Blue Spirit - Costa Rica - Wisdom & Wellbeing 2023

YOUR WINTER GETAWAY

Nestled in nature’s sanctuary, Wisdom & Wellbeing Weeks offer a unique blend of carefully curated programs with world-renowned teachers and rejuvenating wellness vacations.

Be part of a vibrant and compassionate learning community and experience growth, healing, and transformation.

Enjoy overall restoration with daily practices for mind, body, and spirit and Blue Spirit’s famed nutritious gourmet cuisine of organic and locally-sourced products.

The energy that surrounds Blue Spirit is unlike any other place. Serene, peaceful, and beautiful, it is so healing for our overstimulated nervous systems. Surrounded by greenery, ocean, howler monkeys, and exotic birds, it is really a piece of paradise. Spending a week at Blue Spirit was truly a gift to the soul.

—CAROLYN, FEBRUARY

MULTI-FACULTY WEEKS

WEEK 1

JANUARY 7-14

Presence, Purpose, and the Neuroscience of Connection

Dr. Daniel J.

Lama Tsultrim

Richard Leider

Jack Kornfield

Elissa Epel,

Caroline Welch,

Trudy Goodman,

Shelly Prillerman Harrell,

Stephan Rechtschaffen,

WEEK 2 JANUARY 21-28

Passion, Poetry, and Relational Intelligence

Esther Perel

David Whyte

Terry

John

Annette Knopp

Leslie Salmon

Jeff W.

Rachel Carlton

Stephan Rechtschaffen,

Learn from acclaimed teachers in a variety of daily workshops during your chosen week.

WEEK 3

JANUARY 28-FEBRUARY 4

Consciousness, Compassion, and Planetary Wellbeing

Roshi Joan Halifax, PhD

Bessel van der Kolk, MD

Christiana Figueres

Lynne Twist & Sara Vetter

Licia Sky

Rachel Yehuda, PhD

Jack Saul, PhD

Annette Knopp

Stephan Rechtschaffen, MD

WEEK 4 FEBRUARY 4-11

Trauma, Healing, and our True Essence

Gabor Maté, MD

Richard C. Schwartz, PhD

Patti Elledge

Dr. Mario Martinez

Leslie Salmon Jones &

Jeff W. Jones

Annette Knopp

Stephan Rechtschaffen, MD

INTENSIVE PROGRAMS

WEEK 1 JANUARY 7-14

Dr. Daniel J. Siegel, MD | IntraConnected as MWe (Me plus We)

Is the “self” merely located in your body or could it be something more? These gatherings will explore the nature of “self” from scientific, Indigenous, and contemplative perspectives. An integrated experience of identity and belonging enables us to cultivate an “intraconnected self” that may catalyze the cultural evolution our world needs to address the most pressing challenges of modern times.

Lama Tsultrim Allione | Feeding Your Demons & Finding Your Allies

Lama Tsultrim will teach two practices. First is the nature of mind practice of the Great Mother Prajna Paramita. She will also teach Feeding Your Demons, a five-step process for meeting, nurturing, and finding the ally. This method has great potential to help with anxiety, depression, and addiction.

Richard Leider | The Path Of Purposeful Aging

Why do you get up in the morning? A purposeful life is a clear answer to that question with choice, curiosity, and courage. Purpose is age-agnostic. It is fundamental at any age or stage to health, healing, happiness, and longevity. Together with David A. Shapiro, Leider recently launched his new book, ‘Who Do You Want to Be When You Grow Old?’

Jack Kornfield, PhD | The Secret Beauty: How to See With the Eyes of the Heart Connection is an expression of love. It brings blessing and understanding. Together we will use powerful practices from the Buddhist storehouse, combined with transformative stories and an invitation to open to mystery, courage, and tenderness. We will discover profound connection with ourselves, one another, and the world, and end with a quiet mind and a loving, open heart.

