Yoga, Cacao & Breathwork Retreat – Cristiane Machado

The Power of Breathwork: Transformational Healing Through Breath

It’s totally safe to feel and it’s totally safe to breathe.

This is a refrain you’ll understand on a whole new level when you give yourself the gift of a week of transformational breathwork.

This program is a powerful experience. Through daily breathwork sessions, you will release trauma and other wounds, expand and improve your lung capacity, and heal on a profound level.

Breathwork is a practice done laying down (or seated) in which the practitioner guides participants through a series of breaths. The style of breathwork offered in this workshop is designed to stimulate the sympathetic nervous system (fight/flight/freeze, or stress response) in a safe environment. The process is exceptional for releasing trauma and stuck emotions or energy. Participants experience feelings and emotions in a purely somatic way, bringing them out of their heads and into their bodies, where old material can be metabolized, integrated, and released.

This week’s workshop will meet daily from Sunday-Friday for 30-45 minutes. The first session on Sunday will be 60-75 minutes long.

Through these sessions, you will:

• Release trauma and emotional wounds
• Expand and improve your lung capacity
• Heal on a profound level

Join Cristiane for a powerful journey of self-discovery and healing through the power of breath.

The price for this experience is $299. 

Cacao Ceremony

“CHOCOLATE IS A DIVINE, CELESTIAL DRINK, THE SWEAT OF THE STARS, THE VITAL SEED, DIVINE NECTAR, THE DRINK OF THE GODS, PANACEA AND UNIVERSAL MEDICINE.”
~ ANTONIO LAVEDÁN, SPANISH ARMY SURGEON, 1796 ~

Sacred Cacao

“I first experienced Cacao and its physical and emotional healing powers, when my dear friend, student and teacher, Liz Getman returned from Guatemala with some Cacao and we officiated the very first Cacao Ceremony, connecting Metta Meditation and Reiki. We were a group of 5 friends and we ALL had an experience of rebirth.

Since then, I have been blessed to officiate many wonderful and magical Sacred Cacao ceremonies.

I have experimented and experienced many Cacao ceremonies along my travels through Central America, and I rose in love with Cacao from Costa Rica, cultivated by The BriBri Tribe.” – Cristiane Machado

What is Cacao?

Native to tropical regions of the world, cacao is chocolate before the processing—an unsugared, unadulterated form of one of the world’s favorite treats. Cacao’s scientific name, “Theobroma cacao,” translates to the “Food of the Gods” and for good reason. Known as a superfood, cacao is high in magnesium, calcium, antioxidants, and iron and is an incredible mood booster! One of our favorite cacao properties is anandamide, a neurotransmitter known as the bliss molecule. For those with an interest or background in yoga and/or Hindu philosophy, you may know that the word “ananda” means bliss and refers to a higher state of being. Cacao facilitates our goal of achieving that blissful state and deepens our connection to our highest selves.

According to indigenous myth, when the balance between humankind and nature is threatened, cacao comes from the rainforest to open our hearts and return us to harmony. Already have a connection to chocolate? We invite you to experience another dimension of that connection—a deeply spiritual or shamanic one. Sacred cacao partners with us, facilitating the journey inward and the discovery of our truest, most love-filled selves.

What is a Cacao Ceremony?

It is a gathering honoring ancient wisdom of the Mayans and Aztecs and the cultures of South and Central America. There is a sage and palo santo opening and cleansing of the energies and purification of the body before attendees sit in a circle.

Ceremonies officiated by Cristiane start with opening the 4 corners of the world and inviting the guidance of IxCacao Goddess of cacao by Mayan traditions and the Cacao, prepared solely with water (spices and sweeteners can be added) is blessed in preparation. After the Cacao is served also in a ceremonial and ritualistic manner, Cristiane guides the attendees in a Self Exploratory meditation that clears and connects mind, voice and heart.

What to expect?

Cristiane invites to NOT have any expectations… and, some participants have experienced tingling on their skin, energy that rises up to the eyes (Crying a s purifying and wonderful tool of self healing), some felt euphoria, and at times, a deep sense of liberation and joy. Many of Cristiane’s clients who she have worked closely with Cacao, have shared that they no longer make use of antidepressant and psychosomatic drugs.

Price for the ceremony is $50