New dates: 14-17. November, Slovenia
CONSCIOUS TOUCH RETREAT
CONSCIOUS TOUCH RETREAT
with Steve Kokker
4 DAYS, 14-17. November, Slovenia
CONSCIOUS TOUCH AND SENSUAL WISDOM RETREAT FOR COUPLES
Take your touch to the next level and transform your relationship
Experience exquisite, delightful touch as you might not have imagined possible, unlocked through clear communication and meditative attentiveness.
4 DAYS, 14-17. NOVEMBER, SLOVENIA
CONSCIOUS TOUCH AND SENSUAL WISDOM RETREAT FOR COUPLES
Take your touch to the next level and transform your relationships
Experience exquisite, delightful touch as you might not have imagined possible, unlocked through clear communication and meditative attentiveness.
DATE & LOCATION
14-17st of November, Thursday to Sunday in Veduna Retreat, Velenje, Slovenia
FOR WHO
For couples, beginners, and
professional bodyworkers
DATE & LOCATION
14-17st of November, Thursday to Sunday in Veduna Retreat, Velenje, Slovenia
FOR WHO
For couples, beginners, and
professional bodyworkers
Good touch is the foundation of intimacy.
Conscious touch
Presence
Sensuality
How will this retreat enrich your life
- Improve your touch and massage: Develop a heightened sense of touch that can that will transform your relationship with your partner (or clients)
- Release tension in the body: Daily massages will make sure your body is completely relaxed
- Deepen your relationship: Experience a profound deepening of your relationship through shared activities and learning, fostering a stronger emotional and physical bond
- Become more mindful: Cultivate mindfulness and presence, learning to be fully in the moment, enhancing your overall awareness and connection with others
- Become a better bodyworker: Enhance your bodywork techniques with new insights and hands-on experiences, elevating your skills to a professional level
- Meet other amazing couples: Connect with like-minded couples, creating opportunities for shared experiences, learning, and lasting friendships
- Enjoy organic food: Indulge in delicious, nourishing meals prepared with care, providing a culinary journey that complements your retreat experience
- Enjoy 4-Day Off, Sauna, Nature: Relax and unwind with a four-day retreat that includes rejuvenating sauna sessions and immersion in the tranquility of nature
Conscious touch
Presence
Sensuality
VEDUNA RETREAT, VELENJE
Enjoy an unforgettable experience in the beautiful landscapes of Slovenia
What will you learn and what to expect
This retreat is a uniquely crafted space in which to step into ‘sensual wisdom’.
Here we learn how to deepen an intimacy first and foremost with the self by awakening to our bodies’ deepest needs and desires.
From there, the art of conscious touch is the main vehicle to redefine the role touch can play in a relationship and explore its transformative potential.
- Cultivating Conscious Touch: Good touch is better than sex. A controversial statement perhaps, but let’s discover why - and also how good touch can transform good sex into top-tier sex. Learn to redefine what touch can be, how life changing deep listening touch can be - and how it can enrich a relationship. This is a journey first and foremost of our own senses.
- Conscious Communication Workshops: Engage in interactive sessions where you learn to express your desires while better understanding those of others verbally and especially nonverbally. Understand the foundations of consent and learn how to recognise bodily clues about your true needs and desires.
- Learn Touch Sequences that you can use at home to deepen connection with self and other. While it can seem daunting to learn touch & massage modalities, you will be taught at least two easy-to learn sequences, one more arousing/stimulating and one more calming/loving which you can integrate into your relationship and build upon after the retreat.
- Body Positivity and Self-Acceptance Sessions: In a friendly, accepting environment, explore common issues like body shame and learn to embrace your unique self. Touch, more than talk therapy, can be a powerful source of repairing and healing.
- Mindful Tea Drinking and Meditation: Unique tea rituals, integrating the art of Cha Dao and life lessons from Zen Buddhism to sharpen awareness and presence. Experience how these simple practices can lead to profound insights and heightened self-awareness.
- A Schedule Which Allows For Integration. The lessons will be rich and bountiful but Steve prefers a gentle, slower pace to allow for digestion to happen in the moment and not leaving it for when we return to our busy lives. The pacing will be - kind.
