Nele & Iidala are going to France, and we would love to have you with us…
“The Alchemy of Creation” Retreat in the South of France!
26.June - 2.July, Fargues-sur-Ourbise
“The first Movement of Love is to be Still and Listen.”
- Veronique de la Couchetiere
…is a safe space to come home to the body and explore your relationship with stillness, sexuality, and creative power.
Breathing. Moving. In Connection.
“The Alchemy of Creation”
We will meet in the rhythm of the sun-drenched French countryside, with fresh food, poolside pauses, and the grounded passion of the local village.
Lineage and inspiration…
You will be entering the fields of Occitania, the cultural landscape of southern France in the 9th to 13th centuries, where spirituality was intimate, embodied, and unrestrained…
Mary Magdalene
The First Century. The Roots of Occitania.
Many early traditions describe Mary Magdalene as a woman who shared both a spiritual and human union with Jesus, holding love as creative, embodied consciousness. After Jesus’ death and the persecutions that followed, she journeyed to southern France, carrying a quiet lineage that required neither power nor hierarchy. Her trace leads back to lived truth, to relationship, to presence. Magdalene embodied a wisdom in which knowing arose through the openness of the heart.
The Cathars
11th -13th Century, The Heart of Occitania
The Cathars were a spiritual movement of the Languedoc region that emphasised purity, clarity of experience, and personal responsibility. They held that truth requires no intermediaries, no institutions. Their teachings and way of life challenged both ecclesiastical and political power. The landscapes of Languedoc still hold their quiet clarity and courage in the wind, in the stone, in the wide southern sky. On this retreat, we meet that field not as history, but as something living in our own bodies.
The Beguines
12th -14th Century, Keepers or Occitan Spirituality
The Beguines emerged in the 12th century in response to the rigidity of the institutional Church. They were women who lived devoted lives without monastic vows, marriage, or male governance. Their spirituality was embodied, woven into daily life, and grounded in inner listening. Parts of France and the Low Countries were places where this feminine freedom found especially clear expression.We follow their trace in places where silence and inner perception were considered a sufficient path.
Deep practice, poolside pauses and the fire of inner alchemy await you…
“Some leave the forge of their childhood with blades honed and sharp, others with dulled edges. Some keep their swords hidden beneath their cloaks, others cannot restrain themselves at all. Steel remains in the form it was first given when it leaves the forge. One of the few ways to reshape an alloy is to heat it again to the temperature of its original casting.”
— The Magdalena Manuscript, Tom Kenyon & Judi Sion
We shall weave together the simplicity of rural France, deep inner journeys, and the movement of life force within. We meet in silence, presence, nature, and the art of slowing down.
Each day unfolds with time to listen inward, to soften into lightness, to enter the practice, and to be supported as your inner processes gently find their own rhythm and fire.
June 26 - Landing and settling. The journey into being fully here.
June 27- Connecting & group practices at our retreat home, La Treille, and in nature; Tandava — The Sacred Dance of Creation.
We step together into the fire of inner alchemy through the SOURCE Process and Breathwork, allowing ourselves to take space, to connect, to sink into silence, and to explore our inner patterns.
SOURCE is a gentle rebirthing breathwork branch that supports the safe exploration of fears and tensions connected to intimacy.
June 28 - Group practices & SOURCE Process & Breathwork
We make time for individual practices in nature and water, and for private 1:1 deep dives through biodynamic bodywork, breathwork, subtle energy attunement, and the line of secret touch. There is space to visit the open morning markets in the small picturesque villages, to claim time for your own creative flow, and to wander on small adventures of your own choosing.
June 29 - Individual practices, time in nature, swimming, walks to the nearby village, Creation Time
June 30 - French market, individual practices, time in nature, Creation Time
Returning to the group, we meet connection anew through movement, contact improvisation, and tender, safe and attuned touch. We listen with the whole body.
Integrated Closing.