Elissa Epel, PhD | The Science of Stress Resiliency and Cell Renewal

Learn the fascinating science behind stress, how our cells age, and how simple mind and lifestyle habits promote psychological resilience and slow cell aging. Bring home joyful and satisfying daily practices for lifelong vitality.

Dr. Daniel J. Siegel, MD

Lama Tsultrim Allione Richard Leider

Jack Kornfield, PhD Elissa Epel, PhD

Presence, Purpose, and the Neuroscience of Connection

Caroline Welch, JD | Mindfulness Meets Living Life on Purpose

Purpose, like mindfulness, is one of our most valuable, underutilized natural resources—available 24/7. Becoming aware of what matters most to us not only bolsters our well-being, but also helps us to live healthier, happier, and more meaningful lives. We’ll explore the health benefits of purpose, how to find our purpose, and also have time for experiential and interactive exercises.

Trudy Goodman, PhD | The Journey of Transition: What Transforms the Heart

Western culture focuses on the outer journey—work, family, success. Yet it is the inner journey that brings us deep happiness, fulfillment in love, and connection. This is a time of great transition; a descent into global pandemic and gradual reemergence. Through stories and practices for inner discovery, we will explore what has changed us, what transforms the heart.

Shelly P. Harrell, PhD | Soulfulness, Interconnectedness, and Embodied Awareness

Soulfulness is a path to experiential awareness that emphasizes contact with our inner aliveness and the sacred, interconnected nature of life. Inspired by a diasporic African cultural worldview, we will use movement, music, nature, and sensory experience as invitations into our integrated mind-bodyheart-soul wisdom.

Stephan Rechtschaffen, MD |

Longevity Beyond Me

Aging well requires changing our habits to align with nature. Chronic disease impacts 50% of humans and mirrors our environmental destruction. Balancing nutrition and fasting, exercise and rest, and detoxifying the body and mind leads to restoration. Physician, author, and founder of Blue Spirit, Stephan teaches ways to boost vitality with inner and outer balance.

Caroline Welch, J.D. Trudy Goodman, PhD Shelly P. Harrell, PhD

Stephan Rechtschaffen, MD

WEEK 2 JANUARY 21-28

Esther Perel | In Search of Eros: Navigating Love, Desire, and Commitment

A penetrating observer of cultural patterns, psychotherapist Esther Perel workshop exploring the complicated and contradictory needs that are shaping relationships today— communication, intimacy and desire. Join us in an honest and provocative conversation about sexual and relational challenges and aspirations. Together we will cultivate tools that support both security and adventure; the individual and the couple.

David Whyte | Clear Mind, Wild Heart: Finding Courage and Clarity Through Poetry

At the core of poetry is the act of catching up with our selves. Speaking out, we make conscious what until now has been hidden inside us and so join the world in conversation again. Courageous speech enables us to unfreeze our lives, to move on emboldened for the next step, to be a part of flowing forces that a moment before seemed frightening to our formerly static sense of self.

Terry Real, LICSW | The Healing Power of Relationships: From Trauma to Connection

This course provides the roadmap and toolbox of skills needed to heal past trauma, become a better partner and individual, and create the happy, healthy relationships we all long for. Terry Real’s enduring work will empower you to put into practice the relational life therapy that has transformed thousands of couples and individuals.

John Perkins | Touching The Jaguar: Riding Uncertainty to Higher Consciousness

Therapists, shamans, physicists, and marketing experts know that perception molds reality. Ending crises requires altering perceptions and transforming fears into actions. Bestselling author Perkins draws on his two latest books Touching the Jaguar and Confessions of an Economic Hitman, 3rd Edition (China versus the US), shapeshifting stories, shamanic journeys, and ceremonies to empower your personal and also global life-changing actions.

Esther Perel

David Whyte

Terry Real, LICSW

John Perkins

Passion, Poetry, and Relational Intelligence

Annette Knopp | Finding True Connection

In one way or another, we all are seeking true connection. Whether we long for a deeper connection with ourselves, another person, love, nature, or spirit, in essence, it’s the same. Through meditative inquiry, nature-based practices, and inspiring lectures on interpersonal neurobiology, Annette invites us to attune to the innate interconnectedness of life and relax into the source of the Sacred.

