Business as usual isn’t working.
We spend so much of our lives trying to improve ourselves, manage ourselves, get somewhere, become someone. Even our spiritual lives can become another project of self-improvement.
This immersion begins somewhere else.
You are already whole. Already enough. There is nothing to fix, and there are no hoops to jump through.
For three weeks, we step out of business as usual and immerse ourselves in a different Field—one of authenticity, aliveness, vulnerability and awakening.
It is a chance to reset. To pull the arrow back. To slow down enough to listen beneath the noise and rediscover what matters to you—in your life, your relationships, your work, and your awakening.
It is part immersion, part training, part community, and part journey into the unknown.
Through various experiential and somatic practices, we will explore how to regulate our nervous systems, bring more kindness and softness to our inner worlds, and bring more clarity and inner authority to how we meet the outer world.
We will practice:
Staying connected to ourselves
Listening beneath our habitual stories
Tracking aliveness moment by moment
Discovering what becomes possible when we stop treating ourselves as a problem to be solved
The building blocks are simple: openness, curiosity, humility and deep listening.
Starting from wholeness
You can be full of self-doubt, afraid and confused. And whole and magnificent at the same time.
The mind looks for problems to solve. The body knows wholeness. And sometimes the mind needs a road map before it can yield to the wisdom of the body.
So we will focus on both—the innate intelligence of the body, and the structures and understandings that can help the mind ungrasp and let go.
We will explore the places where we contract, perform, or slide into inner apology—not in order to get rid of them, but to meet them with curiosity and expand our capacity to welcome what is here.
And we do this together.
There is something powerful about immersing ourselves in a Field with others who are also willing to look, to be seen, to take risks, and to meet themselves with greater honesty and kindness. Our lives become mirrors for one another and doorways into deeper self-awareness, connection and love.
I don't know exactly what will happen in these three weeks, what we will do, or what internal experiences we will have. And I feel called to enter this Field with those who choose to join.
I imagine there will be moments of crunchiness as well as moments of magic—tenderness, laughter, uncertainty, connection and discovery.
Over time, vulnerability and authenticity can become more than something we resort to when we're struggling or needing to let off steam.
Vulnerability becomes our food.
It is power. It is home.
The more of yourself you welcome, the more others feel welcomed by you. And the less energy you spend hiding, defending and performing, the more available you become for Life.
Some of the terrain we may explore
Along the way, we may find ourselves exploring the noises in our heads, relationships, sexuality, money, death, service, awakening—and whatever else Life brings through the door.
Facilitation as a doorway into presence
This isn't a standard facilitator training. We will use facilitation to deepen our access to ourselves.
The muscle that allows us to know and love ourselves is the same muscle that allows us to facilitate others in knowing and loving themselves. Truly great facilitators access this muscle. They create spaces in which people feel safer, more alive, and more willing to welcome parts of themselves that have previously been hidden.
There is something about standing in front of a room—being seen, being responsible for others—that turns up the volume on our inner world. Self-doubt, the need for approval, the desire to perform, the fear of getting it wrong—our patterns become easier to see. Facilitation becomes a laboratory for meeting ourselves in real time.
Welcoming ourselves makes us better facilitators.
And practicing facilitation gives us more of ourselves to welcome.
Along the way, we will also explore practical skills and techniques of good facilitation, with opportunities to experiment, practice and receive feedback.
And, no worries—practicing facilitation is optional. Whether or not you choose to stand in front of the room, we will all be exploring the essence underneath it: meeting each moment brand new and dropping into relaxed inner authority.
Why three weeks?
A week-long retreat can open a door. Three weeks gives us time to live inside the exploration.
There is space to go deep without rushing, to let things settle, and to return again and again to what we are discovering. There is room for intensity and spaciousness, practice and integration, solitude and connection.
And there is time for a group of people to become a community.
What the three weeks will look like
Our first two weeks in Bali will be the heart of the immersion.
We will meet Monday through Friday for full days, with an additional half-day on the first Saturday. Mornings will be primarily experiential: embodiment practices, group sharing, movement, inquiry and connection.
On selected afternoons, we will turn toward facilitation. Participants will have opportunities to lead, experiment, make mistakes, receive feedback, discover their own style, and find greater access to their inner authority.
Guest facilitators will also join us at various points, bringing their own practices, perspectives and experience into the Field.
Then we change rhythm.
For our final five days, we move to Gili Air.
The intensity decreases. We meet for approximately three hours each day, leaving substantial space for snorkeling, rest, sunsets, conversation, connection and simply being together.
Bali is immersion and exploration. Gili is integration, intimacy, spaciousness and community.
What you may leave with
I don't know. Hah!
And, my intention is that you leave with:
A deeper capacity to welcome yourself as you are
Greater clarity and inner authority
A more intimate relationship with your own aliveness
Practical tools for living, relating and facilitating
A greater capacity to lead while staying connected to yourself
A more regulated and resilient nervous system
Meaningful relationships with people walking a similar path
A renewed connection to what matters most to you
Perhaps most importantly, I hope you leave with an orientation you can carry into the rest of your life:
A deeper yes to what is here.
