Irrespective of your profession, the integration of mindfulness has the potential to profoundly
transform your work experience and contribute to the development of more meaningful and
enriching relationship with all those you encounter.
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Curriculum of Practice
Over ten days, the retreat offers a complete contemplative training that brings together movement, meditation, inquiry, silence and ritual. Each day includes practices that cultivate attention, stillness, compassion and self-observation through presence and experience. The curriculum includes somatic movement, seated and walking meditation, mindfulness of breathing, loving-kindness and compassion practices, subtle body awareness, contemplative dialogue, Dharma teachings, selected contemplative literature and rituals that support reflection and gratitude. Noble Silence is core of the work and uninterrupted practice throughout. The sequence allows each practice to prepare the mind and body for the next, supporting a natural progression from awareness to understanding and integration.
Spakoina 2026 at Georgia {Mindfulness & Psychotherapy}
from 1st Oct to 10th Oct 2026 - Aarti Asrani and Anil Thomas
Engage in the practical application of mindfulness to seamlessly integrate it into your workdays, simultaneously reducing stress and anxiety while elevating emotional and spiritual well-being. Immerse yourself in this transformative experience surrounded by the picturesque embrace of mountains, tranquil quietude, and the vast expanse of open skies.
Spakoina is an IJNGP Fundraiser; and it means critical alignment when closely translated from Russian. It is coming together to practice the practices of mindfulness and psychotherapy, to be present and to be in silence with self. In this spirit, the proceeds of Spakoina 2025 will fund the foundation work, supporting various initiatives to advance multi-disciplinary research and deepen psychological inquiry.
Mindfulness and Psychotherapy, represent an ingrained practice aimed at accessing the sacred space, fostering communication from the body and the higher self, all within a state of connectedness. Our work operates on a psychological level, seeking to restore lost symmetry by addressing issues such as the 'not I', enmeshment, and contaminations related to self-worth, capability and identity.
Insights
You Will Gain
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Practicing presence in the 'now', within the body.
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Identifying and navigating enmeshment, fear-based orientations, and control-centric relationships.
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Developing an awareness of stress and anxiety buildup and understanding its bodily responses.
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Cultivating dimensional communication by accessing the ether and building rapport.
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Engaging in the practices of cleansing, gratification, connection, and contribution.
Spakoina
Who Should Attend.
Willingness to face the silence.
The retreat is for those ready to sit with restlessness, observe intrusive thoughts, and move beyond them.
On the path of mindfulness.
Ideal for practitioners, psychologists, and seekers looking to expand awareness through direct experience.
Value immersion and direct experience.
This is not about learning concepts, it’s about feeling, sensing, and transforming in real time.
In the mountain breeze, stillness found its home.
The location of Georgia was not just a choice, it was a discovery. As we searched for the perfect setting, the world paused, and in that pause, Georgia revealed itself. A land where mountains stretch endlessly, where the air is crisp, and time slows down. The beauty here is both vast and intimate, forests, rivers, ancient churches perched on cliffs.
The warmth of the people, the richness of the food, the scent of tomatoes and earth after rain, it all creates a deep sense of belonging. This is a place where stillness feels natural, where silence is not empty but full. In Georgia, presence is effortless. It invites you to pause, to breathe, to listen. And in that space, transformation happens, not as an effort, but as an unfolding.
Location
Telavi, Kazbegi, and Tbilisi were chosen for their elemental vastness. Snow-capped mountains, mineral air, blue glacial waters, open skies, and deep valleys reshape perception through direct experience. October carries cold winds, luminous silence, and extraordinary clarity. At times, sun and moon appear together above the Caucasus, offering a rare intimacy with untouched earth.
Accommodation
The accommodation is spacious, warm, and deeply connected to the surrounding landscape. Large windows open toward mountains, farmland, and sunrise. Balconies invite long mornings with cold air and stillness. The nearby farms move with seasonal rhythms, where cultivation remains close to the earth, unhurried, nourishing, and intimately woven into daily life.
Nutrition
Telavi, within Georgia’s Kakheti region, carries one of the world’s oldest agricultural and winemaking traditions. The food is vivid, mineral-rich, and deeply nourishing. Tomatoes, herbs, mushrooms, bread, persimmons, meats, and natural wines are grown with remarkable closeness to the land. What cities market as organic remains ordinary here, shaping both vitality and mental clarity through simplicity and purity.
Shared Time
How We Will Spend Our Days
Below is a clear, day by day outline of our time together. Each session is placed with care, allowing space for learning, reflection, rest, and conversation, so participants know what will unfold and how to arrive prepared.
01st to 06th October, the schedule is as follows
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6 am: Commence the day with somatic movements.
