Rest & Reconnect: The Art of Breath

A Complete Nervous System Reset Retreat near Toronto
October 22-25, 2026

Reserve your place

Learn how to change your nervous system on command.

FOR LIFE.

The Art of Breath is a four-day retreat held at The SEED Lodge twice a year, combining the Rest + Reconnect ethos with the Begin with Breath Introduction to Breathing course by People of the Prana. This retreat is a deep dive into nervous system resilience: it teaches you not only how to rest, but how to sustain the practices that heal your frazzled nervous system and strengthen it with time and daily practice.

You leave with more than an experience. You leave owning specific, repeatable techniques, a working toolkit for your own nervous system that travels wherever you go, ready to use with only your own breath, on an ordinary Tuesday, months from now. The skills you will learn in this retreat will last you for life, not just one weekend.

A woman with brown hair tied in a ponytail, wearing earrings and a black and white checkered shirt, standing in a field of tall, golden grass during sunset, with her eyes closed and a peaceful expression.

Breathing is the one act that you can do for the rest of your life that produces significant improvement in stress management, across emotional, physical, and mental health.

Breathe. Pause. Listen.

Return to yourself & then repeat.

The Skills You Will Leave With

Begin with Breath has been taught online and in person since 2020, to individuals as well as organizations alongside Esther Kalaba's clinical psychotherapy practice. It combines essential techniques from Kundalini yoga, Hatha yoga, psychotherapy, and modern nervous system science into a diverse curriculum that covers every aspect of nervous system health, along with the full range of breathing types. Normally offered as a six-week online course, this retreat is your chance to learn it live, and to experience the beautiful landscape of The SEED Lodge at this time of year.

Across four days, you cover the same ground as the six-week course: the three diaphragms and the practice of interoception, the energetics of prana, the focused inhale, the releasing exhale. By the closing circle, you have started building your own breath medicine chest, a working set of techniques for stress, anxiety, and overwhelm that keeps doing its job long after you leave.

A woman with curly hair wearing a white dress is smiling and gesturing with her hands during a presentation or meeting in a bright room.

Over four days, you will learn simple but powerful tools to regulate your nervous system, release emotional tension, focus your mind, and listen deeply to your body. You will also rest, move at your own pace, and enjoy the healing rhythm of nature. Whether you are new to breathing and meditation or looking to refine an established practice, this immersive time offers a down-to-earth and genuinely powerful approach to healing. The art-making runs alongside the breath the whole way through, giving you a safe, creative way to engage with your inner world and let your body's wisdom speak in a language beyond words.

This is a complete digital detox. When you arrive, you will hand in your devices, and you give yourself a rare stretch of time without interruption. You will leave not only feeling lighter, more grounded, and recharged, but carrying breath practices, art and journaling rituals, and the felt experience of what it is like to reconnect with yourself through your breath, so that you can reset anytime, anywhere.

A person walking in a forest with tall trees and green ferns, wearing a brown jacket and a hat, surrounded by autumn-colored leaves.

“My intention for these retreats has always been the same. This is not an escape from your life. It is a way of returning to it, with more of yourself intact. You already have your own answers inside you. Sometimes you just need the right conditions in which to hear them.”

Sample 4-Day Schedule

Thursday —Arrivals from 4:00pm

  • 5:00pm: Welcome dinner and introductions

  • 7:00-9:00pm: Opening class, Kundalini yoga and gong bath

Friday & Saturday — The Art of Breath

  • 7:00-8:00am: Morning yoga and breath session

  • Sauna and breakfast

  • 10:00am-12:00pm: Begin with Breath method

  • Afternoon: open, free time for the land, rest, art making or optional add-ons (massage, sound healing, psychotherapy)

  • 4:00-5:00pm: Evening programming Part 1

  • 6:00pm: Dinner

  • 8:00-9:00pm: Evening programming Part 2

Sunday — Integration & Closing

  • 7:07:00-8:00am: Morning yoga and breath session

  • Sauna and breakfast

  • 10:00-11:30am: Final breath and yoga session, closing circle

  • Light lunch and departure to follow

All activities are optional. You are invited to move at your own pace and listen to what your body needs.

  • You are currently in therapy, burned out, or running on fumes, and want embodied, hands-on skills that strengthen your nervous system: real tools for anxiety, stress, sleep, and calm.

  • You want to feel supported in community.

  • You want techniques that outlast the retreat and learn a method that you can always turn to in times of stress.

  • You are a therapist, healthcare provider, or yoga teacher ready to bring real breathwork techniques into your practice.

  • You feel disconnected from your own body and want to feel more embodied.

  • You want depth and a real curriculum lead by an experienced teacher and psychotherapist, not another surface-level wellness weekend.

