21 – 28 September, 2026
A RETREAT FOR YOU
“Biodynamic” means attuning to the intelligence of life itself—the body, the breath, the unseen forces shaping our existence. “Touch” is the meeting point of two awarenesses: yours and another’s, yours and nature’s. A moment of presence in the unknown.
Touch begins before contact—with awareness, boundaries, and invitation. It is an unfolding dialogue, a conversation with space, with sensation, with what wants to emerge.
These classes are both a retreat and a training, depending on how you wish to receive them. They are an immersion in the evolving intelligence of consciousness, explored through the body and the unseen field that unites us all.
We cultivate awareness of our sacred space, our fluid body, and our physiology. We deepen our presence, refine our capacity to listen, and explore the relational dynamics between self and other.
In the end, what makes a skilled facilitator—whether therapist, teacher, guide, or healer—is not what we know, but how deeply we listen. The safety and spaciousness we offer are a reflection of our own journey.
We first learn about ourselves. Then we hold space for others to become who they truly are.
Each level is a deepening journey into Body-Consciousness
Sacred Space:
Awareness of Space
Inner Space:
Awareness of Fluids
Integration:
Awareness of Structures
In this first level, we refine our awareness of space, learning to listen to the subtle language of the body and nature. This is where we meet true boundaries—not just physical, but energetic and relational.
We explore the embryological origins of the body—where life first organizes itself. By recreating the conditions of deep safety, we allow the intelligence of the field to emerge and unfold naturally.
We cultivate:
• The art of listening without interfering
• Awareness of subtle space and energetic boundaries
• Perceptual skills rooted in the biodynamic approach
• An understanding of healing dynamics and energetic anatomy
This is where we learn how to hold space—for ourselves, for others, for what wants to arise.
Duration
Each Modules are taught over 7 days and 7 nights.
Joining more than one module?
Use the code BIODYNAMIC550 at checkout to receive a 550 kr discount.
RETREAT HIGHLIGHTS
You will leave this course with:
True healing requires boundaries. Learn to discover and honor yours and others’, creating self-connection and meaningful, authentic relationships grounded in awareness.
What we think we know dissolves. True listening matters more. Embracing the unknown opens deeper wisdom and a more fluid way of being.
What if healing comes from acceptance, not change? Embracing our past transforms how we understand growth, allowing genuine healing to unfold naturally.
This work is relational. Develop presence, deep listening, and compassion so others feel seen—creating space where transformation unfolds beyond what’s visible.
Develop perception of the body across physical, fluid, and energetic levels, attuning to its innate intelligence and deepening essential therapeutic skills.
Healing isn’t linear. Explore time, space, and awareness to hold space beyond limitations, opening new possibilities for transformation.
These classes are both a retreat and a training, depending on how you wish to receive them. They are an immersion in the evolving intelligence of consciousness, explored through the body and the unseen field that unites us all.
We cultivate awareness of our sacred space, our fluid body, and our physiology. We deepen our presence, refine our capacity to listen, and explore the relational dynamics between self and other.
In the end, what makes a skilled facilitator—whether therapist, teacher, guide, or healer—is not what we know, but how deeply we listen. The safety and spaciousness we offer are a reflection of our own journey.
What if, instead of trying to impose change, we learned to listen? Not in passive surrender, but in deep receptivity—trusting that within the very symptoms we seek to fix lies the intelligence needed for transformation.
The body already holds the energy for healing; our role is not to override, but to recognize and honor its wisdom. If you have ever felt exhausted by healing, caught in an endless pursuit of fixing, there is another way—one rooted not in external intervention, but in the deep knowing that has been within you all along.
These retreats are designed for you to be you, receive and learn at your own rhythm.
— Gro Hatlemark | Previous Retreat Participant
YOUR DAYS
This schedule gives a good sense of what to expect, though it may be subject to minor changes.
Check-in: September 21, at 3:00 PM
Check-out: September 28, at 12:00 PM
15:00
Settle in, explore the surroundings, have a cup of tea and perhaps greet the Shambala Lake.
16:00
A welcoming session to orient, connect and gently open body and mind for the transformative days ahead.
19:30
A nourishing, plant based meal prepared with care, shared in community, and savored mindfully.
19:30
Release the day in our lakeside sauna, drift into stillness, and enjoy the quiet magic of a forest evening.
7:30
Greet the day with fire and cold water — a invigorating lakeside ritual to awaken body, breath and spirit.
9:00
Enjoy a mindful morning meal in shared silence, creating space for gratitude, presence, and gentle awareness before the day unfolds.
9:45 – 13:30
Meditation, lecture, demo, practice, sharing
13:30
Enjoy a balanced midday meal prepared with care, offering nourishment, ease, and time to rest.
14:30 – 19:30
Meditation, lecture, demo, practice, sharing
19:30
Come together for a nourishing evening meal, sharing conversation, reflection, and a sense of grounded community.
