Settembre 2023

A step outside, away from everyday life. Pure relaxation. Sweat and exhaustion. Time for yourself. Tranquility. Time to work with what appears in moments of quietness. Questions. Feelings. Trusting your feelings. Understanding. New approaches. Transformation. Feeling good. Well-being.

This is about the second HOLON Purifying Retreat in a nutshell.

All this in tandem with practical, measurable outcomes: one guest returned to a balanced and stable blood sugar level during the retreat and, after years, her menstruation, which had ceased much too early, came back as well, while other participants experienced relief from neck and jaw pain, headaches and dizziness stopped, with many of them reporting a feeling of ease, energy and the sensation of toning their body.

So many outcomes like these - from mild to game-changing - happen when we purify and reset our body into a more natural state. But what does "purification" and "a natural state" mean and how do we go about it?

We live in a world that is, to a large extent, shaped by humankind. We determine the furniture we sit on, the bed we sleep in, while means of transport have been invented and developed by humans. The technical devices we use and even the food we eat is often manufactured by us. Most of these things are convenient, but they are human-made. We accept them as part of the normal scheme of things, but they are anything but natural. They don’t grow on a tree, they are produced by humankind. These products can often be of great help and comfort. But while they may be useful in this way or that, they also move us away from our natural state, which is a state of balance, health, flow and glow. A state in which our inner being is in balance, while our outer being mirrors this. To put it more scientifically: a state in which our body fluids each have a perfect pH value (which differs for every fluid) and all our fluids can circulate within us with ease.

So, what do we do during the retreats? To put it succinctly: we purify back to our natural state. Especially the triad of food, movement and breathing, as these are the most crucial aspects for two reasons. Firstly because they tremendously influence our pH values and the circulation of all our body fluids. And secondly, because we are all in touch with these aspects every single day, which means we can either put them in proper condition or let them get out of whack every single day.

This method of purifying back to our normal state, and resetting into a more natural state sounds too simple and easy to be true. But it is indeed just that simple and easy. So easy that after the retreat, you can utilise this approach in your everyday life and continue to reap all the benefits.

Food
During a retreat, we serve food that is made from unprocessed ingredients that are natural and organic and combined to create an alkaline meal that is so delicious that it would never occur to anyone to say "it’s just a healthy option". It’s a delicious meal, not only exploding with taste, but where each and every cell in your body realises that it is good for you as well.

Breathing
Our everyday lives force us to breathe more as we sit for long periods of time, experiencing stress, fear, or panic. Or when we engage in sports or yoga sessions that cause us to breathe faster. When we do sports, we usually want to breathe more. We have this notion that the more we breathe, the better, or even that breathing is a sign of a good, challenging workout. Even when we do breathwork, we are often taught to breathe more. But breathing more causes a shift in our pH value with destructive consequences. During the retreat, we learn how to breathe less and how to use our breath to bring our pH value back to a healthy level. Because if we manage to do this, it has many positive consequences - consequences that strike one as astonishing the first time one is acquainted with this phenomenon. But it is as simple as this: by regulating your breath, you regulate your hunger and appetite, your sleep, your energy, you massage your body and you use your abdominal muscles in a way that makes any abdominal training unnecessary.

Movement
We do yoga in a way that brings your body fluids in motion and gets them flowing. In the mornings we start off with slow, gentle movements and continue with faster movements that help you develop a feeling for what it is like when you get your body fluids flowing. In the midday class, we dive deeper to learn and get a feeling for the details of the movements. Because the "secret" to all the movements and asanas we practice is to move from the core and experience what a big difference this makes - during the yoga sessions themselves, but also in our everyday lives - off the mat, so to speak. In the evening class, we start with fast movements, using the energy that has built up during the day, and then end the session with movements designed to ease us into the evening hours.

We are looking forward to our 2024 retreats.