$4200 | not including airfare

includes: boarding, group meals, excursions, transportation, workshops, and groupwork

Led by Alexandra Vassilaros, Pulitzer finalist and Make Meaning Workshop Founder & Facilitator.

In this honest, tender-hearted and supportive environment, participants will explore how their lived experiences, even their most difficult ones, can energize their capacity for connection, empathy, and resilience.

Participants will continue to explore and discover more about themselves and their life- changing experiences on paper.

Absolutely no writing experience is necessary to participate.

During the retreat, Brett will lead daily groups that will inspire and be inspired from our writing sessions and excursions. These somatic groups will draw on breathwork, meditation, movement, art, play, psychodrama, and group process. 

Spontaneously unfolding, these experiences and experiments will follow the flow of the retreat, the emergent themes and feelings, and the contours of Ikaria’s landscape and myths.

Drawing from our attunement to each other, from the unique alchemy of our group in this specific place and time, and from our ability to co-regulate, mirror, and hold one another, these groups will spark transformation, healing, wonder, and fun.

Reframing the stories we tell ourselves about ourselves, these groups will illuminate and lighten our fears, losses, and limitations, and help us remember who we really are.

Disclaimer: While these somatic groups will be led by a therapist and draw on therapeutic practices, this is not therapy.

Curated by Zina Wilde. For five days participants will find ways to nurture their hearts and souls while gently exploring their capacity for wonder and awe through experience.

Here are the basic needs that can be neglected during the challenging times of our lives and how we can address them:

- Sleep 8 hours

We will emphasize the importance of rest. Ikaria is a place where time has a very different meaning. The pace is slow and the land is there for our support and nurture. We can learn from the slow pace of the island  and pay attention to how we can prioritize our own wants and needs. Sun, fresh air, nature.  

-Move our bodies

Through meditation and breathwork we will connect with ourselves, the pure land and each other. Daily  hikes in picturesque locations and swimming in some of the most clear turquoise waters will bring us back to our own divinity.

- Eat well

Ikaria is famous for the most simple and fresh local food. We will dine together in some of the most magical locations and experience what it means to really taste to food and nurture our bodies.

In both the Iliad and the Odyssey "Pramnios wine" which is a wine that comes from Ikaria, was dedicated to the worship of god Dionysus, the god of wine and fun. The mythical kingdom of Oinoi is said to have been on the island. (Oinos in ancient Greek means wine)

- Connection

Make new friends and connect with others outside of your comfort zone. Create lifelong friendships that will enrich your life and make you feel like you're not alone.  Description text goes here