Cameron's Staff Pick

Full-bodied Awakening: Unbinding the Nervous System

Name: Full-bodied Awakening: Unbinding the Nervous System
Start: 2025-11-02
End: 2025-11-08
Location: Menla
Rating: 4.5

4.502 reviews

375 Panterkill Road PO Box 70 Phoenicia, NY 12464 United States

November 2 - 8, 2025

About this Retreat

Your Guides

Chelsea

Angelo

Victor

Richard

Gregory

Chelsea Muth, PhD

Chelsea Muth, PhD, is a psychologist, psychotherapist, and teacher, whose life’s work has centered on helping others find relief from frozen states of suffering and access freedom to live dynamically. She has worked as a PhD scholar and fellow of the National Institutes of Health studying mindfulness interventions; a psychotherapist for trauma survivors; and an international Yoga Teacher, trained in South India. Through Invisible Awakenings, she offers support working with people in the realm of awakening (www.invisibleawakenings.com). Many teachers have shaped Chelsea’s personal realization and deepening of awake nature — neurological disability, motherhood, and relationship, to name a few. Relief and freedom arise in seeing that awakening is not owned, but shared. It is a great joy and privilege to awaken together.

Angelo Dilullo, MD

Angelo Dilullo is the author of the book Awake: It's Your Turn, which is ranked among the Top 50 books in spirituality on Amazon. He is also an MD who is board certified in Family Medicine and Anesthesiology. At the age of 24, after years of intense internal suffering and an intuition that something about the way we interact with our thoughts causes a lot of unnecessary suffering, Angelo had a fundamental shift in the way he experiences reality. This was a pervasive transformation and was life-altering at every level. It suddenly became clear that thoughts, and the way they “paint” our experience of ourselves, time, and space, are essentially unreal, something like ghosts. What replaced this world of thought, struggle, and suffering, was boundless clarity and intimacy with all immediate textures of phenomena. It became clear that this is simply the natural state of things and that it is true for everyone, even when veiled by thought.

Victor Bucklew, PhD

Victor is a psychotherapist and physicist who studies the quantum mechanics of light. He is also the author of the award-winning book The Hidden Gifts of Addiction, which explores healing from trauma and addiction through presence and compassion. Victor’s journey has been shaped by many threads including a near-death drowning experience, recovery from heroin addiction, and the ongoing adventure of marriage, fatherhood, and work. In his clinical practice, he helps people navigate and heal patterns of suffering. He also supports people moving through the often disorienting, challenging, and transformative process of awakening. At the heart of Victor’s interest is a deep reverence for life - the immediacy of presence, the soft joy of being, the quiet humility and unfathomable mystery at the “center” of all. Here, healing and awakening are present and available for each of us. For more, visit www.victorbucklew.com.

Richard Witteman

Richard began meditating in his early 20’s, and was a student of Roshi Philip Kapleau at the Rochester Zen Center for ten years. He then began working with Toni Packer, who was Philip Kapleau's dharma heir. In the early 1980’s, Toni decided to leave the Zen tradition to explore fresh ways of meditation and inquiry, and with a community of people founded Springwater Center, a country retreat center near Rochester, NY. Richard has been part of Springwater since its beginning. In the early 2000’s, Toni asked several people including Richard to carry on the work of meditative inquiry. Since then, he has been facilitating retreats and meeting with people. Richard lives in northern California, spending part of the year at Springwater. He loves to play, build things, explore, and walk in the wonders of nature. Learn more: https://www.springwatercenter.org/teachers/richard-witteman/ Some words from Richard: Over the years, I've come to feel that meditation is an invitation to wonder and curiosity. An invitation to soften around our ideas of what life is or should be and to enter into the living fullness and mystery of simply being here. With the same spirit of wonder and curiosity we had as children—allowing everything to be fresh and unknown. It's an invitation to pause and be quiet. To listen to what is here, including everything! The wonder of color and light and sound. The subtle movements and sensations of the body. The dance of thought and emotion. And the utter mystery of seeing and knowing—of awareness. What is this open space we call awareness? If I let go the name and soften around trying to understand with thought, what might I discover? If I turn with curiosity towards awareness itself, what might open up?

