I feel like a new person. I highly recommend the retreat experience. I’ve had a tough year with everything coming at me; work, family, the loss of my parents, a possible loss of a marriage, and coming here taught me that I am capable, that I can handle what’s coming my way no matter what it is. Go on a retreat for no reason, but if you are going through something, it will help you feel your power again.

I’ve never been on a retreat before, and I didn’t quite know what to expect. I was intrigued by the concept of shamanic healing, but I didn’t really understand how spiritual, how intense, how it really pulls together all the senses, all the influences of the universe to kind of crescendo into this amazing euphoria, imagination and seeing visions that you never realized before. I feel like I’m walking away with a great sense of hope and optimism and also some practical tools to take home and change my diet.

I really enjoyed was meeting other likeminded people from all parts of the world. We’ve made close friendships in the few days that we’ve known each other. What I also liked was that I felt very safe. I didn’t feel judged about the things I shared in our circle time. Karin and Johnson work really well together, and they make you feel really at ease. It’s meant so much to me that this is something I plan to do now every year.

The breathwork was really enlightening. It was really challenging, but I came out on the other side feeling very opened up. And certainly the gut health discussions were very enlightening. I was surprised to discover I was holding on to so much. It really took this retreat to make me realise the weight of what I really holding on to. This retreat is really for people who are caught up in the overwhelm of day to day life or not being true to themselves. I would highly recommend this so that you have a break to re-find yourself.

I’ve been to a couple of retreats previously, and it was a luck of the draw in terms of who you were put together with. I think we had the perfect combination of people and facilitators to really make it a transformational experience. Both Karin and Johnson have a wealth of knowledge. It was really inspiring to see how they articulated things so beautifully and simplified things in a way that was really helpful in day to day life.

What I liked most about this retreat was the diversity of people, and diversity of experiences, from hiking to yoga to meditation to learning about my health and my body. My favourite experience is floating in the pool after a session of yoga and just feeling so good in my body.

Learning about nutrition and how to eat better has been a highlight for sure. Also, through the whole spiritual part of the retreat with the shamanic journeys, I learned so much about myself. There was a lot of clarity. I am definitely incorporating a lot of the morning routine that I learned here, and also a lot of the spiritual practices I learned.

I love that we start the day with a good yoga practice with Johnson. He makes us do these breathwork practices, which I’ve never done before. After starting the day like that, you really feel so energized. I knew a lot about nutrition already, but coming to the retreat showed me that there was so much more to learn. If I had to summarize this retreat in one word, it would be self-love.

Yesterday when we all laid in a circle and we did a lot of chakra releasing, there was this beautiful energy, and it filled me with a lot of calm. I feel much lighter than when I came, which was much heavier.

I love that during the retreat, I was able to get some me time. I discovered who I am. I am able to be a little bit more patient in what I’m doing for the future. One word to describe this retreat … excellent.