Dance Your Medicine – Costa Rica, Feb 2025 at – Los Angeles, CA

Don’t miss this upcoming Event in Los Angeles, CA. Happening on Saturday, February 22, 2025 at Los Angeles. Doors open at 3:00 PM.

DANCE YOUR MEDICINE is a multi-day, eco sensuous retreat about evolving our consciousness, nourishing and healing ourselves through somatics, movement and community. Together, for 8 days and 7 nights, we will imbibe pristine nature and food, dance to luscious music, deepen into embodied connection, and learn how to harness it for creating good in the world.

WHY DYM?
In the plodding along of the day to day, we’ve become woefully disconnected. In the act of trying to “get ahead”, we’ve lost track of our own enoughness. We’re either stuck in the past with feelings of shame, guilt and trauma, or we’re stuck future-tripping, worrying and anxious about the disappointments that MIGHT happen and the outcomes we can’t control. 

Using dance as your medicine can offer you a sense of flow, vitality, freedom and connection with ALL of yourself, the people you love and the planet that allows us to live life to the fullest as our natural birthright.

This is definitely the most robust healing and wellness Cocréa retreat yet and I’m so honored and excited to be working with this team of humans to bring it to you. We’re going to go deep and have fun in the process. You’re going to emerge with some super charged skills for self care and resilience. 

I can’t wait to dance with you in the pristine jungle of Costa Rica!

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Is Dance Your Medicine the right fit for you in this time of great change?

Schedule a discovery call with one of the Co-Leaders of Dance Your Medicine.

Learn how Cocréa can support you in remembering the wisdom of the body and reconnecting with others in the spirit of change.
Schedule your discovery session with Wren
Schedule your discovery session with Odessa

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There is so much to tend to. 
The world is uncertain, chaotic, and mysterious, especially these days. In a capitalistic culture, joy, rest, and rejuvenation are radical acts. They build our resilience to face the road ahead. 

We unplug in order to recharge.
We commune with nature in order to remember who we are.
We come to listen to our bodies’ wisdom.
We come to effect change from the inside out.
We gather to learn a better way in community. 
We gather to heal our hyperindividualism and codependence, and learn interdependence.
We come to Celebrate. 
to Feel.
to Be Danced.

LISTEN
EMBODY
CONNECT
COCREATE

EMBODIMENT is the practice we invite you to cultivate; an ongoing mindful dialogue between mind and body, a deepening wisdom of yourself, a reckoning in present time of how your body moves through the world. We cultivate embodiment so that we may be in deeper connection with ourselves, each other, and all that is.

SHIFT YOUR PARADIGM into a full embrace of what enlivens and sustains you. Discover how living in acceptance and curiosity of your body, your boundaries, needs and desires – and how honoring that in others – gives way to a radiant, thriving life.

JOIN THE MOVEMENT of conscious dance infusing the world with mindful connection and the joy of being alive. Adventure with Cocréa’s brilliant team of facilitators as they masterfully weave the themes of consent, embodied wisdom, emotional intelligence, collective liberation and right relationship through the mediums of movement, somatics, music, breath and touch.

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The Retreat Space – POSADA NATURA
Release and let go into the full embrace of Posada Natura. Posada Natura is a gathering center located on the southern pacific coast of Costa Rica. They host retreats, conferences and programs with focus on wellness, education, social change and environmental conservation
The space provides a container to connect people to the powerful rejuvenating energy of an ancient rainforest, and wholesome wellness experiences. Their team is comprised of leaders in the fields of holistic health, spiritual practice, and environmental conservation.
Seated above one of the cleanest rivers left on earth, Rio Naranjo, and surrounded by over 7,500 acres of rainforest that their partner 501(c)(3) non-profit organization, Eco Era, has protected since 1991, Posada Natura is a pristine container to explore what being in right relationship with the planet can feel like.
Come as you are.
Leave as you want to be.

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MEALS 
We believe that food is healing. We source all of our produce from local, organic farms to create fresh, plant-based meals for every retreat. We believe in nourishing the human body with nutrient dense, fresh ingredients cooked by our incredible chef
As part of Dance Your Medicine you’ll enjoy:

3 organic , nutrition-focused meals daily
Tea, coffee and snacks available throughout the day

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RETREAT FEATURES
Fusion Partner Dance Technique Classes
Contact Improvisation
Restorative and Goddess Flow Yoga
Ecstatic Access Movement Classes
Trauma-Informed Somatic Education
Dance Parties with Stellar DJs
Meditation
Epic Jungle Waterfall Trip 
Outdoor Pool
Riverside Retreat Space
All Organic, Vegetarian Meals
BIPOC & LGBTQIA Affinity Gathering Opportunities
Local Cacao Fueled Dance Parties
Love • And MORE!

