Testimonials

“The natural fit of three parts in our morning and afternoon sessions fell together seamlessly: an unusually nuanced awareness of movement, then meditation and a thoughtful participation in teasing open the riches of carefully selected poems.  This is a mindful weekend but far from somber.  A perfect retreat.”

—Cal H.

“I enjoyed the retreat! All facets of it. the three focuses, meditation, feldenkrais, poetry. I especially enjoyed the poetry. It was a new experience and yet it felt familiar. Everything else, the setting, accomodations, food, your teaching, and the group experience made for a lovely experience.”

—Katharine D.

“‘Impermanence, Mindfulness and Joy’: I went to a retreat Alice and John put together on this theme. This is also the title of an anthology of poetry (soon to be published) spanning many centuries, scores of poets, and multiple continents, from which selections were chosen for reading and discussion at the four-day event.  The introduction to the book is marvelous. The format of the retreat was a mix of Feldenkrais , poetry and meditation.  John even read a few poems during several of the meditations….perfect. In the end, what made this beautiful for me was personal characteristics John and Alice share; calm, kind, open, and intelligent. Mealtime conversation was enhanced by the delicious, healthy, gourmet food!”

—Teri L.

“I am relishing the wonderfully nourishing time we all had together! Thank you all for your dear friendship. And to Alice and John, my gratitude to you both for your profound and creative gifts you gave us at Sunrise Ranch. Your retreat truly rejuvenated me in many ways.”

— Susan C

“My heart goes out to you and to everyone in our wonderful group for creating such a memorable time together.  Thank you, thank you, thank you!  We are forever changed.  It was a masterful combination of mindfulness practices and such a joy to have such camaraderie together.”

—Annette T

“Thanks…to all for your splendid and inspirational company! And great baskets of gratitude to you, John and Alice, for everything you put into making this a wonderful experience. My body is loose, my mind is settled (a relative term) and poetry runs through my head in an endless stream…”

—Kirsten M

“The Feldenkrais lessons, meditative practice, and poetry segments were a perfect three-ply braid of quiet wisdom throughout this retreat. Each lesson was its own small epiphany in mindful awareness and connectedness. John and Alice are sensitive teachers and facilitators who effectively balance explanation, demonstration, practice, and time for consolidation of concepts and techniques. I left the retreat with a new set of tools to support a holistic habit of awareness.”

—Connie Z

“I liked the warm welcome, the feeling always of inclusion, respect and caring. I was amazed at the way the meditation, poetry and movement were seamless in both practice and affect. The most surprising element of the experience is that I did not have to leave it all behind when I left the Center. I can still enjoy the poetry, the meditation voice and Alice’s instructions here at home.”

—Mary B.

“John Brehm’s and Alice Boyd’s retreat was a magical combination of movement, meditation and poetry.  I have to confess that the wild card in this combination was, for me, the poetry.  I am, in general, not a confident reader of poetry and I certainly have no talent for or interest in learning how to write poems. Therefore my decision to attend the retreat was for the Feldenkrais movement lessons and the mindfulness meditation.  I specifically went in spite of the poetry. Much to my surprise and delight, the poetry turned out to be my favorite part of the retreat.  John is a very talented writer and teacher of poetry. The poems he and Alice chose for us to read and discuss ranged from ancient to contemporary, all illuminating the essential nature of the path of mindfulness.”

—Marla G.