Gros Morne National Park, Rocky Harbour, Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada
7 DAYS
Nestled in the heart of Newfoundland, Gros Morne National Park has a raw, majestic beauty that is unsurpassed. A magical and unique place, unlike any other you have experienced. Gros Morne has a way of weaving its magic into your soul, forever changing how you see the world. Encompassed by the beautiful Bonne Bay, once you take a deep breath of the pristine salty air and hear the crash of the waves, you will begin to feel a sense of peace. One of the most unique, secluded and extraordinary places in the world.
This experience will deepen your connection to nature by showing you it's power to heal and Transform, mind, body and soul. Discover the impact that food has on our bodies and the impact that growing that food has on our land. Learn the medicinal properties of the plants that grow wild around us. Understand that nothing in nature survives on it's own, to thrive nature seeks balance and symbiosis, we are a part of nature and must seek this too. Immerse you in the culture of Newfoundland. Learn from the people of an island in the middle of the North Atlantic Ocean. People who throughout history have overcome adversities learned to work with nature and who have a deep appreciation for the simple pleasures in life like food, music and friends.
We live in a world of constant stimulus. We are addicted to our electronic devices. We expect, even demand immediate responses from one another at every moment of every day, but we ignore the same question that the little voice inside of us keeps asking “What do you REALLY want? We have become numb.
Society has structured our lives to be disconnected from our natural state; being outside in nature. Until very recently human beings spent most of their time outdoors immersed in a natural environment. We now spend most of our time in doors, in front of screens.We eat processed meals and have no idea where our food comes from or the effects it has on our bodies and our environment. Our bond to nature has been broken. We have damaged our relationship with our natural world and thus lost our relationship with our authentic selves.
During your time with us, we will guide you to deepen your connection to nature by showing how it is an intimate and reciprocal relationship. In doing so you will see the seed of your true self begin to germinate. Spending time in nature has been scientifically shown to improve cardiovascular and respiratory health and decrease cancer and autoimmune diseases. It improves creativity and attention while decreasing stress, anxiety, and depression.
We will take you out of your digital world and guide you through real, lasting transformation. You will learn the healing power of Forest Therapy, and forage for medicinal plants, herbs, and fungi. Engulfed in nature, you will hear her wisdom and see how the four elements regenerate balance without and within. You will feel how the four elements of nature; earth, fire, water, and air are connected to the four elements of self; physical, emotional, mental, and spiritual. Discover how important it is to not only know where your food comes from, but also how it is grown, raised, caught, and produced. We will explore the healing power of food, and learn about the ancient indigenous medicine wheel. You will see how hiking is equally as beneficial for the mind as it is for the body.
Welcome to Newfoundland!
We are so grateful that you have chosen to spend your time with us. Upon arrival at Deer Lake Airport you will be met by your private driver and taken to your accommodations for the first night; Upper Humber Settlement a permaculture farm. 
This land is very special and you will begin to feel it right away as we begin our tour of the farm. You will be given time to settle in, relax, refresh, and explore the property before we head to a nearby bee farm, The Cormac Bee Company. On this tour, we will learn how something so small plays such a vital role in the survival of our species and our planet. This sets the theme of our retreat; how nature like ourselves works to remain in balance and when one element is out of balance it greatly affects the whole symbiotic relationship. Our dinner tonight is from farm to table and is as fresh as you can get. At dinner, we will go over what to expect for the week ahead. After dinner, we are joined by Maurice Nzoyamara R.Ac ND a nurse, acupuncturist, and naturopath doctor specializing in Chinese medicine. Maurice is going to explain to us how food can be used as medicine and how the focus of Chinese Medicine is preventative. He will delve into how Western Medicine treats symptoms instead of root causes and how we have the power and ability to take back our health and live a pain and disease-free life.
Day 2 Body Physical. Element Earth
Today's focus is on the earth and all that it provides to keep our physical body healthy. The day starts with connecting to the earth with a beautiful homemade farm fresh breakfast, followed by yoga on the farm. After breakfast the owner of the farm, Lauralee will lead us on a foraging tour where we will discover how much mother nature provides for us that we walk past without notice every single day. We will learn about the abundance of food and medicine that is available to us on every walk we take.
