EMBODIED WELLBEING YOGA THERAPY AYURVEDA & SOMATIC HEALING
Author, Yoga & Trauma Therapist, Ayurvedic Wellness Guide

WOMEN'S AYURVEDIC YOGA & SOMATIC EMBODIMENT RETREAT
Jacumba Hot Springs, California - April 13-17, 2025​
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GROUND, NOURISH, RELEASE, RESTORE
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Join us for a deeply restorative four-day retreat designed to help you reconnect with nature, ground your nervous system, and release stress from the mind, body, heart, and spirit. Nestled in the serene desert landscape of Jacumba, this retreat offers a blend of Ayurvedic self-care practices, yoga, somatic embodiment, meditation, and community connection.
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Our intention is to create a nurturing space where you can slow down, honor your true rhythm, and return home to yourself. You’ll be guided through gentle practices that support relaxation, emotional release, and inner balance, with ample time to enjoy the healing mineral pools, savor nourishing meals, and connect with others in a supportive and welcoming environment.
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Each day will flow with nature’s rhythm, allowing space for grounding, reflection, movement, and restoration. Participants will receive tools and practices, including Ayurvedic Dhinacharya (daily routine), that they can integrate into their lives beyond the retreat.
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Retreat Highlights
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Ayurvedic self-care practices, including Abhyanga (self-massage) and Dhinacharya tools
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Daily morning meditations, invigorating yoga, and evening restorative yoga
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Soaking in the healing mineral pools of Jacumba Hot Springs
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Time for reflection, journaling, and connection with nature
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Community meal preparation with nourishing, Ayurvedic-inspired recipes
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Evening rituals, including fireside conversations and calming herbal teas
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Daily Rhythm
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Morning: Sunrise meditation, Ayurvedic breakfast, journaling, orienting walk, invigorating yoga, and a soak in the mineral pools
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Afternoon: Community meal preparation, lunch, free time for rest, nature walks, or soaking
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Evening: Restorative yoga and meditation, nourishing dinner with a gratitude practice, quiet connection or fireside conversations, and soothing tea before bedtime
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You will leave this retreat feeling grounded, nourished, and deeply restored, with practices to support your ongoing well-being.
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Nourishing Meals
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As part of the Women’s Ayurvedic Yoga and Somatic Embodiment Retreat, you’ll enjoy 3 nourishing Ayurvedic meals daily. Each meal is thoughtfully crafted to balance the doshas, support digestion, and align with the rhythms of the day.
Mornings begin with a warming, grounding breakfast to ignite your digestive fire.
Midday features a hearty, plant-based lunch, the main meal of the day to energize and sustain you.
Evenings conclude with a light, soothing dinner to calm the nervous system and prepare the body for restful sleep.
Every meal will highlight seasonal, organic ingredients and Ayurvedic principles, offering both nourishment and healing.
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The meals will be vegetarian, healthy and nourishing (gluten free and vegan options upon request). Some meals will be prepared together in community with one another.
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ACCOMMODATIONS
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4-night stay in "THE LODGE"
A rustic cabin just a 5 minute walk away from the hotel, lake and village.
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See Accommodations and Pricing below
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EMBODYING NATURE
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We will explore and embody the elements of nature (fire, earth, water, air and ether) in our movement practices, journaling and creative experiences. We'll also explore embodying our animal nature through breath, movement and sound inquiry in order to connect with our deep primal instincts and intuition. We are not solely a part of nature - we are nature, nature is us.
This retreat will be an experience of coming home to our empowered, embodied, resourceful, creative, joyful and intuitive selves.
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Mother Earth is medicine and a reminder of our true nature.
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We Will...
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Ground. Release. Nourish. Restore
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DAILY ACTIVITIES
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Yoga, Meditation and Embodiment Practices with Somatic Enquiry, Daily Dinacharya, Journaling, Creative Experiences (Integrating Nature), Orienting Walks,
Soaking in Healing Mineral Waters, Community Ayurvedic Cooking
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LOCATION:​
Jacumba Hot Springs, CA
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Address and Location Details will be provided upon registration.​
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YOGA, MEDITATION & EMBODIED PRACTICES
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No yoga or meditation experience necessary for this retreat. ALL BODIES and levels of experience welcomed and honored. The yoga and meditation sessions will have an emphasis on embodying the elements of nature and re-connecting to our essential self through breath, movement and somatic enquiry. Receiving what is needing to be received and letting go of what no longer needs to be carried.