Leslie Salmon Jones & Jeff W. Jones | Afro Flow Yoga®

Experience a heart-centered dynamic flow of yoga and movements with multiple live instruments and healing drum rhythms. This embodied practice is rooted in the wisdom of the African Diaspora and open to all levels and abilities.

Rachel Carlton Abrams, MD, MHS | Vibrant: Celebrating Health, Love, Sex, and Laughter at Every Age

Rachel is an integrative medicine physician with specialties in integrative health, relationships, and sexuality, and the author of several best-selling books, including BodyWise. She will show us how we can use our body intelligence to heal ourselves, our relationships, and our world.

Stephan Rechtschaffen, MD | Longevity Beyond Me

Aging well requires changing our habits to align with nature. Chronic disease impacts 50% of humans and mirrors our environmental destruction. Balancing nutrition and fasting, exercise and rest, and detoxifying the body and mind leads to restoration. Physician, author, and founder of Blue Spirit, Stephan teaches ways to boost vitality with inner and outer balance.

Annette Knopp

Leslie Salmon Jones & Jeff W. Jones

Rachel Carlton Abrams, MD, MHS

Stephan Rechtschaffen, MD

WEEK JANUARY

Roshi Joan Halifax, PhD | Actualizing Radical Compassion in a World in Churn

Explore a radical vision of compassion in this contemporary approach to Buddhist teachings. Zen teacher and social activist Joan Halifax Roshi uses story, koans, science, history, current events, interaction, and meditation practice as a way to open life to a vaster horizon.

Bessel van der Kolk, MD | The Body Keeps the Score

Rooted in the themes addressed in the best seller The Body Keeps the Score: Mind, Brain, and Body in the Healing of Trauma, this experiential and didactic course explores how our minds and brains are shaped by experience and learn how your relationship to yourself is intertwined with those around you. This course is for all those working on helping others or themselves to heal from traumatic stress.

Licia Sky | Exploring Expanded Awareness

The mindful, experiential exploration of embodied awareness uses movement, theater exercises, and meditations, learn to listen to your body, your nervous system, your rhythms, and to those of others, in order to expand present-time capacity to engage in safety, creativity, and play.

Christiana Figueres | Rising Strong - The Future We Choose: Surviving the Climate Crisis

Many may feel stressed, upset, or even powerless about climate change. Yet Christiana Figueres, a Costa Rican diplomat who became the chief architect of the Paris Climate Accord, explains how we can awaken to the reality of interconnectedness and rise strong to meet this planetary crisis.

Lynne Twist & Sara Vetter | The Soul of Money— Transforming Your Relationship with Money & Life

A dysfunctional relationship with money can hold us back from achieving our highest potential. Come experience a new sense of freedom with Lynne Twist and Sara Vetter from the Soul of Money Institute. Together, they help you discover practical tools to transform your relationship with money and life.

Roshi Joan Halifax, PhD

Bessel van der Kolk, MD Licia Sky

Christiana Figueres Lynne Twist

Consciousness, Compassion, and Planetary Wellbeing

Rachel Yehuda, PhD | Psychedelics for Trauma and Intergenerational Trauma

Many people experience traumas in the course of their lives, and the specter of intergenerational wounds looms large. Dr. Rachel Yehuda will work with topics related to trauma, PTSD, intergenera tional trauma, and the potential use of psychedelic-assisted psychotherapy as a treatment for these conditions. This session will be rooted in uncovering neurobiological mechanisms and groundbreaking therapeutic approaches.

Jack Saul, PhD | Moral Distress, Resilience & Repair

Due to actions committed in our name that violate deeply held moral values, many of us today experience what is called moral distress. Jack Saul, a psychologist and artist asks, “How do we mobilize our individual and collective resilience to inspire our moral imagination?” Find creative ways of addressing current moral challenges in your life and the world.

