CEREMONIAL URBAN WEEKEND RETREAT - HEART WIDE OPEN

CEREMONIAL URBAN WEEKEND RETREAT - HEART WIDE OPEN

When we open our hearts, magical things happen. Not just pretty fairy dust magic. But raw human, heart-breaking, wide opening, bringing up all the old pain and fears kinda magic.

To choose to live a life from the heart is a constant choice to live life by. There is this false idea that living life from the heart is just pretty, easy and like a summer holiday advertisement. It can be. But ain’t only. It’s also crying, throwing yourself into adventures that scare you and expand your comfort zone A LOT.

To live life from the heart is to choose to make the right choice when it’s not easy. It’s to choose what feels right beyond the rational and animalistic mind. It’s to do what you know you have to do instead of choosing to stay where you are because you’re too scared. In a life lived from the heart there is no other option. There is no plan B. There is just life unfolding. What is the “right” choice? It’s the choice we’re afraid to do but we know it’s right. Mostly those choices conforont us with our own bullshit, fears and self-denial. Well… Living life from the heart means also to sit with your own bullshit. To listen gracefully. To let pain break your heart open and wash through your selfish, ego trip shit.

This Ceremonial Urban Weekend Retreat is designed to break your heart wide open using the following tools:

Ceremonial Cacao

Ceremony

Rituals

Wisdom Goddesses and Mantra

Yin Yoga Journeys

Dance Journeys

Amazing Food

Community

Practices to challenge you to expand your comfort zone

If we crave heart truth, we can’t just ask all the questions. We also have to expand our capacity to sit still with the answers. Even if we don’t like them. Especially them. Just because you follow your heart, it doesn’t mean you’ll at some point  have it all figured out. It’s a constant checking in and taking time to tune into what feels right NOW and not has been feeling right in the past. In this retreat we won’t only take time to release old stuff and work on expanding our comfort zones and hearts but also write down clear intentions and actions steps that  will be followed through within the rest of the year.

For who is this:

For anyone that feels physically and mentally capable to meet themselves with all the ups and downs and also expand that capacity to deal better with life and have a clearer intention that will inspire them to take clearer actions from the heart. You don’t need particular yoga experience, yin yoga is a very different practice and targets on a physical level the connective tissue (fascia) - it’s like giving yourself a deep tissues massage. It can be very relaxing but also challenging as you’ll hold a shape for 3-6 minutes in stillness and then deal with the crazy mind (cacao helps) and different emotions that might rise. It’s great to slow down, meditate, reflect, release and open up to something new on all the levels. Dance Journeys are very liberating and interesting to explore limiting beliefs and then do it anyways and challenge yourself in believing something new about yourself and life.

Schedule Example:

8:45: Arriving into our space

9-12: Opening the Space with Cacao Ceremony & Yin Journey

12-1: Lunch

1-4: Dance Journey/Yin Journey

4-4:30: Closing the space with a dessert, tea and sharing circle

4:45: Slowly going home to be, enjoy, create, integrate

The ceremonies will incoperate different rituals, themes and practices next to the Cacao and Dance/Yin. There will be at least two Cacao Ceremonies.

Our Amazing Lunch created by Lorella:

We’ll be enjoying a fully vegan and gf with love prepared lunch on both days with a delicious dessert, main course as well as appetizers. Imagine cashew tarts (Flammkuchen), khaki panacotta, chocoltte mousse, kale cranberry salad, coconut pumpkin soup,… and much more. Menue will be prepared to be in harmony with the themes, seasons and practices we do as well as  specific allergies/intollerances of the participants. So please note, that the menue will change due to seasonal availability and in case there isn't enough participants for the catering by Lorella, there will be an internal lunch preparation by Aleks Nikolic. 

PRICING AND REGISTRATION:

Early Bird until April 1st 2021:

CHF 480.- per person / CHF 420.- * for anyone earning less than CHF 3000.- per month

From April 2nd 2021:

CHF 580.- per person / CHF 520.- * for anyone earning less than CHF 3000..- per month

*please send an email to hello@aleksnikolic.com to inquiry about the code that you can use in the online shop to book your ticket.

Book your directly through the online shop (www.aleksnikolic.com)  - before booking read the cancellation and booking policy carefully.

The space is very limited, early booking is recommended. Pre-payment via credit card or e-banking (has to be transfered within 24 hours after registration, if not, the spot goes to someone else).

Once you’ve registered, send an email to hello@aleksnikolic.com answering the following questions:

1. Are you taking any medication at the moment (especially for the heart/high blood pressure or antidepressants), have epilepsy, injuries, physical/mental limitations and/or are pregnant?

2. What is your intention to join this Ceremony? Why do you feel called to join? What challenges you at the moment?

3. Do you have any allergies or is there something you really don’t like to eat/drink? Especially foods, herbs and spices.

4. Is there anything else important that I should know to be able to create the safest space possible for you?

Once you book through www.aleksnikolic.com  you’ll receive a confirmation with all the details. At a later point there will be also more details on how to prepare yourself for this weekend. The earlier you register, the more time you have for the preparation.

Who am I? What has been my journey?

I’ve been traveling for over 4,5 years after selling everything in Zurich (I grew up here, have Serbian roots) and leaving with a one-way-ticket to travel Bali, Central America, India and many places in between after quitting my job and selling all my belongings (I was a Modetussi called Frau Glitzeric before that). Listening to my heart and chaning my life drastically hasn’t always been easy. 

There is no guarantee that things will workout the way you think when you follow your heart in short term…but long term it will all make sense. I started teaching yoga in 2016 and have been going through various trainings but also just experienced a lot in my travels. In 2018 I’ve started sharing ceremonial cacao and combining it with yin yoga and ecstatic dance inspired dance journeys.  

For me it’s important to create inclusive spaces and appreciate those practices and tools I get to share that are coming mostly from far away cultures and have been appropriated and misunderstood in the past. Constantly checking in with myself if what I share is in alignment with my values and the intention is pure. If I stop knowing why I’m doing what I’m doing, I’ll take a break of sharing it. Everyone is welcome as long as we treat the space and each other respectfully.

More about who I am: www.aleksnikolic.com

***changes may apply due to date change