A Transformational Experience for Those Who Seek to Guide, Serve, and Lead from Authenticity
You are already a leader, regardless of what you do in the world. Leadership is not just about what you do. It’s about how you are in everything you do.
What if leadership wasn’t about effort, but about ease? What if your natural aliveness could guide the way?
In this retreat, we explore leadership of others but also of ourselves in every moment - as a practice of being rooted in the body, in presence, and in connection with life itself. We focus on the how of leading: grounded, authentic, sustainable.
Together, we will explore how to:
Stay relaxed and in integrity, even under pressure
Move beyond self-imposed limits
Lead from wholeness and deep listening
Track aliveness, for yourself and others, moment by moment
The retreat involves carefully crafted practices, designed to allow you to gently bring more kindness and softness to your inner world, and more clarity and inner authority to your outer world.
You are already whole, already enough. There is nothing to fix, no hoops to jump through. Our exploration starts from and stays in wholeness.
During this retreat, you will:
Experience somatic practices to reconnect with your body and inner wisdom
Increase your capacity for leadership
Welcome and integrate shadow parts of yourself
Uncover and enhance your unique genius
Deepen self-love, love of others
You will also receive:
Facilitation and coaching tips, including how to work with challenging participants
Communication techniques for resolving conflict
Front-of-the-room skills & practices
A toolkit of strategies for continuing to welcome yourself and others more deeply
A road map for increasing your business and service in the world
You’ll be surrounded by a like-minded, warm-hearted community of people on a similar path - curious, courageous, and committed to living, leading, and relating with more depth and honesty.
Expect meaningful connections, shared breakthroughs, aha moments, and a sense of being deeply seen and supported.
You’ll leave with greater clarity, emotional resilience, and a renewed connection to what matters most.
A look inside the Awakened Leadership Retreat:
Who This Retreat Is For
This retreat is for anyone who:
Feels drawn toward personal transformation and deeper self-awareness.
Is navigating a period of transition, uncertainty, or reorientation.
Longs for more authenticity in how they live, relate, express themselves, and guide others.
Supports others as a teacher, coach, or facilitator - and wants their work to come from a deeper, more embodied place.
Is curious about awakening not as a spiritual idea, but as a lived reality.
Wants practical tools and embodied insight they can carry into both personal life and professional space.
Whether you're a parent, professional, creative, seeker, or simply human - you’re welcome here.
You don’t need to have it all figured out. Ever.
The building blocks for awakened leadership are openness, curiosity, humility, and deep listening. In this retreat we start from wholeness and “enoughness,” and follow the thread of aliveness into greater clarity, and purpose. There is nothing to fix or work on, The mind sees problems. The body knows wholeness. So you can be full of self-doubt, and whole at the same time.
This Retreat Is Especially For You If...
You support others as a coach, facilitator, or teacher - and want your work to feel more authentic, intuitive, and aligned
You're called to lead from expression, not performance
You feel the old ways of “leading” aren’t working - and you're ready to discover a new orientation
You want your kind presence to do the heavy lifting - in rooms, in groups, and in life
Facilitator: Rick Smith
Rick Smith is an internationally recognized educator, speaker, and retreat facilitator. His best-selling book, Conscious Classroom Management, has sold over a quarter million copies and continues to support teachers and students worldwide. (www.consciousteaching.com)
Through years of teaching and mentoring, Rick 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: Landguet Ried, Switzerland
Set on a hilltop near Bern, Landguet Ried is a sanctuary for conscious living. Surrounded by forests, fields, and walking trails, it offers a serene and spacious environment to drop in, breathe deeply, and unwind.
The center features beautiful seminar spaces, simple and comfortable accommodations, and nourishing vegetarian meals prepared with love. Everything here supports your return to presence.
Sample 5-Day Retreat Schedule
Morning/Afternoon Sessions are:
Tools/technique sharing
Group interaction and games
Solo/pair communication activities
Lecture, application, integration processes
Front of the room practice and guidance
Group sharings
Q&A sessions
Retreat Fee
Super Early Bird: CHF 775 - available until May 31st, 2026
Early Bird: CHF 875 - available until July 31st, 2026
Standard Rate: CHF 975
A limited number of spots are available to maintain an intimate and high-quality experience.
Please note: Accommodation and meals are not included in the retreat fee.
These must be booked directly with Landguet Ried at landguet.ch
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.”
“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.”
An Invitation to Realignment
This retreat is an invitation to pause and remember.
To realign with what’s true.
To meet yourself with honesty, courage, and compassion.
And to leave with tools and insights that 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.
If something in you is ready... join us.
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: This is a curated event. There is a brief application process to help you - and us - know if this experience is the right fit at this point in your journey. You’ll be directed to the application after clicking Apply Now.
If you're unsure, here are a few reflective questions to help you sense your readiness - whether you’re seeking clarity in your personal life or in how you hold space for others.
Humility
Are you open to letting go of fixed perspectives and bringing fresh curiosity to your life?
Are there moments when you’d rather know yourself than defend yourself?
Could uncertainty be a source of wisdom, rather than something to control?
Discomfort & Shadow
Are you willing to listen without rushing to fix or solve?
Can you welcome discomfort as part of expanding your capacity?
Are there parts of yourself you’re ready to meet more fully - especially the ones you've kept at the edges?
Self-Resourcing
Can you recognize when your system needs gentleness and downshifting?
Do you have (or are you open to cultivating) practices that help you ground, rest, and come home to yourself?
You don’t need to have “yes” answers for everything. The questions are simply here to support your discernment.
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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 the 5 days
Materials and resources for your journey
It does not include:
Accommodation
Meals
Travel to and from Landguet Ried
Accommodation and meals must be booked directly with Landguet Ried at www.landguet.ch
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A: You’ll receive a full packing list after registration, but here’s a general idea:
Comfortable clothing for movement and rest
A journal and pen
A water bottle
Warm layers for cool evenings or time outdoors
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.
A Message from Rick
“Business as usual” isn’t working.
We need a new way of orienting - in life, in leadership, and in how we relate - which 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 or simply leading your own life, this is where it begins.
And no, this is not the “Vulnerability Olympics.” You are welcome to move at the speed of love.