Gregory Allison

Gregory Allison creates with a single violin a sound that travels across great landscapes. He has toured the world with violin in hand and is endlessly inspired by the instrument’s journey around the globe, especially its use in South Indian Classical Music. His live performance blends the Indian Classical melodic improvisation with his soundscape sensibility as a film composer, offering the listener a sonic journey through time and space. Gregory’s solo artistic journey began with the release of his album “Portal” in 2021. The music on the album is an exploration through the seven Chakras in the body, and a sonic representation of the transmutation of energy within each energy center. Since Portal, he has released two collaborative albums on his record label Holy Volcano, and is set to release a new album of viola meditations inspired by the Buddhist practice of Samatha in May, 2025. For more info and music, see: https://www.instagram.com/gregallisonmusic and https://www.gregoryallison.net/

Details of this retreat

Can you notice a sense of fixity that feels connected to who you take yourself to be right now? As if you are experiencing life from a space that appears more central and solid than elsewhere in your inner or outer experience?

This reflex—this habit of orienting—isn’t a flaw or a sign of misunderstanding. It’s a natural pattern of the nervous system trying to find safety. It’s the nervous system whispering, “Stay here. Don’t let go. We can survive this.”

Many spiritual and healing practices, while helping the practitioner to address fundamental perceptual delusions, subtly reinforce another layer of nervous system conditioning—one that says, “This experience is not ok. I need to fix it, transcend it, or make it go away.” What if this sense of separateness wasn’t only something to wake up from, but also something to wake more deeply into? Identity and separateness are byproducts of our natural movement toward simplicity, naturalness and innocence–movements of safety, belonging, and love.

When we awaken to what’s really happening—that we are experiencing life through the adaptive perceptual filters of our nervous system—something shifts. We stop struggling. We stop fighting against what is natural and human. A gentle, full-bodied release begins to arise, not from effort or analysis, but from the tender recognition of what’s here.

This retreat supports participants in deepening realization of their awake nature by helping them reconnect with the wisdom of their nervous systems and bodies–the same wisdom which calls us to meet ourselves and the world as we truly are, with all the rawness, connection, and complexity that life entails.

Schedule

Sunday, November 2

3 - 6 pm Arrival and Check-in
6 - 7 pm Dinner
7:30 - 9 pm Welcome Program

Monday, November 3 - Friday, November 7

7 - 8 am Silent Sitting
8 - 9 am Breakfast
9 - 9:30 am Silent Sitting
9:30 - 10 am Guided Meditation
10 - 10:30 am Silent Sitting
10:30 - 11:30 am Talk
11:30 am - 12 pm Silent Sitting
12:30 pm - 1:30 pm Lunch
1 - 3 pm Free time // Individual Meetings
3 - 3:30 pm Silent Sitting
3:30 - 5 pm Group inquiry // Q&A
5 - 6 pm Nervous System Reset
6 - 7 pm Dinner
8 - 9 pm Music & Continuum (Gentle Movement Inquiry)
9 - 9:30 pm Silent Sitting
9: 40 - 10 pm Silent Sitting (Maintain Silence)

Saturday, November 8

7 - 11 am Check-out of Rooms
7 - 8 am Early Morning Program
8 - 9 am Breakfast
9:30 am - 12 pm Morning Program
12:30 - 1:30 pm Lunch & Departure

*Please note that the schedule is subject to change. Read More

Getting Here

Menla, 375 Panterkill Road PO Box 70 Phoenicia, NY 12464 United States

Accommodation

Deluxe King

Deluxe King Room with King Bed and Private Bathroom Free Phone and Hi-Speed Wifi Internet Access Available Air Conditioning This Space is not ADA compliant. Deluxe King Rooms are Available only in Kathmandu House * Please note that rates include meals and accommodations Read More

Deluxe Queen

Deluxe Queen Room with Queen Bed and Private Bathroom Free Phone and Hi-Speed Wifi Internet Access Available Air Conditioning All Rooms in Lhasa are Handicap-Accessible, Including Four Rooms with Wheelchair Accessible Showers. Deluxe Queen Rooms are Available in Lhasa Inn and Kathmandu House * Please note that rates include meals and accommodations Read More

Deluxe Double (Shared Room)

Deluxe Double Room with Two Full Size Beds and Private Bathroom Free Phone and Hi-Speed Wifi Internet Access Available Air Conditioning All Rooms in Lhasa are Handicap-Accessible, Including Four Rooms with Wheelchair Accessible Showers. Deluxe Double Rooms with Private Bathrooms are Located in the Lhasa Inn * Please note rates include meals and accommodations. This booking is for one bed in a double shared room: We May Assign You a Roommate if You Do Not Register with One. Read More

