Moving with Mystery: A Continuum Retreat
Description
Embodied practices for meeting the unknown.
RETREAT BY INVITED PRESENTER
How do we stay responsive to the unfolding of life within and around us? Whether we are moving through discomfort or feeling energized and alive, Continuum provides a pathway for inquiry, discovery, and learning. Drawing on the life-supporting intelligence found in human biology and in nature, this practice expands awareness beyond ordinary consciousness and invites a deeper connection with ourselves and the wider web of life.
To honor our relationship with the natural world, the retreat will take place between the covered Outdoor Pavilion and the indoor Milarepa Hall, depending on the weather. Because of this, class size is strictly limited.
"Elaine led us gracefully through a continuum deep dive into our bodies, ourselves and the cosmos. She continues to amaze me with her capacity to hold space and create opportunities to explore life."
"Moving with the group in the beauty of nature in the outdoor pavilion was nurturing and restorative. I was grateful for the peaceful environment."
PROGRAM DESCRIPTION
Through breath, sound, fluid movement, and silent awareness, Continuum helps us step away from daily concerns, survival patterns, and fixed ideas of identity. By rooting our experience in felt sensation, we develop greater skill in navigating the unknown. Over the weekend, we explore the possibility of becoming more comfortable with what cannot be known, learning to live as “dwellers on the threshold,” a phrase from Continuum founder Emilie Conrad.
Each session offers self-directed time and space to explore biological awareness through sequences of breath, sound, and movement. In doing so, we come into closer contact with our own nature and with life itself: mutable, ever-changing, endlessly creative, whole, and interconnected.
This workshop includes some of Emilie Conrad’s most treasured practices. Curiosity and the ability to self-reference are the main qualities needed to enter deeply into this somatic movement practice.
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
Explore further through these books, videos, and websites:
- Life on Land by Emilie Conrad
- The Elemental Body by Elaine Colandrea and Rori Smith
- Short Videos:
EVENT HIGHLIGHTS
- Intimate setting with personal access to the teacher
- Interactive sessions
- Delicious all-vegetarian meals with locally sourced ingredients
- Option to extend stay on Personal Retreat
- Extensive library of dharma books
- Expansive wooded grounds with beautiful paths, flora and fauna, and walking trails
PREREQUISITES
This program is open to participants with prior Continuum experience. The practice is self-paced, and everyone is welcome to move at their own rhythm and ability. If you do not have prior Continuum experience, please arrange an interview with the teacher, Elaine Colandrea, who will be happy to meet with you in person or virtually.
SCHEDULE
(subject to change)
Thursday, July 9
- 3:00 PM Check in begins
- 6:00-7:00 PM Dinner
- 7:30-8:45 PM Welcome and Introduction
- Session 1
Friday, July 10
- 7:30-8:00 AM Morning Salutations and Meditation, optional
- 8:00-9:00 AM Breakfast
- 9:30 AM-12:30 PM Session 2
- 12:30-1:30 PM Lunch
- 2:30-5:30 PM Session 3
- 6:00-7:00 PM Dinner
- 7:30-9:00 PM Poetry and Sound Circle at the Fire Pit (optional)
Saturday, July 11
- 7:00-8:00 AM Morning Salutations and Meditation, optional
- 8:00-9:00 AM Breakfast
- 9:30 AM-12:30 PM Session 4
- 12:30-1:30 PM Lunch
- 2:30-5:30 PM Session 5
- 6:00-7:00 PM Dinner
- 7:30-8:30 PM Continuum Media Night in the Library (optional)
Sunday, July 12
- 7:00-8:00 AM Morning Salutations and Meditation, optional
- 8:00-9:00 AM Breakfast
- 9:30 AM-12:00 PM Session 6
- 12:00-1:00 PM Lunch
- 1:00 PM Checkout and Departure
Teacher
Elaine Colandrea
In another time and place, Elaine Colandrea would be a temple dancer. In this world, she is a movement artist, Continuum teacher, somatic educator, and bodyworker. Her long-standing interests center on the transformational power of moving, sounding, and breathing, as well as connection with the natural world and the belief that an artful, embodied presence contributes to a more humane society. Based in the Hudson Valley, Elaine is a regular presenter at Omega Institute, Dharmakaya Center for Wellbeing, and Shantigar Foundation. She has also served as a keynote presenter for ISMETA and at somatic dance conferences, and she teaches annually in Italy.
Event Schedule
Jul 9-12, 2026
3 day event
Daily Schedule:
Accommodation Options
Private Room: Couple
This registration fee is for two people. This comfortable room has one double bed, and may be shared by couples in a committed relationship. With ample room for meditation, it features a desk and small table suitable for a meditation object. All rooms are furnished with linens, pillows, blankets, coverlets, and towels, as well as a meditation cushion and zabuton. The room shares a bath with one or two other rooms. Room rates include three delicious vegetarian meals each day (6 total meals for a couple room); there is also a tea station on each hall.
Junior Suite: Single
These large rooms have one double bed, a private bath, private terrace, a refrigerator and ample room for practice. Each room has a small table suitable for a meditation object and a meditation cushion and zabaton, as well as a desk and an armoire. Room rates include three delicious vegetarian meals each day; there is also an in-room tea station.
Junior Suite: Couple
This reservation fee is for two people and includes three delicious vegetarian meals each day (6 total for a couple). This large room has one double bed, which may be shared by couples in a committed relationship. In addition, it has a private bath, private terrace, a refrigerator and ample room for practice. Each room has a small table suitable for a meditation object and a meditation cushion and zabaton, as well as a desk and an armoire.
Teachers
BiographyElaine Colandrea’s work lives at the intersection of movement, sound, breath, and embodied expression. A movement artist, Continuum teacher, somatic educator, and bodyworker, she has long been drawn to the transformative power of conscious movement and to the way an artful, present body can help shape a more compassionate society.Experience & TeachingBased in the Hudson Valley, Elaine is a frequent...
Read morePlace
191 Cragsmoor Rd, Pine Bush, NY 12566, USA
Pine Bush