Hello Qi Friends, this is a post about my co-leading a workshop / retreat in Costa Rica in June of 2020. Coming soon!
My friend and colleague, Jay DeMaio and I will lead this dynamic, restorative and potent retreat. We found an amazing mountain retreat guest house in the Southern Central mountains of Costa Rica, and they have their own restaurant – they are happy to do vegetarian and vegan options as well. Pretty much all local and organic food!
We are looking for a group of practitioners – whether yogis, meditators, qigong / tai chi practitioners etc – who are looking to deepen their practice and cultivate loving-kindness, compassion and potency. There will be ample breaks for exploring the trails around the guest house (where they have streams, waterfalls and pools) along with guided meditation and qigong to deepen your practice.
It will be a small group – 12 or 13 of us total. There will be two half-day excursions, so we get to swim at the beach and hike close to a beautiful, idyllic and sacred waterfall. There are not a lot of spots, so let us know if you are interested! And if so, start checking out plane tickets soon (we cover all transportation after you land at San Jose International Airport) and make sure your passport is up-to-date!
This is not a party-on-the-beach type of tropical retreat. If you require recreational substances, it would be better to find another group. We are looking for dedicated practitioners who want to grow and stretch themselves a little, while enjoying the restorative cloud forests of Costa Rica. Everything on our schedule is optional however, so if participants need extra hiking or down time, that is completely understood.
The tentative schedule is optional Qigong from 6 – 8 am. 8 – 10 is breakfast, yoga, walk time. 10 – 11:45 is a calm abiding / shamatha meditation on the breath, using the Anapanasati practices. 11:45 – 12:30 – qigong.
12:30 – 3 pm is lunch break, short hikes, nap, rest, integration. 3 – 5 is Zapchen Somatics (somatic exercises which help us to come down out of our head, to playfully move toward relaxed awareness and grounded embodiment) and silent meditation practice. 5 – 6:30 is dinner – where we will engage in Noble Silence.
6:30 – 7:30 – is Dream Time practice, where we get to embody and immerse ourselves in someone’s dream, enriching the process of dream interpretation. Then there will be two shorter silent meditation practices from 7:30 – 9.
Meditation Informs Healing Facilitation 