This retreat will start you on your path of healing, exploration and growth. We will use the four elements of earth, air, fire and water to reconnect with our mind, body, heart, and spirit, and with each other. You will learn to use your breath to get in touch with your true self and experience the power of the cold to shake loose the fears and blocks that hold you back.
Flow of the day (approx. 5 hrs):
- Opening ceremony, gathering around the fire, coming together as a community
- Connecting to our body through grounding movement
- Reconnecting with our breath, for so many have lost this most primal connection to self
- We let the mind go, and dive deeper and deeper with rounds of breathing and meditation
- Time for personal reflection, journaling, sharing and delicious snacks
- Lighting our inner fire, putting mind over matter, and going into the ice water
- Just as it started, we end around the fire to release what was trapped within, share with each other and close our space.
About the Fire Ceremony
Fire has been with us since the dawn of humanity and our evolution radically changed once we learned to harness this powerful element. The experience of our ancestors is alive and well within us. It feels like we’re apart, but the fire ceremony draws on our connection to those who came before us and the land we are on.
In the fire ceremony we will connect with the ancient stories that weave through our DNA. We draw them forward and unburden the weight that was never ours to carry; it does not serve us anymore. We then set new intentions in a ceremonial space of healing and growth. Feel the presence of all who came before you: all parts of who you are.
We use the ceremony as an invitation to come together and share our energy. As we begin and end with the fire, we create a container for all that is to transpire throughout the day, bringing our darkness into the light and giving back to the flames of the fire, destroying what is not needed so something new can rise from the ashes.
About the Ice
Over time, we humans have developed a different attitude towards nature and we’ve forgotten about our inner power: the ability of our body to adapt to extreme temperatures and survive within our natural environment. For millennia our existence was about survival.
Because we wear clothes and artificially control the temperatures at home and at work, we’ve greatly reduced the natural stimulation on our bodies, giving up the age-old mechanisms related to our survival, basic health and functioning. Because these deeper physiological layers are no longer triggered, our bodies are no longer in touch with this inner power. But, this inner power is a force that can be reawakened by stimulating these physiological processes through the intentional exposure to the cold.
We know it greatly improves our immune function, flushes inflammation from our body, unleashes our feel-good hormones, and ups our stress resilience. Stress and inflammation are the basis of all modern diseases. The true power of the cold lies in the psychological effects: we do the difficult thing, put our mind over matter, conquer our fears, come into the present moment, and meet ourselves as we truly are. When we go into the cold on a regular basis we develop the strength to do anything!
