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The Portugal Retreat October 2024: Tom’s summary.

When I first had the concept of doing an overseas retreat for The Tuning Room, I had grand visions of making it the biggest and most explosive retreat we have ever done. After booking the event space, it suddenly dawned on me how challenging an overseas retreat organisation would be. We had never done it before.


The initial excitement was replaced by my structural brain of thinking “right – what do we need to organise to make this happen!”. In all honesty, another 6 months of preparation would have been nice.

Here I attempt to you give you the reader a sense of what it is like to experience a retreat from The Tuning Room from a facilitator and a participant’s perspective.


The word retreat – what does it even mean? To step back > move away from something, take a look; take stock: reflect and see the bigger picture. Ask the bigger questions – what am I doing here? Am I on the right path? Did I make the right decisions? IS life effortless or is it hard work?


The idea was that the retreat would be over 3 full days, with half a day settling in and half a day of integration over 4 nights. The 3 full days would resemble and be an immersion for each of the 3 seasons of care – Discover, transform and awaken seasons. For those of you who have had the experience of a Saturday clear day event at The Tuning Room over the last 3 years, you would have experienced these on

the bench and in an exercise to some degree. If you have never experienced the beauty and magnificence of Network Spinal chiropractic or come across Donny Epstein’s work – please read more about it here.


To get the most out of the retreat we aimed to set a context for the week – and my aim was to do this on the Tuesday evening – the day of arrival. Participants were expected to arrive between 3-7PM. This set the first obstacle that was unplanned: one of the flights into Faro was delayed by 3 hours – meaning 5 participants would not arrive until 9PM> and arrive they did very hungry, tired and in the darkness – with

no bearings on where they had landed.



With a group of 12 this was almost half the group already in a stressed situation – not the ideal scenario when on a retreat to instigate healing!

However we did the best we could to settle them in and see them to their sleeping quarters- a mixture of yurts, chalets and post sturdy bell tents. The accommodation I felt was plush – yet to some participants it became clear that they hadn’t been in this level of depth in nature before. We were surrounded by peacocks, geese, chickens, dogs, spiders, crickets and plenty of blood thirsty mosquitos. It was good night and hope that people felt a little more rested in the morning.


DAY 1: DISCOVER

In short, each season refers to a season of energy within a person or situation. The day 1 was all about exploring and immersing in the DISCOVER energy. What is Discover?


Checking the dictionary, it reads:


Discover

1. find unexpectedly or during a search. 'Firemen discovered a body in the debris'


Similar: Find, locate, come across, come upon, stumble on, chance on, light on, bring to light, uncover, unearth, turn up, track down, run down, run to earth, run to ground, smoke out.


2. become aware of (a fact or situation).

'The courage to discover the truth and possibly be disappointed'

Similar: find out, come to know, learn, realize, recognize, see, ascertain, work out, fathom out, detect, determine, spot, notice, perceive, dig up/out


3. be the first to find or observe (a place, substance, or scientific phenomenon).


Opposite: hide


When we look at the “Discover” season - it literally means that outlined above – it refers to the finding something about yourself that which was not known to you before. The art of discovery is being able to sit in your shit and not shy away from it – not try to change it – but to accept it. The opposite is to hide away from it. Too often we are taught in our culture to hide away from problems, sweep them under the

rug and “get on with it”. A lifetime of “getting on with it”, rather than actually dealing and/or acceptance with it – can lead to many problems of bottled-up shit and eventual suffering. The deeper the hiding, the deeper the suffering. The word “it “in this context refers to your life experiences – your positive and negative and neutral emotionally charged experiences. That which you perceive negative we often do not or are not able to process or accept at the time of the experience. The body deals with the

experience in the only way it knows – to freeze. We store that experience in our body which causes temporary freezing of the trauma – yet we carry it. Only with the season of discover – looking long and hard at ourselves can we reorganise that shit which we carry.


The season of discover so often bypasses, overlooks, or is avoided in our attempts to avoid pain. This premise would be the key theme for the day: Not to avoid the pain – but to embrace it. I set the context for the day after a breakfast of gluten free bread, pancakes, fruit, homemade peanut butter, jams, cereals, homemade yoghurt and local honey. Just when we thought we had been filled, the offer of fresh scrambled eggs, cheese and tomato was too tempting to resist. The context was that there

would be no things such as a stupid question – to set out an open dialogue between participants. We encouraged participants to involve themselves in a digital and caffeine (Stimulant) detox – wherever possible. We asked them to be vulnerable

Be on time for activities and listen carefully to instructions – we instructed people to meet down in the semi sheltered area at the back of the retreat space.





