we are very excited to welcome sat guru back to vitruvian wellness for a day of healing, growth and letting go. we were curious "what does an urban day restorative somatic retreat look like?" so we asked the expert, sat guru, and she gave us all the details.
what does somatic breathwork do?
somatic breathwork is a gentle, soft but powerfully nourishing breath that heals the body and mind through breath and micro movements of self touch. allowing yourself to be touched in certain places on the body where you hold trauma creates space for repressed emotions to surface and to be felt. growing in presence through the breath and somatic touches and exercises you become more able to feel and tap into your sensations which is a part of the somatic therapy, to ground and to release any negative emotions/sensations. releasing these negative emotions/sensations lets expand your state of awareness, be more in the moment and be present to all your resistances so healing can take place.
why did you decide to pair somatic breathwork, kundalini yoga, tea ritual, oracle card readings and the gong together?
for a complete experience of clearing energetic blocks, to find peace of mind and to come into a deeper and more resonating connection with yourself, and others. I decided to pair somatic breathwork, kundalini yoga, tea ritual and oracle card readings (with the gong) to allow a journey to take place. by starting slow and gently building a safe and trusting container, you feel held and feel comfortable in your own physical body to let go, let yourself breathe, come into presence and be you. kundalini Yoga creates movement and moves through mental/emotional/physical blocks, the somatic breathwork eases us into an inner journey lying down where we can feel all that we moved in the kundalini yoga and become present with just the breath and the act of being still. We allow ourselves to feel our sensations and where we may hold more internal blocks and breathe into those places through guided meditation and visualization and a specially curated playlist to inspire, to expand our consciousness and allow ourselves to dream. followed by an integration of relaxation with the sound of the gong and tibetan bowls and to crystalize the energetic changes made in the yoga and breathwork and to experience the power of integration and the art of looking in. we close with a rose tea ritual which expands our heart and internal receptive qualities to receive a message from the oracle card reading, intuitively guided in the circle space, where we will close with a sacred sharing.
what is the benefit of combining these modalities into a 4 hour long retreat?
the benefit of combining these modalities into a 4 hour long retreat is that we use the sibam (sensations, imagery, behaviour, affect/emotion, meaning) techniques of somatics to heal trauma, realign our spirit, recharge our batteries and clear our minds thereby feeling connected to ourselves and others, through movement - yoga, breathing - somatic breath, sound - cosmic gong, meditation - oracle cards and opening up to our intuition.
what is the importance or the role of the rose in this retreat?
The importance or the role of the rose in this retreat is to enhance our yin side, the female in all of us, the lunar quality, which is learning to be receptive. to sit back into our energy field, and allow a deeper meaning from the cards to come to us. rose has a medicinal quality and is known to open the heart, soothe the mind and ease the throat chakra, vishuddha, so we can voice our truth. rose is used to heal a broken heart and reminds us to be gentle and kind to ourselves.
how do you know if your heart chakra is blocked and that it needs to be cleared?
You know if the heart chakra (Anahata) is blocked as you may feel a physical dull ache, tension, heaviness around the heart centre, or you may have a problem connecting to your emotions. You may find it hard to forgive and have bitter feelings, especially of the past. you may also have problems in relationships and find intimacy challenging.
why and how did you get into this field of work?
I got into this field of work 25 years ago in mexico. My spiritual path started then while I was working on the titanic movie in mexico. i travelled around many beautiful places and one day I arrived at a place which was so stunning but i couldn't connect anymore to the outside beauty and felt removed. i asked the universe to show me what this life was about and so my journey began. i became obsessed with hiding in the pyramids at night to wake up for the sunrise and meditate and pray on the morning rays in the riviera maya. this changed my life. soon after, i met a powerful shaman in mexico and did some reiki healing with oracle cards and from there found the kundalini path and the master of kundalini yoga which took me onto my journey of travelling and teaching and healing around the world. kundalini opened up my higher chakras whereas Somatic Experiencing anchored the higher frequencies into the lower part of my body to experience a release of old patterns/traumas and a feeling of healthy groundedness and of incarnating in this physical temple.