IMILOA PRESENTS
A 5-day eco-movement retreat to joyfully regenerate our ecosystems and our bodies
March 6 – 11, 2022
About The Retreat
Led by lifetime environmental activist Jenny Smith and Juilliard dance graduate Nathan Hirschaut, this retreat is a fusion of the physical body and the environments we call home. Dive deep into the “pura vida” culture of Costa Rica while learning how to be a better custodian of our planet. You’ll leave newly activated, deeply educated, and empowered by your experience and newfound community.
Through this retreat you’ll remember your being as an important and connected child and custodian of mother earth. With embodied dance, hands-on tree planting, and local Costa Rican immersion at the center of your experience, you’ll be guided on an abundant journey of what it means to be WILD and RECONNECTED.
Expect to learn the foundations of environmental regeneration through guided tours and hands on work with the local herself, Jenny Smith. Learn to reconnect to your body through dance, weaving embodiment, prayer, and art throughout your experience. Tie this all together with daily kundalini yoga, indulgent plant-based cuisine and luxury jungle accommodations that ground you, connect you to the land, and allow for ultimate expansion.
This retreat is for those that want an unparalleled immersive Costa Rican experience, and to be guided by passionate activists who cannot wait to share the rich, and joyful teachings that are waiting for you in the wild.
What You Will Learn
- How to reconnect with your body through kundalini yoga and meditation, authentic movement and dance.
- The basics of environmental regeneration.
- How to value, regenerate, and connect with the trees and wilderness around you.
- Joyfully give back to mother earth through hands-on tree planting and embodied dance.
- The feeling of rewilding, learning to play in the dirt again, and becoming a child of the earth.
- Experience private dance performances for you from Nathan Hirschaut in heightened natural locations meant to heal, inspire and connect your being.
What You Will Gain
Clear stuck energy and physical blocks through relaxing and cathartic movement.
Spiritually connect to the full breadth of your power through yogic and meditative practice.
Get the locals only “one of a kind” tour of the secret gems of Costa Rica.
Further activate your own purpose in life and learn to participate more fully in living harmoniously with Nature.
Your Hosts
Nathan Hirschaut
Nathan Hirschaut is a teacher, creator, and dancer who graduated from The Juilliard School for Dance in 2020. Over the past 15 years, Nathan has studied from the world’s best in dance, yoga, and artistic ideology; resulting in the unique intersection of his artistic and movement world. His mission is to create heightened movement experiences that help people connect to their embodied power. Since graduating school, Nathan has been commissioned and independently produced 8+ cross-disciplinary projects, held 2 creative retreats, and taught a plethora of movement workshops and classes around the globe. Nathan’s work continues to make waves and has been recently featured in The Washington Times, NPR, the LA Post, as well as winning best professional film at the Idaho ScreenDance Festival and being selected for the San Francisco and Portland Screen Dance festivals. Forging his way as a pioneering artist and thought leader of embodied physics, Nathan’s life is an example of what a wild ride in tune with nature and the divine looks like.
Jenny Smith
Jennifer Leigh Smith, J.D. grew up on a sustainable farm in Louisiana playing in the woods and bayous, marveling at the nature all around her. “Tree Jenny” (as the kids participating in Association Community Carbon Trees (ACCT) education programs named her), is a Lawyer, Agro-forester and Certified Carbon Auditor. She is a dedicated Yoguini having practiced yoga for over 30 years.
Jenny is a revolutionary tree activist who champions fair pay for tree planters around the world, especially near the equator where trees generously give us compounded benefits. The ACCT community reforestation programs empower vulnerable families by including women in the center of the work, in both Central America and Kenya, Africa. Jenny and her teams have produced, planted and maintained long term, more than 606,000 biodiverse trees, over 100 different native fruit, lumber and animal fodder species.
Jenny holds space for activists and businesses around the world to give back to Mother Earth by encouraging global participation in sponsoring ONE TREE AT A TIME. The ACCT movement invites people from all walks of life to connect with their childlike wonder and joy in Nature and participate in a powerful regenerative natural solution for global environmental challenges.
What we do to the Earth we do to ourselves… re-wilding our inner and outer world is a joyful way to further our own joyful purpose in life and use it to live in real harmony with Ourselves as an integrated part of Nature.
Testimonials
Since working with Nathan I have stepped into my power and gotten to know myself through movement. I feel words don’t do an experience with Nathan justice! I’m excited to continue working with Nathan and exploring myself and the world through movement.
A friend I invited to one of Nathan’s dance performances and wrote me a note after saying that she came away with her hope for the future of humanity restored.
It’s so much more than dance. Nathan holds an extremely open and beautiful space, while being able to tap in and guide you through exactly what you are needing in the moment. I leave every session feeling more expanded than the last!