This retreat is more than a massage retreat…
- While we will learn sequences that you can integrate into your intimate life, we will go beyond mere instruction in massage techniques. Conscious touch is not about technique, it’s about how present we are when we touch. Here, we will fine-tune our sensitivity. Through experiential exercises and guided exploration in a safe environment, attendees can deepen their understanding of themselves and their partners, fostering greater intimacy and connection.
- Participants will delve into the subtleties of conscious touch, learning to be fully present and attuned to their partner's responses and needs. Rather than focusing solely on a style of touch modality, this retreat fosters a deeper connection to one's own senses and intuition.
- The Conscious Touch and Sensual Wisdom retreat focuses as much on personal inner work and processes as it does on interaction with your partner. Participants are encouraged to engage in self-reflection, emotional awareness, and communication exercises to deepen their understanding of themselves and their relationships. This holistic approach addresses not only physical touch but also emotional and spiritual aspects of intimacy, fostering personal growth and transformation.
Steps towards deeper, more sensitive touch
- Recognizing the immediate effect touch has on the nervous system
- Bringing greater consciousness into every touch
- Seeing how boundaries and respecting personal comfort levels can be incredibly sexy
JASPER, PHYSIOTHERAPIST • September 21, 2022
"Unlike anything I've ever had in my life."
I’ve been going through a lot of personal growth and emotional pain and I couldn’t have asked for a better soul to step in and help me in such a loving, conscious and unconditional way. My bodywork and conscious touch journey was unlike anything I’ve ever had in my life.
ELINA OJASTU, MINDFULNESS TRAINER • March 15, 2022
"His presence, sensitivity, and taking time to really listen."
Steve has unique abilities in giving attention and communication. The qualities that make Steve Steve for me are his presence, sensitivity, gentleness, freedom of judgment, depth, abundance of perspectives, vast experience and taking time to really listen.
JÜRI, PHYSIOTHERAPIST • January 2, 2022
"You feel safe and there is a possibility to let your guard down."
Steve is before anything else a truly caring and compassionate human being. Be it during a tea ceremony or a massage retreat, you feel safe and there is a possibility to let your guard down and relax.
Rich, nourishing schedule with plenty of time to integrate
On the first day, we’ll greet each other in the late afternoon and will have time to settle into our accommodations and slowly get a sense of each other and our stunning surroundings, Then that evening we’ll introduce the retreat and the topic of touch and body wisdom. We’ll introduce each other, and do a few introductory, gentle practices before taking a rest.
We like to start early, but at first with a minimum of words, so mornings we shall greet each in while engaged in mostly gentle, guided movement practices. This puts us in touch with our body’s primary needs for motion and attention without forcing it into over-exertion. Another morning we might begin more silently, meditatively, perhaps with tea.
Each day we’ll have three session periods - morning, afternoon, and early evening. In the morning, when the mind is most open, we’ll dive into some theory and education about how bodies work, some of the mechanics of touch and its emotional implications, how trauma develops, and how the body stores memories and reaction patterns, for example.
In all sessions, we get ample, luxurious, and slow time to practice various ways of relating physically to each other in guided exchanges. There will also be some group interactions in dynamic movement exercises, as well as a few small-group sharing circles. On the last full day, we will open the floor to expand our touch into the sensual and erotic realm, for those who wish, with your partner. This way we can meet the challenges of staying conscious in our touch even becomes more intimate - that’s exactly when grounded consciousness tends to disappear and when we revert to patterned responses. Yet after several days of being aligned to a certain frequency of deep listening and consensual compassion, we’ll meet that challenge with incredible beauty!
Although our schedule will be rich and active, there will also be a calm, leisurely pace to our time together. Our shared meals will be places to bond and laugh, and we will have the chance to rest in the sauna and get some fresh air too. We like the idea of including some time to digest and absorb while learning and not just leaving it for later.
