Healing Waters

Shame Alchemy • Self Love Immersion
Hot Springs Experience for Queer Men


•• Colorado, USA ••
August 3-7, 2023

Do you feel self-conscious, or even shame, about your body or sexuality? 

Have you been sabotaging your intimacy with others through negative self-talk and disparaging self concepts?

Are you ready to finally feel comfortable—and even confident—in your own skin? 

Underlying all of these challenges is a warped view of Self, formed (or rather deformed) by the pressure of cultural propaganda — think model-looking actors on TV, chiseled bodies in magazines and on social media, and the oversized proportions of male pornstars.

The only way out of these negative patterns, is through them.

Confronting the shame that keeps us hiding, and keeps us small.
The parts of ourselves we feel we can never let others see, for fear of being rejected, or worse.
Meeting and moving through feelings of inadequacy, angst, and fear.

What is Shame Alchemy?

Shame settles in the spaces we don’t speak. Unlike guilt, which says I did something bad, shame is the emotion that says I am bad. According to Brené Brown, shame is the “intensely painful feeling or experience of believing that we are flawed, and therefore unworthy of love, belonging, and connection. Shame thrives on secrecy, silence and judgment.”

Therefore, the antidote to shame is sharing — telling our shame stories in the presence of an empathetic witness. When we share our shame experience with someone who responds with empathy, shame literally dissolves like morning mist in sunshine. 

Shame is a social emotion. Shame happens between people, and it heals between people. This is an important aspect we will be exploring in this Immersion, but in my experience, we can also heal shame in nature. Spending time in nature, stripped of our day-world distractions and attachments, we become keenly aware that we humans are animals first—we ourselves are as natural as any fox, magpie, stone, or lichen.

And just like these wild others, we are fully eligible for connection, belonging, and yes, even love, from the natural world around us. Held here between Mother Earth and Father Sky, the parts of ourselves we formerly held in shame begin to thaw.

For those courageous enough, Healing Waters offers a path to sustainable and lasting Self Acceptance, Self Compassion, and Self Love.

Healing Waters is built on Three Pillars

1
Connection to Self

We begin healing the Earth by healing ourselves. By peeling back the layers of conditioning and trauma, we uncover our Soul, the unique gift we carry for others and the world

“The gift you carry for others is not an attempt to save the world but to fully belong to it. It's not possible to save the world by trying to save it. You need to find what is genuinely yours to offer the world before you can make it a better place. Discovering your unique gift to bring to your community is your greatest opportunity and challenge. The offering of that gift - your true self - is the most you can do to love and serve the world. And it is all the world needs.”

2
Connection to Others

We discover our Souls through connection — not just to human others, but the animals, plants, landforms, waterways, and residents of the sky.

“By deepening our relationships with the Others, our gratitude for the whole world grows and we become more capable and responsible members of the world community. We also uncover mysteries about our unique way of belonging to this world of Others. Through communion with all of life, we weave a healthier and more balanced world back into being.”

3
Connection to Nature

We are a part of nature, not apart from nature. We are animal bodies living in an animate world. We belong here as much as much as any fox, hummingbird, tree, or fungi.

“The word nature comes from the Latin natus, "to be born,” and the nature of a thing "has to do with that dynamic principle that holds something together and gives it its identity." …in the same way, the soul holds our individuality together and gives us our identity. Soul and nature are only slightly different ways of talking about the essence of a thing... The soul of a blossom is its essential nature. Our human souls consist of those aspects of self that are most natural, that are most of nature…”

*All quoted excerpts from Soulcraft: Crossing into the Mysteries of Nature and Psyche, by Bill Plotkin

What’s included:

  • Yoga

    Daily yoga to de-stress and rejuvenate your body and mind from within

  • Hiking

    Exploring the wild landforms and lifeforms of southern Colorado

  • Meditation + Breathwork

    Learn to tame your thoughts and control your nervous system

  • Rapéh Ceremony

    Deepen your connection to yourself and the Earth with this sacred plant medicine

  • Self-Love Work

    Practices for cultivating Self Compassion, Self Worth and, ultimately, Self Love

  • Nature Connection Practices

    Reconnecting to Mother Earth and the stunning landforms of Colorado

Plus…

  • 4-nights accommodation at a hot springs resort with 24-hour access to soaking pools and sauna