After this incredibly informative and mind-opening talk, we will plant a tree along the forest of the farm. We will plant an intention that we want to see grow along with the tree. You can come back and visit your intention and your tree as both continue to grow. We will learn about and experience grounding and connecting to the earth. After another farm fresh supper, Lauralee will teach us about the medicine wheel. The medicine wheel is an ancient holistic healing practice that can teach and guide us to a better understanding of ourselves and the world around us. This experience will be a unique opportunity to learn about these teachings and how they can benefit you.
Water is the element of emotional release, intuition, and inner reflection. Today we are going to learn how to allow our emotions to flow through us instead of helplessly drowning in them. We start the day moving like water; with flow and intention through our yoga class, to awaken our bodies. Understanding the majestic power that water possesses, by carving the path it wants to, regardless of what lay before it. Our emotions are like this, meant to constantly flow through us, but they can get stuck causing blockages like a damn. We will learn how to release stuck emotions and allow them to flow through us.
We will head to Gros Morne National Park and participate in a Forest Therapy walk. Based on the Japanese art of forest bathing. We will begin to heal our relationship with nature and slow way down. We will mindfully use all of our senses to bridge the gap between ourselves and the natural world. Increased mental clarity, creativity, and focus, will allow you to witness how the forest itself is a living system, made up of parts that seek harmony and balance. In our modern world, and in ourselves as products of that world, we tend to only think about more, what is next, growth at all costs. If we can think of our beings, our spirits, as a forest that seeks balance and symbiosis, then we can begin to strip away the barriers that might keep us from our promise.
Next, we will move to Middle Brook to discover the graceful strength of renewal that water holds. Middle Brook Falls is a "hidden" series of three waterfalls. Many ancients believe in the healing power of waterfalls. Here we will bath in the power of the falls and partake in a release and rejuvenation ceremony. We then check into our accommodations for the next three nights. The Rooms at Woody Point, a beautiful boutique inn overlooking the majestic Bonne Bay We will have some solo time before supper and afterwards, we will experience a night walk. What is it about the darkness that enhances our fears? We will explore this question while noticing what the darkness brings up inside of us for us to discover and release.
Day 4 - Body Mental - Element Fire
"The greatest force is derived from the power of thought. The finer the element, the more powerful it is." Swami Vivekananda
After an early breakfast, we will partake in some power yoga and fire breath to awaken the fire within us. We will then learn about Mental Emotional Release technique (MER) and how you can ignite the power to overcome old emotions of anger, sadness, fear, hurt, guilt, and shame that you have been carrying around for far too long. We will then head out on our trek of The Lookout Trail. We will ignite our inner strength to climb steep scree and loose rock for hours on end which is both mentally and physically challenging. What are you willing to let go of to make this climb easier? This 14km, 700-meter hike will awaken the warrior within as you experience the Boreal forest with beautiful views as we climb. We quickly break out onto the alpine plateau where moose are often seen. It is very soft underfoot for the majority of the hike but may be wet as it is bog land. After another short climb up the scree and across the rock ridge, we reach the summit. We will witness spectacular views, often considered the best in the park as well as discovering something about yourself on this journey that you never knew before. 
This hike will demonstrate how your mind can fuel the flames of self-doubt or extinguish them before they spread. You will learn how to overcome both the mountain by pushing through the fire in the body and the mind by learning how to control the flame. You will enjoy some much-deserved downtime before supper tonight. Afterwards, we will be led in a fire ceremony where you will burn all of the thoughts that no longer serve you.
Day 5 - Body Spirit - Element Air
Just like a windmill, without the driving power of the wind, then it is a useless decoration, so too are we powerless, without the driving power of the wind of our Spirit!
After a long and challenging day yesterday, we start a little later today to allow time for our mind and body to rest and rejuvenate. This first half of today will be done in silence, we will not be speaking. There are many benefits of quiet: (from quietparks.org) Reduces stress, anxiety, repetitive thoughts, heart rate, and blood pressure; and promotes neurogenesis. Improves cognitive abilities, reasoning, and engagement. Increases generosity, trust, awe, and wonder. Improves mood, concentration, cognition, and well-being. reduces post-surgical pain, and brings calm.
It is amazing what you can hear when you are not speaking or thinking about what you will say next. This is where your Spirt speaks!
