When Robert Gonzales passed away at the end of 2021, our hearts were bursting with an immense celebration for his life, deep mourning, and gratitude for his compassion and all we learned through him. And there was a growing awareness that it was now up to us to continue sharing the essence of his work with the world.
Then this question arose: What was to become of the beloved Awakening to Life Intensive Retreats? These deeply meaningful, and transformative sacred spaces where we learned to reconnect to Life, where we witnessed the Mystery of Life unfold? Surely this could not be the end?
We, Nic and Sarah (Compassionate Self) and Iris and Jurgen (Klarweit) are delighted to have been invited to officially host and facilitate the Awakening to Life Intensive Retreats, as developed by Robert Maoz Krzisnik and Robert Gonzales.
Robert Krzisnik will prepare each retreat together with us and be a support and mentor as we step into facilitating what he and Robert Gonzales co-created.
In this video, Robert Krzisnik shares more about this exciting announcement:
The 6,5 day Awakening to Life Intensive Retreat has been described as a retreat "to live and die for". These experiential retreats were developed by the two Roberts, who were not only connected by their first names, but also by their core yearnings to let Life flow fully and to support and enhance evolutionary processes. For both of them, their spiritual histories started off with Enlightenment Intensives, continued through various meditation practices and ultimately embraced the spiritual core of Nonviolent Communication.
The main focus of Awakening to Life Intensives is on direct experiencing primarily through dyad meditation work but also through individual and group processes, including body-work and integration time in nature. As facilitators we will be there not to teach, but to offer guidance and support.
We look forward to contributing, giving more and more people the opportunity to experience this transformative and nourishing event.
This is what participants from the previous Awakening to Life Intensives say about the experience:
"The retreat helped me come closer to myself, I feel more connected to what life is “really” about. It is an invaluable help on this path and I will be there soon again!" Marcus Thies from Germany
"The retreat helped me to authentically connect with myself, it has broadened my sense of identity and was a catalyst for significant development in several areas in my life." Sietse Sterrenburg from The Netherlands
"The Awakening to Life intensive process allows one to flow with life as it is while avoiding obstacles one might encounter with other transformative work. Feel deeply into my own presence! Wonderful." Michael G. from the USA
"The ongoing dyads with rotating questions offered such a diverse range of experiences, from frustration, anger, self-insight, mourning, beauty, bliss, joy, fear, confusion, etc. The process of going through this day after day led to a shedding of old layers and an opening to new insights and a deeper relationship and understanding of myself. Also, the time in nature was very nurturing and felt essential to my integration of what I was experiencing
After the retreat, I notice that I bring a greater level of acceptance to my experiences, which feels profound for me. I am allowing myself to open to all feelings and thoughts with more curiosity and compassionate understanding. I feel more trust in myself." Karl Smerecnik from the USA
"Now being back home I am experiencing the flow from my essence to everybody and everything. I am experiencing the deepest connections with every person I meet; my friends, my children, my partner and hard to admit, even with my mother. And I feel freedom, the grasp of mind being released, no need to think about anything, no need to decide, no need to develop countless scenarios of what can happen in future; and all the fears are gone. It's like sailing on the perfectly still sea, with the perfect wind, being in perfect balance with all the forces of nature, not knowing where I am going and enjoying the journey tremendously." Rok Praprotnik from Slovenia
"The intensity and structure supported me extremely in learning that structure can be very life-serving and helped me to move out of tightening behavioural patterns. It gave me the chance to really pierce through a lot of layers of illusion. I experienced divine love and oneness on such a high level never felt before. Your trust in the processes, the structure and in the group was so immense, that it gave space for me to open up and to restore the qualities of trust, companionship, gentleness, care, love, being seen, being heard, being important within me – that were all pretty „damaged“ before. And the inclusion of the body really opened a door for me to reconnect with my body and to body contact with others, which was quite an issue for me before. I loved how body/ emotions/ and spirituality connected and came to life together. The Concrete connecting with the Abstract.
I seem to have changed a lot, at least according to my husband. I am more open, more authentic, more direct, have fewer fears, more in my body, more in the flow. I keep the habit of going into nature. I stay in contact with my new companions. I feel happy for no fucking reason. My senses are very sharp, I get touched by small things much easier. I can enjoy with a lot less stimulation, tolerate a lot more disturbance without losing balance." Sonja Kulkarni from Germany
"It was really meaningful for me to (re)connect to my vulnerability and see the beauty of this open, hypersensitive heart. How alive it is when it’s naked. And also to find the confirmation (within myself) that being one with Life is my life, its core and essence and that’s all I want from this life – with deep, very deeply rooted, fundamental passion and fire. It confirmed that my journey is to keep on opening space within myself in order to create a space where others can just be, heal, transform and open – according to their needs.
After the retreat, I feel a lot of inner space, a more open heart, as if I had been fed highly nutritious food (which I have been) and could now relax and have no demands." Aurelie de Lalande from Switzerland
"The retreat was a gift for me to connect with more of my essence and stay connected with most of it afterwards. My intuition is ‚working overtime‘ and my inner power activates me every day with increasing force, resulting in showing myself. The real me.
I ‚look for‘ the yes in my body, my heart, as much as I can. It guides me and keeps me in my flow.
From this point onwards, my life started to move forward… I cannot hide from my truth anymore. I act out of and speak up from my essence more and more and am open and sincere to myself and others." Mireille van Bremen from the Netherlands
Did you know that Dyad meditations are a great way to shift from the struggle of your needs or my needs to a place of WE (our needs)? Curious to learn to Dyad. Click this link for a short introduction to Dyads or this link to join a Dyad practice group.