Daily schedule
Day 1 - Thursday
Soft, Loving Landing
15-16: Arrival
16-19: Initial gathering and first workshop
19-20.30: Dinner
20.30-22.30: Sauna open
Themes explored: Intro to conscious touch; transformative potential of touch; deep listening & appropriate responding; how to touch without touching; the 5 stages of a conscious touch
Day 2 - Friday
Conscious Touch & Erotic Wisdom
Silence until 930
7.30-8.30: Fruit, tea & coffee available (morning sauna open)
8.30-9.30: Awakening Movement/Meditation
9.30-12: Workshop
12-13.30: Brunch
13.30-14.15: Small group sharing
14.30-18: Workshop
18-19.30: Dinner & clean up
19.30-22: Evening event (tea, sauna, and/or practice sessions)
Themes explored: the 4 dimensions of conscious touch; self & co-regulation; body love & body shame through life energy; interoception & body wisdom; touch physiology and stored trauma; secure attachment and emotional well-being; erotic wisdom - connecting our Eros to our spiritual growth
Day 3 - Saturday
Connecting to Desire & Seeing Beyond the Skin
7.30-8.30: Fruit, tea & coffee available (morning sauna open)
8.30-9.30: Awakening Movement/Meditation
9.30-12: Workshop
12-13.30: Brunch
13.30-14.15: Small group sharing
14.30-18: Workshop
18-19.30: Dinner
19.30-22: Evening event (freestyle; celebration)
Themes explored: pathways to awakening true desire, the language of your soul; how to take your pleasure; how to objectify less and honour more; consent; making touch more yummy; how to retain consciousness during erotic play; sexuality as energy
Day 4 - Sunday
Challenges, Take-aways & Integration
8-9.30: Breakfast & pack (morning sauna open)
9.30-13.30: Workshop, integration and last sharings
13.30-14.30: Fruit, tea, coffee and cake/snack available
14.30-15: Depart
Themes explored: Sensual Wisdom; Individual growth together; self-expression
ACCOMMODATION IN VEDUNA RETREATS
Choose from beautiful rooms
You will book and pay the available accommodation directly to the Veduna Retreat.
Shared room
Lovely light dormitories with their own secure cupboard space.
Private room
Private room with handmade oak beds, exposed timber beams, and beautiful views.
Large private room
Private beautiful room for extra space and comfort during the retreat.
Relax in the sauna, swim in the lake and enjoy delicious food
The food offered at Veduna is alive with energy and nourishment, much of it being picked freshly from the land's own permaculture gardens and all of it put together with love and according to Ayurveda principles. You’ll enjoy a healthy, varied, organic brunch and dinner with tea and snacks available throughout the day as well as a cafe serving barista coffee and cakes for those who want to enjoy extra.
Who is the Conscious Touch Retreat for?
This retreat is ideal for anyone who wishes to explore the deeper aspects of themselves and their relationships.
Whether you're struggling with body image, seeking to understand yourself or your partner better, looking to enhance your communication and connection skills, or just wish to learn how to be more present in your intimate interactions, Conscious Touch Retreat offers insights and practices that will leave a lasting impact. Couples of any gender are welcome.
- Beginners with zero or little experience who want to improve their quality of touch for personal or future professional use
- Couples that want to transform their relationship through communication, presence, and touch
- Professional bodyworkers and massage therapists who want to deepen their practice to provide richer sessions to their clients
While we are not focusing exclusively on professionals - this is open to anyone wishing to deepen their experience of intimate touch - what we learn and practice here will be of immense benefit to people who already work in touch-related domains (cosmetologists, masseurs and bodyworkers, nurses or people in healthcare, healers, etc). As touch practitioners, it is not our job to heal all of our clients’ traumas and illnesses. We don’t need to make every touch life-changing. Yet when we can infuse the quality of our already delicious touch with even greater consciousness, becoming emptier vessels to let even more wordless caring flow, we can then effortlessly offer - and receive in return - so much more beauty. This training will transform the quality of your touch in ways that impact your career and your client's lives.
Join the Conscious Touch Retreat today!
Learn how to touch deeply and transform your relationship.
EVERYTHING INCLUDED:
- 4x days of accommodation in the beautiful Veduna Retreat center
- 3x organic vegetarian meals a day (homegrown & locally sourced) plus tea, coffee and snacks
- Life-changing experiences designed to enrich and deepen your relationship
- Daily massage sessions that will relax and rejuvenate your body
- Meditation, movement, and tea ceremony to quiet the mind
- Enjoy the sauna, lake, and forest walks in beautiful nature
Super early bird discount until 21st of September
You will be redirected to Systeme.io where you can safely pay with:
Learn how to touch deeply and transform your relationship.
Join the Conscious Touch Retreat today!