July 1 - Contact Improvisation Workshop, SOURCE Breathwork with attuned presence and touch
July 2 - Closing circle, then travel to Bordeaux as your own journey carries you forward, wherever it calls you next
We are inviting you behind the scenes, close to the heart of it all, while you can rest knowing the pulse of the space is steadily held. The rhythm of our days is intentional, warm yet spacious. There is structure, and there is freedom. Room for shifts, for surprises, for personal choices, for additional explorations, and yes, for the occasional spontaneous dessert.
Our days begin around 10am, with breakfast beforehand. Lunch breaks stretch generously, at least two hours. We close the shared program at 6pm, with individual sessions sometimes flowing later. And some evenings may simply ask to be spent under the stars or in close circles by the fire.
All the practical and (extra)ordinary details…
The Atmosphere and Your Stay
Our center is the home and retreat space of Véronique de la Cochetière, mother of the secret touch lineage, style icon, and tantra teacher. La Treille is nestled near the village of Fargues-sur-Ourbise in southern France, about one hour from Bordeaux.
Accommodation is in comfortable double and triple rooms. The atmosphere carries a distinctly French spiritual elegance, woven with a touch of bohemian ease, wild nature, and a pool.
Nourishment
Nothing in this world quite rivals French cuisine. And here is the best part. Véronique herself will be cooking for us!
Expect meals prepared with immense love and care, and we are able to accommodate all dietary preferences and special requests.
If local culinary magic ever feels insufficient, you can always take a stroll into the village and pick up your favorite cheese, olives, or small delights from one of the local shops.
Travel & Transport
Our retreat is intentionally place-based, allowing us to go deep into inner processes and truly slow down, to notice what is already present.
On one of the mornings, we will make an optional outing to a traditional French market 10 km away, or visit a closer market through the forest, to experience this inseparable thread of French life and gently extend ourselves into contact with the outer world. If you wish to explore the region more freely, you may rent a private car from Bordeaux.
Flights and bus or train tickets are to be booked independently. We are happy to assist and provide clear guidance. Nele can meet you at the airport on the 26th if needed. Round-trip bus or train transport typically costs up to €100 in total, and may be even less when booked in advance.
Your Guides…
Ida Materasu (iidala)…
…is a SOURCE Process and Breathwork practitioner, international Breathwork teacher (GPBA certified), biodynamic bodywork practitioner, counsellor, and writer.
Her work is rooted in one simple devotion: helping people return to direct connection with life. To feel again. To sense again. To live the profound not somewhere “up there,” but here, inside the body, inside relationship, inside ordinary days.
Ida’s spaces are steady, warm, and deeply held. For over ten years, she has guided breathwork journeys, presence trainings, retreats, and intimate 1:1 processes across Estonia, Ireland and internationally online. Her work is less about techniques and more about creating the conditions where something real can unfold.
Nele Kotli…
…is a dance artist, counsellor, and manual therapist. She spent ten years living and working in France as a professional contemporary dancer, letting the body become both language and listening.
Today, her work supports people in returning to their original pulse and creative current. She guides through sensation rather than concept, inviting voice, movement, touch, and subtle energetic attunement to open what words alone cannot reach.
Nele continues to explore where art and healing meet, where the performative dissolves into something intimate and real. Her background flows through Tandava, contemporary and improvisational movement, Argentine tango, vocal work inspired by Serge Wilfart, body psychotherapy, connective tissue pulsing, pelvic manual therapy, collective trauma healing, and intuitive energy work.
If you know, you know. Apply to join us:
Booking is open until April 30 or until the circle is full.
We are keeping this retreat small and intimate, with space for eight travellers.
The contribution for the full experience is €1333, which includes your accommodation, nourishing meals, individual 1:1 sessions, and the complete retreat program. Travel to and from France is arranged separately.
To step in, a €333 deposit is required. From May onward, this deposit becomes non-refundable.