Five Stories: A Wellness Retreat with Jill Bodak

Caledon, Ontario
October 25-27, 2024

To register your spot please email jill@originalhealthandwellness.com with your name and your preferred sleeping space/rate.

Category:

Feel your body. Catch your breath. Share your voice.

Two times a year, I take a group for a “weekend away” to explore the 5 stories of your own health. These deep-dive weekends are a way for patients from my clinical practice, people who are curious about movement and voice or people looking to work with me in an intensive way, to experience the movement and breath concepts we don’t have time to really learn in clinical appointments. From the soles of your feet to the roof of your mouth we will look at what it means to be well and how you can feel that for yourself. This work ties together all the things I teach and the ideas that inform how I work with bodies into one extended study of the ways our movement and how we breathe impact how we feel and how we sound.

This retreat utilizes the movement practices of “Warming-In” that I have taught through Anatomy on Purpose with the vocal practices of Emotionally Integrated Voice, created by my teacher Fides Krucker, along with a three-day dialogue (internally and externally) about what it means to be well. We will use gentle attentive movement, dropped-belly breathing and yawns and sighs to get familiar with our own bodies, how they work and how we can know when they are well. Everyone with a body is welcome.

If you’ve been looking for a way to:

  • understand more about my work and how to integrate it into your daily life
  • reconnect with your body
  • understand your body and how to be in it in a new way
  • structure/deepen a safe and accessible movement practice
  • make some noise and move some feelings
  • use your voice as a way to be well
  • reflect on where your wellness journey is, and where you’d like it go
  • meet some incredible new people
  • build like-minded community
  • learn through silence and sound
  • slow down and appreciate nature

Then this retreat is for you!


When: Arrive at 4:00pm on Friday, October 25, 2024, and depart 12:00pm on Sunday, October 27, 2024

Where: Caledon/Terra Cotta Ontario (Private address given to participants only upon registration. Ride share available.)

Who: A group of 10 (max) students curious about their own bodies and how to feel better living in them. *Open to exploring movement, breath, sound, stillness, writing and community as ways to cultivate that good feeling.


What We Will Do
  • Retreat into nature to deepen our understanding of what it means to be well.
  • Use gentle movement practices and guided body explorations to understand the 5 stories of our structural health (the arches of the feet, the pelvic floor, bottom of the lungs, top of the lungs and the hood of the mouth) and how they relate to healthy movement.
  • Practice dropped belly breathing, yawns, sighs, and other natural human sound making to connect our movement practice to our breathing and our voice.
  • Small group activities that use silence, sound, writing, moving and partner work to bring these ideas to life!
  • Enjoy the ease of reading, writing, moving, singing and stillness- in the most beautiful setting with a small group of exceptional humans.
  • This is a framework that mixes my experience with formal meditation, movement as a mindfulness practice, movement as a way to be well and emotionally integrated voice work into a new kind of retreat practice.
What We Will Eat
  • Simple, yummy, whole foods, prepared daily at the house (gluten free, dairy free and veg options- we’ll be planning food according to the group’s needs).
  • Snacks, tea and coffee provided throughout the day.
Where We Will Be

We have the incredible gift of staying at my dear friend (and fellow emotionally integrated voice teacher) Sheila Goldman’s house in Terra Cotta, Ontario. The house itself is a refuge and boasts vaulted cathedral ceilings, a beautiful practice space with a grand piano, its own pond and waterfall with endless grounds and trails to explore. We will share her home together for the weekend and it will love us as much as we all love it. If you’ve never had a chance to see this place, the whole retreat is worth it just to be in the space. If you’ve been there before, you’ll know that you have to come back!

What You Will Get
  • Daily guided movement practices to introduce the fundamentals of “Warming-In”
  • Daily guided vocal practices to connect that movement to your own voice
  • Daily guided meditation and writing prompts
  • 1 Gong Meditation Sound Bath
  • Time to play, laugh and feel
  • Unlimited walks in nature
  • Q & A time to troubleshoot your own hang-ups in body, breath or sound
  • Yummy food
  • Good people

Accommodation Options and Pricing

*Pricing includes accommodation, food, snacks, and tuition.

1 Private King Bedroom: $1000 + HST (Or 2 People @ $700 Each)
1 Shared Room With Two Queen Beds: $800 Per Person + HST
6 Single Beds – Dorm Style Loft: $700 Per Person + HST
2 Single Beds in Semi-Private Den: $750 Per Person + HST

*** To register your spot please email jill@originalhealthandwellness.com with your name and your preferred sleeping space/rate. You will receive a confirmation email and invoice for payment to confirm your enrolment and sleeping space.


Retreat Schedule

For those of you who love details, here is the rough schedule based on our retreat from last spring:

Friday
4:00 Arrival
5:00 Welcome, orientation, jobs, safety/container
5:30 Movement and group work
6:30 Group Dinner (Curry and Rice)
8:00 Intro to Five Stories Practice (move, sing, write, sit)
9:00 Gong Sound Bath
10:30 Lights Out

Saturday
7:00am wakeup bell
7:15 Open Breakfast
8:00-9:45 Five Stories Practice (move, sing, write, sit)
10:00-11:00 Group 1 Outside Project + Piano Voice Work
Snack!
11:15-12:15 Group Discussion, Q & A, Intro to Kettlebells
12:30 Open Lunch
Rest/Walk/Enjoy/Reflect
2:45- 4:15 Five Stories Practice (move, sing, write, sit)
4:15-5:15 Group 2 Outside Project + Piano Voice Work
5:30-6:30 Exercise Education (come ready to move)
6:30 Group Dinner (Pasta and Salad)
8:00-9:00 Restorative Group Work, Anatomy Lullaby
10:30 Lights Out

Sunday
7:00am wakeup bell
7:15 Open Breakfast
8:00-9:30 Five Stories Practice (move, sing, write, sit)
9:30-10:00 Clean up your space
10:00-11:00 Group Discussion, Loose ends, final practice
11:00-12:00 Closing circle, taking practice home
12:00 Open Lunch
1:00/1:30 Cleaned up and out!

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