And did we go down into the depths of that discomfort in discover.

We went down into the inspiral... the back of the retreat space that was dark wet, cold and to make things worse it was hammering rain and was pure miserable. One participant got left behind and was truly in the season of discover, roaming the retreat centre. It was a shit show. I was teaching from my lower mind. People’s pieces of paper were ruined in the damp conditions. Asking people to write stuff down in that environment felt awkward. It was all discombobulated – but that is the season of discover.


Asking people to travel all the way to Portugal and to be sat cold, wet, and miserable on a wet dirty floor under a straw shelter. It was all too much. People were unaware of the schedule due to their late arrival, and it all felt overwhelming - Very serious and no play. And yet this is the season of discover – sitting with your shit. Questioning “How did I get here? What is the purpose of this?” Without the need for trying to

transform the situation. Afterall, what could we do? We were here – for the next 4 days. And it was raining. And cold. And miserable.


Harry performed consciousness of stage 1 and everyone really felt that and there was a palpable understanding that everyone in that moment was able to connect with stage 1 pain and suffering. We were all suffering – some more than others. We performed a Stage 1 SRI. I actually didn't fully sit with it and performed a twists Stage 3 on myself.


This was a big learning experience. We then moved into a Stage 2 SRI however and we all fully experienced this consciousness – the polarity – and in no short thanks to Conner and the drum set comment- big time. Conner was able to experience the beauty of Stage 2 of healing (see Donny Epsteins book The 12 stages of healing) and the whole group started laughing at the absurdity of where we found ourselves. Even writing this blog 5 weeks after the event, the thought of this experience makes me feel cold and wet and then laugh about it. When we see the absurdity of the pain and suffering, we are able to laugh at how ridiculous we were being for actually suffering.


After this we did an interactive exercise for people to discover their epiway. This practical exercise went down very well and allowed the participants to feel into what they are and what recipe of energy works better for them. We then went into the benchwork sessions and into pure discover entrainment. I personally experienced

pure bio energy entertainments in pure discover. Harry went into emotional stretch already with his participants and it all felt a little shift. This morning was not easy. We came back up for lunch and there was still a sense of lack of connection

and suffering.


After a beautiful lunch of home-made salad pasta, we went into the Moroccan tent for a Stage 3 bladder control exercise. After this the energy dropped. The intensity of the discover morning had meant it had taken its toll on the group’s energetics. We had planned to do another bench session, but we did not make it to the entrainment as Rosie in her wealth of experienced called a halt to the energetics of the day. I zoned out as I noticed the disconnect and I felt absolutely wiped out. I thought to myself - what the

fuck are we doing here. The discovery was real. I was suffering. I asked myself in my head “Why are we here? What’s the f**king point?!”


Most of the group at this point were exhausted from the day’s energetics. We paused and sent the group for downtime. This was a clear theme that we had to bring in integration time to maximise the energy. What we were doing was allowing the group to really experience the energy of each stage of healing. It

was deep. Yet profound. But it needed time. The structure of this day ended around 4PM and there was downtime before dinner at 7PM. Most people took the time to crash, chill and reflect on a deeply profound morning.


The evening meal was completed with a chorus of mantra from Jon & Clare to serenade our day of discover. Most people opted for an early curfew as we set a goal of meeting in the morning as those from The Tuning Room staff present were to meet on the beach lake to do an exercise to clear the culture we wanted to shift within our team.


DAY 2 transform:


TRANSFORM: what does it mean?


verb

verb: transform. 

1.make a marked change in the form, nature, or appearance of.


Similar: change, alter, modify. Convert. Metamorphose, transfigure, transmute, Mutate, Remodel, Reshape, Remould, Redo, Reconstruct, Rebuild, Recast, Reorganize, Rearrange, Reorder, Reshuffle, Restyle, Rejig, Rework, Renew, Revamp, Renovate, Overhaul, Remake, Revolutionize, stir up, turn upside down, transmogrify.


Opposite: preserve, keep the same


If you want the same you’ve always had, do the same you always did. Conversely if you want to create a different story for yourself and others in your life – then one must transform.


We headed down to the man-made beach on site for the start of day 2. There was a group exercise from The Tuning Room to air out everything about our culture to create a culture that will cultivate the future vision for The Tuning Room. The whole team made some amazing contributions, and it really felt like a moment of breakthrough to transform the business into 2025. The transform energy was already

palpable. It really did set the tone for the transform nicely.