I have worked with Jenny for almost 18 years with our women’s group in Costa Rica. I most enjoy it when Jenny brings groups of people to the ACCT community tree nursery at our house for medicinal plant walks. Jenny has such a keen knowledge of medicinal plants and trees that we are constantly discovering new remedies and layers of plant wisdom together. It’s so fun to see Jenny get a group excited about a bug or a flower, simply from her own joy and wonder in admiring the nature around her. Jenny sees the details that most of us miss. Plus, she explains the bigger picture with simple language and examples of how the rainforest is interacting with all of us every single day no matter where we live.
I first met Jenny while she was doing a walk and talk about medicinals and native plants in Costa Rica. Her intimate knowledge of the forest and her positive energy inspired me to chase her down and ask if I could help out in some way. I am so glad I did! From learning how to replant seedlings to growing new trees, to meeting her workers in the mountains up close and really getting a feel for the jungle, I felt a sense of purpose that had been lacking for me for some time.
Jenny’s mission seemed very clear right from the start, and the more I got to know her, the more I saw that she really lives what she talks about, she has dedicated her life to doing real work, the often frustrating, messy and hard tasks in service of our planet. Tree Jenny has a unique way of understanding and explaining carbon capture, and why this can actually work, to any audience, from kids to executives, and she somehow stays bright in the face of great odds. I took away with me the idea that it’s never too late, that I can refocus my life on my own timeline and that I get to choose where my boots will walk and what I will leave behind. I really needed that inspiration, and I hope someday I can pass it on to someone else.
Simply put, Jenny Smith is a force of nature! She is a remarkable mix of fire earth water and air joined with sharp intellect, vision, tenacity and heart. All of this fuel is so unique and inspiring to see in her work at Community Carbon Trees in Costa Rica! However, with Jenny, it’s never all work, as her heart includes a big dose of childlike wonder, spontaneity and sense of play which is contagious!!
When I first started hosting groups at Solfeggio Sanctuary, I knew every group must experience the rainforest through Jenny’s eyes. It’s been nothing short of profound for all who have walked the forest floor under the towering canopy Trees with this woman, who downloads a depth of wisdom.
I always say you really don’t know where you are until you stand in front of the giant Ceiba tree in the sanctuary forest. With Jenny as your guide, your roots will grow deeper and your crown will expand up and beyond to perceive your connection to all life on this precious living breathing planet! And that moment there will be no mistaking that this is an experience of a lifetime and quite possibly life altering.
Ticket Pricing
TRIPLES
$2,700
Triple occupancy in a Geodesic Dome with views of the jungle
DOUBLES
$3,300
Double occupancy in a Jungle Bungalow with views of the jungle
SINGLES
$3,700
Single occupancy in a your own private, 200-Year-Old Balinese suite with stunning views of the jungle and ocean
VIP SINGLES
$3,900
Single occupancy in a your own private, 200-Year-Old Balinese villa with a private deck and stunning views of the jungle and ocean
Included
A completely private campus; available to your retreat group only. Access to a private waterfall, nature paths, incredible flora and fauna, and an ocean view infinity pool. Also included is a dedicated team of 20+ local professionals to coordinate everything for your enjoyment, from touch down to take off.
Private transportation from the International airport to our campus; a private driver and transportation to our campus in Imiloa Mountain.
What’s Not Included
Flights to SJO, Spa Services
THE VENUE
You will be immersed in a 22-acre jungle oasis in Dominical, Costa Rica.
This enchanted mountainside jungle venue is ten minutes from the beach and it is the perfect setting to experience deep healing, embraced by nature, yet completely luxurious.
While staying at Imiloa you will enjoy our nature paths, our private waterfall, our salt-water pool, stunning views and delicious and nutritious meals by our five-star vegan chef.
Accommodations
Included in each accommodation is the comfiest mattresses, 850 thread count sheets, storage space and dry rooms as needed, fiber optic internet, daily cleaning service, private en-suite bath, indoor/outdoor design for every accommodation with a focus on nature and being your private refuge, and full service, thrice-filtered private well for drinking water throughout the property.
BALI VILLAGE
Bali Village is perched 1200 feet about the Pacific Ocean, on a ridge line of flora, fauna and wildlife every direction you look. These 5 accommodations are 160-200 year old homes imported from Bali. Each with their own en suite bathrooms, the homes bring you back and create a self space for rejuvenation and transformation.
BALI MASTER SUITE
200 Year Old Homes from Bali. Imported from the Java Islands, these homes boast outdoor showers, full kitchen access, surreal vista views to the Pacific, their own salt water plunge pools and hand-carved art that is as old as the houses.
JOGLO HOUSE
Perched on the edge of the cliff, at the furthest end of the property, sits a 170 year old home from the Java Islands we call Joglo. Complete with a writer’s desk, outdoor Balinese shower, hand-carved architecture that will transport you to another land and time, Joglo is teeming with history and comfort. Your cold plunge pool is adjacent to a warm bath, both outdoor. Full kitchen, too.