We will eat breakfast in silence and then experience the Wisemotion Technique. This technique improves embodied cognition, self-awareness, and collective understanding through dance and neuroscience. Dance improvisation is intuitive and spontaneous permitting full presence in the moment. When dancing, we might reach the inspiring flow state, or process our emotions, past and future in a natural way (Wisemotionco.com) We will then participate in a sound healing ceremony. Sound healing has been used for thousands of years. Sound healing synchronizes brain waves to achieve profound states of relaxation, helping to restore the normal vibratory frequencies of the cells in our bodies. Sound healing can help you clear energetic blockages and thus facilitate healing on a physical and mental level.
After our sound healing session, we will complete a silent walk of the Tablelands. Here we have a powerful opportunity to feel and walk upon what was once a part of the earth’s mantle. Peridotite is an ultramafic rock that has been thrust to the earth's surface by the forces of plate tectonics. There is strong healing energy attached to these rocks that were once so far beneath the earth's crust and now stand tall against the force of the wins. This is one of the few places in the world where mantle rock is exposed to this magnitude and it is the largest and most accessible example known on the planet. Wind weaves through the fabric of Newfoundland stitching its stories together. After climbing to the top of the Tablelands we will channel the energy of the wind to carry our stories into the future. Here we will harness the energy of the wind to carry our spirit's desire into the world. We will reconnect with the force that thrust this mountain from under the earth to where it stands today. As above so below. After our ceremony we will eat lunch, concluding our silent morning after we eat with a gratitude prayer.
After lunch, we will be participating in a beach clean-up facilitated by Atlantic Health Ocean Initiative (AHOI). AHOI is a local, not-for-profit organization, dedicated to improving the well-being of our oceans. Their mission is to look after the health of our oceans and promote long-term sustainable coastal communities. We will be educated on waste, overuse, eliminating plastic from our lives, and what we can do now to make a lasting change. All of the litter that is picked up during the clean-up will be analyzed and documented to add to the data being generated in the Gros Morne region. We will have some free time before supper and afterwards we will be led in a healing cacao ceremony.
Day 6 - Whole Body- Whole Planet
“The best way to find yourself is to lose yourself in the service of others.”– Mahatma Gandhi
After breakfast, we will participate in Qi Gong, a healing practice that has been performed for more than 4,000 years in China. Loosely translated to mean mastery of your energy, Qi Gong integrates controlled postures, focused attention, and controlled breathing.
The land does not belong to us, we belong to the land - Ancient Proverb
After this practice, we will have a visit from a Miawpukek Mi'kamawey Mawi'omi First Nations Tribe member. Today we will focus on connecting to the ancestors of this land, and the past. We cannot evolve forward without the wisdom of the past. It is hard to truly connect to a place without hearing the stories of the land. We will learn about their customs, culture, and symbiotic relationship with the land and nature. Will we learn how humans can work with nature so that both benefit and neither suffer. We will be led in a medicine walk and learn how to view nature through the eyes of the people who first explored this land and how they master the physical, emotional, mental and spiritual bodies through the land, water, fire, and air. 
Our reflection time today will be focused on how we can heal our relationship with our planet, our fellow human beings, and ourselves. This will also be the time when we will get our one-on-one energy healing sessions to clear what no longer serves us.
Afterward, we will head back to Upper Humber Settlement where we will enjoy a 3-course farm to table meal and will end the day with a drumming circle around an open fire where we will have our closing ceremonies bringing in the earth, water, fire, and air.
Day 7- Departure Day -
Saying goodbye, going away
Seems like goodbye's such a hard thing to say
Touching a hand, wondering why
It's time for saying goodbye
Saying goodbye, why is it sad?
Make's us remember the good times we've had
Much more to say, foolish to try
It's time for saying goodbye
Don't want to leave, but we both know
Sometime's it's better to go
But somehow I know, we'll meet again
Not sure quite where, and I don't know just when
Your in my heart, So until then
It's time for saying goodbye
Somehow I know, we'll meet again
Not sure quite where, and I don't know just when
Your in my heart, So until then
Wanna smile, wanna cry
Saying goodbye
- The Muppets
After an early farm fresh breakfast and a yoga session you will be transported to the airport in Deer Lake for your return flight home or to pick up your rental car to continue on your journey of Newfoundland. You will be leaving with your 33 day action to aid you in implementing the Transformation that you learned into your daily lives.
