Animas Valley 5 day Dream Work Immersion
Schedule
Wed, 25 Feb, 2026 at 05:30 am to Sun, 01 Mar, 2026 at 04:30 am
UTC+13:00Location
Baton Valley Rd, Tapawera, Wakefield 7196, New Zealand | Nelson, NE
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This is an official Animas Valley Institute course, led by Doug Van Houten.Using art, movement and music, this residential programme offers a unique and embodied method for working with dreams.
The retreat takes place in the stunning Baton Valley, South Island Aotearoa (New Zealand)
Visit The Animas Valley Institute to discover more about this nature based way of working.
https://www.animas.org
WHAT THIS RETREAT IS ABOUT?
During this immersion, we’ll wander slowly in the often disturbing, often splendorous nightworld with its symbols, images, and metaphors meant only for the dreamer. We’ll courageously commit to an extended stay in soul’s mysterious domain, permitting the dream to do its formidable work on our ego, to root us more fully in soul just as the old Alchemists transmuted base metals into gold. Rather than trying to interpret or figure out the meaning of the dream, we will submit ourselves as we yield to the dream’s characters, landscapes, and atmospheres.
Making art helps us make meaning. Music and movement together open numinous pathways toward deep feeling and a more embodied sense of knowing. Through dance and free movement, we surrender and allow the body to express what the strategic mind cannot reach. By sidestepping everyday consciousness and allowing the unconscious to speak in its own symbols, colors, and textures, we enter a holy inner terrain that words cannot convey. Whether with oil pastels, collage, sculpture, or even spontaneous markings on the page, the act of allowing a wild conversation to flow through us — unmediated, untethered, and alive — generates a sacred gesture toward soul. As Flannery O’Conner wrote, “The artist prays by creating”.
You’ll discover what it’s like to enter dreams as living mysteries; to boldly and vulnerably interact with its denizens and dreamscapes; to be moved by the deep intelligence of vivid dream images; to open to non-ordinary ways of perceiving and knowing; and to experience the vitality found in the under-dream of your everyday waking life.
Dancing with DreamMaker moves you deeper toward your soul’s yearning, enabling you to artfully carry the dream into the world as a gift.
Supported by Jaime Howell with Open Floor Movement Inquires to deepen the art and dream making process.
COST $855 Includes'
Cook, three meals each day, all the teachings, art materials, Open Floor dance, camping in the Baton Valley.
Scholarships available on request.
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Where is it happening?
Baton Valley Rd, Tapawera, Wakefield 7196, New Zealand, Nelson, New ZealandEvent Location & Nearby Stays:
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