Retreats at SUN DOOR
Your Solo Retreat
A solo retreat offers you the chance to relax, reflect, and decompress in ways that are right for you. We're here for you in service to support that, while we love to share the abundance of Hornby Island and the special magic that is SUN DOOR. We welcome you with whole hearted warmth. Turning inward, as we do in retreat, you may gain clarity about your present ways of being, and find the inspiration to set new intentions that reflect your innermost longings for wellness. You can select your own private sessions and treatments and SUN DOOR will support you in this inner work, and provide all the rest. We provide lovely eco-friendly accommodation and deeply nourishing meals. We also support writing retreats and solo retreats based on your own budget and personal practices and creative endeavours.
Your Group Retreat
We welcome small groups to come together in retreat to experience the synergy of practice in the community of others and the natural world. We encourage teachers of all healing modalities to bring students on retreat here for concentrated periods of study and practice. We provide your accommodation, meals, practice space and guidance to visit some of Hornby's most beautiful spots. We offer healing practices and treatments to enrich and complement your time here with us.
Healing practices and treatments offered at SUN DOOR
SOMA Yoga
Diane combines the essentials of Yoga and Hanna Somatics into a physical practice specific to your needs that bring aliveness and ease in your body, breath and mind. Through Yoga the invitiation is to quell the fluctuations of the mind and marry the body with the breath. In Somatics the body is re-educated to move freely, diminish long standing postural discomforts and bring ease in your everyday movements. The session provides a deep release of tension and can resolve restlessness, fatigue, anxiety, stiffness, and soreness, as well as effectively treat trauma and compulsions. SOMA Yoga is decades of practice developed into a full practice that will soothe and regulate the nervous system, and return you to a natural state of being. You will take home a series of movements to work with to keep the benefits rolling in.
Somatic Experiencing
Somatic Experiencing (SE) is a form of body-awareness therapy that works to relieve symptoms of trauma, With Diane, you will delicately tap into and out of held trauma with comfort, strength and supportive safety, gently bringing the nervous system to its natural regulated state. This approach to healing trauma can repair the wounds that trigger ongoing symptoms and emotional reactions, impacting our lives. The ancient practice of Yoga Nidra does this from a yogic perspective through deep conscious, relaxation. Your session includes a 30 minute Yoga Nidra practice.
Menopause as Tranformation!
Walk this royal road with Diane, she's been there! Explore the paths through menopause that all lead to greater aliveness and connection to your true elder nature. The journey never ends and promises transformation through the darndest conditioning. Soma Yoga in all it's guises is the practice provided in this session. You'll look at sensible, creative remedies for the 37 (!) symptoms of menopause. You'll relax, unwind, rest, challenge and reclaim yourself, wandering into a somatic conversation yourself and renogotiating this next exciting chapter of your precious life.
Medical Medium and Emotional Release
Work with Jean to improve your well being through the Medical Medium approach to optimal nutritional health, and the sound release of emotions.
Sound Bath
A sound Bath with Chelka will restore you to your natural state of flowing with life.
Massage/Bodywork
A treatment with Andrea Rutz is memorable and long lasting.
Yoga
Tracey offers a variety of one-on-one yoga sessions that may include posture, breath practice, and meditation tailored to your needs and interests. If you are working with trauma or chronic pain, Tracey can introduce you to techniques that may help you find greater ease and comfort. Inspired by Swami Radha and the Hidden Language Hatha practice of the Yasodhara Ashram, Tracey also offers a practice of asana coupled with self-study (svadhyaya) that aims to help you access your intuitive knowing and the intelligence innate to postures themselves. Whatever approach you choose, Tracey will always encourage and support you in developing and sustaining your own personal home practice - the place where you meet yourself face to face and practice choosing to follow your inner authority rather than an external voice.
Nutrition Coaching
and Kitchen Witching
Join Tracey to explore the world of food and nutrition. This might be a sit-down heart-to-heart, or a roll-up-your-sleeves and let-down-your-hair session of kitchen-witching in Sun Door’s lodge house. Step into the kitchen, and Tracey will encourage you to ditch the fussy recipes and instead be inspired by your deep hungers as you dive into the alchemy of spontaneous creation with fire and water and ingredients straight from the earth. Take away a fresh perspective on food and kitchen “work”. Take away new skills and ideas to nourish well your own body and spirit, as well as all who come to feast at your table. If you struggle with eating disordered behaviours, Tracey has a wealth of experience, specific training, and a special soft spot in her heart just for you.
Re-Wilding: Five Element Theory in the Lap of Nature
In the Ayurvedic tradition, Five Element Theory theory teaches that the Universe and everything in it is composed of Earth, Water, Fire, Air and Space. Because we are a part of nature, we are also made of these same 5 elements. When the essential energies of the elements are balanced within us, we experience profound wellness and vitality. Conversely, when we are unwell, we can move towards healing any moment we choose to connect with the elements so as to intentionally reawaken and balance their energies within ourselves. Tracey calls this your “re-wilding,” and she will delight in guiding you to Hornby Island’s most special off-the-beaten-path wild places for practices that may have you getting sun drenched, saltwater wet, wind-blown, and very very Earthy. This is rich, joyful, and sometimes rowdy stuff. It’s pure poetry and an adventure of interconnectedness that will ground you in your body and touch your spirit in a most lively and affirming way.
Labyrinth Ritual
The labyrinth is an ancient archetypical map for the healing journey, the soul’s path, the journey of life. Over thousands of years, countless good folk have entered the sacred space of the labyrinth with high purpose. Some feel that the healing energy and power of the collective unconscious carries over and becomes tangible and available to every one in every labyrinth through space and time. When we step onto a spiralling labyrinth with intention, we step into that pool of energy. The mind can relax as the body and breath drop into walking rhythm. To the degree we are consciously, curiously, and joyously willing to walk with it, the energy of the labyrinth may offer us support in times of transition, illness, questioning, grieving, celebration. Join Tracey to co-create your personalized labyrinth ritual. You may choose to walk Sun Door’s grassy labyrinth, or learn how to trace your own winding labyrinth in the low tide sand.