Not another project of fixing yourself.
You won't receive a step-by-step manual for improving your life, creating perfect relationships, or building a more successful business.
You will receive practices, experiences, community, and a Field in which to meet yourself more fully—and perhaps discover that what you've been looking for isn't somewhere else.
Who This Is For
While this immersion is primarily for those who have worked with me before, it is for anyone drawn toward personal aliveness and deeper self-awareness.
It may especially speak to you if you are navigating a period of transition or reorientation; longing for more authenticity in how you live and relate; curious about awakening as a lived reality rather than a spiritual idea; or wanting practical, embodied tools you can bring into your relationships, work and life.
It is also for teachers, coaches, facilitators and others who support people and want their leadership to emerge from a deeper, more embodied place.
You don't need to identify as a leader.
You don't need to have it all figured out.
Ever.
Just come with curiosity, a willingness to look and be seen, and a leaning toward saying yes to yourself.
For three weeks, we will immerse ourselves in a Field in which we can practice doing exactly that—together.
Facilitator: Rick Smith
Rick Smith is an internationally recognized educator, speaker, and retreat facilitator. His best-selling book, Conscious Classroom Management, has sold over 400,000 copies and continues to support teachers and students worldwide. He has spoken to over 100,000 people on five continents. (www.consciousteaching.com)
Through years of teaching and mentoring, Rick has discovered that the same inner resources that help a teacher stay grounded in a chaotic classroom are the very same ones that help us meet life, and ourselves, with grace.
“The same internal muscle that allows a teacher to stay calm in a chaotic classroom, and to see the best in her students, is the same muscle that allows us to awaken, to lead, and to move mountains in the world.”
Today, Rick facilitates workshops and retreats that help people remember their innate wholeness, innocence, and “enough-ness.” His work blends practical tools, deep presence, and gentle guidance toward unconditional self-love and integration.
Rick currently lives and teaches in Bali, Indonesia.
The Setting: Bali and Gili Air
From the lush nature and vibrant culture of Bali to the simplicity and spaciousness of island life on Gili Air, each setting offers its own invitation to slow down, breathe, connect, and be present. The intention is to create enough space to step away from the usual rhythms of life and immerse ourselves more fully in the exploration.
Details
The immersion will be limited to 25 participants.
Dates & Times
Bali — Week One
Monday, March 15 – Friday, March 19, 2027
9:30 am – 6:30 pm
Lunch provided
Saturday, March 20
9:30 am – 12:30 pm
Lunch provided following the morning session
Bali — Week Two
Monday, March 22 – Friday, March 26
9:30 am – 6:30 pm
Lunch provided
Gili Air — Week Three
Monday, March 29 – Friday, April 2
Approximately three hours together each day
Exact meeting times to be announced
Meals on your own
Accommodation
The immersion is non-residential, and participants will arrange their own accommodations.
There are a limited number of rooms available at the retreat center in Bali, as well as many places to stay nearby. Accommodation information will be provided once you have registered.
Information about accommodations on Gili Air will also be provided.
Application
There is a short application for the immersion.
You can apply here. We will respond to you soon after you apply. Registration will open October 1st.
Super Early Bird and Early Bird places will be offered in the order that registrations come in.
Cost
Super Early Bird: $1,900 USD
First 5 participants to register
Early Bird: $2,200 USD
Next 5 participants to register
Regular tuition: $2,700 USD
Reduced Tuition
A limited number of reduced-tuition places will be available for those who genuinely need them. Apply here.
A Message from Rick
This immersion is an invitation to pause and remember.
To realign with what’s true.
To meet yourself with honesty, courage, and compassion.
We need a new way of orienting- in life, in leadership, and in how we relate. And sometimes, that first requires a conscious disorientation from the norm.
You are invited to arrive with openness, curiosity, and a willingness to suspend your assumptions- not just about leadership, facilitation, or teaching, but about yourself.
While we’ll explore skills and tools relevant to communication, presence, and guiding others, this retreat isn’t about becoming a better “performer.”
It’s about accessing the deeper well you lead from.
The focus is self-inquiry. Discovering what’s underneath performance and pattern. Meeting yourself with clarity, humility, and love. Listening- deeply, practically, and even mystically.
Whether you’re leading a group, facilitating a conversation, or simply leading your own life, this is where it begins.
You’ll leave with tools and insights that can ripple into how you live, connect, and offer your presence in the world- whether that’s in conversation, in facilitation, or in quiet leadership by example.
And no, this is not the “Vulnerability Olympics.”
You are welcome to move at the speed of love.
I invite you to join us.
FYI- Everything Below refers to the 5-7 day Awakened Leadership Retreat, offered 2-3 times each year. The testimonials may give you a better sense of the tone and the benefits of the March/April 3-week immersion.
