The Mensana Retreat

The Mensana Retreat was organized by Lisa Parente, founder of TreeHugger Retreats, a very warm hearted, determined earthy goddess warrior with a humanitarian drive that will keep any workshop aligned with the divine goal of bringing you back home to yourself, awakening the heart and providing everyone with a rich experience to learn and grow from. Lisa generously provided all participants with in-depth documentation covering all the subjects explored and discussed during the retreat.

A diverse array of practitioners with varying levels of experience came together under one healing umbrella for the 4 day event. Ayurveda, yoga, meditation, self-healing techniques, a sound bath, fire with kirtan and sustainability workshops were the main highlights but a wide variety of group activities, private sessions and excursions hugged our bodies and consciousness each day.

Aside from the incredible line-up of activities offered on the promotional page, some of the more soulful intentions of the workshop became clear as everyone met and mingled. The first and most obvious was to give people from different walks of life and different financial restraints an equal opportunity to experience a robust self-care and enlightened workshop. One that took place on a beautiful piece of land with all the amenities of paradise.

The second most obvious was to provide a platform for both therapists and participants to share life experience, exchange techniques and specialties, teach and uplift each other. This provided a lush place for all to expand into, deepen our self-care routine and learning new wellness practices to broaden our horizons.

Every attendee and practitioner had the opportunity to experience each offering equally, which made for a very enjoyable stay as a practitioner. The only person that had more work than play was the extraordinary Ayurvedic Cook Yann J. Verstraete but even with his busy schedule he too managed to enjoy a few highlights. Including his other contribution as one of the best received events of the retreat, a blindfolded shamanic dance which took place in the evening.

You really get to know a different side of yourself when you’re blindfolded in a room with many other people for an hour and a half listening to a wide variety of musical sensations. For a soul traveler this activity brings one far and wide, both within and without, what an experience!

The non-profit Terra Perma Foundation where the retreat took place has a mission to educate and support sustainable development and ways of living off the grid. Work was still in progress on some of the various communal spaces as I’m certain it will continue to expand delightfully each year. The property spans 800 acres of lush forests! Just next to the reception you can find beautiful perma-culture gardens, a private lake further down the trail, streams, an edible forest in progress and a beautiful wellness yurt to host workshops. An all around piece of paradise for the eco-friendly and conscious guest.

The accommodations were different for each person, everyone had the chance to reserve either a yurt, shared or individual cabins, good old fashion tent camping spaces were available and they even have an Earthship type structure to stay in— when it’s not on reserve. The walks between communal spaces and sleeping accommodations are just the perfect distance to keep you on your feet but all while not needing to drag them around. I recommend bringing a bike for those that aren’t avid walkers.

On the Ayruvedic front we had the amazing Karla Gomez de la Peña whom was present for the first day to sit with everyone and produce their dosha profile for personal experimentation to use throughout the retreat. Yann the chef prepared delicious and plentiful meals each day, offering some elaborate cooking classes and advice on particular food recommendations for each dosha. After the first day and a half which was a juice detox everyone was eager to see what he had waiting and ate till their stomaches were full and then some.

Highly detailed oriented and passionate about his offerings, he was an indispensable addition to the retreat which definitely added so much to the energetic medicine of the retreat. The amazing herbalist and medicine woman Zein Saraswatiji Salti also prepared some divine treats to add to the list, using freshly picked local herbs, prepared artfully and with soul. This woman is so healing to just be around so naturally her food soothed the soul on so many levels. She also delighted us with her magical voice and Hang Drum playing during her stay.

Therapeutic yoga classes were given each day by me, I was greeted with warm smiles and positive feed back which made it so pleasant to share this work that I feel so passionate about. I combine soft slow intentional movements in combination with breath work to calm the nervous system, centre the mind, open and stretch all the tissues of the body, deepening the connection between mind, body, heart and soul.

Another highlight was special guest Rafaelle Mackay, she guided us into a deep sound healing session with her enchanting voice and wide array of instruments and rhythmical melodies, a soul journey indeed. MJ Ganesh aka Marc-Joseph Chalfoun guided us into a fun Kirtan around a fire on the first night along side Francis Beyrouti’ special brew of sax which made for a very uplifting experience.

Zoë Despina and Letizia Montoro were on site to offer massage therapy and reiki respectively which was a highlight for some of the attendees. What they also offered was their serene presence, both shining bright and uplifting the group everywhere they went. Our soulful Metta was present to shine his light too, adding his wisdom and meditation abilities to the mix, as well as some humour.

Benjamin Lavigne offered massage therapy as well as successfully guiding three workshops, Self-massage, Emotional release technique and Somatic Approach to Body Consciousness, I was told all were very insightful and nourishing. Nadia Pietravalle organized a few workshops as introductions into the Ayurvedic System. The first one was experiential and the others also provided interactive platforms to experience the knowledge through, which made them all very accessible for beginners. Nadia has a unique perspective and pleasant disposition which made her sessions very interesting and enjoyable.

My personal favourite highlight of the retreat was a workshop given by Anny Schneider a very well known Herbologist living in Bromont. She guided us deep into the heart of Herbalism, both in theory and experientially. After sitting with her and sampling some of her homemade essential oils and plant/flower essences she took us on a three hour walk through the forest stopping at almost every corner to show us a new edible plant and its uses for both culinary and medicinal purposes. This woman was captivating and beaming with earth magic.

Yann J. Verstraete & Lisa Parente sharing a hug of appreciation on the last day

Over all this retreat was a huge success, Lisa is definitely on to something great and I highly recommend anyone looking to connect more deeply with the earth and themselves to place their precious time and trust in her offerings. The workshop kicked off during the August solar eclipse which was super intense energetically as it pulled back layers of non-serving programming, the timing of the retreat arrive perfectly in synchronicity to balance out the heavy inner work by providing a container to deeply ground as we all connected with the earth and its elements in new ways. Thank you Lisa for this stellar experience and to all the participants for your shares, hugs and soul connection, we were truly blessed!

Blasting Love & Appreciation