Illinois - detailed address will be sent out to all participants after registration
Up to 30 in group
April 17 - 19, 2026
About this Retreat
Paulina is the co-founder of Touchstone Wellness Center and a somatic practitioner devoted to supporting others in reclaiming a life that feels embodied, authentic, and free. Her work is rooted in a deep personal journey of moving beyond fear, control, and unconscious patterns toward greater connection, joy, and alignment an intention that continues to guide both her life and practice.
Originally from Poland, Paulina holds a Master's degree and began her training in Dance Movement Therapy. Over 18 years ago, she moved to the United States to further expand her understanding of the body and therapeutic work. Her background includes Therapeutic Massage Therapy, Active Release Techniques (ART), osteopathic-informed approaches, Spinal Flow™, cranial and fascial therapies, Pilates, Soma Breathwork, and Continuum Movement.
Paulina had the privilege of meeting Dr. Stephen Porges in person and continues to be guided by his Polyvagal framework in every dimension of her practice. She is committed to creating spaces where individuals feel safe to reconnect with their bodies, access resilience, and experience meaningful, lasting change. She is also a mother of two teenage boys.
Details of this retreat
A 1–3 Day Immersive Experience
Your nervous system has been protecting you. During the workshop we will help it rest.
The vagus nerve- the longest nerve in the body, is the primary pathway of your parasympathetic nervous system. It governs your heart rate, breathing, digestion, emotional expression, and your deepest felt sense of safety. When it is toned and flexible, life feels navigable. When it is dysregulated, everything is harder than it should be. During this immersive workshop, we combine somatic bodywork, Polyvagal Theory education, Soma Breathwork, fascial and movement therapies, and hands-on individual sessions to support your nervous system in returning to its natural state of regulation, resilience, and presence.
This is not a lecture. This is a lived experience, in your body, through your breath, with your nervous system as the guide.
During the workshop You will:
Discover the science behind why you feel what you feel, and why it is not a personal failing
Learn to recognize your nervous system states and understand what your body is responding to
Experience the power of Soma Breathwork as a tool for deep autonomic reset and stored stress release
Receive an individual hands-on session combining ART, cranial-fascial therapy, Spinal Flow™, and direct vagus nerve activation- all personalized to your body
Practice coherent breathing- the most evidence-based tool available for building vagal tone and heart rate variability
Reconnect with your body through movement drawn from Dance Movement Therapy, Continuum Movement, and somatic yoga
Learn how voice, touch, breath, and movement directly regulate your nervous system and how to use them daily
Leave with a personalized regulation toolkit designed around what worked in your body this weekend
Two Ways to Participate
3-Day Immersive- Friday through Sunday
A deeper container for those called to go further
Friday evening opens with an Ayahuasca medicine ceremony, held in a private, safe, and intentional setting. This space allows the body to soften, open, and access deeper layers of awareness.
Saturday and Sunday are then devoted entirely to integration- supporting the nervous system in processing, grounding, and embodying the experience through guided bodywork, breathwork, and somatic practice.
1 or 2-Day Workshop- Saturday & Sunday
The complete somatic and educational experience. For those who wish to receive the full nervous system workshop: individual bodywork, group somatic practices, Soma Breathwork, Polyvagal Theory education, and daily regulation tools. Arrive Saturday, leave Sunday transformed—or join as you prefer, for one or both days.
Schedule Overview
Friday Evening
Ayahuasca medicine ceremony in a carefully held group container
Saturday- Integration
Welcome breakfast and conscious arrival ritual for all participants
Opening somatic check-in circle
Individual sessions with Paulina (30–45 minutes per person)
Cranial-sacral and fascial assessment
Active Release Techniques
Spinal Flow™ and vagus nerve direct activation
Concurrent offerings during rotation: Somatic journaling, Breathwork session, Movement
Sunday- Education, Exercises and Closing
Morning integration circle and reflection sharing
Introduction to Polyvagal Theory- embodied, not just intellectual
The vagus nerve and how it shapes your life
The three nervous system states: safety, activation, shutdown
Neuroception: why your body decides before your mind does
Coherent Breathing and HRV Training
Somatic Practice Immersion:
Orienting practice - completing the stress cycle
Voice and toning sequence - laryngeal vagal activation
Dance Movement Therapy - embodying and transitioning between states
Fascial meridian release - posterior chain
Building Your Personal Regulation Toolkit
Regular & Emergency Protocols
Personalized Regulation Map Based on Your Experience
This Experience Is For You If:
Stress, anxiety, or tension feel like your baseline- even when life looks fine
You feel disconnected from your body or emotionally numb
You are exhausted but cannot truly rest
You know your patterns intellectually, but they still run you
You have had a plant medicine or expanded-state experience you are still processing
You carry chronic physical tension- jaw, neck, shoulders, lower back
You are a therapist, coach, bodyworker, or practitioner who wants to feel this work from the inside
Introduction to Polyvagal Theory
Polyvagal Theory, developed by Dr. Stephen Porges, offers a compassionate, science-based understanding of how our nervous system shapes our emotions, behaviors, and relationships. It teaches us that our reactions are not personal failings- they are adaptive survival responses wired into the body.
The three primary states:
Ventral Vagal - Safety & Connection- the social engagement system is active. We can connect, think clearly, regulate our emotions, and feel present.
Sympathetic- Fight or Flight- the system mobilizes for perceived threat. We may feel anxious, restless, reactive, or unable to settle.
Dorsal Vagal- Shutdown & Freeze- when overwhelm becomes too great, the system collapses inward. This can feel like numbness, fatigue, dissociation, or disconnection.
Understanding these states transforms the question from "What is wrong with me?" to "What is my nervous system responding to?"
These practices, chosen for the weekend, support your nervous system in moving more fluidly between states and returning to a felt sense of safety and ease.
Vagus Regulation Practices
Practices across the weekend are drawn from:
Breathwork and Coherent breathing -or deep autonomic reset and heart-centered resonance.
Dance Movement Therapy- movement as nervous system language and emotional completion
Continuum Movement- the body as fluid, living tissue
Fascial maneuvers and trigger point therapy- releasing where stress is structurally stored
Active Release Techniques (ART) -targeted tissue release from chronic holding
Spinal Flow™ - spinal contact points that reset the nervous system through the dural tube
Cranial and fascial therapy- listening to the body's deepest rhythms
Voice and prosody work- as direct vagal activation
Orienting and somatic awareness practices- completing what stress left unfinished
The goal is not to eliminate survival responses. It is to build a nervous system that moves fluidly, returns quickly, and meets life from a place of genuine resilience.
Offering and Schedule
Friday, April 17th - Medicine Work with Divine Tea
$285 | 8:00 PM
Saturday, April 18th - Vagus Nerve Bodywork Sessions & Workshop
$225 | 11:00 AM – 5:00 PM
Sunday, April 19th - Vagus Nerve Workshop
$225 | 10:00 AM – 5:00 PM
Community Offering
Enjoy 20% off when you join the full 3-Day Experience
and 15% off when you share in a 2-Day Experience
(Space is limited to 12 participants to ensure individual hands-on time with Paulina.)
What a Past Client Said
"As a nurse, I understand the importance of taking a holistic approach to healing. Paulina has exceeded my expectations. She has made me feel so comfortable and really worked to help correct the problems that were causing me so much pain. So thankful." — Tina L., Registered Nurse