A personal experience report by Lena, participant in the Autumn Retreat 2025.
When I signed up for the retreat with Runa, I didn't know exactly what to expect. I only knew that I needed a break. Not the usual vacation packed with activities, but real stillness. Room to breathe. A place where I didn't have to be anything except myself. What followed touched me more deeply than I could ever have imagined.
Arriving and Letting Go
Even the journey there had something meditative about it. The further I moved away from the city, the calmer it became – not only outside, but also within me. When I arrived, Runa was standing in front of the house and welcomed us with a warm smile. No small talk, no program meant to keep us busy right away. Instead, a simple invitation: “Arrive. Just leave everything you bring with you here.”
The room was simple and cozy. Wooden furniture, a bed that smelled of lavender, a window with a view of old trees. I placed my phone in the drawer and closed it. For the first time in months, I had no notifications, no appointments, no reason to look at a screen. It felt strange – and at the same time like a liberation.
The Rhythm of the Days
Every morning we started at seven with a gentle yoga session. No acrobatic poses, no performance – instead slow, mindful movements, accompanied by Runa's calm voice. It was as if she lined the room with an invisible blanket of safety.
After our shared breakfast we had free time. Some strolled through the forest, others read or simply sat and gazed at the sky. In the afternoon there was a deeper practice: Yin Yoga, Pranayama or guided meditations. Each session had a theme – trust, compassion, letting go. Runa spoke little, but every word landed.
In the evenings we sang mantras together. I had never sung mantras before and felt self-conscious at first. But when the voices of the group merged into one sound, something dissolved within me. The words were in Sanskrit, but my heart understood them anyway.
The Shamanic Ceremony
On Saturday evening Runa invited us to a shamanic ceremony. Candles, incense, a circle of cushions. I had no expectations and at the same time I was nervous. Runa explained that the ceremony was about getting in touch with the deeper layers of our soul – not through the mind, but through the body and intuition.
What followed is hard to put into words. Through drumbeats, song and guided inner contemplation, I found myself in a place within me that I had long forgotten. Tears flowed without my knowing exactly why. It wasn't sad – it was liberating. As if my body had been waiting for this moment to release something I had been carrying around with me for far too long.
Runa held the space with a presence that impressed me deeply. She was there without pushing. She saw without judging. In this protected setting I could let myself fall – perhaps for the first time truly.
What I Took With Me
On Sunday morning, as I packed my bag, I felt like a different person. Not because I had had some great insight, not because everything had suddenly changed. But because I had once again sensed who I really am beneath all the functioning. Beneath the roles, the duties, the daily noise.
What I took with me fits in no suitcase. It is a feeling of stillness that I can now call upon again and again. When everyday life gets too loud, I close my eyes and I am back there: in the circle, by the candles, with the sound of the mantras in my ear and the deep certainty that everything I need is already within me.
“Sometimes you have to go away in order to arrive back at yourself.”
If you're wondering whether a retreat is something for you: Do it. Not someday. Not when everything fits. Now. Your future self will thank you.
-- Lena M., Berlin