Rhythm of Nature Retreats has announced that their next retreat will be taking place on the Sonoma County coast in April 2020. Rhythm of Nature is a creative retreat focusing on drumming while being immersed in the sounds and rhythms of nature. Much of their philosophy can be found in a quote on their website from Babatunde Olatunji, the Nigerian Master Drummer and Educator who introduced African Drumming to America. His quote reads: “I am the drum, you are the drum, and we are the drum. The whole world revolves in rhythm.” Rhythm of Nature Retreats explores this mindset by holding retreats in nature where participants can experience the beauty and harmony of the natural world, and explore drumming together.
The website for their retreats, which can be found at http://rhythmofnatureretreat.com, explains that “Drumming resonates through the body and reconnects us with our deep ancestral roots.” They invite potential participants to join them in “playing rhythms with the monkeys, the trees, the river, the butterflies, the ocean waves.” They aim to create a sacred space where their guests can drum from their hearts, feel themselves in the rhythm, and explore sound “as if we are the first people on the earth to discover rhythm.” The goal is for retreat attendees to deepen their connection with themselves and the world around them, allowing people to feel deeper connection with themselves and nature and experience harmony with others.
During their last 15 day retreat, the group visited not one but three beautiful natural areas in Costa Rica. The first 5 days were spent at a jungle retreat center in the Living Forest. Guests were informed that they “will experience creating music on the spacious yoga deck, relaxing in graceful hammocks, dipping into a gentle river under the canopy of the jungle, and feasting on food lovingly prepared.” In this time, they experience drumming workshops, field trips to ancient trees, and lots of time to slow down and settle in to the Rhythm of Nature.
After the Living Forest, the retreat group took a boat to the mountains, where they spend another 5 days in the Monteverde Cloud Forest Reserve. Finally, the retreat went on to the beach, landing at Playa Grande, part of the Las Baulas National Marine Park and the nesting ground of the great Leatherback Sea Turtle – just one of many ways their retreats allow its participants to experience nature. Participants could expect many close encounters of the wildlife kind while on the retreat, because Costa Rica is home to a wide variety of animals.
The retreat costs range between $2200 and $2650, depending on which options for lodging participants choose and when they sign up. This cost included all lodging, transportation from the airport to all locations and back, instruments and day trips, and food at the Living Forest. The other two locations had kitchens and easy access to markets and restaurants for guests to use to feed themselves.
There were also a number of exciting optional adventures that guests could partake in during the retreat. During the day trip to Rancho Margot, for example, where the group learns about permaculture and sustainable and regenerative farming practices, there was time for hiking, horseback riding or kayaking in addition to the tour and lunch. The group also visits the ancient Cieba tree of life, which is over 500 years old and inspired the movie Avatar. They even spend time volunteering at a local elementary school, giving back to the community that has given them so much in the form of this retreat, and experiencing the “warmth” of the schoolchildren of Costa Rica.
The 2020 retreat will be happening at an organic off the grid fruit and flower farm on the Sonoma coast, and anyone interested in more information can visit the Rhythm of Nature Retreats website, or go to the Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/rhythmofnatureretreat/. They will be going back to Costa Rica again soon too. With chances to drum, play along with the rhythms of the ocean and see all kinds of wildlife from turtles to monkeys to a huge variety of birds in beautiful places like Costa Rica and the wilds of the northern California coast, their unique retreats really have something for everyone.
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For more information about Rhythm of Nature Retreats, contact the company here:
Rhythm of Nature Retreats
Cheryl Ulrich
7078893763
cheryl.ulrich@gmail.com