Standard Single - Shared Bath

Menla Private Queen Room with Queen Bed and Shared Bathroom Public Phone and Hi-Speed Wifi Internet Access Available This lodging type is not ADA Compliant Private Queen Rooms with Shared Bathroom are Available in Thimpu House, Panther Cottage and Potala House * Please note that rates include meals and accommodations Read More

Standard Double Full - Shared bath (Shared Room)

Deluxe Double Room with Two Full Beds and Shared Bathroom Free Phone and Hi-Speed Wifi Internet Access Available Air Conditioning This lodging type is not ADA Compliant. Please note that due to the stairs we recommend that guests with mobility issues book other accommodations. Deluxe Double Rooms with Shared Bathrooms are Located in Thimphu * Please note rates include meals and accommodations. This booking is for one bed in a double shared room: We May Assign You a Roommate if You Do Not Register with One. Read More

Standard Double Twin - Shared bath (Shared Room)

Deluxe Double Room with Two Twin Beds and Shared Bathroom Free Phone and Hi-Speed Wifi Internet Access Available Air Conditioning This lodging type is not ADA Compliant. Please note that due to the stairs we recommend that guests with mobility issues book other accommodations. Deluxe Double Rooms with Shared Bathrooms are Located in Thimphu * Please note rates include meals and accommodations. This booking is for one bed in a double shared room: We May Assign You a Roommate if You Do Not Register with One. Read More

Economy Premium Single - Shared Bath

Standard Premium Single Room with a Queen or Full Bed and Shared Bathroom Up to 10 guests share two large bathrooms. Each bathroom has two shower stalls and two toilets. A phone is not available but high-speed WiFi is available in the room Phone Access Available in Upper Level Of Conference Center. All calls are free of charge This Lodging Type is not ADA Compliant. * Please note rates include meals and accommodations. Read More

Economy Single - Shared Bath

Standard Single Room with a Twin Bed and Shared Bathroom Bathroom is Shared with One to Six Other Guests on Your Floor. A phone is not available but high-speed WiFi is available in the room Phone Access Available in Nearby Conference Center and also Lhasa in Business Center. All calls are free of charge. This Lodging Type is not ADA Compliant. * Please note rates include meals and accommodations. Read More

Economy Double - Shared Bath (Shared Room)

Standard Double with Twin Beds and Shared Bathroom The bathroom is Shared with other rooms on the same floor. High-speed Wi-Fi is available in the room. Phone Access Available in Nearby Conference Center and also Lhasa in Business Center. All calls are free of charge. This Lodging Type is not ADA Compliant. * Please note that rates include meals and accommodations * Please note: this is an open door policy room, meaning there are no keys to lock the door (we have lockers you can use at Lhasa if needed) * This booking is for one bed in a double shared room: We May Assign You Roommates if You Do Not Register with others Read More

Economy Quad - Shared Bath (Shared Room)

Standard Quad Room with Quad Twin Beds and Shared Bathroom Accommodations Fee Includes All Meals. High speed Wi-Fi is available in the room. Phone Access Available in Nearby Conference Center and also Lhasa in Business Center. All calls are free of charge. This Lodging Type is not ADA Compliant. * Please note that rates include meals and accommodations * Please note: this is an open door policy room, meaning there are no keys to lock the door (we have lockers you can use at Lhasa if needed) * This booking is for one bed in a quad shared room: We May Assign You Roommates if You Do Not Register with others. Read More

Commuter

Commuters Menla Encourages Members of the Community to Participate in Our Wonderful Programs! Includes Meals, Public Phone, Public Computer, and Wi-Fi Internet Available in Lhasa Inn. Accommodations Fee Includes All Meals. Read More

Customer Reviews

4.50 out of 5.0 average rating

Anonymous • Oct 03, 2023

4.0

Verified

Weekend retreat stay

The property is on a beautiful, peaceful location.
Nature is all around and sometimes a little too close but you are literally surrounded by woods.

The food was really good and I liked the buffet style and fruit basket.

The gift shop although small had a nice selection of items and I purchased a few fun items.

Since the dining area was on the opposite side of the site from the convention center, a lot of students drove back and forth on the property. I chose the walking paths to get around.

Read More

Marie • Apr 18, 2022

5.0