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6:45 am: Engage in disclosure, followed by breath and walking meditation.
Noble silence routine observed during breakfast
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9:30 am: Participate in a session focusing on dimensional talk and related activities.
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11:15 am: Dedicate time to inner work activities, specifically in the realm of psychology.
Noble silence routine observed during breakfast
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2:30 pm: Partake in bodywork, incorporating mindfulness and psychotherapy.
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4:30 pm: Embrace silence and engage in meditation.
Noble silence routine observed during breakfast
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8:30 pm: Conclude the day with a closing meditation, where the context will be shared.
07th -9th Oct 2026 - Kazbegi (Georgia's third-highest peak)
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Onboard at 6am, breakfast enroute
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Mountain Meditation
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Nature walk and visiting the 14th-century Gergeti Trinity Church
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Self Exploration & Self Reflection
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Integrating Self
09th Oct 2026 - Kazbegi to Tbilisi
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Inner work and self care
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Breakfast and Depart to Tbilisi
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Check in Tbilisi
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Lunch on way
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Touching the Earth Meditation
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Self time
10th Oct 2026
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Check out
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Breakfast (recommended places)
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Bolt to Tbilisi Airport (preferably take an evening flight)
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Flight back
The body holds what the mind forgets until silence brings it to light.
Step into a carefully curated journey where silence, movement, and deep inner work intersect. Each day is designed to dissolve barriers, reconnect you with your senses, and realign you with your inner clarity. From structured meditative practices to immersive nature experiences, this retreat offers a path to profound self-discovery.
Practices & Experiences
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Somatic Movement, Sculpture & Stretching
Movement, posture, and stillness revealing the hidden conversation between breath, body, and mind.
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Mahayana Sitting & Walking Meditation
Cultivating presence through observation, stillness, movement, and subtle-body awareness.
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Breath work & Guided Release
Different breaths uncover different inner narratives carried within the body.
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Cocoon Experience of Holding & Shared Presence
Resting in human closeness beyond performance, identity, and the fear of being seen.
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Thanksgiving & Cacao Ceremony
Practice of gratitude, receiving, and remembering our interdependence with all life.
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Silent Veil Practice
Entering silence beyond sight, allowing the inner world to become vividly perceptible.
Take a closer look
• Access to quarterly online sessions {the gathering} to keep the practice and community (sanga) breathing together for communion and connections
• A handout with excerpts of content and practice template for self-work and practice Spaköina 2025 {спокойно} is based on the principle of mindfulness and psychotherapy. At the centre of it’s work is ‘critical alignment’ of five aspects and dimensional work. It is attempted to take the concept of this powerful technique to daily life and its movement and chaos, how this can bring equanimity beyond the mountains. This experience is offered by Aarti Asrani and Anil Thomas, as a fund raiser to the work and vision of the foundation that works for IJNGP. The invitation price includes the above mentioned schedule, facilitation, plus the live and recorded sessions, online community, meals [1] and other experiences [1] mentioned in annexure
Please note
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Carry your yoga mat
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Winter Clothing
The outlined details above serve as a preliminary overview, with more comprehensive information to be provided upon enrolment in the Spaköina 2025 program. This additional information will include specific program details, guidelines, and any necessary resources to ensure your seamless participation and optimum experience. We Look forward to welcoming you and sharing further insights into this transformative journey.
A Transformation that lasts beyond the Retreat
Participants leave with more than just an experience, they gain a lasting shift in awareness. By reconnecting with sensory intelligence, they develop a sharper presence in daily life, making decisions with greater intuition and alignment. The retreat instills a capacity to pause, creating space between impulse and action, allowing for mindful choices in relationships and work. Beyond mental clarity, the body retains an imprint of stillness, enabling sustained emotional regulation. Meditation and self-inquiry become tools for continuous transformation, not just practices. With newfound access to inner resources, participants step back into the world with a sense of completeness, less reactive, more centered, and deeply attuned to the flow of life.
Emotional Regulation
Emotional resilience
builds and grows in silence
staying with us for life.
Relational Safety
We all seek safety and belonging, shaping relational behaviour at a subtle, underlying level.
Awareness
Awareness expands
when distraction fades
and presence takes root.
Our Mission
Spakoina grounds contemplative practice in lived experience, drawing from mindfulness, psychotherapy and contemplative traditions to help individuals and practitioners sense the body’s quieting, stabilise presence, deepen empathy and inhabit daily life with reflective care.
Mission
Subscribe to our newsletter and get access to a lecture on meditation.
Spakoina grounds contemplative practice in lived experience, drawing from mindfulness, psychotherapy and contemplative traditions to help individuals and practitioners sense the body’s quieting, stabilise presence, deepen empathy and inhabit daily life with reflective care.