 years Joseph Dalton has been working to put broken lives and marriages back together. He and his wife, Jen, are building a healing retreat community in Bend, Oregon that pairs their gifts of healing with their love of the outdoors to create a transformative environment to release people into freedom.


The work of Navah was birthed out of personal experience as Joseph’s heart and life came to understand some of the secret pathways to emotional and spiritual wholeness. In 1997 Joseph’s own healing journey started. Now after 25 years of an ever deepening experience in the wisdom of putting hearts back together, Navah is the gift offered to those who need a fresh start in their lives.


Joseph (52) and Jen (nope) have four adventure-loving children:
River, Navah, Hana, India and Bodhi.

About Navah

16

YEARS

3,102

hearts

1

Desire

Get in touch

We'd love to talk through any questions you have. Just shoot us an email and we can hop on a call.

At the core of every human being is a longing to be seen, known, valued, treasured, cherished and received. We want to belong, to be loved for who we are not for what we do. This yearning can be described with one word: navah.

Navah is an ancient word meaning “home”. More precisely, it's a verb that means “to find rest, to bring home and to make beautiful”. In our lives so many of us have experienced the opposite of this in our families, friendships, schools and even churches. Our relationships are not restful, we don’t know how to make a dwelling place in our hearts with others. We have lost our ability to dream and hope and thrive because we've been broken by failed love. We have lost our identity and feel far from home, with no place to dwell. 

Therefore, we purpose to make navah a reality in people’s lives again, sometimes for the first time. Navah also means “to purpose journeying, to shepherd, and prepare a habitation to dwell in.” This is an integral part of what we intentionally offer people when they spend time with us. We operate as guides in a shepherding capacity, similar to Sherpas, assisting those taking on the “Everest” in their lives…mountains that have long been too difficult to climb.

Navah at Bend is different than counseling, therapy, or common solutions offered by most marriage and family therapists. What we offer is something that needs to be experienced to be understood. It goes beyond words, and theories, and concepts. To have a "navah experience" is to be awakened, and to have the eyes of your heart opened to see again. With the eyes of your heart enlightened there is a new place to live from, with a new orientation and renewed hope and vision. As hearts come alive again, marriages and relationships experience new depth and closeness and freedom, with sustained transformation.

These are the experiences that capture the essence of what Navah Retreats are all about. Where traditional counseling fails, we see breakthrough again and again. It is our privilege to ‘Sherpa’ your hearts as you climb these mountains and take hold of the new life you are looking for. 

LET's TALK

Stop fighting alone.
it's time to heal.

Experience Navah as a 3, 4 or 5 day immersion retreat. Customize your retreat to include lodging, rest & recreation or the sessions alone.

Your Retreat


Experience Navah

Send me an email at josephndalton@gmail.com

Experience Navah as a
3, 4 or 5 day immersion retreat. 

LET's TALK

Can we help you 
write your new story?

Over the years Navah has helped hundreds of people find healing and come into their own experiences of healing and transformation.
Take a look.

Stories that matter.

About two years ago I was in a dark place. I found myself dead inside. It was as if I was trying to move forward without a very important element missing. As I began to open up about my childhood, the neglect I felt from my childhood, though coming from a loving home, began to uncover hidden feelings that I had disregarded as unimportant. As I began to be honest about the pain in a safe environment, I began to come into a place where I could be present with what I had felt as a little girl. I've learned that if I am willing to be honest with myself and others about what I'm feeling, about what is truly going on in my heart (not just the superficial things) then I can find a place of truth and life. Learning to live from the heart seems to leave me more vulnerable than before but also gives me a secure and real place from which to connect.

I found myself
dead inside...

Katie Grace

Our entire marriage we suffered under pain, neglect and miscommunication as we acted out core beliefs from our childhood. Although outwardly others may have thought we had a good marriage, inside we hurt and felt like strangers living under the same roof. Joseph led us on the journey to each other’s hearts. For the first time in my life, I fell in love with my wife, Cherith’s, heart (her smile and voice are completely different when she is in her heart). I began hearing God anew for the first time in ten years. Our values have changed, as we realize loving and caring for each other is so much more fun, intimate and meaningful than any temporal values or other things. We both want to help other hurting people we meet. In a most wonderful providence, my parents saw the change in us and have also gone to see Joseph and are starting on a journey to emotional connectedness too.

WE FELT LIKE STRANGERS LIVING UNDER THE SAME ROOF.

