Advanced Shadow Work Retreat
A 10 day embodied leadership immersion for facilitators,
coaches, therapists & healers
Apply NowJune 13-22 2025
The Netherlands
Join Maanee Chrystal, Somatic Integrative Teacher and Shadow Work Facilitator, and Christian Pankhurst, Founder of Heart iQ Circle Work and expert in group dynamics, for a powerful two-week immersion that guides you deep into the transformative process of shadow work.
As facilitators, coaches, and therapists, we often hold space for others, yet rarely do we have the chance to come together in a community of peers who are equally committed to their path and do deep inner work, together.
As leaders, it’s essential that we explore our own shadows - this embodied leadership retreat is a call to action for anyone who wants to embody deeper integrity while holding space for others in their field of work.
This retreat offers you the space to step out of your usual roles and into a shared, authentic experience that addresses your own shadows when it comes to leadership, relationships, your personal blindspots and where you are still not claiming out power.
Together, we will co-create a journey of raw and meaningful transformation that only shadow work within a committed community can bring.
An invitation to therapists, coaches, facilitators & healers
This retreat is a heartfelt invitation to embrace the parts of ourselves we've learned to silence and shadow in our quest for acceptance and love and in turn, learn how to support others to do the same.
Crafted with the understanding that our deepest shame and most guarded parts of self, hold the key to our most authentic expression.
This work intertwines the wisdom of the body, the power of group dynamics & the amplification of the group field as a catalyst for long lasting transformation that can only be found in "tribe".
This two week program is an exploration of the forgotten allies within, where our essence, beyond all of our strategies for love & approval are laid to rest and the embodied aliveness of your authenticity awaits recognition and liberation.
Through this tender yet powerful process, we learn to gently unearth and cradle the neglected parts of ourselves, transforming our shadows into sources of freedom.
Through this immersion you will become the alchemists of your own stories, turning pain into purpose, and shame into freedom.
This journey not only integrates the shadow and teaches you how to become an embodied leader, it also acts as a ripple effect, touching lives and weaving communities together in a tapestry of shared healing and collective awakening.
Embodied Leadership & Personal Transformation : The heart of the Advanced Retreat
At the heart of our training is the concept of embodied leadership, emphasizing that who you are is as crucial as your professional skills.
By doing the deep personal work on your shadow, you will be an embodied leader.
This means, who you are is essentially more powerful than the tools, teachings & practices you facilitate.
By integrating your experiences and insights of your own shadow into your practice, you become a more effective conduit for healing and transformation for others, capable of navigating the complexities of group dynamics and individual shadows with empathy and clear insight.
Over the two weeks, we will be honing in on 3 specific areas of shadow integration that you will also learn to facilitate for others or incorporate into your current therapeutic, teaching or coaching practice.
The Constructed self: The ways we seek validation & approval.
Projection : Integration of disowned aspects of self projected onto others.
Shadow Ranges: Access different aspects of your own shadow through tapping into archetypal ranges.
These three pillars are fundamental to shadow work and will open the door for an in-depth understanding of common shadows that rule and operate our personality ( and life).
TRAUMA INFORMED & BODY ORIENTED APPROACH
As trauma is stored in the body, We take a sensation based, nervous system & trauma informed approach : We believe true and long lasting transformation can not happen until we feel and meet our body, sensations, emotions, neurobiology & physiology as a part of any therapeutic work.
CIRCLE WORK & GROUP DYNAMICS
Shame is integrated when held, felt & seen by a loving presence. The group field acts not only as a powerful catalyst for collective transformation & integration of our shadow but also as a loving tribe that offers a re-imprinting of our need for community & our intrinsic need for belonging & love.
PERSONAL TRANSFORMATION
We believe a true leader is one that leads from experience. Therefore this will not only be a professional training but most importantly a personal transformation process. In order to work with other people's shadows, we must be willing to connect, feel & be with the hidden & denied aspects of ourselves as well.
WORKING WITH OPEN SYSTEMS
Though the content of shadow work is vulnerable & tender, we work with the principle of this work being an intrinsically joyful process, not something that has to be hard, painful or that we have to push through resistance. Shadow work is an act of no longer self abandoning & this in its essence is a touching & connected journey for all.
Our Advanced Somatic Shadow & Circle Work program offers you...
You will engage in a personal shadow retreat, exploring your inner landscape and alchemizing your shadows into valuable assets. The curriculum includes practical tools for somatic coaching, nervous system regulation, and eliciting shadow work in a tangible, integrative way. Through circle work and focused practices, you will learn to bring shadows to light in real-time, ensuring a holistic and immediate process of integration.
- A deep dive into your own personal shadows
- Powerful & confronting practices & exercises in somatic shadow work
- Embodied Leadership training
- Learning about group dynamics through circle work
- How to create embodied somatic safety
- Nervous system regulation
- Powerful practices & exercises in somatic shadow work
- Exploring emergence & the amplified group field
- How to access different ranges of our shadow within a group
- Somatic Movement practices
Trauma informed container
This retreat is held by expert trainers along with a team of nervous system informed assistants to create personal & group somatic safety through out the program.