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ARE YOU:

Longing for more connection and expression with your body? 
Ready to come back into your aliveness perhaps forgotten in the midst of the uncertainty and fear of COVID? 
Choosing to value closeness and intimacy with others and desire more skills to create that in your life? 
Desiring to celebrate community, nature and new experiences in new places that bring you enrichment and vitality? 
Passionate about eating well, feeling good, walking barefoot and sharing what brings you into your full, vibrant health with others? 

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BECOME CONSCIOUS to the Freedom and Intimacy available to you by standing in the Presence and the Majesty you are. Elevating awareness by being wildly authentic in your expression as you also witness the same in another. 

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FACILITATORS

WREN LAFEET
Lead Facilitator, Music Facilitator and Cocréa co-Founder

Wren is an embodiment guide intent on learning how to be in right-relationship as a 21st century human so he can best serve life. A trained dancer, theater worker, mindfulness facilitator and recovery counselor, Wren shares body-based practices synthesized from social partner dance, mindfulness, Taoism, the Gene Keys, waterways and relating with humans that support interpersonal connection and positive change. In 2013, Wren co-founded Cocréa with Antje Schaefer as a vehicle for exploring mindful, consent based relational practice through movement and dance. Channeling what he has come to acknowledge as an intelligence that wants the best for humanity, he creates brave spaces for humans struggling with disconnection and longing for a deeper sense of belonging to come home to themselves through the body. 

Wren is a queer, cis-gender human residing on traditional ancestral Ohlone land (Los Gatos, CA). As an 11th generation American descended most recently from artist and blue collar working class parents, Wren is in a deep reckoning with the numerous and nuanced aspects of self that influence how we navigate interpersonal relationships and cultural identity on the journey into right-relationship. He is currently in transition from the lands of the Awaswas and Amah Mutsen people of Santa Cruz county, California, to the traditional unceded territory of the xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam), Sḵwx̱wú7mesh (Squamish) and səl̓ilwətaɁɬ (Tsleil-Waututh) Nations (so-called Vancouver, Canada).

Wren is: a Registered Drug and Alcohol Technician level 1, HeartMath Trauma Sensitive educator, certified Attunement Therapist, Awake at Work trained mindfulness facilitator, Danyasa Yoga 200hr trained facilitator, Do Good Things with Power (Zahava Griss) program graduate, holds a BA in Drama and Dance, and is a TEDx Speaker and published author.

ODESSA AVIANNA PEREZ
Lead Facilitator and Trauma-Informed Somatic Educator

Odessa Avianna Perez, MA, LMFT, is a trauma-informed somatic psychotherapist, embodiment and social justice educator who helps individuals and groups heal from fragmentation and remember agency, magic, and belonging. She holds a masters in Somatic Psychology from California Institute of Integral Studies and triple bachelor degrees in Dance, Theater Arts, and Sociology from Rutgers University. 

Odessa has been guiding movement-based groups into deeper self-knowing and embodiment for over 20 years, starting first as a choreographer and director of an interdisciplinary dance company dedicated to emergent, improvisational, and self-revelatory performance. Coming from a dance performance background, Odessa’s interest started to shift towards mindful, authentic and explorative movement methodology when she stumbled into her first Contact Improv dance at a jam in New York City. She has been practicing and teaching Contact Improvisation as a form of self inquiry and relationship alchemy since 2010.

Odessa is deeply curious about the intersection of personal and collective trauma, collective nervous system states and expression, and how we can use somatics and dance to integrate our trauma for better relationship, community and planet.  She has facilitated workshops at dozens of retreats and festivals throughout California and internationally, using somatics, movement, and contact improvisation as the platform through which to explore safety, relationship, building capacity for discomfort, interdependence and inclusion.

In her psychotherapeutic private practice, she weaves somatics, movement, interpersonal neurobiology, polyvagal theory, attachment work, and social and racial justice frameworks into her work with individuals and couples. She is the Inclusion and Belonging lead for SoulPlay festivals and currently resides in Tongva/Kizh territory – aka Los Angeles, CA.

