7 Days Contact Improvisation and Meditation Retreat in the Sahara Desert, Morocco
Transformative Meditation Retreat Morocco
Road Junky Retreats invites you to join them in Sahara desert for transformative experiences on a personal level. Dwell deep into meditation practice and feel the magic happens! Just watching the moon rise at the same time as the sun sets, casting new nuances of shadow over the dunes, and watching scarab beetles leave tiny tracks across the sand - it’s like being in another world.
Meet the instructors
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Highlights
- Daily morning group meditation
- Silent meditation sessions at sunset
- Contact improvisation sessions with Elisa
- Afternoon Aikido workshop with Durward
- 6 nights accommodation
- Daily healthy meals
Styles
Accommodation
The camp is in the dunes and is a basic affair but there are mattresses and blankets. You still need to bring a good sleeping bag (or two bad ones) to stay warm though. You can also just grab your mattress and go to sleep out under the stars.
Program
In this retreat, Durward Burrell will be teaching the art of meditation each morning, helping you find the spaces between your thoughts and connect with who you are beyond the surface agitation of habitual mental chatter and worries.
While this is a meditation retreat, you will not be jumping up at 4:00 a.m. to chant mantras; rather you will have a morning group meditation for those who wish to join and also when you climb the high dune in silence at sunset. The retreat has more of a gentle focus on mindfulness and connecting with the heart through all of our activities.
You’ll find that just being in the Sahara increases the awareness of your mind, your breath, your feelings. Just taking a walk in the dunes is already like a meditation.
Contact improvisation
Elisa will be teaching contact improvisation dance in the afternoons. There are no steps and no experience is needed, just a willingness to listen, feel and discover.
Contact improvisation is all about finding new ways to communicate, move, and express yourself without words. It's an amazing journey of discovery that can be slow and subtle or free-flowing and acrobatic. Check out a contact improvisation jam in the video below to get an idea of where it can take you.
Aikido - the art of the third way
Durward will also be running aikido workshops in the afternoon. Aikido can be seen as the art of negotiating the challenges you face in your lives and creating a middle way between resistance and surrender. Through gentle physical exercises, Durward will show you how to bring the mindfulness of meditation into each of your movements. It makes a perfect complement to the contact improvisation sessions.
Itinerary
Sunday
Today, your bus from Marrakech will arrive in the village on the edge of the dunes. Welcome dinner in the village of Hasalbied on Sunday at 9:30 p.m. You will sleep and have your dinner here.
Monday
In the morning, you will put your bags on the camels and start walking out into the dunes where you will have an opening circle.
Tuesday to Friday
Each of the following days will be structured around meal times, meditation, workshops, and music around the fire at night.
Saturday
Today, in the morning, you will load your bags onto the camels again and head back to town arriving around 2:00 p.m. You can stay an extra night in the village or take the night bus out.
Instructors
Tom Thumb
As Tom learned various languages, experienced varied cultures, and met a whole cast of strange and wonderful characters, he was gathering material that would infuse his books and stories with all the flavors of the road. His first few books concerned his travels, before writing Bozo and the Storyteller (a book for older children and adults) and then Somewhere Under the Rainbow (a book about rainbow gatherings - temporary autonomous communities). These days, he lives in the Czech Republic which is a great central location for making storytelling performances in the nearby capital cities.
Elisa Ghion
Elisa Ghion will be teaching contact improvisation dance in the afternoons. There are no steps and no experience is needed, just a willingness to listen, feel and discover. She brings a playful, spontaneous spirit to the dance and you are guaranteed to have a lot of fun even as you learn and discover.
Location
This retreat will take place in the Sahara Desert in Morocco.
Food
During the retreat, while there will be some meat served, there will always be vegetarian and vegan food so there's no chance of you going hungry. You’ll be eating traditional Morocco cuisine with bread, jam, olives, and tea in the morning. Soup, biscuits, and dates in the afternoon and a huge plate of tajine for dinner.
The following meals are included:
- Breakfast
- Lunch
- Dinner
The following dietary requirement(s) are served and/or catered for:
- Vegetarian
- Vegan
What's included
- Daily morning group meditation
- Silent meditation session at sunset
- Contact Improvisation sessions
- Afternoon Aikido workshop
- Daily meals
- 6 nights accommodation
What's not included
- Airfare
- Airport tranfers
- Personal expenses
How to get there
Arrival by airplane
Please book your flight to arrive at Marrakesh Menara Airport (RAK), Fès-Saïs Airport (FEZ), Agadir-Al Massira Airport (AGA), or Mohammed V International Airport (CMN).
From these airports, you will have to catch a bus all the way to Merzouga which will take up to 11 hours traveling time. In Merzouga, Road Junky Retreats will pick you up on a Sunday evening. Road Junky Retreats can help you a roundtrip bus ticket to Marrakesh if you'd like. For more information, you may send an inquiry to Road Junky Retreats.
Cancellation Policy
- A reservation requires a deposit of 100% of the total price.
- The deposit is non-refundable, if the booking is cancelled.
For this organizer you can guarantee your booking through BookMeditationRetreats.com. All major credit cards supported.