We did a Activation movement breath exercise into the water bottle game. This went down very well and was super playful. We then went into a “Wim Hof” breathwork [this style of breathwork mimics stage 5 of healing according to Donny Epstein’s book “12 stages of Healing”]. It is 3 rounds of powerful mouth breathing 30 times, followed by a deep pause on the exhale. Each round is designed to place your body into a sympathetic stress response followed by an intense period of relaxation. If you have never tried the WIM HOF method breathing – you definitely should. Only in times of major stress is it not advised.


We then had breakfast then back down Beach for a stage 4 transformation activity – which was to mimic a bull run. Think of the challenge on Gladiators called “The Gauntlet”. A narrow corridor of gladiator’s facing you and you have to summon the transform energy to breakthrough the enemy lines. It requires true stage 4 energy. This exercises really showed the authentic self of people finding their inner power of

“ENOUGH OF THIS!”. It really pumped everyone up and it was fierce and magnificent. Truly a major breakthrough to see everyone step into their power. This exercise was truly magical.


After lunch we organised a treasure hunt lower upper mind exercise. This involved teams of 3 using problem solving, teamwork and collaboration and it went down well although 2 teams got lost! The afternoon was followed by some lake dips and more downtime. 2 hours and had a nap to decompress.


The treasure hunt preparation took it out of me personally and I had a good 20-minute nap to reset. The evening brought about another exercise – this time we were onto stage 7: Resolution. This is the energy when you finally build the momentum to achieving something great - something new and innovative and takes real gusto to create. This really is true upper transform energy. Many of the participants achieved a true stage 7 and experienced the after math of the stillness and emptiness of

stage 8: nothingness.



After dinner we utilised a communal fire to share our goals, we had set to transform the aspects of our lives, and this was a magical experience. We had live music and shared our goals around the fire before plummeting the paper into the grandfather fire and seeing the physical material of those goals engulfed – whilst simultaneously experiencing the magic of those goals vaporising into the ether and become future

realities in the fields around us.


Day 3: The “Awaken” day


After a huge day of transformation, many people elected for a lay in, but at 8am there was 1 participant plus me who opted to take a stroll down to the lake beach and have some peaceful time doing Qi Gong and slow movements akin to Tai Chi. This was magical as the sunrise was the first time we had experienced the true sun rise with no clouds in 3 days. This was followed by a balance Into a chakra Activation breathwork. Felt super relaxed and supportive for the one participant as the main focus.


The awaken energy is all about surrendering to the divine energy beyond the body and the mind. The universal energy was truly at work here as a storm started to blow in – we took the conscious decision to head to a local beach. Off to beach it was Divine timing. The storm was powerful and yet mellow – overcast and showering but not raining. We explored on the beach doing a series of movements in the

sand and games to move beyond the body and mind cultural fields. Moving into a breathwork on the precipice of the tide coming in we performed a kneeling stage 10 healing exercise to create ascension.




Just as everyone climaxed in the awaken energy the tide came in and washed over everyone. The power of the ocean and the sand was real. It welcomed us and simultaneously showed us the power of the sea – the Mediterranean on the Portuguese coast is famous for big waves – and these were powerful indeed. Nevertheless, we entered into the sea for some play and body surfing – experiencing the light

over us.


This experience at the beach was rounded off by an awakened beach comb. It was very wholesome. We cleansed the beach of 5 big bags of plastic, and it felt great. Giving back a small piece of energy to the sea. Torrential rain on arriving back to the car, divine timing.


Love. Beautiful. Kim lightning. Three words to describe what we experienced on day 3. Kim was the shining star and for the first time in a very long time she got to pause being a mother, grandmother, lead front desk, organiser, cleaner, chef and leader.


Ultimate takeaways from the retreat were that you set the field of what is acceptable -

You are the leader and the creator of your life. Be The Primary oscillator and set your standards of what you want to live by. It is common to utilise transform energy to use effort and force to move people away from pain and not addressing the issue whilst acknowledging their emotions.


Sit with discover energy - whilst it feels shit it can be magical if you face your inner most pain. Avoiding this is a strategy that will only bring more pain! And finally, people go beyond their roles when on retreats.


Those who shift the most are most confined by their role – is this you? Do you want to transcend the roles you have created in your life? Look out for our next amazing retreat to experience an embodied awakening.


With love,

Tom

The Tuning Room lead

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