Community Building
The program includes building a supportive community, which will not only help you in your personal growth but also provide lifelong relationships and mentors.
Challenging narratives around leadership- through the practice of embodied leadership
Since our trainings center on embodied leadership, the entire team—including both facilitators and assistants—actively participates in the therapeutic process as apart of the way they teach and hold the space. We work to dismantle hierarchy within leadership and function as a cohesive, group organism. .
Who is this training for?
This advanced two-week Deep Dive is tailored for experienced professionals in the fields of therapy, coaching, counseling, and facilitation, healing & social justice work, who are ready to expand their capacity to go deeper into their own inner work.
- Committed to Personal Growth: Those who understand that to guide others effectively, they must be willing to continuously engage in their own personal and professional development, facing their own shadows and integrating their learnings.
- Seekers of Depth in Practice: Practitioners who are not satisfied with surface-level techniques and are seeking a more profound, embodied approach to transformation and healing.
- Ready for a Challenge: Individuals who are not daunted by the intensity of deep personal and professional work and are ready to commit to an immersive, transformative experience.
- Willing to Be Vulnerable: Professionals who are open to exploring and sharing their own process, understanding that vulnerability is a strength in facilitating deep work with others.
- Eager to Lead Authentically: Those aspiring to lead not just from a place of acquired knowledge but from the depth of their own transformative experiences, embodying the change they wish to facilitate.
Your guides
Maanee Chrystal Lynn Joy
Maanee is a Somatic Psychotherapist, Dance Therapist, Somatic Integrative Teacher & Erotic Educator. With her innate capacity for deep feeling and sensing, Maanee weaves together a tapestry of modalities including shadow work, somatics, trauma resolution, nervous system health, dance therapy, non-duality, eco-somatics, embodied leadership, sensuality & the erotic.
As the visionary founder of The Somatic Institute for Women, Maanee has created a sanctuary for women seeking to reclaim their power and embodiment. Her year-long teacher trainings on somatics for women have empowered and educated nearly 300 students, equipping them with the tools to become somatic educators themselves & her school holds over 80,000 students worldwide.
Outside of the Institute, Maanee runs Shadow Work Facilitator trainings in Europe each summer & is at the beginning stages of starting her ecological community project where she runs month long community residencies on Truth Based Living in Thailand, where she has lived for the last 11 years.
Christian Pankhurst
Christian Pankhurst is globally recognized as an eminent authority on emergent group dynamics. Through the integration of various embodied modalities, he has devised a groundbreaking method to foster profound transformational spaces, employing a unique circle technology known as Heart iQ. Heart iQ is about doing deep inner work together with others in community.
This approach is both potent and intuitive, allowing the field's wisdom to steer the course, rather than the facilitator's predetermined agenda. Christian's mastery lies in imparting the art of attuning to the subtle cues within the field and deciphering group dynamics, enabling the circle itself to assume the role of the teacher. Since commencing his journey as a group facilitator in 2002, Christian has amassed an impressive 50,000 hours of teaching experience in circle at his deep dive retreats.
He had trained and certified more than 400 practitioners, facilitators, and coaches hailing from over 50 countries worldwide. Currently, he primarily teaches in the United States, UK & Europe. In 2015, Christian established and co-founded "New Eden," an idyllic transformational retreat centre nestled in the Netherlands. Spanning a breathtaking 10-acre property, this sanctuary provides an ideal backdrop for immersive and soul-stirring experiences. It serves as his spiritual haven and a sacred space where he delves into his most profound work.
Advanced Shadow & Circle Work Retreat Registration
A Fully Immersive, All-Inclusive Retreat Experience
One application, one deposit—choose your accommodation later.
| Accommodation Type | Standard Price | Early Bird Price |
|---|---|---|
| 🏕 Camping (Bring Your Own Tent) | €3,695 | €3,195 |
| 🏡 Shared Room with Ensuite Bathroom | €3995 | €3,495 |
| 🌿 Private Room with Ensuite Bathroom | €4,295 | €3,795 |
🔥 Save €500 with Early Bird Pricing - Apply Today To Claim Your Discount 🔥
✅ All options include: full retreat tuition, meals, and applicable taxes.
💳 Payment plans available. Only a €500 deposit required to save your spot.
To begin, simply click 'Begin Your Application' below and fill out the short pre-screening questions. If all is in order, you will receive a link to pay a €500 deposit. You will then be invited to complete a more indepth trauma informed questionnaire to ensure you are a fit for this experience. Once your fulll application is approved, you can complete your registration and choose your accommodation etc. If your application is not approved, you will get your deposit back in full.
The Venue
Held at New Eden, a unique residential retreat centre surrounded by 50 acres of calm and quiet land, 90 minutes from Amsterdam.
Testimonials