7.30
An optional invitation to enjoy our wood-fired sauna, floating on the lake — a beautiful way to begin the day in intimate connection with nature and the elements.
9:00
A relaxed, nourishing and easy-to-digest meal enjoyed slowly in shared silence.
12:00
Pack light, leave renewed. Take the stillness, warmth and connections of Shambala home in your heart.
7:30
An optional invitation to enjoy our wood-fired sauna, floating on the lake — a beautiful way to begin the day in intimate connection with nature and the elements.
9:00
A relaxed, nourishing and easy-to-digest meal enjoyed slowly in shared silence.
13:30
Enjoy a vibrant vegan buffet, and take time to relax.
19:00
Gather for a delicious, wholesome evening meal shared in a peaceful and heart-centered atmosphere.
ALL-INCLUSIVE
Not Included
YOUR GUIDE
Jean-Manuel Nadeau is an international facilitator, teacher, and practitioner specializing in body-based healing, relational presence, and embodied listening. He is the founder of Biodynamic Touch, an integrative approach that weaves biodynamic craniosacral therapy, symbolic anatomy, family constellations, and nature-centered awareness—rooted in a deep respect for the field of the body’s innate intelligence.
He has developed a series of retreats, trainings, and online courses designed as experiential journeys known for their depth, relational safety, and their ability to integrate bodywork and group processes into a coherent, lived experience.
Jean-Manuel’s work resonates first and foremost with people seeking to know themselves more deeply—individuals from all walks of life drawn to listening, presence, and meaningful relationships. Alongside them are therapists, bodyworkers, artists, and practitioners in the healing and creative arts, as well as parents, partners, and those navigating life transitions.
His teaching speaks to anyone who senses that something essential has been lost in modern ways of healing and relating, and who feels that what is needed now is not more answers, but a deeper capacity to listen.
Known for his grounded, humane, and precise teaching style, Jean-Manuel creates spaces where slowing down becomes transformative. His learning environments are both structured and spacious, rigorous, poetic, and tender. Participants develop practical skills in embodied listening, relational boundaries, and holding space—capacities that naturally extend into both personal life and professional practice.
When not teaching, Jean-Manuel continues to explore the living intelligence of the body through time in nature and his passion for photography.
Connect with Jean-Manuel:
Website: www.
Instagram Photography: jeanmanuelnadeau
Instagram Biodynamic Touch: biodynamictouch
Facebook: jeanmanuelnad
Yoga
E-RYT
Satsang
Yin
Meditation
Chanting
GUEST EXPERIENCES
“When I first encountered Biodynamic Touch, I immediately felt that I would learn much more than just a therapeutic approach.
What we come to discover is our capacity for listening and presence, as well as our relationship with the unknown. To no longer identify with knowledge and instead develop a sixth sense that can read the language of the unseen.
During the trainings with Jean-Manuel, you dive into a field that brings forth processes without orchestration, simply through the presence of each participant. The subjects arise and are illuminated, welcomed through the practice of biodynamic touch.
These classes are like a continuous meditation to open a dialogue with the intelligence of life within and through us. It is also a moment rich in teachings about our relational dynamics. You can come to learn about yourself, your therapist posture, and your relationship with others and with Life.
It is an invaluable gift to live this experience because we heal through the process of others, our own processes, and those of the group by resonating with them. The trainings, Biodynamic Touch classes are a medicine that connects the infinitely small with the greater whole. It is a dive into the joys and sufferings of being alive and understanding what animates the human condition.
It is a journey, like a commitment to oneself and to life, to re-establish oneself as a woman and a man within the ecosystem, to listen to the force within us that “knows,” that heals and transforms. Thank you for creating this space, this matrix that allows us to experience a different order, that of the intuitive and ever-changing feminine that unveils itself through presence and listening.
Thank you from the bottom of my heart for these timeless spaces.”
“It’s been close to 9 years I’ve studied and spent time with Jean-Manuel. I have no idea how many courses I’ve taken now or days we’ve spent together, but it’s been a lot.
The truth is I keep coming back because every time I learn something new. Every time I leave feeling as if I know myself better, and love myself more. And every time I leave being grateful to have such an authentic and genuinely loving person as my teacher. Jean is an endless wealth of understanding and knowledge of the human experience and healing.
The curriculum of his classes is methodical and encompassing. He teaches intuitively and with structure – no class is ever a repeat. His classes always focus on meeting the needs of the group that is present and his teachings emphasize the empowerment of his students – not playing into any sort of guru/follower dynamic.
I don’t know any student of his of whom I’ve met many, who wouldn’t agree with this testimonial. I wouldn’t write any of this if it wasn’t absolutely true for me. I couldn’t recommend Jean-Manuel more for anyone looking for an excellent curriculum and teacher.”