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Tentative Schedule
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Day 1 - Arrive at 4:30pm. Settle in. Welcoming/Dinacharya Ceremony/Meditation. Light Dinner. To bed at 10pm
​Day 2 - Wake at Sunrise. Morning Dinacharya. Tea & meditation. Light Breakfast. Orienting Walk to Yoga Shala. Morning Invigorating Practice. Soak/Rest/Restore/Explore. Community Lunch. Soak/Rest/Restore/Explore. Early Evening Restorative Practice. Journal/Reflect. Light Dinner. Campfire Chats. To bed at 10pm
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* Options for Ala Carte Aryurvedic Body Treatments - Available during Soak/Rest/Restore/Explore times
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Day 3 - Wake at Sunrise. Morning Dinacharya. Tea & meditation. Light Breakfast. Orienting Walk to Yoga Shala. Morning Invigorating Practice. Soak/Rest/Restore/Explore. Community Lunch. Soak/Rest/Restore/Explore. Early Evening Restorative Practice. Journal/Reflect. Light Dinner. Campfire Chats. To bed at 10pm
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* Options for Ala Carte Aryurvedic Body Treatments - Available during Soak/Rest/Restore/Explore times
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​Day 4 - Wake at Sunrise. Morning Dinacharya. Tea & meditation. Light Breakfast. Orienting Walk to Yoga Shala. Morning Invigorating Practice. Soak/Rest/Restore/Explore. Community Lunch. Soak/Rest/Restore/Explore. Early Evening Restorative Practice. Journal/Reflect. Light Dinner. Closing Ceremony. Sleep
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Day 5 - Wake. Morning Dinacharya. Tea. Light Breakfast.
Morning Check Out - Goodbyes
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ACCOMMODATIONS
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The Prices listed below are ALL-INCLUSIVE
QUEEN - PRIVATE ROOM
$1,400 - 1 available
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FULL - PRIVATE ROOM with patio
$1,400 - 1 available
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QUEEN - LOFT SPACE
$1,200 - 4 available​
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2 shared bathrooms and 1 shared vanity
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This is an intimate retreat. ONLY 6 SPOTS AVAILABLE
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$500 Non-refundable deposit is required to hold your space.
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MOTHER NATURES PRAYER
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Do not despair.
For you are a reflection of me and all that I embody.
Your tears are the rivers that flow with fluidity and grace. Do not hold them back, for they are the path to the lakes and oceans.
Your bones hold the strength and fortitude to move mountains and carve away rock. In your persistence you hold the power to effect change.
Your tissues carry the wisdom of your ancestors and their resiliency and legacy moves through you.
Your heart holds the beauty and freedom of wildflowers, sprouting from the earth each spring, even after the adversity & devastation of the cold and unforgiving months.
Your breath is the wind that carries seeds to far off lands, offering new life and ensuring survival and growth.
Your skin is the bark of a tree, protecting yourself and others from harm and offering tender touch that can heal even the deepest scars.
Your nerves, the roots that ground you and your spirit that allows you to fly.
When you begin to forget.
Come sit with me on the green grass and place your hands on the damp earth.
Pick wildflowers and set them in a vase for your eyes to gaze upon.
Observe nature’s creatures, for they have much to teach us.
Listen to the voices of the wind.
Stand atop a mountain and look up at the vast sky.
And remember.
You were born from my womb.
You are made of stars.
Let me hold you in my embrace and know that you will be ok.
And as the day turns to night I will sing you a lullaby with the sounds of night owls wooing their babies to sleep and coyotes howling at the moon.
Do not despair.
For you embody all of me.
And tomorrow brings a new day.
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~ Shawnee Thornton Hardy

MY STORY
"May you find the strength in your breath to speak the words your younger parts were too afraid to speak."
I grew up in the mountains of Montana in a tiny round house, with no electricity or running water. I endured many challenges as a child and teen, which contributed to my experience of anxiety, autoimmune issues and disconnection from myself. I came to yoga as a means to address debilitating back pain, a diagnosis of Hashimoto's and to manage the intense stress of life's struggles and transitions. I cried the entire way through my first yoga class and felt such a cathartic release of grief and sadness that I was drawn to learn more about this ancient practice. Yoga helped me reconnect to my body, manage my lifelong anxiety and set me on a path towards healing. It helped me heal from chronic back pain and through my physical practice, meditation and proper nutrition, I was able to thrive even with a thyroid condition and fibromyalgia diagnosis. My adult traumas coupled with developmental trauma drew me to Somatic Experiencing, developed by Peter Levine. I am forever grateful for the impact SE has had in my life. As I navigated recovering from a near death car accident, a traumatic loss of a loved one and a cancer diagnosis, I was learning in real time about my nervous system and how to recover from childhood and recent trauma. Healing is not linear. I will forever be dedicated to my own process of health and restoration. My passion and Dharma is in supporting others in reconnecting to their bodies and having agency in their own healing journey. The greatest lesson I learned on my own path towards healing is that we can't do it alone. It is my honor to be able to walk alongside others and bear witness to their healing journeys.