This Retreat Is for You If:

A cozy bedroom with a wooden ceiling fan, a bed with floral bedding, a small white bookshelf with books, a table lamp, potted plants, framed artwork on the walls, and a window showing trees outside.
White building with green trim and large sign that reads "Seed Lodge" with a logo of a plant and a DNA strand, and the slogan "Nourish What You Want To Grow," with potted yellow flowers outside, two benches, and outdoor seating.
A cozy bedroom with two beds, a window with white curtains, and a wooden ceiling with a ceiling fan. There are lamps on the bedside tables and framed artwork on the walls.
A decorative white bust of a human face with closed eyes, serving as a planter with a small cactus plant growing from the top, next to a black Godzilla figurine with red eyes, standing on a wooden surface.
Close-up of a glass dish with a salad containing leafy greens, chopped cucumber, chopped herbs, and a bright orange edible flower on top, on a white tablecloth. In the background, blurred outdoor setting with two women, one wearing a dark top and the
A large green deciduous tree with a thick trunk and full leafy canopy stands beside a gravel driveway that leads to a metal gate, with fencing on either side, in a rural area with grass and smaller trees in the background.
Yoga mats laid out on a wooden floor in a serene room with wooden ceiling, white walls, paintings, and a window with white curtains.
Two glasses of green smoothie on a table surrounded by green apples and spinach leaves.
A person's hand and arm, wearing a red and black plaid shirt, resting on a concrete surface decorated with red and white speckled sidewalk chalk art.
Two glass pitchers filled with a light brown liquid, one contains tea leaves, placed on a piece of crumpled newspaper on a white surface. The scene is lit by natural light from a nearby window.
A woman with blonde hair lying face down on a massage table, receiving a massage with hands applying pressure to her back. The room has wooden blinds and a wicker basket.
A vase with colorful flowers including tulips and hyacinths on a table, with watercolor paints and brushes nearby.

What you’ll receive:

  • The same Begin with Breath curriculum taught in the six-week online course, delivered here in person over four days

  • A Begin with Breath manual, plus an online set of practices to refer back to after the retreat

  • Two months of complimentary access to Wake Up and Breathe, our early morning breathing community

  • Early morning yoga and breath sessions

  • Nourishing meals, teas, and snacks

  • Access to the land and forest trails

  • Psychotherapy receipts available for Ontario and Quebec residents; the retreat is tax-deductible

  • A discount if you want to attend the course online at a future date, and discounts on other People of the Prana products

A cozy room with a wooden vaulted ceiling, featuring paintings on the white wall, a small bench with a pink orchid, and yoga mats on a wooden floor for meditation or yoga practice.
A close-up of a bowl of apples and bananas on a table, with various other bowls and dishes blurred in the background.

Space to Breathe, Feel, and Be: The Rest & Reconnect Ethos

The whole purpose of the Rest & Reconnect series is to give you room, room to breathe, room to feel, and room to simply be, without needing to produce or perform anything. You are cared for here. The meals are made for you, the space is held for you, and the only thing asked of you is to show up and let yourself be looked after for once.

All accommodations are private rooms (one with a private ensuite and others with shared bathrooms). Retreats are limited to 9 people max and are digital detox.

Come & Rest @ the SEED Lodge

Reserve your place

October 22-25, 2026

Questions?

Email us: arrive@theseedlodge.com

Frequently Asked Questions

  • A nervous system reset retreat teaches practices, usually breathwork, movement, and rest, that shift your body out of chronic stress and into regulation. The Art of Breath does this through the Begin with Breath curriculum, taught in person over four days.

  • The SEED Lodge is about two hours north of Toronto, near Blue Mountain in Grey Highlands, Ontario.

  • No prior experience is required. The curriculum is taught step by step, and it works equally well for complete beginners and for therapists, yoga teachers, or coaches deepening an existing practice.

  • Yes. All meals are included — breakfast, lunch, dinner, and snacks throughout the day. Meals are nourishing, seasonal, and served together.

  • The Art of Breath is led by a licensed psychotherapist and is a psychotherapy based retreat. As such it is eligible for insurance receipts for Ontario and Quebec residents, and the full retreat cost is tax-deductible as a medical expense.

  • Begin with Breath is a ten-hour breathwork curriculum from People of the Prana, normally taught online over six weeks. The Art of Breath delivers the same curriculum in person, compressed into one four-day retreat, offered at The SEED Lodge twice a year.

  • Near Rocklyn, Ontario — about two hours north of Toronto, close to Georgian Bay. It sits on 56 acres of farm and forest. Close enough to get to, far enough to feel like a different world. Detailed directions provided upon registration.

  • The cost for all Rest & Reconnect retreats is $1249 for a private room with shared bathrooms and $1549 for a private room with its own ensuite. There are a maximum of 9 spots available.

  • The Art of Breath at The SEED Lodge is built specifically for burnout recovery: a four-day, in-person breathwork intensive teaching the Begin with Breath curriculum, two hours north of Toronto. Unlike a typical spa weekend, it teaches nervous system regulation techniques you keep using long after you leave, as well as combines group psychotherapy so that you can better understand your stress response and work with it. We offer free 15-minute calls so that you can see if it’s a good fit for you. Please be sure to email us.