EVERYTHING INCLUDED:
- 4x days of accommodation in the beautiful Veduna Retreat center
- 3x organic vegetarian meals a day (homegrown & locally sourced) plus tea, coffee and snacks
- Life-changing experiences designed to enrich and deepen your relationship
- Daily massage sessions that will relax and rejuvenate your body
- Meditation, movement, and tea ceremony to quiet the mind
- Enjoy the sauna, lake, and forest walks in beautiful nature
Super early bird discount until September 21st
You will be redirected to Systeme.io where you can safely pay with:
About Steve
Steve's greatest passions, tea, and massage, are the cornerstones of his current practice. His extensive study and practice in various forms of massage and bodywork since 1998, including disciplines like Myofascial Energetic Release, Lomi-Lomi, and tantric male massage, showcase his commitment to the healing arts. This is complemented by his deep dive into the world of tea, where he connects the ritualistic and meditative aspects of tea with the transformative power of touch. Steve's approach is holistic, blending physical, emotional, and spiritual elements to create a safe, nurturing space for growth and healing.
Steve has been studying bodywork and healing modalities since 1998 and has diplomas for:
- (MER) Myofascial Energetic Release
- Lomi-Lomi (and has assistant taught these courses)
- Visceral massage
- Yumeiho
- Reiki
- Neuroaffective Touch
- The Science of Touch
- Tantra & Male Massage
- Trauma Release Breathwork
- Thanatotherapy
- Swedish classic
- Thai
- Indian Champi Head massage
He has been studying in Taiwan and China a Daoist & Zen approach to tea ceremony since 2010. He has since 2015 been leading workshops and retreats on Conscious Touch, Touch Between Brothers, Lingam Healing, and Full Body Male Massage at international tantra festivals at Angsbacka, Stockholm, Berlin, Amsterdam, and Estonia.
In addition, Steve has studied Aline LaPierre’s Neuroaffective Touch and Edward Ulm’s Science of Touch courses. Aside from his direct teachers (Roman Goldrin, Nisarga, Betty Martin, Armin Heining, Edward Ulm, Sarita, etc), his main inspirations in the field of touch have been Tony Schwartz, Bessel van der Kolk, Mantak Chia, Edward Ulm, Wu De, Gabor Mate, Peter Levine, Betty Martin, Tiffany Fields, Margot Annand, Loren Johnson, Aline LaPierre. The greatest embodied teachings, however, have come from thousands of hours of massage/touch sessions, often repeated, with about 1500 people as well as from psychedelic journeys and meditation.
You can read more Steve here: www.teaandtouch.com
TÕNNO • July 14, 2023
"Steve taught me so much about how to calm one's mind."
I count myself lucky that for nearly two decades I’ve known a wonderful person who’s taught me so much about how to calm one’s mind and body. He’s name is Steve. If you haven’t met him, you should. He’s brilliant. Go have a cup of tea with him and you’ll be a happier person.
JAANUS • Januar 17, 2022
"Steve lightens everyone's mood just by being in the room."
If I somehow found myself stuck on a deserted island for a while and could bring a person with me Steve would be my top choice! He is one of these rare kinds of humans that lighten everyone’s mood just by being in the room. His curiosity and knowledge about human psychology, healing modalities and tea is remarkable, as is his skillfulness and attention to details.
ALAR OJASTU, AUTHOR • March 3, 2023
"Time spent with Steve is like looking in the mirror."
Steve’s approach to the challenges of being human is deep, warm, caring and straightforward. Time spent with him is like looking in the mirror, which can be sometimes uncomfortable, but is always solidly held and useful. I highly recommend everything Steve does. Even by just sharing of his time with me, I feel enriched.
About the organizers
Our story with Steve
I first met Steve in Angsbacka. I had decided to buy a small teapot from him. We went to his room and I just casually asked him if he could massage my shoulder because I've been in pain for a few months...
His touch was so in tune with my needs that I melted. He combined slowness, depth, stillness, speed, and intensity.
I've received a lot of massages in the past but nothing was even close to this experience. I've been so impacted that I traveled to Estonia with Eva for 2 weeks, just to receive sessions and spend time with him. We've had the most joyful time with him and decided to invite him to Slovenia!
About Eva
Eva is a sensual forest fairy, who loves to hold magical and safe spaces for people to come into the body, to move it, to touch it.
Her body of work is woven around holistic health, movement, dance, touch, and conscious relationships. She is deeply connected with nature and its elements.