Annette Knopp | Finding True Connection

In one way or another, we all are seeking true connection. Whether we long for a deeper connection with ourselves, another person, love, nature or spirit, in essence, it’s the same. Through meditative inquiry, nature-based practices, and inspiring lectures on interpersonal neurobiology, Annette invites us to attune to the innate interconnectedness of life and relax into the source of the Sacred.

Stephan Rechtschaffen, MD |

Longevity Beyond Me

Aging well requires changing our habits to align with nature. Chronic disease impacts 50% of humans and mirrors our environmental destruction. Balancing nutrition and fasting, exercise and rest, and detoxifying the body and mind leads to restoration. Physician, author, and founder of Blue Spirit, Stephan teaches ways to boost vitality with inner and outer balance.

Rachel Yehuda, PhD

Jack Saul, PhD

Annette Knopp

Stephan Rechtschaffen, MD

WEEK FEBRUARY 4-11

Gabor Maté, MD | When the Body Says No: Mind/Body Unity & The Stress-Disease Connection

Stress is ubiquitous these days—in the workplace, in the home, and within ourselves. It can take a heavy toll, physically and mentally. Much of it is self-generated from hidden beliefs we adopted in childhood. If properly understood, stressful conditions can provide important openings for compassion, self-awareness, and healing. Renowned physician Gabor Maté shows you how stress is negatively affecting your life and reveals key strategies to effectively prevent or transform stressful environments, at work or home.

Richard C. Schwartz, PhD | Trauma & IFS Model

Developed over the past four decades, the Internal Family Systems (IFS) model offers both a concep tual umbrella under which various practices and different approaches can be grounded and guided and a set of original techniques for creating safety and fostering self-to-self connection in couples and families. This presentation will provide the viewer with basic information about the model and its effect on trauma.

Patti Elledge | The Alchemy of Somatic Healing

Understanding how we are hard-wired lends support to processing life-threatening events, especially early relational traumas. Patti’s teachings will focus on the topics of attachment, co-regulation, being seen/gotten, neurophysiological markers, and creative strategies to engage the body using somatic languaging. Each class will include didactic as well as experiential practices to warm the heart and engage the mind.

Gabor Maté, MD

Richard C. Schwartz, PhD Patti Elledge

Dr. Mario Martinez

Annette Knopp

Trauma, Healing, and Our True Essence

Dr. Mario Martinez | The Consciousness Code

In Mario’s clinical neuropsychology research, he found that people who live healthy, long lives share unique beliefs that he calls “centenarian consciousness”—a mind-body code that can be learned at any age.Surprisingly, genetics contribute only 25% to the longevity of people who live 100 years and older. In this workshop, he will teach the four factors necessary for a healthy, long life.

Annette Knopp | Finding True Connection

In one way or another, we all are seeking true connection. Whether we long for a deeper connection with ourselves, another person, love, nature or spirit, in essence, it’s the same. Through meditative inquiry, nature-based practices, and inspiring lectures on interpersonal neurobiology, Annette invites us to attune to the innate interconnectedness of life and relax into the source of the Sacred.

Leslie Salmon Jones & Jeff W. Jones | Afro Flow Yoga

Experience a heart-centered dynamic flow of yoga and movements with multiple live instruments and healing drum rhythms. This embodied practice is rooted in the wisdom of the African Diaspora and open to all levels and abilities.

Stephan Rechtschaffen, MD |

Longevity Beyond Me

Aging well requires changing our habits to align with nature. Chronic disease impacts 50% of humans and mirrors our environmental destruction. Balancing nutrition and fasting, exercise and rest, and detoxifying the body and mind leads to restoration. Physician, author, and founder of Blue Spirit, Stephan teaches ways to boost vitality with inner and outer balance.