NATASHA RICHARDS
Retreat Manager, Co-Facilitator & Yoga Teacher

An artist, alchemist and passionate yogi, Natasha has dedicated the last 12 years to exploring various forms of yoga, movement and other self development modalities. A creatrix by nature, Natasha is always working on or learning some new form of creative expression. Each adding a unique ingredient to her understanding of the intricate tapestry of human existence. Beginning as a way to navigate her challenges and facilitate her spiritual growth, the joy and freedom she finds continues to inspire her to lean in, learn more and peel back more layers. Natasha’s grounded approach to life, combined with her love for music and intuitive, embodied movement, create an atmosphere of safety, playfulness, exploration, and permission in the various spaces and roles she steps into.

Natasha is a cis-gender, able bodied, biracial female residing on Anishinaabe lands of the Chippewas of Georgina Island (Ontario, Canada). As a certified Yin and Goddess FlowTM student and guide with foundations in Hatha and Vinyasa modalities, Natasha thrives on supporting others as they navigate their own multifaceted selves, embracing their strengths and confronting their struggles. She fearlessly dives into the depths of challenging and unspoken emotions, gently guiding her students to explore these aspects with curiosity and compassion. Her supporting role within Cocrea and SoulPlay Festival continues to teach her how to best show up and hold this space by helping her find new ways to be in integrity, care and right relationship.

Natasha’s commitment to growth and expansion continues to extend beyond yoga and movement. In 2020, Her path led to Costa Rica, where the transformative power of Kambo found her. Inspired by profound experiences, she became a Certified Kambo Practitioner through the Rainforest Healing Center in Peru in 2022. These days she’s begun to delve into the realms of Human Design, Authentic Relating and Thai Massage. Wherever she goes, her mission is to foster a vibrant community and remind individuals of their inherent strength and wisdom.

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INVITATION TO PARTICIPATE
SOCIAL JUSTICE AND RESPONSIBILITY

If you would like, we have an option to make a one time, $100 donation in addition to your event registration fee.

For every $100 donation received from participants, Cocréa will match it with an additional $100. This ensures that we can cover the cost of food for a local Costa Rican desiring to attend, and offer our program to them on a pay-what-you-can basis.

By living – simply being alive – in a time of such change while holding systemic, global privilege, we at Cocréa believe that we have a responsibility to leverage that power to do good things. 

Our time here is finite. As such, part of the way we desire to leverage our power is by providing access to our programming at minimal cost to those for whom the cost of an event would be prohibitive.

Everyone deserves to have a good time dancing with others, no matter what culture you were born into. 

We also believe in ending systemic oppression which is why 1% of all our year end profits go to Color of Change, and 1% of THIS event will go to the Found Nation to assist in their continuing work of enriching the lives of the indigenous Costa Rican people, the BriBri.

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DETAILS

We are creating space for 1 Non-Costa Rican BIPOC scholarship participant, and 1 Tico participant.

Our BIPOC Scholarship is intended to support access for this event in the context of historical and present day systemic inequities that disadvantage people of Black, Indigenous, Latinx, Asian and mixed-race heritage.

View BIPOC Scholarship Application on our Website:
Dance Your Medicine 2025

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1-ON-1 ADD-ON SESSION OFFER DETAILS
There are a limited number of supportive private session offerings available as an optional add-on to your DYM experience. Each of these one-on-one sessions are designed to enhance your retreat experience. We’re dedicated to bringing embodied healing and intelligence to you, our valued community. Select yours at checkout, limit 1 add-on session per participant.

90-minute private Yin with Indian Scalp Massage session during the retreat with RYT Natasha Richards. Natasha will gently guide you as you discover a more intimate view of YOUR practice and soothe your nervous system while helping to release tension and relieve muscle stiffness. 
75-minute post-retreat private integration session with trauma-informed somatic educator Odessa Perez. This session will be carried out online via zoom and must be booked by the end of the retreat for a date between April 1 and April 14, 2023. Odessa will help you ground and integrate the potency of your experience into your everyday life, with a post-retreat private somatic coaching session. 
60-minute personal dance session with Wren during the retreat to refine specific development areas OR a 60-minute Attunement Therapy session to support healing. Wren will support you in developing your body’s unique expression, unblocking pathways to creativity, and opening into greater access to your body’s wisdom. 

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COVID POLICY
We are not currently requiring anyone to test before arriving at the venue.
We reserve the right to change this policy as conditions and circumstances around world health change.

Purchase Dance Your Medicine – Costa Rica, Feb 2025 Tickets Below:

Tickets/RSVP URL