Gurdjieff Sacred Dances Retreat
July 10th until July 15th
In Mata House, central Portugal
what are the dances about?
“It is only by grounding our awareness in the living sensation of our bodies that the ‘I Am,’ our real presence, can awaken.”- G. I. Gurdjieff
Our topic for this retreat: Essence and Personality.
The Sacred Dances are part of the body of work of the Armenian mystic, George Ivanovitch Gurdjieff. They are a form of active meditation, requiring us to divide our attention between 3 centers: body, heart, and mind. They are designed to progressively take us beyond our normal ‘self’ and access a deeper quality of our being: our Essence.
Each dance, combined with music composed specifically for this purpose, offers a different quality, a way of Being that we can embody, that we can taste. The dances are at once simple and complex, as through the challenge of staying present while letting go, we begin to awaken. The goal is not to “get the dances right”, it is simply to observe. And from observation – comes freedom.
In this retreat we will also explore more free forms of dance, practice sensation exercises, and have work periods and discussion sessions as a group.
about gurdjieff's 4th way and the movements
George I. Gurdjieff was an Greek-Armenian spiritual teacher, who lived from 1872 until 1949. He set out at the age of 20, yearning for a deeper meaning to this human existence. His search took him to ancient monasteries and temples from Egypt, across Central Asia, to Tibet and India. He discovered secret Sufi brotherhoods, guarding the knowledge he was seeking. He emerged, 25 years later, in Russia, and began to share the rich learnings from his experience. Among his teachings were the Sacred Dances, which he considered as a means for inner transformation.
about Nimrod tom oren (facilitator)
Nimrod Tom Oren has been teaching movement, meditation, and experiential psychotherapy for 20 years. He has been part of Gurdjieff groups and the 4th way for over 15 years. He has travelled the world looking for practices that have retained their essence and potency, collecting, refining, and adapting them to our current times.
He is the founder of a Mata House, a conscious, ecological and expressive community in central Portugal. He does not claim to know, only hopes to guide others towards their own knowing. For him, life, freedom and compassion are Humanity’s true teachers, and he tries to follow them as best he can.
about mata house
Mata House is a center for Being, community, healing and art. A place where you can transform yourself. It is located in central Portugal and founded by Nimrod Tom Oren in 2023, its values are freedom, compassion, connection, expression and awareness.
Mata House aims to serve the community of Seekers, people who wish to understand themselves, and to help direct the world towards a better future. It wishes to establish a community around it, in its home village of Mata, and in the surrounding area.
The projet hosts retreats and courses, as well as volunteer programs, and possibilities to rent rooms, or the whole house for vacations or retreats.
Mata House aims to serve the community of Seekers, people who wish to understand themselves, and to help direct the world towards a better future. It wishes to establish a community around it, in its home village of Mata, and in the surrounding area.
The projet hosts retreats and courses, as well as volunteer programs, and possibilities to rent rooms, or the whole house for vacations or retreats.
Join the whatsapp group to receive updates:
https://chat.whatsapp.com/Cthe3kaTS44H71SdLcIc34
We will send a short message to make sure you’re a real person. Please reply if you’d like to join.
food & accommodation
The cost of the retreat includes meals and accommodations:
- 3 full meals per day, vegetarian with vegan options
- We will cook the meals together.
- Stay in spacious shared rooms, with 2-4 people per room. For couples we might be able to provide a private room
- You can also sleep in your van or bring a tent to put in the land
Mata House is on the edge of a small quiet Portuguese village, facing the green valey and full of birdsong.
dates & location
We start on Friday, July 10th, at 19:00
We end on Wednesday, July 15th after lunch, around 15:00
Mata House is located in a small village 10 minutes north of Torres Novas, Portugal.
- By car – Mata House is about an hour and 15 minutes’ drive from Lisbon Airport, or 2 hours from Porto.
- By bus – There are many buses coming to the area every day, either to Torres Novas, Fátima or Tomar. From Lisbon Oriente station it takes about an hour. See https://www.omio.com or other websites.
- By train – There are many trains from Lisbon Oriente station to Entroncamento, taking between 50 and 90 minutes. See cp.pt (Lisbon appears as “Lisboa”)
From these stations you can take a taxi. Torres Novas 10 minutes away. Tomar, Fatima or Entroncamento are 20-25 minutes. You can use Bolt or Uber, and we can help you find a taxi driver.
We will create a whatsapp group closer to the retreat date where you can rides-hare with other participants.
costs & registration
Early bird until June 19th:
- 400 euros
Later registration:
- 500 euros
Notes:
- If you can’t afford it, let us know and we’ll see what we can do.
- We are looking for a few helpers to assist during, before and after the retreat, for a significant discount. The helpers will not miss any classes. Contact us if you want to apply.
- Registration is by sending a 50% euro non-refundable deposit to reserve your spot, by bank transfer or credit card (fees apply).
For more details and registration::
whatsapp: +351-913-994-868
email: mata.house.portugal@gmail.com
email: mata.house.portugal@gmail.com
This retreat is limited to 16 participation, so we propose to register as early as possible.
“Come, Come Whoever You Are”
– Jalaluddin Rumi
Come, come whoever you are,
Wanderer, worshipper, lover of leaving,
It doesn’t matter.
Ours is not a caravan of despair.
Come, even if you have broken your vow
a thousand times.
Come, yet again, come, come.
