RETREATS

HEALING PRESENCE:
PRACTICING WITH A WHOLE HEART

Joy is more than a feeling. It is a state of being that has room for things that we don’t consider so joyful: sadness, self-loathing, anxiety, anger, regret. Self-love is more than deeming ourselves “good enough,” worthy, and lovable; it is a condition of the heart that knows how to embrace our experience of ourselves unconditionally. Presence is more than merely paying attention, it is an experience drenched in empathy, warmth, and humor.

Blending the insights of neuroscience, Tibetan Buddhism, psychoanalysis, and Internal Family Systems therapy; this will be a weekend of deep practice, lively discussion, and emotional resolution.

Teachings are appropriate for health care professionals as well as the general public. Health care professionals will be able to incorporate the tools and practices offered in this program in ways beneficial to clients or patients. Continuing Education (CE) credit available. See below for attendance requirements and more information.

From Confusion to Clarity: How to Heal Every
Part of You

The disruptive negative emotions and repetitive patterns in our lives are not our enemies. They are messengers, sounding the alarm from deep within us that something longs to be healed at our core. Every extreme emotion we experience is directly linked to a core hurt that lives insides of us. Our habit may be to distract ourselves from or numb out these troublesome parts, but sooner or later we must reckon with them or else things will only get worse. Too many of us live in the dark about how to do just that in a way that effective, holistic, and non-judgmental.

Research findings of the last two decades have revealed how our unresolved frustrations and traumas — both large and small, “live” in our bodies and are the source of all repetitive patterns, compulsive self-medicating and distracting, involuntary emotional eruptions, intrusive thoughts, and repeat difficulties in intimate relationships. This means the very root of all that holds us back is right here with us, and we ourselves can go directly to the source to find insight, resolve, resilience, and self-compassion when we are empowered with the proper tools and skills to do so. 

This retreat will give you the inner technology to do so. Set in breathtaking Playa del Carmen at a sacred, ceremonial site, Ralph will be offering processes that integrate Internal Family Systems, Tibetan meditation, neuroscience, trauma theory, and radical self-love. You will learn evidence-based skills for working with your own hurts and defenses and being your own healer long after the retreat is done. Plant ceremonies utilizing psilocybin to enhance your process (included in your registration fees but completely optional) will be offered by trained shaman and sound healer Kate Ryan, and supported by seasoned facilitators Amanda Schnedel, Heather Addams, and Jessica Grotfeldt.

THE MONKEY IS THE MESSENGER:
WHAT YOUR BUSY MIND IS TRYING TO TELL YOU

Embark on a deep and enlightening journey into self-love that offers new clarity and tools for becoming your own healer. In this program, Ralph De La Rosa introduces insights and evidence-based processes for engaging with your whole self and uncovering the wisdom that lies behind all neurosis. Blending meditation, neuroscience, Tibetan Buddhism, evolutionary psychology, psychoanalysis, and Internal Family Systems therapy, he teaches you how to

• Settle the mind and go deeper in meditation with somatic mindfulness and easy breathwork techniques
• Understand and compassionately resolve difficult emotions
• Rest and restore your nervous system in a safe and supportive environment.

Through lively talks and discussion periods, Ralph shows how the noise of the mind follows repetitive patterns. There are specific emotions we experience again and again; patterns in our behaviors and relationships that repeat themselves. We tend to meet these patterns with disdain, viewing them as obstacles that don’t serve our higher purpose.

Yet, the self is an ecosystem in which all parts act in service to the whole. This program offers ways to relate to difficult parts of ourselves, bringing about surprising transformations and opening new avenues for joy and compassion.