“I did not know this was what I was seeking. That this was the next level of awareness on my personal development journey and that it would completely change the trajectory of my life. I had never heard about Jean-Manuel nor BioDynamic touch before I came across his training in Norway.
I just knew this was for me. I just knew I had to be there and participate. I was ready for this teacher and his teachings.
How Jean-Manueal created profound safety within the group of 13 individuals from different nationalities and diverse backgrounds in an instant, just by his presence, was super inspiring to witness and be a part of. Level one is called “Sacred space” and this IS what he creates, even before we all meet.
Jean-Manuel is an embodiment of his own profound teachings. He IS sacred space. He IS presence. He IS acceptance. He IS compassion. He IS pure energy and unconditional love – manifested in a human body. With great humour and humility, depth and wisdom he creates captivating and transforming teachings and demonstrations. The way he so accurately and profoundly “paints pictures” with his words, without any judgment, misbelief or attachments makes us able to connect to our memories and subconscious mind in a completely new, transformative and healing way. To be so profoundly seen and gently guided to acknowledge and accept our underlying root causes is the most healing way I have ever been met in my entire life. It has been truly life changing.
I can, with both my hands on my heart, highly recommend Jean-Manuel for whatever of his offerings you feel drawn to. His in-person training are one-of-a-kind group experiences that will integrate in you for a long time after the training. His private sessions are deeply healing. His Symbolic Initiation course gave me a completely new vocabulary, understanding and acceptance of my own childhood and life-experiences up until now.
I am still a student, eager to learn more from Jean-Manuel. And I can also now much more easily and confidently rest and trust in the not-knowing space because of him.
Forever grateful for your presence Jean-Manuel.”
PRACTICAL INFORMATION
The journey from Arlanda to Shambala (Skinnskatteberg Station) takes around 3 hours and is quite straightforward. You can search for and purchase tickets at www.sj.se.
Please note that the full train schedule is usually available only 2–3 weeks before your intended travel date, so there’s no need to book earlier than that. There are several route options.
As there are no direct trains, you’ll need to take a combination of trains and/or buses. Once you arrive at Skinnskatteberg Station, we’ll pick you up — it’s just a 7-minute drive to Shambala.
Comfortable yoga clothing, a warm layer for the evenings, earplugs and an eye mask for the bright summer mornings, sturdy shoes for forest walks, and a journal if you enjoy writing. Yoga mats and props are provided. Swimwear for the sauna is optional. We’ll send a full packing list after booking.
Our kitchen is designed to avoid the most common allergens. That said, please let us know in advance if you have any food allergies or specific dietary needs, and we’ll take them into account when planning the menu.
For guests with multiple allergies, we offer a simple daily meal option of steamed vegetables and boiled rice.
While we aim to keep our kitchen as gluten-free as possible, trace amounts of gluten may still be present. Our meals are generally suitable for those with gluten intolerance, but we cannot guarantee the absence of cross-contamination for guests with celiac disease.
At Shambala, beyond being a retreat space, we cultivate a way of living deeply rooted in the yogic values of simplicity, presence, non-attachment, contentment, and communion with nature. Rather than luxury, what we offer is intimacy and a sense of belonging. Therefore, our accommodations are simple and mostly shared, with a variety of twin rooms, triple rooms, and glamping tents.
The guiding ethos is one of community and sustainability, creating a vibe that is understated, modest, welcoming, and easy. If you do feel a strong need for a single room, you can write to us. A single room may be available for an additional fee.
All accommodation options have access to shared showers and bathrooms.
We love children and would truly love to be able to host parents with young kids.
However, we’ve found that having young children on site can make it challenging to maintain the peaceful retreat atmosphere that many of our guests seek and deeply value.
For this reason, unless otherwise agreed, our retreats are intended for adults and youth aged 12 and above.
We love animals, but as some guests have allergies, we’re unable to allow animals inside the buildings. For this reason, we kindly discourage guests from bringing their pets.
Bed linen and towels are included with your booking. You may opt out of both for a 200 SEK discount. To do so, please apply the coupon code ‘NOLINEN’ at checkout.
We understand that life can be unpredictable, and if something unexpected comes up, we truly want to support you as best we can. At the same time, as a small business, we need to honor the sustainability of our work and are therefore unable to offer refunds close to the retreat start date. Thank you so much for your understanding.
Cancel up to 3 months before arrival and receive a full refund.
Cancel up to 14 days before arrival and receive a 70% refund.
Cancel up to 6 days before arrival and receive a 50% refund.
If you cancel 5 days or fewer before arrival, the retreat fee is non-refundable.
We warmly recommend arranging travel insurance to cover any unforeseen circumstances.
The retreat cost does not include travel insurance. Travel insurance is recommended for all participants.
Join us 21 – 28 September to refine your intuition & develop autonomy on your healing journey.
Or write to us directly: hello@shambalagatherings.com
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