Rico & Cherith Mundy

Recently, my fiancé and I travelled to Oregon to spend time with Joseph. When humbling yourself in a place of healing, the results are staggering. In one short week, the trajectory of our engagement, and future marriage, was changed. We experienced clarity and were offered fathering-wisdom that we will access for years to come. You will be changed by walking toward the desires of your heart. Navah is not for the faint of heart, because you will be gifted the opportunity to enter your own journey.

OUR LIVES WERE
CHANGED IN A WEEK.

Ben & Lindsey

I have remained trapped in sexual addiction that ruined two marriages and cost two families dearly. I am now trying to heal my marriage and my family and of course myself. Jospeh showed me how to move from my mind and into my heart, my heart, MY HEART! I let God into me. I was able to have real spiritual experiences. I learned that I have spent most of my life with my heart in a box. Without really knowing it. Leaving me essentially unable to give or receive love. Sexual addiction was my way of trying to feel something. I have been able to give myself to God now without the burden of justifying it in my head, my busy head. I feel excited and want to begin a new life. My wife and I now have a new footing with each other. We are both convinced that we can navigate toward a much better place, despite being in such ashes. But, regardless of what happens, I know that I will now walk with God. I am opening to life and it feels wonderful!

I WAS TRAPPED
IN SEXUAL ADDICTION.

John

I had heard of Joseph many years ago through friends, though had never met him. He was described to me as a "heart whisperer" of sorts; someone who could probe deeply and help mend. That all sounds really wonderful, but I didn't want to get my hopes up because I didn't want to be disappointed. My husband and I spent 24 hours with Joseph, over 4 intensive days...learning and listening and sharing and grieving and healing. This is going to sound shallow, but prior to this we had just cancelled a trip to Paris...for the third time...and instead chose to see Joseph. I was a bit deflated. Honestly, I’m so thankful we came to Bend for a week instead! What we gained in our lives together cannot begin to compare to a vacation. Thank you Joseph for being such a humble and helpful guide on our new path.

A "HEART WHISPERER"
OF SORTS.

Heather Ridenour

One of the most incredible elements of Navah is that Joseph has no intention of filing minds with formulas of how to handle situations or simply “fix” you. He instead genuinely cares for the most hurt spaces in your heart, and offers hope and empowerment to walk towards freedom.

NO INTENTION TO
FIX YOU WITH A FORMULA.

Taylor

About six months after we lost our son, we came to a point where we really needed help in the grieving and healing process. We were at a loss. A friend recommended Joseph Dalton, and I am so glad they did. Not only did Joseph give us tools to walk through the grieving process, but he helped open our eyes to an entirely different dimension of living. Our marriage changed. Our relationship with our kids changed. Friends. Co-workers. I am not exaggerating when I say that Joseph Dalton literally changed our lives. I cannot recommend him enough. He has a special gift, and I thank God for him often.

WE NEEDED HELP GRIEVING, IT LITERALLY CHANGED OUR LIVES.

Dominic Bali

I am so thankful for the gift my fiancée and I were given through Joseph. For so long it seemed that our relationship was something heavy we had to carry. I knew there was something missing, but we were walking blindly. It was Joseph who taught us how to open our eyes and to open our hearts. I cannot think of a man more suited or designed for that task. The way Joseph approaches life (and healing) is so natural and refreshing because it is grounded in the peace and love of Jesus. There is no pressure, no condemnation, and no religiosity. Joseph’s approach and understanding of the heart makes so much sense it is shocking. Not only does he have truth on his side, but he has a wonderful ability to explain (and depict!) emotional and spiritual concepts that are integral to healing. After seeing Joseph my life has been opened up to me, and I am more excited than ever to live it with the woman I love.

HE TAUGHT US TO OPEN OUR EYES AND OUR HEARTS.

Tanner

I had never been to a counselor before I began seeing Joseph Dalton. I went in knowing I was empty, depressed, and overwhelmed with performing through life; yet, I wasn't even sure how to ask for help. From the first moment, I was put at ease and could tell Joseph was trustworthy and genuinely cared about my pain. He was able to help me put words to my story and walk with me to honesty. Joseph’s discernment and wisdom was balm to my heart. Time spent in the office changed my life. I had never before experienced hope and excitement concerning my own journey.

I HAD NEVER BEEN
TO A COUNSELOR BEFORE.

LT

We're currently raising funds for the future of Navah Retreats.

Our Future

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