Do Nothing Retreat

A simple invitation to pause.

THE INVITATION

Step away from doing and return to being.

This retreat offers a rare chance to slow down, disconnect from screens, spend time in nature, and share space with like-minded people. It is an invitation to experience how less doing and more being can become one of the greatest gifts we offer ourselves and others.

This is for you if

• — You are a parent and the year has felt especially long.
• — You work for yourself and your last true break was some time ago.
• — A big project is ahead, but you do not yet have room for it.
• — You lead a team and can hardly remember a day without making decisions.
• — You are tired and longing for three nights of quiet.

THE EXPERIENCE

Unplugging from busy life

Instead of focusing on the results of your actions, you are invited to attend to the quality of your presence in life.

Rest

Time in Nature

Experience the three-day effect of nature. After around 72 hours in a natural setting without screens, attention becomes sharper and creative problem-solving performance improves by about half. Even a single 90-minute walk in nature has been shown to quiet the part of the brain that ruminates.

Attention

A Space for Presence

Give your mind the chance to return to the “Now. Here.” In doing so, you may discover a fresh perspective on life, work, and relationships. This pause is not only about feeling better, but also about helping others feel better too.

THE APPROACH

What we do, if we had to name it

Physiology first. Strategy is the easy part.

1. Breathwork
   We begin with breathwork because it is often the fastest way back into a body that has spent years being overridden. You will breathe in ways that shift your chemistry within minutes, not as a metaphor but in measurable ways. Calm is not the goal. The goal is to give a nervous system that has forgotten how to change states the direct experience of doing so.
2. Somatic work
   The body keeps a record of everything it did not have time to feel. It holds that charge until direct work with the body can renegotiate it. Somatic work is that direct work: slow, precise attention to sensation, to what your system is bracing against and has not yet been allowed to complete.
3. Nature Immersion
   Nature becomes part of the practice through boulders, river, caves, and beaches. Guided hikes, solo walks, and the well-known swim safari support the art of noticing and simply being.

WHAT A DAY LOOKS LIKE

Doing more of what matters

We could list every hour of the day, from wake-up time to sessions and meals. But the urge to know the full shape of the day before arriving is exactly what you come here to set down. There is a rhythm, and it carries you.

MORNING	AFTERNOON	EVENING
Body Flow Brunch Solo Walk or Rest	Afternoon snack Breathwork Rest	Somatic Session / 1:1 Sessions Dinner Star Meditation

AT A GLANCE

Vegetarian and vegan meals are served, with most produce coming from the gardens or local farmers. Meals are shared at the communal table. Coffee and alcohol are not served, mainly to support sleep. Mornings include cacao and rooibos infusions.

Dietary requirements can be accommodated. Please advise when booking.

DURATION

4 days
Thursday to Sunday

LOCATION

Cederberg
Western Cape

FOOD

Plant-based
No Coffee • No alcohol

YOUR GUIDE

Daria Rasmussen
SOMATIC PRACTITIONER • MINDFULNESS TEACHER • FOUNDER

“Things to do are endless, like ripples on a stream. They end only when you drop them.”

Daria is a Somatic Experiencing® practitioner trained at Somatic Experiencing International. She trained in breathwork with Dan Brule, and her contemplative practice runs beneath the sessions.

She holds a master’s degree in sociology and spent twenty years in a marriage to corporate work: present, productive, and increasingly aware that she was giving herself away without anything returning. That experience is not background; it is the curriculum.

Daria’s approach is structured around BARE: Breathwork, Awareness, Regulation, Embodiment. The sequence matters: you cannot think your way to embodiment. You have to arrive there through the body.

WHAT GUESTS SAY

“I have also realised that I'm not the anxious person I thought I was. It turns out it was my lifestyle choices and thinking habits. So simple, yet I never quite got it.”

Bronwyn

“I have decided to resign from my work because I have been unhappy there for almost two years. I feel liberated at the thought of leaving a place that is no longer serving me.”

Robyn

WHAT DOES IT COST

Accommodation options

All prices include accommodation, all meals, all practices, and guided stargazing. There are no hidden charges.

CANVAS AND TIMBER

Tented Chalets
Built from canvas and timber, allowing the valley to come through the walls. Wind, water, and first light are part of the experience. The simplest option, and the closest you can sleep to the land.

3 NIGHTS
Solo: R19,500
Double: R29,400

Includes: Accommodation, all meals, practices and activities

WOOD AND GLASS

Chalets
Built from wood and glass and set between the rocks. Floor-to-ceiling windows bring the valley into the room with you. This is the one most people imagine when they picture the place.

3 NIGHTS
Solo: R26,100
Double: R35,400

Includes: Accommodation, all meals, practices and activities

CEDERBERG ROCK

Villa
Built from Cederberg rock and set closest to the river. It includes a separate bedroom, its own lounge, and a large outdoor space reserved just for you. The most private of the three.

3 NIGHTS
Solo: R28,200
Double: R40,800

Includes: Accommodation, all meals, practices and activities