Leslie Salmon Jones & Jeff W. Jones

Stephan Rechtschaffen, MD

INTENSIVES WEEK 5 FEBRUARY 11-18

CHOOSE ONE OF TWO WORKSHOPS

Lama Tsultrim Allione | Sahaja Spontaneous Wisdom

This retreat will be based on the ancient Buddhist tantric teachings of Sahaja, brought into the modern context. Lama Tsultrim will share the spontaneous liberation teachings of the eighth century yogis and yoginis such as Saraha, Sahajayoginicinta, and the Mahasiddhas. We will be practicing integra tion with the sky and sea, and spontaneous union through the senses.

Leslie Salmon Jones & Jeff W. Jones | Afro Flow Yoga® Retreat: Restoring our Roots

Spread the love with Afro Flow Yoga®. Spend an empowering week with internationally renowned husband and wife team and founders of Afro Flow Yoga®, Leslie Salmon Jones and Jeff W Jones . We invite you to im merse yourself in yoga, dance, live music, and self-reflection. All levels of experience and practice are welcome.

INTENSIVES WEEK 6 FEBRUARY 18-25

CHOOSE ONE OF TWO WORKSHOPS

Richard C. Schwartz, PhD | Trauma and Releasing Personal & Legacy Burdens

In this workshop Richard Schwartz, PhD will provide a brief review of the basics of the Internal Family Systems (IFS) model and focus in detail on its use with attachment and trauma. With a deep dive on releasing personal burdens related to traumatic ex periences in our lives, you will learn through didactic teaching, interactive dialogue, demonstration and live interviews.

Mark Matousek, MA | Your Untold Story: Writing as a Path of Awakening

This transformative writing workshop will guide you on a step-by-step journey into your own interior. Underneath the persona you show the world lies a secret narrative you may not be aware of. This untold story reveals the mythic dimension of your existence, and the truths that are hidden there. Mark’s Writing to Awaken method will help you explore this rich inner landscape and gain life-changing insights from what you discover.

INTENSIVE WEEK 7 FEBRUARY 25-MARCH 4

Loch Kelly, M.Div, LCSW | Nondual Mindfulness Embodied

Nondual mindfulness embodied is both a way to rest in essential well-being and a sciencebased approach to relieving suffering at its root. Nondual mindfulness is a way to embody the unity of the infinite and intimate dimensions of our being. Awakening is learnable and avail able as the next natural stage of human devel opment. In this experiential workshop we will learn tools to access our effortless, awake loving nature and know the intelligence of your body from within.

INTENSIVE WEEK 8 MARCH 4-11

Amina Naru & Pamela Stokes Eggleston | Retreat to Spirit—Transformational Soul Care

Spend an empowering week with internationally renowned yoga and wellness experts Amina Naru and Pamela Stokes Eggleston as they invite you to a contemplative, restorative, and healing jour ney that will nurture your soul. You will be guided through spiritual transformations supported by the rich and beautiful environment at Blue Spirit. Your experience will include yoga, shadow work, reiki, somatics, and communal healing. All levels of experience and practice are welcome!

A UNIQUE WELLNESS EXPERIENCE

Enjoy daily Qigong classes with Steven Michael Pague (program co-host), as well as Yoga and grounding meditations as part of your Wisdom and Wellbeing Week.

Add optional Wellness or Longevity treatments to your week:

BODYWORK, MASSAGE, AND SPA TREATMENTS

Thai Massage Therapeutic Massage Deep Tissue Work Cranial Sacral Therapy

Relaxing Reflexology Therapy Reiki and many more….

BLUE 7-DAY

DETOX CLEANSE

Add our signature cleanse program to along and home energized and renewed.

PROGRAM REGISTRATION

SUPERIOR OCEAN VIEWS WITH A/C

KING BED

These beautiful double rooms have step-out balconies and extraordinary ocean views. These rooms are elegantly furnished to provide our most luxurious space for couples or singles. Each room has a king-size bed, a private bathroom with solar hot water, and air conditioning.

