WILD KINDNESS

5Rhythms 5-Day Heartbeat Retreat at Stowel Lake Farm

A multi day + night dance | embodiment immersion exploring the 5Rhythms emotional map

with Anne Marie Hogya + Joanne Winstanley

           April 16 to April 21, 2025 (Wed. to Mon.)

Salt Spring Island, British Columbia, Canada

When we take time to tend to our emotions – to turn towards our heart and allow what’s there to move – we can begin to befriend and tune into the vibrant, fluid landscape of our heart.

In the Heartbeat™ map, each of the 5Rhythms® becomes a gateway to engage with our essential emotions: Flowing / Fear, Staccato / Anger, Chaos / Sadness, Lyrical / Joy, and Stillness / Compassion.

Grounded in our physical 5Rhythms practice, bolstered by the presence of kindred community – and honouring our individual capacities – we will practice inviting, exploring, and embodying a range of emotional expressions so that we may come to know them well, and be informed by the intelligence they bring.

Beyond fixed positions of ‘nice’ or ‘polite’ or ‘fine’ we may connect with a truer, wilder current that moves with a natural generosity towards ourselves and others.

We will cultivate Wild Kindness.

Join us for a long weekend retreat, where we’ll step away from the world to the spectacular Stowel Lake Farm located on Salt Spring Island, BC, on the West Coast of Canada. Here, we’ll steep in nature, nourish our bodies with farm-fresh food, and move together in sun-soaked spaces. Experience nature, growth, and community in an unforgettable setting.

The experience

A special experience, both wild and soft, we’ll create space to move, to breathe, for unbridled play—all designed to recharge your mind and body, and restore balance and calm.

The venue

Stowel Lake Farm is a restorative retreat venue and thriving organic farm located on Salt Spring Island, here on BC’s wild West Coast. Only a 30-minute ferry ride from Victoria (airport code YYJ), British Columbia, Canada, the farm features more than 100 acres of mixed forests, fields, rocky outcrops and rolling hills to explore.

What’s included

• Daily guided 5Rhythms movement | dance sessions with Joanne Winstanley and Anne Marie Hogya with teachings focused on the 5Rhythms Heartbeat map

• Five nights in the accommodation of your choice

• Fourteen delicious, vegetarian meals hosted in a restored timber farmhouse. Stowel Lake’s talented kitchen team offers seasonally inspired farm-to-table cuisine, featuring their own organic produce. In direct collaboration with their farmers, meals are prepared simply and beautifully to highlight the vitality of fresh whole food ingredients (Dairy-free, gluten-free and vegan choices can be accommodated by request)

• Unstructured time to read, write, rest and soak up the natural world and farm property and Salt Spring Island also offers a range of hiking trails, lakes, and ocean beaches to explore

• Full access to all retreat facilities and the scenic Stowel Lake property

• A guided farm tour and nature talk

• Outdoor evening campfire (where seasonally permitted)

• All applicable taxes

The Details

April 16, 2025 to April 21, 2025 (Wed. to Mon.)

5 nights | 6 days

Check-in is between 3:00 p.m. and 5:00 p.m. on April 16. (Dinner at 6:00 p.m.)

Check-out is by 1:00 p.m. on April 21. (Lunch at 12:00 p.m.)

Pricing + registration

• Register here on Eventbrite or e-transfer to annemarie@annemariehogya.com. Save $50 off ticket price if e-transferring. When e-transfering please provide your email, full name (first and last), full mailing address, and phone number for registration. Also let us know if you have any dietary requirements, if you are allergic to down bedding, if you need a pick up on the Fulford Harbour April 16thafternoon ferry, and the name of the person if you are sharing a room with someone.

• All pricing is per person in Canadian dollars (CAD) and while supplies last.

• Room selection is on a first come basis.

• Payment Plans: If you would like to arrange for a payment plan, please contact the Organizer directly.

• *Off-site accommodation requests cannot be accommodated. All participants must be able to stay at Stowel Lake Farm.

1. Private Room (one bed in room with shared bath)

• $2725 CAD (Early Rate) until December 31, 2024

• $2975 CAD (Regular Rate) until April 6, 2025

2. Shared Deluxe Room (two beds in room with private bathroom)

• $2525 CAD (Early Rate) until December 31, 2024

• $2725 CAD (Regular Rate) until April 6, 2025

3. Shared Regular Room (two beds per room or yurt with shared bathroom)

• $2245 CAD (Early Rate) until December 31, 2024

• $2495 CAD (Regular Rate) until April 6, 2025

• A limited number of separate structure round yurts, which have heat and power, are available on the land outside of the regular room buildings. Please indicate if you’d like to book one of these at no additional cost.

• You can come alone and still book a shared regular or deluxe room; we will take care of matching you to someone else who is looking for a shared room:)

4. Camping (bring your own tent; access to indoor bathrooms and showers)

• $1945 CAD (Early Rate) until December 31, 2024

• $2195 CAD (Regular Rate) until April 6, 2025

*Please note that all cancellations will incur a $150 administration fee. Cancellations after February 28th will receive a 50% refund. Because this is a retreat workshop with individualized meal and accommodation planning, no refunds can be issued for cancellations after April 1st, 2025.

