Conscious Connecting ~ Day Retreat

We invite you to a day of self exploration and conscious connecting. Your hosts Jean and Kate will guide you gently through some beautiful embodiment practices such as Yoga, Meditation, Conscious Breathwork, Journalling & Integration practices.

Use this space to expand your consciousness, rejuvenate body, mind and heart. This is an opportunity to step into the multidimensional being that you are, embracing each Now moment with tender, loving awareness and embodied presence.

What To Expect:

Welcome | 8:30am-9am

Morning Yoga Flow - Ashtanga Vinyasa | 9am-10am

Wake up and flow into the day with a morning ashtanga vinyasa yoga class lead by Kate. This class will start with some pranayama, leading into an energized flow. The aim of the class is to stretch, strengthen, ground and open up the body. This yoga flow helps to open up the nadis. Just as our physical body has a nervous system, so our subtle or astral body has nadis, which are the energy channels that flow within the subtle body (just like veins and arteries in the physical body) that carry prana or life force energy throughout the body.

Guided Meditation & Cacao in Nature | 10am-12pm

Next, we will go on a short walk to a sacred nature spot on the south side of Table Mountain. (The walk will be about 20mins and any fitness level will do). Drop into your centre as Kate leads you through a mindfulness meditation. We will be exploring our inner worlds with a kind presence and loving awareness. This meditation is about being with what is, without trying to fix or change anything. Where you are, is exactly where you are meant to be right now. Who you are is enough.

We use Cacao before the meditation and the Breathwork as a way to open up our hearts and drop deeper within. Cacao is not just a drink, she is medicine. Medicine of the heart, medicine of the body, medicine of the soul and medicine of peace. Cacao is a space holder, she helps us to open our hearts and to step into our emotional self without getting wrapped up in it. 

Cacao opens us to creativity, love, intuition, depth, clarity, healing and connection. Cacao facilitates awakening. On a physiological side, Cacao helps to open various neurotransmitters: phenylehylamine (love molecule), anandamide (bliss molecule), serotonin (happiness hormone) and oxytocin (bonding hormone).

Reflection, Lunch & Rest | 12pm-1:30pm

We will break for a delicious plant based lunch and allow for some down time. Please email any dietary restrictions beforehand.

Conscious Breathwork | 1:30pm-4pm

Jean will be guiding us through a gently held Conscious Breathwork session, ideal for first timers or experienced breathers. We will start with a short introduction, followed by a calming breath awareness practice, then we will engage in the technique of Conscious Connected Breathing. Afterwards we will gently come back to our normal state of consciousness and move into the integration phase.

More about the technique

Conscious Connected Breathing is a method of breath control that gives rise to expanded states of consciousness and has an effect on physical, mental, emotional and spiritual well-being as we activate the body’s inner healing intelligence.

The journey will be guided by carefully curated music and the intelligence of your own circular,connected breath. This combination allows you to move into a heart space while accessing expanded states of consciousness. The process brings more energy and awareness into the body as the breather experiences a vibrational shift which releases suppressed energy, emotions, stress and trauma. This journey activates both unconscious discomfort and ecstatic bliss as the intelligence of Life Force energy (Prana/Qi) leads us to exactly where we need to awaken and let go.

The process allows one to:

• become aware of self-limiting habits

• open to the capacity for self-healing

• re-pattern dysfunctional breathing patterns

• shift thoughts and feelings around the unknown

• examine limiting beliefs and emotional addictions

• resolve and bring awareness to unhealthy patterns and   conditioning

• experience states of pure, unconditional love, acceptance and bliss

During the session you will have the opportunity to access your own internal healing energy and greater knowing in a safely held space, allowing for a powerful shift in yourself and your life. After the session you will have time to gently come back to your normal state of being, while enjoying a nourishing cup of tea.

Journaling &  Mandala drawing as part of Integration | 4pm-5pm. (Optional)

Integration is the process of taking insights or teachings from a transformational experiences and incorporating them into our lives in ways that benefit us and our communities. It’s the way we translate the symbolic material into concrete actions for personal betterment and healing.

Journaling is a wonderful tool to use when processing and reflecting on an experience. Reflecting after a breathwork session is important. A lot may come up for the practitioner during a breathwork session, so having a calm and quiet space afterwards in which to decompress, reflect and integrate is important. Putting it down on paper often helps to clear the mind and help with clear communication thereafter. As American philosopher John Dewy said: “we do not learn from experience… we learn from reflecting on experience.”

Mandala is a sanskrit word, literally meaning “circle’ or “completion”. In the most general sense, this term can be used for any design showing complex geometrical symmetry, such as a spider web, arrangement of petals in a flower, a sea shell or labyrinth design, just to name a few.

For our mandala drawing integration session, there’s are no specific guidelines for the drawing. Some prefer formless colour combinations capturing the general atmosphere or emotional tone of their experience, others prefer figurative drawings. There’s no right or wrong way - only expressing whatever comes up!  We do not need to interpret the mandalas in a detailed manner, we only use them as a source of information about the Conscious Breathwork experience.

We will have colour pencils/pens/paint/paper to use, but please feel free to bring along anything else you would like to express your Mandala with. (For example: more crayons or cut-outs etc).

Conscious Dance | 4:30pm-5:30pm

We will end the day with a blend of movement and music which will connect you to Breath, your body and the present moment. Through Conscious Dance you have the opportunity to express freely your Authentic way of Being. No prior dance experience necessary, you just let go and move! 

Sharing, Closing Circle & Fire Ceremony |  5:30pm-6pm

EXCHANGE | R1200 per person  

Limited to 10 people!

We are very much looking forward to this special day with you! 

Contraindications:

Conscious Breathwork may result in certain physiological changes in the body and can also result in intense physical and emotional release. Therefore, it is advisable to contact Jean (info@bodhibreathwork.com) before the event if any of the following conditions relate to you currently:

1 Epilepsy

2 Pregnancy

3 Glaucoma

4 Detached Retina

5 Family history of aneurysms

6 High Blood Pressure that is not controlled with medication.

7 Use of prescription blood thinning medications such as Coumadin

8 Strokes, seizures, TIAs or other brain/neurological condition or disease

9 Cardiovascular disease and/or irregularities including prior heart attack

10 Prior diagnosis by a health professional of bipolar disorder or schizophrenia

11 Hospitalization for any psychiatric condition or emotional crisis during the past 10 years.

By joining my Breathwork sessions you take full responsibility and release me as the facilitator, Jean Rossouw from any liability claims.

How to prepare for this work:

• Hydrate and have a proper breakfast at least an hour before the retreat. Preferably no Alcohol at least a day before the retreat.

• Mindfulness practices can support the preparation process, such as movement practices, yoga, dancing, a massage, grounding with nature, walks, meditation, mindful eating, quiet time, etc.  Sometimes just being aware of what shows up in your life, insights, day dreams, night dreams, etc.

• It can be as small or large as life permits for each of you, we are aware that sometimes we can’t do much, but to trust that the retreat is a wonderful gift to yourself!

We look forward to holding space for you and guiding you through this day of conscious connecting and inner realm work.