Aesthetic Rapture - A Mid-Spring Non-dual Tantrik Yoga Retreat in Nature

Join us to dive into the depths and heights of connection with self, the serenity of trees, and life-loving, creative community! 

Friday, May 15 to Monday, 18th, we gather in Pioneer, CA (about 2:20 from the Bay Area) to delve into Non-dual Tantrik Yoga: philosophy, particularly around the concept of aesthetic rapture, heart-opening, connective practices, yoga asana, breathwork, meditation, mantra, song, art making, and creative, self-expressive writing exercises and games.

Ekabhumi Ellik, a dedicated yogin and sacred artist extraordinaire, will be joining us to guide meditative sacred art-making with chanting and intention! I am so honored and delighted to work with this master of Indian (and other) arts! We will also have a silent disco (using headphones) with the trees in Ecstatic Dance style w/ DJ Boogiemeister

AND! So many incredible folx keep jumping on board to support this adventure! Joao Paolo & Sandra B. will be joining us to bring body & energy work & conscious relating practices! This is a long weekend full of supreme, creative lounging, deep learning, introspection, and vitality-boosting practices.

The land we are on is thick with trees and rich with highly stylized, artistic buildings made from 90% upcycled materials. We are being hosted by the creator, Bobby Lee. We have luxurious indoor and outdoor spaces for lounging and gathering, including a 12-person hot tub, showers, sleeping bunks, flat camp & RV spots, an indoor/outdoor gourmet, industrial-grade kitchen, a fire pit, and a magickal madrone tree surrounded by a welcoming deck that fits at least 30 for yoga, ceremony, and dancing. There is a sweet river spot 10 minutes away for swimming and observing the movements of life via water, and a pristine lake further up the hill. 

This is highly curated, full-service glamping with all the amenities. We provide nourishing, organic meals and snacks. On-site body workers will be available at reduced rates for fellow retreat participants.

Pioneer, CA, is a scenic, unincorporated town in Amador County at ~3,000 ft elevation along State Route 88 in the Sierra Foothills. Known for its pine forests, this community of roughly 1,000–1,200 residents serves as a quiet mountain getaway and a gateway to Sierra Nevada recreation. Local attractions include Black Chasm Cave, Indian Grinding Rock State Historic Park, and Tiger Creek Reservoir.

Please note that this is a NOTAFLOF event. There are also work-trade rates available. Please reach out to lucid w/ any questions or needs. <3

Retreat. Re-wild. Extract the juice of life from every experience. Each moment of beauty, awe, and wonder offers us the opportunity to remember our divine, connected, and blissful nature. So many beautiful works of art (across all media) were born of our human desire to find meaning in life's challenges and to celebrate the beauty, wisdom, and lessons from every tragedy, sadness, or grief. Seeing the world is what causes it to be. Each of us is a perceiver and creator. The essence of aesthetic experience is rasa generated through presence with the raw matter of our art and the art of life. The nature of aesthetic experience is the ability to extract rasa from life; this is what we create art from.

Living as artists or Tantrikas is about constantly extracting the juice, being present with the essence without grasping or aversion. It is savoring the experience of our existence, no matter what it is. It is the juicing, mining, attending to life with a curious, courageous presence… slowing down… being present to what unfolds in each and every moment.

Come join us to dream in and create the more beautiful world we know is possible!

DAY ONE - FRIDAY - meet the land, commune w/ the natural world

12-430 - Folx will arrive at different times - We guide set up & landing

• logistics sheet posted for reference (camp, restrooms, water, trash, schedule)

• OFFERINGS - connection prompts to get to know one another

• Meet & greet elixir & smoothie bar - 3-430

• Dinner prep! (support welcome!)

430-630 - Intro Tantrik Worldview, philosophy & teachers & ALTAR & Ma-drone

Ekabhumi - dharma talk on the theme of Aesthetic rapture… <3 

• EMPTY OUT & GROUND ASANA & meditation w/ readings - connect to nature
  

630-730 - OPENING ritual- @ Ma-drone

• Bhuta shuddhi 

• Release/ grief ritual

• Cleansing Breath practice

• Song circle

730 - Dinner - grounding food & welcoming sweets

Fire Puja w/new moon honoring music/chants..

• Transmutation time - Intention Setting

• Tantrik Gayatri

• offering of contemplations for quiet time

830a - Asana w/Abhyanga as (morning) practice - self blessing <3

& Breathwork

10 - Meditation to open to the new… see things anew… connect to nature, know yourself as the beauty that you see - ponder interconnectedness <3

1030 - SONG Circle

11a - Brunch - 

1p - Intro to Moon Yantra & Mantra w/Eka - coloring time 

3p - Connection & relating practices w/Joao & Sandra

Afternoon - OPTIONAL - Sensual Dessert-making workshop

• Energy healing/ massage w/Sandra & Joao 

• lounge &/or create!

5p - Evening - Partner Yoga 

Readings & meditation on aesthetic rapture

7p - Dinner - w/ informal connection prompts

8p - Fire Puja - w/inspired shares based on prompt / Aesthetic Rapture - share expressions of awe-some and devastating beauty and wonder, sharing of experiences & writings

9-11 p.m. - Silent disco!!

DAY 3 - Sunday- River time!  - expand your sense of self <3 

9-11a - Yoga on deck - Asana w/ natural world reflections, readings & writing prompts

11a - brunch & logistics for river afternoon

1-4 - Breath, meditation, writing prompts, play!! 

Picnic! @ the river

(Schedule depending on weather!) 

5-7 - Integration circle - sharing of experience

To digest

How to take home new ways and views - bring this into daily life

Writing time - Eka haiku game

7p - Connection games & dinner

Dinner - dinner theater! Share writings, songs, etc! 

8p - Fire puja - share songs and writings

Monday - integration & digestion - dina carya, how to take it all home sustainably <3 

9a - Asana, breath, mantra w/ readings

Improv based on who what where when

Make art

Thai massage!?