Do Nothing Retreat

simple invitation to pause

DATES

THE INVITATION

Let go of doing. Reconnect with being.

The Do Nothing Retreat is a unique opportunity to slow down, unplug, spend time in nature and in the company of like-minded people. You’ll experience why less doing and more being is the greatest gifts we can offer ourselves and others.

This is for you if

Wooden lounger on a private chalet deck overlooking the Cederberg mountain landscape, Bliss & Stars retreat, Western Cape

THE EXPERIENCE

Unplugging from our busy lives

Stop attending to the fruits of your actions. Start attending to the quality of your presence in life.

Guest and dog sitting on rocks above the Cederberg river on 1,350 hectares of private land, Bliss & Stars retreat, Western Cape

ReST

Time in Nature

Experience the three-day effect of nature. After about 72 hours in a natural setting without screens, attention sharpens and performance on creative problem-solving improves by around half. A single 90-minute walk in nature has been shown to quiet the part of the brain that ruminates.
dog relaxing at the retreat at bliss and stars in south africa

ATTENTION

A Space for Presence

Give your mind opportunity to come back to the “Now. Here.” Doig so, you’ll find a new perspective on life, work and relationships. We pause not just to feel better but to make other people feel better.

THE APPROACH

What we do, if we had to name it

Physiology first. Strategy is the easy part.

1

Breathwork

Breathwork is where we start, because it is the fastest way back into a body that has spent years being overridden. You will breathe in ways that change your chemistry within minutes, not as a metaphor but measurably. Calm is not the point. The point is to give a nervous system that has forgotten how to change states the direct experience of doing it.

2

Somatic work

The body keeps a running account of everything it did not have time to feel. It holds it, and it goes on holding it until direct work with the body renegotiates it. Somatic work is that direct work: slow, precise attention to sensation, to what your system is bracing against and has not yet been allowed to finish.

3

Nature Immersion

We will use nature, the boulders, river, caves and beaches to practice the art of being and noticing. Guided hikes, solo walks and our famous swim safari.

WHAT A DAY LOOKS LIKE

Doing more of what matters

We could give you the timetable. The wake time, the sessions, the meals, every hour accounted for. But the need to know the shape of the day before you arrive is the very thing you came here to put down. There is a rhythm, and it holds you.

MORNING

AFTERNOON

EVENING

AT A GLANCE

We serve vegetarian / vegan food. Most of our produce comes from our gardens or from local farmers. The meals are served at the communal table. We do not serve coffee or alcohol, which is mostly about sleep. Mornings are cacao, rooibos infusions.

Dietary requirements are accommodated. Tell us when you book.

DURATION

4 days

Thursday to Sunday

LOCATION

Cederberg

Western Cape

FOOD

Plant-based

No Coffee · No alcohol

Daria Rasmussen, somatic experiencing practitioner and founder of Bliss and Stars retreat

YOUR GUIDE

Daria Rasmussen

SOMATIC PRACTITIONER · MINDFULNESS TEACHER · FOUNDER

“Things to do are endless, like ripples on a stream. They end only when you drop them.”

Daria is a Somatic Experiencing® practitioner, trained at Somatic Experiencing International. She trained in breathwork with Dan Brule. Her contemplative practice runs underneath the sessions.

She holds a master’s degree in sociology. She spent twenty years in a marriage to corporate work: present, productive, and increasingly aware that she was giving herself away without anything coming back. That experience is not background. It is the curriculum.

Daria’s approach is structured around BARE: Breathwork, Awareness, Regulation, Embodiment. The sequence matters: you cannot think your way to embodiment. You have to arrive there through the body.

WHAT GUESTS SAY

WHAT DOES IT COST

Accommodation options

All prices include accommodation, all meals, all practices, and guided stargazing. No hidden charges.

tented chalet interior at bliss and stars

CANVAS AND TIMBER​

Tented Chalets

Built from canvas and timber, which means the valley comes through the walls. Wind, water, first light. The simplest of the three, and the closest you can sleep to the land.

3 NIGHTS

Solo

R19,500

Double

R29,400

Includes: Accommodation, all meals, practices and activities
view of chalets at bliss and stars, cederberg

WOOD AND GLASS

Chalets

Built from wood and glass, set between the rocks. Floor-to-ceiling windows put the valley in the room with you. The one most people picture when they imagine the place.

3 NIGHTS

Solo

R26,100

Double

R35,400

Includes: Accommodation, all meals, practices and activities
Aerial view of Weaver's Nest villa built from Cederberg rock at Bliss and Stars off-grid retreat

CEDERBERG ROCK

Villa

Built from Cederberg rock, set closest to the river. A separate bedroom, its own lounge, and a large outdoor space that is yours alone. The most private of the three.

3 NIGHTS

Solo

R28,200

Double

R40,800

Includes: Accommodation, all meals, practices and activities

Reserve MY place

A 50% deposit confirms your place. You can pay upfront or in instalments. 

If you are not committed to making a reservation yet and have some questions, contact us here.