RATE PER WEEK PER PERSON WITH ALL MEALS INCLUDED: SINGLE OCCUPANCY: $3,795 DOUBLE OCCUPANCY: $2,875 PER PERSON

OCEAN VIEW WITH A/C

KING OR TWO TWIN BEDS

These double rooms have step-out balconies and beautiful ocean views. The rooms are tastefully furnished and provide the perfect space for two people. Each room has a king-size bed or two twins, a private bathroom with solar hot water, and air conditioning.

RATE PER WEEK PER PERSON WITH ALL MEALS INCLUDED: SINGLE OCCUPANCY: $3,295 DOUBLE OCCUPANCY: $2,650 PER PERSON

NATURE SUITES WITH A/C

KING OR TWO TWIN BEDS

The suites are cozy and situated on a hillside overlooking lush vegetation. They feature private bathrooms and an outdoor shower overlooking the jungle. Each suite sleeps two people, has a separate enclosed porch with a desk, and solar hot water, as well as air conditioning. The suites are a short walk up the hill to the main building.

RATE PER WEEK PER PERSON WITH ALL MEALS INCLUDED: SINGLE OCCUPANCY: $3,025 DOUBLE OCCUPANCY: $2,525 PER PERSON

HERMITAGE ROOM WITH A/C

QUEEN OR TWO TWIN BEDS

These rooms are specifically designed for singles, providing privacy and elegance, while being less expensive. Some rooms have partial views of the ocean or of the mountains nearby; all have queen-sized beds, a private bathrooms with solar hot water, and air conditioning. Also available with two twin beds.

RATE PER WEEK PER PERSON WITH ALL MEALS INCLUDED: SINGLE OCCUPANCY: $2,575 DOUBLE OCCUPANCY: $2,250 PER PERSON

Choose the accommodation according to your taste and budget.

MOUNTAIN VIEW WITH A/C

KING OR TWO TWIN BEDS

These double rooms have step-out balconies and beautiful mountain views. The rooms are tastefully furnished and provide the perfect space for two people. Each room has a king-size bed or two twins, a private bathroom with solar hot water, and air conditioning.

RATE PER WEEK PER PERSON WITH ALL MEALS INCLUDED: SINGLE OCCUPANCY: $3,175 DOUBLE OCCUPANCY: $2,550 PER PERSON

ECO COTTAGE

TWO TWIN BEDS

The cottages are situated in lush vegetation, and their natural wood frame structures allow for a sensual beingin-touch experience with nature. Each cottage sleeps two people and has a private bathroom with ambient temperature water shower. Cottages are a short hike up a stone stairway from the main building.

RATE PER WEEK PER PERSON WITH ALL MEALS INCLUDED: SINGLE OCCUPANCY: $2,295 DOUBLE OCCUPANCY: $1,995 PER PERSON

PACIFICO COTTAGE WITH A/C QUEEN BED | HAMMOCK ON PORCH

Tucked away amidst the tropical gardens, the cottages are close enough to the beach that the sound of the ocean will rock you into sleep. They each feature a private porchwith a hammock, queen-size bed, outdoor shower, and air conditioning. From the main building the cottages are a short walk down the hill.

RATE PER WEEK PER PERSON WITH ALL MEALS INCLUDED: SINGLE OCCUPANCY: $3,195 DOUBLE OCCUPANCY: $2,525 PER PERSON

PLATFORM TENT QUEEN BED

RATE PER WEEK PER PERSON WITH ALL MEALS INCLUDED: SINGLE OCCUPANCY: $1,875 DOUBLE OCCUPANCY: $1,750 PER PERSON ONLINE at bluespiritcostarica.com or call 845.684.2007 Monday-Saturday 10 a.m.-6 p.m. EST

Each tent has a queen-sized bed and is placed on a platform under a wooden roof for protection against the sun and rain. The tents are surrounded by nature and close to a shared bathhouse. All linens, pillows, and towels are provided. Valuables can be stored at front desk.

COSTA blue spirit