  • 3 daily delicious meals — crafted with organic ingredients. We will do our best to accommodate dietary restrictions

  • Individual bodywork session (:45)

  • Daily guided breathwork + meditation

  • Daily journaling exercises

  • Cacao Ceremony

  • Nature-based Mindfulness practices

  • Pre- and post-immersion support from our team


What’s not included: airfare to and from Denver, transportation to and from retreat center (carpooling will be organized among participants), pillows & sleeping bags or linens

The Space & Lodging

We will be on a nature preserve in stunning southern Colorado. Facilities here are rustic, and we will primarily be gathering outdoors together, so we will be especially exposed and enfolded in the forces and forms of nature for the duration of our time together:

Accommodation Options

Rustic Cabin Bunk

Shared rooms with bunk beds. Comfortable full-sized beds, communal bathroom and shower.

$850*

*Paid to retreat center lodging + facilities, and to cover food costs. See below for “Heart Offering” program fee

Glamping

Shared glamping tent with inflatable air mattress. Communal bathroom and shower.

$650*

*Paid to retreat center for lodging + facilities, and to cover food costs. See below for “Heart Offering” program fee

Heart Offering

Healing Waters is a true heart offering, drawing on a deep trust in one of the highest expressions of love, generosity, which is why I have chosen a unique approach to pricing. Rather than setting an upfront fee, we will be embracing the ancient tradition of Dāna, inviting you to participate in the spirit of giving and receiving.

Dana is a Sanskrit and Pali term meaning "generosity" or "giving". In Buddhist philosophy, Dana is a practice in the monastic tradition, a sacred act of giving without expecting anything in return. It is an offering from the heart, rooted in the understanding that true abundance flows through the act of sharing. At Healing Waters, we embody this philosophy, offering you an enriching and nourishing experience, in full faith that the generosity you extend at the end of the program will support and sustain our community and future retreats.

At the end of the program, we will hold a ceremony where we invite you to offer a donation from your heart, guided by the principles of Dana. This donation will support our facilitators, sustain the retreat center, and enable us to continue offering transformative experiences to others in the future.

I understand that the concept of a donation-based retreat may be new to some, but we believe it opens the doors to a truly inclusive experience. We invite you to embrace the spirit of generosity, trusting in the abundance that arises when we come together with open hearts and open minds.

Join us on this profound journey of self-discovery and self-love, where you can deepen your practice, connect with like-hearted individuals, and contribute to the growth of our vibrant community. Together, let us create a space where the power of giving and receiving transforms lives.

The minute I heard my first love story,
I started looking for you,
not knowing how blind that was.

Lovers don't finally meet somewhere,
they're in each other all along.

• • •

Your task is not to seek for love, but merely to seek and find all the barriers within yourself that you have built against it, and embrace them.

—Mawlana Jalal-al-Din Rumi

Lead Facilitator

Jonathan completed his 200-hr yoga teacher training in Andean Yoga, a hatha-vinyasa style asana inspired by the Andean Cosmovision, while living in the Sacred Valley of Peru in 2020. Since then he has gone on to create and facilitate yoga and transformational retreats in Costa Rica, Perú, Nicaragua, and Hawaii.

Jonathan is a certified Somatic Breathwork Facilitator, Psychospiritual Hypnotherapist, Ecotherapist and Soul Guide, working 1:1 with clients to uncover the truth they were born with, by guiding them into wilderness-based Self development work, mind-body alignment, self-designed ceremony, and shadow work. He is also the founder and lead facilitator of Soul Path Brotherhood, a self development group for male-bodied gay, bi, and queer souls, and a psychospiritual connection writer at thesoulwanderer.com.

Ready to Embody Self Love?

Apply below. Jonathan will reach out once he has reviewed your application.