Wellness Retreats, Workshops, and Community
Immersive experiences of the inner sanctuary to encounter the Spirit of God in the beauty of creation.
Loto Wellness Collective explores nervous system regulation at the intersection of somatic healing and soul care. We are a community of misfit believers practicing The Way of Jesus through the integration of mind, body, and soul as a transformational journey toward flourishing. Let’s experience his unforced rhythms of grace together.
"Awake, sleeper, and arise from the dead, and Christ will shine on you."
― Ephesians 5:14 NIV
“The glory of God is man fully alive.” — St Iraneous
The Mind-Body-Spirit Connection
Understanding the mind-body-spirit connection is critical for learning how to survive the trauma of the human condition. The profound wisdom (and neuroscience) of what is happening simultaneously in the brain and body and how that connects to our spiritual growth gives us the roadmap to thriving.
MIND
Quieting the internal narratives of our minds and opening our hearts to hear God from a regulated nervous system state of rest.
The Bible tells us that transformation comes from the renewing of our minds (Romans 12:2) and not conforming to the world’s patterns [of restlessness]. Loto Wellness Collective events and content explore the neuroscience of rest, utilizing the PolyVagal theory as a framework to increase our vagal tone (the body’s adaptive response to environmental stimuli), moving our nervous systems out of fight/flight/freeze/fawn and into a state of “rest and digest.” These mindfulness practices include breathwork, forest bathing, and community-building ceremonial healing circles (co-regulation).
"Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will" Romans 12:2 NIV
BODY
Finding moments of stillness through postures of prayer and somatic (body-based) practices.
The connection between our physical state and physical well-being is profound. Our ability to experience the presence of the indwelling Holy Spirit diminishes when our bodies are tense and our minds are scattered. This is where somatic practices like body-scan meditations become invaluable in experiencing rest- mind, body, and soul. Somatic practices are body-centered techniques that help self-regulate the nervous system by promoting awareness of bodily sensations, grounding in the present moment, and facilitating relaxation.
“Do you not know that your bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your bodies.” 1 Corinthians 6:19-20 NIV
SPIRIT
Holistic Christian soul care practices that care for the spirit, mind, and emotions, to maintain a healthy soul or heal a wounded one.
Soaking our souls in His Living Water requires the intentional sacrifice our time and attention to God. It is in this focused state of quiet receptivity that we discover the life-giving power of communion with God. Life starts to slow down and we are changed from the inside out—Discontentment turns into gratitude, anxiety to peace— With their roots in traditional moastic practices, Loto Wellness Collective engages in contemplative prayer, including: Lectio Divina, prayer walks, journaling, and Bible devotionals.
“But whoever drinks of the water that I will give him shall never thirst; but the water that I will give him will become in him a well of water springing up to eternal life”.” John 4:14
Here to thrive!
Faith-Based Wellness Retreats and Ceremonial Circles
At Loto Wellness Collective, we invite you to embark on a transformative journey through our immersive retreat experiences and ceremonial circles.
These sacred in-person gatherings are crafted to nourish the mind, body, and soul, allowing you to experience the profound sacredness of rest and rejuvenation in serene environments around the world.
Join The Collective 🪷 in an immersive retreat experience to AWAKEN, RESTORE, and IGNITE your journey toward flourishing in Christ.
Matthew 11:28 MSG
“Are you tired? Worn out? Burned out on religion? Come to me. Get away with me and you’ll recover your life. I’ll show you how to take a real rest. Walk with me and work with me—watch how I do it. Learn the unforced rhythms of grace. I won’t lay anything heavy or ill-fitting on you. Keep company with me and you’ll learn to live freely and lightly.”
Sacred Rest
We believe that at the core of a rich Spirit-filled life with God is mindful and intentional rest, having been designed for and instructed to do so regularly since Genesis.
Sacred rest is a hallowed experience of divine connection, incorporating our minds, bodies, hearts, and spirits. Not merely a matter of routine, sacred rest transfers our gaze from schedules to the soul, a proclamation of His goodness that comes from the abundance of soaking in His loving presence.
Learning to rest is learning life-changing dependence on Him, shifting focus away from our circumstances. We surrender control into His hands in recognition of our trustworthy source of strength in a burned-out and weary world.
We believe that immersing ourselves in nature and spaces of beauty is a special way of awakening our hearts to the still small voice of our Creator. In the light of His healing presence, our hearts come alive in response.
The Mind-Body-Spirit Connection in Rest
As humans, so many of us live in a state of chronic stress or have faced trauma with a lack of safe support to recover, leaving us emotionally dysregulated and our nervous systems in a chronic state of fight/flight/freeze/fawn response. When we live in that chronic state, our nervous systems get stuck in a state of panic or shut down, sometimes swinging wildly between the two extremes. In this state, self-care is often the first thing to go out the window.
While it can look different for everyone, living in an activated state of the nervous system without safety in the body (fight/flight) means running on high alert, and anxiety, which can be incredibly fatiguing to the body, contributing to higher levels of cortisol in the blood and physical dis-ease.
The body’s protective response to chronic stress and dis-ease is to move into freeze/fawn, a “system shutdown” that creates and contributes to a state of depression or hopelessness.
The Polyvagal theory, developed by Stephen Porges, teaches that there is a third state of the nervous system that is ideal for health, which he calls the social engagement system. This is when the system is relaxed, but alert. Present but open. Safe. This social engagement system helps us navigate relationships, in safe intimacy.
At Loto Wellness, we believe that utilizing somatic body-based tools like yoga, breathwork, and body scan meditation can help support us in self-regulating our nervous systems into this healthy state of safety. Thus, helping us connect more fully with ourselves, with others, and with God.
To learn more about the autonomic nervous system, check out this video.
“The deeper your interior silence, the more profoundly God will work in you without your knowing it.”— Father Thomas Keating
All too often, self-care is misunderstood as selfish. As a result, we give too much of ourselves away and forget to prioritize caring for ourselves (sometimes our most basic of needs go unmet), resulting in the chronic outpouring from the proverbial empty cup. In our attempts to be everything to everyone, we forget the importance of putting our own oxygen masks on first before helping others.
Even amidst the hectic demands of a growing ministry, Jesus modeled restful self-care by regularly seeking silence and solitude time with God:
“Very early in the morning, while it was still dark, Jesus got up, left the house and went off to a solitary place, where he prayed.”— Mark 1:35 NIV
Developing a restful self-care practice is about making time in solitude to refill our cups and have God breathe life into our weary bodies, minds, and spirits. However that practice looks for each of our unique needs, self-care in general can mean:
Taking care of our own thoughts, and our own feelings, and not projecting them onto others.
Replenishing our resources without depleting someone else’s.
Building strength and ensuring we can be sustained in order to care for others.
Setting healthy boundaries so that we don’t expend all of our energy taking care of others and forgetting ourselves.
Enabling us to live out of our greatest potential for Christ, discover our purpose, and experience joy.
Accepting His invitation to rest.
At Loto Wellness Collective, we believe that a healthy self-care practice benefits us and everyone in our lives and is a basic need for every human.
The Importance of Self-Care