Testimonials
"The Awakened Leadership retreat was truly life-changing. Rick's mastery in communication and expertise in teaching were apparent from the very start, and his ability to guide us through a transformational experience was nothing short of remarkable.”
-Manish Plaha, MD
“One of my biggest takeaways from this retreat,
from Rick’s guidance and coaching, is that I can be afraid
to lead... and still lead powerfully.”
“(Six months later) I continue to find myself marinating in the potent gems of wisdom and experience from Rick’s Awakened Leadership Retreat. Rick took us on a journey that was beyond anything that I could have anticipated. He masterfully blended authentic communication practices, leadership skills, embodiment practices, and profound spiritual perspectives. His retreat was truly a retreat - into our truest, most authentic selves. Typical leadership retreats are about fortifying an empowered sense of self with skills and tools, but this retreat was all about welcoming your truest, most authentic, raw & real self to the table - to be witnessed, celebrated and loved. I have truly learned the art of welcoming all of me. I highly recommend this powerful retreat. Just do it.”
- Juna Mustad
“The single most revealing and transformational retreat I have been on. Each session and day expertly built on the previous - stripping away years of conditioning and revealing layers of truth. Rick facilitates the retreat with humility, grace, and aliveness. As an additional benefit, I depart the retreat with the foundations of deep and meaningful life-long friendships!”
-Matt Laing, Executive Coach
"Someone just cranked up the volume on humanity. This is what community building and loving ourselves exactly as we are looks like."
-Anu Azrael
“I think in leadership as a woman, we need to move
beyond just leading teams and leading tasks. We need
to actually understand the bodies we’ve inhabited.”
FAQ
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A: Traditional models of leadership are often based on performance, rather than expression. We are trying to impress or manipulate in order to get results. In the long run, it is counterproductive, disempowering, and exhausting. There is another way. And it’s not just when we are on stage, it’s every moment of our waking life.
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A: The essence of great presenting and facilitation is the same essence of every conversation/connection in our lives: Coming from a relaxed authentic inner authority and starting from inner aliveness and stillness in order to connect with others. This works when speaking to 1,000 people and when speaking to the clerk at the grocery store.
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A: To be an awakened leader means to welcome all of yourself, not just the “good stuff.” Because all of us is the “good stuff.” What is unconscious and unwelcomed within us runs us around. When we bring awareness to the patterns, we have agency and vitality. There is a natural intelligence in the body that frees up to guide us into a deeper state of self-love. The Field that is created during the retreat is a fertile ground for welcoming parts of ourselves that have been hungering to be seen and received. As we welcome ourselves more deeply, those we come in contact with feel more welcomed as well.
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A: Yes. You’ll get several opportunities to use presentation skills as a doorway into deeper presence, strategies for presenting/teaching/facilitating based on the newest research on how the brain learns, a toolkit of approaches and techniques for increasing retention and attention of participants.
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A: Our time together is full of aha moments. We live in a culture of performance, driven by effort, exhaustion, and a lingering sense of “not enough.” This retreat invites a shift: from striving to leading, coaching, and expressing with aliveness and ease.
As we slow down, we begin to see how deeply we've been holding our breath to get results, trying to “add one plus one” to find wholeness. We uncover insights about money, death, the noise in our heads, and the self-imposed limits on our growth.
Even now, you can pause, notice how you're approaching this moment. Are you in your head? Holding tension? Annoyed, curious, present? This is the doorway.
Traditional leadership often asks us to perform. This retreat offers a de-hypnotizing - a return to leading from the inside out, without needing to recover afterward.
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A: This retreat is for anyone sensing a deeper call within themselves - toward presence, honesty, and inner alignment. You don’t need to be in a leadership role or facilitation role, or have any particular background. What matters most is your willingness to explore.
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A: Each day will include a mix of:
Guided practices (movement, breath, somatics, mindfulness)
Group sessions and experiential workshops
Personal reflection time
Breaks to rest, journal, or walk in nature
Opportunities for deep connection with others in the group
We keep the schedule spacious and human. While there is a clear structure, there is also space for stillness, integration, and flow - important ingredients whether you’re doing personal work or preparing to serve others from a deeper place.
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A: Click the Apply Now button on this page to fill out a short application. Once your application is reviewed and accepted, you’ll receive a confirmation email with a payment link and next steps.
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A: The retreat fee covers:
All sessions, workshops, and guided practices
Group facilitation and support throughout
Materials and resources for your journey
Meals
It does not include:
Travel to and from the retreat venue.
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A: Here’s a general packing guide:
Comfortable clothing for movement and rest
A journal and pen
A water bottle
Any personal items that help you feel grounded and at ease
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A: That’s completely okay, and often a gift. You don’t need to have any experience with retreats, group work, or “inner work” to benefit from this experience. Everything will be guided in a way that’s gentle, welcoming, and accessible. All you need is openness and a willingness to meet yourself where you are.