Embodied Pathways to Healing — Trauma Recovery, Somatic Wisdom & the Nervous System

A Multifaculty Week at Blue Spirit Costa Rica

Mar 6 – 13, 2027*

Begin each morning grounded with Jillian Pransky, then spend the week learning from leading voices in trauma recovery and nervous system health.

*This retreat begins immediately following Jillian’s Spring Revival in Paradise, also at Blue Spirit.

Featured Faculty:

Come Home to the Body

The body holds the story of our lives. It also holds a deep, steady capacity to heal.

For one week in March, some of the most respected teachers in trauma recovery gather at Blue Spirit to explore how healing moves through the body. Mornings bring neuroscience and clinical insight. Afternoons bring practice: gentle movement, breath, restorative rest, and time to absorb what you're learning. In between, the Pacific, the jungle and a warm circle of fellow learners hold you.

Come to every session, or choose the ones that call you and spend the rest of the day at the ocean. Multi-faculty weeks are designed to allow both.

Practice with Jillian

Moving Into Center: Grounded. Open. Present.
Somatic Movement, Mindful Yoga & Deep Rest · Daily morning practice

Each morning, Jillian leads experiential practices that weave together somatic movement, mindful yoga, breath and deep rest. These nourishing sessions help you feel grounded, centered, connected and fully present, building vitality, ease and embodied well-being while integrating the week's teachings through the wisdom of the body.

Together we slow down, reconnect with ourselves, and awaken the body's natural capacity for presence, resilience and ease. Beginning the day grounded and centered, we create space to receive the richness of the week with greater openness, connection and vitality.

A Note from Jillian

I return to Blue Spirit every spring, and this year I'm honored to teach alongside people whose work has shaped my own. Each morning, I'll offer a place for the week's learning to land: time to slow down, move gently, and listen from the inside. I would love to share this week with you.

Who this Week is For

• Therapists, counselors, social workers and healthcare professionals deepening trauma-informed, body-based skills

• Yoga teachers and somatic practitioners seeking clinical grounding for their work

• Caregivers and helpers ready for real rest

• Anyone on a personal healing path who wants to understand their nervous system and meet themselves with more compassion

This week is educational and experiential.

Your Faculty

Grid of headshots, each name as H3 linking to that teacher's Blue Spirit faculty page.

• Jillian Pransky: Yoga therapist, mindfulness teacher and author of Deep Listening and The Power of the Pause. Known internationally for her trainings in restorative yoga and yoga for anxiety. Session: Moving Into Center, a daily morning practice of somatic movement, mindful yoga and deep rest.

• Bessel van der Kolk, MD: Psychiatrist, Boston University professor of psychiatry and president of the Trauma Research Foundation. Author of The Body Keeps the Score, published in 38 languages. Workshop: The Body Keeps the Score.

• Arielle Schwartz, PhD: Clinical psychologist and founder of the Center for Resilience Informed Therapy, integrating EMDR, somatic psychology, IFS and therapeutic yoga. Author of The Complex PTSD Workbook. Topic: post-traumatic growth and mind-body tools for resilience.

• Dr. Scott Lyons: Clinical psychologist, osteopathic physician and founder of The Embody Lab. Creator of Somatic Stress Release and author of Addicted to Drama.

• Linda Thai, LMSW: Trauma therapist and educator specializing in brain- and body-based approaches to complex developmental trauma.

• Kai Cheng Thom, MSW, MSc:  Coach, mediator and facilitator working where trauma healing meets transformative justice, drawing on somatics, depth psychology and Processwork.

• Luis Mojica: Somatic educator, nutritionist and founder of Holistic Life Navigation. Author of Food Therapy (Hay House, 2026). Topic: food, cravings and the nervous system.

• Annette Knopp: Meditation teacher, somatic educator and co-founder of Blue Spirit. Author of Mystic Nomad.

What’s Included

• Seven nights at Blue Spirit, Saturday to Saturday

• Full program tuition for the week

• Three vegetarian buffet meals daily, with local fish three evenings and vegan and gluten-free options at every meal

• Infinity pool, yoga halls, meditation spaces and jungle trails

• Private access to Playa Guiones, a protected turtle-nesting beach on the Nicoya Peninsula, one of the world's Blue Zones

Available to add: massage and bodywork, the Nosara Longevity Center, the 7-day detox cleanse, airport shuttle.

A Day at Blue Spirit

Each day has its own rhythm. A typical one looks like this:

7:00–8:00 am Morning yoga or qigong (some mornings)

7:00–9:00 am Breakfast

10:00 am–12:00 pm Morning workshop

12:00–1:30 pm Lunch

2:00–4:00 pm Afternoon workshop

4:30–5:30 pm Sunset qigong on the beach (select days)

6:00–7:30 pm Dinner

8:00–10:00 pm Evening program (select evenings)

Make it a Two Week Experience

This week begins the day Jillian's Spring Revival in Paradise retreat ends, at the same place. Arrive February 27 for a week of slow-flow yoga, restorative rest and renewal with Jillian, then stay on for a week of learning with the full faculty. Fourteen nights by the ocean, one unpacking.

The two weeks are booked separately: Spring Revival through International Yoga, Embodied Pathways through Blue Spirit. Add a note in Blue Spirit's "Special Requests" box that you're staying both weeks so they can keep you in the same room.