POTOO HOUSE
This two-floor imported home from Bali will have you wishing you’d never leave. Complete with a King Bed and a twin in the corner of the 180 year old home, Potoo has modern luxury with 360 views of the Pacific. On the lower level, a plunge pool and private spa. Potoo also includes many outdoor chairs, hammocks and a full kitchen, too.
BUNGALOW HILL
Six Jungle Bungalows built on the side of the mountain on the pathway to our very own private waterfall. Bali inspired, the interiors feature natural finishings and a gorgeous exposed shower and bath tub.
DOMELAND
Six Buckminster Fuller inspired Geodesic River Domes, among the best made in the world and partially powered by solar energy, sit perched on the edge of our private river with the fresh, flowing water feeding up to the domes. Experience the soothing sounds of relaxing and sleeping next to flowing water. Amazing!
THE HOUSE OF MASTERS
The House of Masters, located in the center of the property, is a 2,000 square foot Balinese structure hanging 100 feet in the Jungle canopy. Adjacent are restrooms and a yoga storage room for mats, blocks and more. The space can be converted for any type of retreat, workshop or dance party.
THE HEART OF IMILOA
A sprawling 3,000 square foot space that is the “Heart of Imiloa,” our social space features loungy, multicultural inspired furnishings, couches, and 5 imported tables from Bali, all under a Polynesian style roof.
THE PATHS
Jungle paths connect the 20+ acres at Imiloa, with hand-made stairs and lighting, creating an immersive, easy experience for you and guests.
THE WATERFALL
Beyond the Jungle Bungalows is a path that leads to our own private waterfall. Descend into what feels like an enchanted jungle forest as you bask in the magic and beauty of the surrounding nature.
Food
Spa
Imiloa’s world-class spa is a curated, sensual and deeply moving experience. Choose from Ayurvedic massages and practices, to a shamanic masseuse from our team members who are from the Boruca indigenous tribe here in Costa Rica, to more traditional Swedish, relaxation or Thai yoga massages, body wraps and others. A full list of spa offerings and a link to book during your free time will be provided to you before you arrival.
LUXURY TRANSPORTATION
- Schedule your plane to arrive at SJO. In order to access your private plane charter, all guests must be at the Domestic Terminal at SJO San Jose, Costa Rica no later than 3PM on the arrival day.
- Once landed, proceed to customs and instructions will be provided to meet Imiloa concierge.
- Proceed to baggage claim with concierge and proceed to Domestic Terminal (3 minute walk from International Terminal). Please be at the Domesitc Terminal at SJO San Jose, Costa Rica no later than 3PM on your day of arrival.
- Private Imiloa plane will be waiting to fly you to Quepos.
- Private ground transport shuttles will pick you up in Quepos and bring you to Imiloa.
- If you are already in Costa Rica, ground transport may be coordinated from Quepos, Dominical or Uvita as inclusive.
- Please do not plan to drive to Imiloa on your own. It is not permitted.
- If you need to arrive the day before, please stay at the Hampton Inn across from the airport, or plan to be in the San Jose Domestic Terminal for private flight to Imiloa by no later than 3PM (instructions will be emailed).
- You will depart Imiloa at 10AM, and arrive at the landing strip at 10:30AM, with an estimated arrival to SJO airport at 11:30AM. The domestic terminal is a 5-10 minute walk to the international terminal at SJO. Typically, it is suggested to be at the international terminal 2.5 hours prior to your international departure. Please book your departing international flight accordingly, knowing that you will be at the airport at 11:30AM on departure day.
Questions? Email us: impact@imiloainstitute.com
Team
TRAVEL INSURANCE and COVID PROCEDURES
- Imiloa has partnered with a comprehensive travel insurance provider that meets the entry requirements for Costa Rica and offers “cancel for any reason” plans to maximize coverage: www.globalrescue.com/imiloa (additional cost)
- COVID tests for entry and exit requirements to your home country can be done on site. We have an on-call physician that can come to the property for testing and results sent in English.
- We follow cleansing and sanitization protocols as per Ministry of Health to ensure a safe environment
- Staff and retreat participants are asked to follow and safety guidelines such as social distancing, washing of hands, and proper mask wearing.
Location
Imiloa is located in the jungle, at the top of a mountain, overlooking the Pacific Ocean. Our lush retreat center is located adjacent to the second most biodiverse land on the planet.
Dominical, only 13 minutes away, is a beach town with surfer vibes, great coffee and plenty of shopping. Just north of our municipality is Quepos and to the south, Ojochal and Uvita, which is known as the Whale’s Tail.
Just 45 minutes east sits Costa Rica’s second largest city, San Isidro. Within an hour of Imiloa in all directions, you have access to airports, cafes, beaches, waterfalls, biodiversity and happy people ready to show you the lush, lovely area we call home.
You’ll arrive easily on our private plane, and your group will enjoy unlimited transportation to and from the beach, to and from the airport and throughout your stay with us.