A certified yoga teacher, facilitator of women's embodiment circles, holistic health mentor, and a diligent researcher of life's truths.
About Peter
Peter is a special soul whose presence in the room touches you. His life mission is to support sacred businesses and spread conscious touch into the world.
He is a heart-based entrepreneur, bodyworker, and passionate healthy lifestyle advocate.
Got any remaining questions?
No previous experience is required to join our conscious touch retreat. We welcome individuals at all levels of experience and provide guidance tailored to both beginners who wish to deepen their touch connection with their partners and those who may be incorporating touch into their work practice, ensuring a comfortable and inclusive experience for everyone.
Yes, the above prices are the total cost that includes the retreat PLUS accommodation. You will pay for the retreat ticket (497€) on this site and the rest for the accommodation separately after the payment for the retreat.
While this retreat will not be expressly focused on sexual touch and at no time will nudity be required or heavily suggested, we would like to also balance the space with an opportunity of practising conscious touch in exactly the area of their lives where intimacy can get off-balance. We will encourage people to be as clothed or unclothed as they feel comfortable but ask everyone to keep underwear on during the paired exercises. On the final day of practice we will do our best and with the greatest respect for everyone’s comfort and privacy to allow space for intimate touch to occur for those who feel like practising and integrating conscious presence into the more intimate aspects of their relationship.
While it is a myth that any space can ever remain absolutely safe, the organisers will do everything they can to create a safe and nurturing environment. The atmosphere will be friendly and low-key, respectful and supportive. Our facilitators are trained in emotional support and conflict resolution, and Steve is a trauma-informed bodyworker, ensuring every participant feels heard, valued, and comfortable throughout their journey. We expect that emotions may arise and wish above all else to provide a container in which people can feel able to ‘be’ themselves as they need.
Conscious touch at our retreat is grounded in mutual respect, consent, and clear communication. We emphasize the importance of personal boundaries, and our facilitators are trained to create a space where every individual feels safe to express their comfort levels and have their boundaries honored. While we will be engaging in guided practices and exercises, no one needs to follow every instruction, and participants will be encouraged to make adjustments as needed.
No, you are welcome to join in any kind of constalation as long as there are 2 of you. :)
Conscious touch is a mindful approach to physical interaction that seeks to reach the heart of a person through touch. It is a way of connecting to aspects of a person that cannot be seen and felt (and yet accessed through the body. It fosters deep connection, healing, a sense of wholeness and acceptance. It combines elements of touch therapy, energy work, massage and mindfulness to enhance emotional and physical well-being, encouraging a harmonious balance between body and mind.
During the retreat, you can expect a blend of guided touch exercises, meditative practices, and group discussions designed to deepen self-awareness and interpersonal connections. The retreat's structure balances structured activitie s with personal reflection time, creating a holistic experience of learning and growth.
Absolutely, our retreat is designed to be inclusive and accommodating. We adapt our activities to suit various physical limitations and encourage participants to communicate their needs and concerns so we can provide the necessary adjustments and support.
No worries. Find a friend that is willing to work with you! There will be some intimate exersices so be sure that you are able to have this kind of depth of relating. At the same time you do not have to participate at all exersices and just observe or go into nature/sauna.
If you are unable to participate in the workshop due to extreme circumstances beyond your control, such as major illness or family emergency, you may apply to transfer to Steve Kokkers next workshop or offer/sell your position directly to a friend. You will need a doctor’s certificate or supporting documentation to show proof of the circumstances.
While we are not focusing exclusively on professionals - this is open to anyone wishing to deepen their experience of intimate touch - what we learn and practice here will be of immense benefit to people who already work in touch-related domains (cosmetologists, masseurs and bodyworkers, nurses or people in healthcare, healers, etc). As touch practitioners, it is not our job to heal all of our clients’ traumas and illnesses. We don’t need to make every touch life-changing. Yet when we can infuse the quality of our already delicious touch with even greater consciousness, becoming emptier vessels to let even more wordless caring flow, we can then effortlessly offer - and receive in return - so much more beauty. This training will transform the quality of your touch in ways that impact your career and your client's lives.
It's time to deepen your touch!
Join an unforgettable journey of touch and sensuality.
Got questions or need support?
Contact us at info@projektzivljenje.si or call 00386 51 679 968
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