Sample schedule of a retreat day

8:30am Breakfast

10:00am Morning Session

12:30pm Lunch and Break

3:30pm Afternoon Session (some days unstructured free time)

6:00pm Dinner

7:30pm Evening Session

*Retreat Sessions can include: Dance and Movement exploration (adapted to all levels and abilities) which offers a somatic embodiment journey into ourselves | Instruction in the 5Rhythms Movement Practice Heartbeat Map| Writing | Reflection | Partner and Group Sharing and Connections | Community Evening Gatherings. Any of the sessions can be free time to wander and explore the Farm or Salt Spring Island.

*A wide-ranging selection of phenomenal music is played that encourages your body (and heart) to move.

About 5Rhythms and Joanne + Anne Marie

*Joanne Winstanley and Anne Marie Hogya met in 1999 at a 5Rhythms workshop on Cortez Island and became fast friends. A year later in 2000 they road tripped together to Marin, California to do a month-long immersion with 5Rhythms founder, Gabrielle Roth and studied and trained with Gabrielle and faculty over the next two decades. Both Anne Marie and Joanne are accredited to teach both the physical (Waves) and emotional (Heartbeat) maps of the 5Rhythms.

*About the 5Rhythms™: The 5Rhythms is a dynamic movement practice—a body-based awareness practice—that ignites creativity, connection and community. The 5 Rhythms–Flowing Staccato Chaos Lyrical Stillness®–are states of Being and exploring them can lead us back to our real, vulnerable, wild, passionate and instinctive self. The 5Rhythms practice was created and developed by artist, theatre director and author Gabrielle Roth.

*This retreat counts 5 days of Heartbeat pre-requisites on the 5Rhythms Teacher Training path.

FAQ’s

Q- Can I book a shared deluxe or private room if I am coming by myself?

A- You can come alone and still book a shared regular or deluxe room; we will take care of matching you to someone else who is looking for a shared room:)

Q- What kind of music do you play?

A- A wide-ranging selection of phenomenal music is played that encourages your body (and heart) to move.

Q- Do you offer payment plans to attend your retreat?

A- Get in touch and let us know what room type you’d like to book and what you are thinking in terms of payment times and amounts and we’ll see what we can work out.

Q- I also balance issues and get tired easily, so can I sit in a chair?

A- Yes! When in the sessions we can make sure a chair is available if needed. Anne Marie is an occupational therapist and is comfortable with adapting for physical and mental health supports.

Q- Can you tell me how long the days are? I.e. start and end times?

A- The days generally look like: 8:30am breakfast (Meal times are set by the Farm, because they need to manage all the cooking:) Approximately 10:00am morning session (about 2 hours, diving into the theme of the session.) 12:30pm lunch and break. Approximately 3:30pm afternoon session (about 2 hours, diving into the theme of the session) or some days unstructured free time. 6:00pm dinner. 7:30pm sometimes an evening session (may not be dancing, could be getting together for a chat in the upstairs ‘barn’, could be a movie, could be something else.

Q- Can I stay in accommodation off-site?

A- No, we are only accommodating on-site guests during the retreat. This is what we’ve done over the last three years at Stowel Lake Farm and it makes a positive difference. Participants appreciate being together like this and to really immerse in the retreat, including those Salt Spring Island residents who attend:)

words from Past Retreat participants

“This retreat was absolutely amazing and the location (omg)! Being cared about in community, it was my first time to feel this. Thank you for creating this incredible space.”

"I think it should be mandatory to being a human on earth to be able to experience this work."

“This was an amazing retreat…it was the entire package: farm, people, music, interactions…every exquisite moment.”

“I loved all of it! Loved the music, loved the location, loved my room, loved the food. Sign me up!”

“It was awesome. A lovely group of people. It felt safe, easeful, fun and inclusive.”

“Thanks for being such role model of authenticity. So great to process emotions and also involve the body and cultivate freedom and joy.”

“Huge thanks to the team for a magical, magnificent retreat! I’m feeling so alive and I’m finding the magic in life again. It was awesome!”

“I would ABSOLUTELY come again!”

“It was cathartic, an incredible release. This was such a beautiful and freeing experience. I feel more spacious, free, wild.”

“I’ve never done 5Rhythms before and this seemed like a perfect opportunity to learn a new way of moving my body.”

“It was an unmissable opportunity to get back into my body after years of sedentary rest. I didn't expect it to be transformative and experience the belonging, the connection and release too. I am full of gratitude.”

“The inclusion, acknowledgement and encouragement was so life giving. I realized how isolated and disconnected I had become and the incredible medicine of moving my body. Thank you!”

“I was in awe the full retreat.”

"I feel more balanced and whole than I have felt in a long time. I remembered who I am, what I am, and am back on a good track. Thank you from the deepest place in my soul.”

“Thank you for all your beauty, wildness and skill. My heart is open, tender and pulsing.”

“It was VERY nourishing on many levels. The chance to dance and to rest and to be in such a beautiful place.”

"Thank you so much for this magic! I'm so grateful to be a part of it!!"

“It's been a long time (over 22 years I think) since I've done a retreat and it was a wonderful experience. Dancing sure beats silent meditation retreats; and the biggest takeaway for me is to look for more “movement" opportunities.”

“Thank you for the care you put into crafting these immersive experiences, from planning and logistics to music and dancing, to holding space for all the emotions that come up in so many people.”

“I am so grateful for the retreats - invigorating, cathartic, restful and restorative.”

“5Rhythms, the participants and Stowel Farm created a safe place for me to feel the music in my body. I danced for the first time in 11 years. And I have you to thank for allowing a place for me to explore what my body has to say!”