Sacred Roots: Women's Day Retreat: cacao + healing + breathwork

Sacred Roots is a two-women collaboration, melding Gypsy from Sacred Hunger and Naomi from Roots of the Earth to produce "Sacred Roots". These two women met over a hot cup of cacao and a prayer, and have been dreaming up offerings ever since. With a passion for working with women, they are again delivering us another event for healing, and we'd love you to join us!

On Saturday 18th May at Union Street Yoga, we will be offering a one day mini retreat to open, connect, heal and expand your mind, body and spirit. We will utilise the powers and intelligence of heart-opening Cacao, engage in fun and connective intimacy practices, followed by a gentle yet powerful healing ritual and dynamic, transformational breathwork. A deep, expansive, healing and enlivening few hours together held together beautifully by Gypsy and Naomi & all of their spirit helpers! These women hold solid yet gentle space, with integrity, so you are in safe hands!

Let's talk about CACAO....

Cacao is a Master Plant Teacher that sits up there with the big guns like ayahuasca, san pedro and peyote, but without the hallucinations. Besides being really good for you nutritionally, it is considered (energetic) "heart medicine" and is used to connect you with your heart, to open your heart, and feel more inclined to "do the work" on your own and with others. If you pay close attention, you can often feel it bringing a sense of warmness to your heart chakra area, bringing with it a feeling of expansion and open-heartedness...it's perfect for this kind of work.

Let's talk about the INTIMACY PRACTICES....

In order to get to know the people you are sharing space with, so that they soon become "fellow travellers" rather than just "strangers", we start with eye gazing, a sometimes intense but always powerful practice of simply gazing at the human before you. Sounds simple, right? It is, AND it can be super powerful. Sometimes people's faces morph and we see past life images flash before us , sometimes the practice gives us a bad case of the giggles, and sometimes unexpected yet tender tears....all by simply consciously looking someone in the eyes!! Who would have thought!! After this we move about the space taking it in turns to connect with others in the group, simply by answering questions set by the facilitators. Being the deep diving women they are, the questions are usually deep, intriguing, insightful. By the end of this element of the evening, you definitely feel more connected, more alike, and more comfortable in the space. Often by this time there has been laughter and the odd tear...both of which are most welcome in the space. 

Let's talk about the SHARING CIRCLE....

We will use the circle to open up the discussion about what it is to be a woman in the world, exploring our relationship to our menstrual cycle, whether we are still bleeding or not. We will snake our way through the insights and experiences gained by all the women present, finding similar threads, similar woundings, similar superpowers! Talking about our blood is important - it connects us to the cycles of our incredible bodies and our lives, to our wombs, to our essence, to our WISDOM! We could run an all day circle just talking about all this! But alas we have a healing ritual for you......

Let's talk about THE SEEDING RITUAL...

This ritual, created many moons ago by Gypsy when she was studying shamanic practice, is designed to take women back to one of their first rites of passage, menarche - when they first bled. Now we cannot emphasise enough that you DO NOT have to have had a traumatic menarche to go through and benefit from this ritual. Every girl or woman I have ever taken through this powerful process has gained healing of some description, even when they could barely remember how the event unfolded!  EVERY SINGLE WOMAN needs to do this ritual, because our menarche is often the first time we really started to relate to our yonis and our femininity, and most of us did it pretty unconsciously! What we know about rites of passage - and menarche is often our second one, after birth - is that if we ignore them and do not honour them, we un-consciously programme ourselves, and often the message we are being sent in NOT a good one. This ritual is often done  before birthing our babies, and before we hit menopause.....but the perfect time is NOW! Let's re-write the story about what it means to be a woman!

Let's talk about BREATHWORK...

Conscious continuous breathing is one of the most powerful, transformational practices we have ever done! By simply removing the space between each breath, we begin to release DMT from our brains, altering our state of consciousness. As each breath oxygenates every cell in our body, our physiology changes and visions and emotions can emerge. People have reported having past life visions, being re-birthed and birthing their babies anew, and everything in between! A little like "dreaming whilst you are awake", not only does this practice allow us to "feel and heal" past trauma and a spectrum of emotions from rage to grief to joy and ecstasy, it detoxifies us with every breath. It pairs perfectly with cacao and together they really have the power to be truly transformational. It is a guided practice so you can drop in to the practice whilst we actively guide you. We also stop by with "healing touch" if you need us - you are not alone in your journey.

When we dreamed up this offering, it felt perfect. Each element leads beautifully into the next, whilst cacao supports us along the way. The thread of menstrual wisdom and experience allows us to really drop in and explore this topic which unfortunately gets overlooked for much of our lives. When we skip over the rite of passage that is menarche, we miss out on the valuable messages about what it truly means to be a full-power woman. This mini retreat allows you the space to re-write your story, re-programme yourself with the best possible message, and re-claim your power, fullstop! You will walk away feeling like a different woman. That is our wish for you! And so mote it be!

PS payment plans available - please ask

About the facilitators...

 Gypsy Artemis......

Gypsy has a deep interest in edgy work, with subjects others might ordinarily shy away from. For example, she ran the hugely successful and life changing event, Shameless! fully naked dinner for women, to work and heal body shame, and has worked with death, abortion and menstruation.

Over the last few years Gypsy has gone from "not doing naked" to being a live yoni model to being a freely-naked woman in the world, happily taking part in self-pleasure circles with 70+ people! It's been quite the transformation & she wants that sense of freedom for other women too- even if it's a different version of how she takes her own freedom & power into the world.

In 2019 Gypsy attended a week long ISTA (Level 1) tantra retreat that changed her life. This offering is a culmination of her passion for all things sensual, and her wish to help people FEEL. Just as her tattoo reads, she feels we need to "feel our way home"...to our hearts, our yonis, and our selves! This offering is the vehicle.

Naomi Brooks...

Naomi felt a strong need to bring ceremony and sacred practices into communities, to share the enlightening practices she has personally experienced on her own journeys.

Her ethos is to spread light and healing energy in the community through sacred experiences such as medicine circles, cacao ceremonies, drum journeys, blessingways, breathwork, ecstatic dance, creative workshops, Reiki & Kahuna Bodywork.

She holds a safe and inclusive space that allows for deep rooted connections to self, others and the practices she teaches.