Steep in Winter Yin Yoga & Cacao Immersion

Join Mandy in a Women’s Yin and Cacao Series immersion, Steep in Winter 2025. Mandy will lead a small intimate group of women through practices designed to align with the season of Winter. This immersion includes Cacao Ceremonies, Yin Yoga, Journal Prompts & Handouts for integration in between sessions, and a community of like-minded women. This immersion is an act of self-love and care that fosters connection with yourself - body, mind, and spirit,  as well as with others. If you are interested and want to learn more, read the Q&A’s from your facilitator below! 

Why would I want to participate in this Immersion, Steep in Winter 2025?

Glad you asked! Welcome to 2025! We are moving deeper into Winter each day. In a society where at the start of the calendar year, we are encouraged to set new year’s resolutions, start new habits, exercise more, and do MORE,  it can be quite easy to lose sight of the energy Winter invites us into. We can notice friction at times if we are pushing ourselves to only accomplish things that are not in alignment with the spirit of the current season. What if instead, we lived in alignment with the current season? If you are interested in Season Syncing, living by and with the energy of the Season, I invite you to join me in my first Yin and Cacao Immersion Series, Steep in Winter 2025. In this Immersion, we will mindfully and intentionally welcome and lean into Winter energy, aligning our body, mind, and spirit with that of the Season. With that said, this doesn’t mean you have to re-write your resolutions by any means (although you may find you want to), but rather this immersion will support you and bring balance to your life, by bringing you into harmony with the season’s energy. 

What is the Immersion?

This 4-week Immersion will be an intimate, sacred container of women where we will embrace Winter through our asana practice (yoga postures), pranayama (breathwork), journal prompts, contemplation/meditation, connection through ceremony with Mama Cacao, and working with the elements within the context of Winter. This immersion includes 2 Cacao Ceremonies (Opening & Closing), 4 Yin Yoga Classes, weekly journal prompts/handouts, a group chat for connection throughout the immersion, a little welcome gift, and an intimate community of like-minded women.

Why Yin Yoga?

I chose Yin Yoga for this Immersion’s asana because Yin Yoga is a wonderful embodiment of Winter. Yin Yoga invites us into stillness, introspection, integration, healing, and reaches within to our soft tissues, ligaments, bones, as well as to the corners of our minds and hearts. We can transition and melt into Winter through Yin Yoga. 
Can you tell me more about the Cacao Ceremonies and the Cacao you offer?

Cacao Ceremonies are held the first and last week of the immersion with reverence to the medicine of Mama Cacao. Cacao offers many physical benefits as it is rich in antioxidants, minerals, and vitamins, such as magnesium, iron, zinc, potassium, and vitamin C, just to name a few. Cacao contains theobromine that relaxes smooth muscle, and also opens the heart and lungs. Cacao also has natural properties, such as Anandine, that evoke love, joy, and pleasure. In my ceremonies I proudly serve ceremonial-grade Cacao from Cacao&I. My dear friend is the founder of Cacao&I and has a personal and intimate relationship with the small family farm. Cacao&I’s stone-ground cacao is ethically sourced from the high amazon region of Peru, growing at 11,000 ft in the Andes. Cacao&I gives back to their community by donating to the high communities of Peru, planting trees in the Amazon, & providing fair wages for our farmers & artisans. The sourcing of Cacao is such an important part of offering Cacao Ceremonies with integrity and reverence, and Cacao&I is the best I know. We will sit in ceremony with Mama Cacao, and each participant will have the opportunity to share what is on their heart. Sharing with the group is always optional, and simply sitting silently and holding loving space instead is more than perfect as well. I will be serving Cacao on the first and last day, however if you are interested in working with Cacao at home throughout the immersion, and want to order from Cacao&I, reach out to me and let me know! 

What is the layout and commitment?

Each week during the immersion, we will invite in and work with a different element within the context of Winter. There will also be weekly journal prompts and handouts to integrate with in between sessions. We will also have a Whatsapp group chat so we can check-in throughout the immersion and share anything with the group that we may feel called to. This offering is a 4-week immersion with 5 in-person gatherings at Wild Island-Collective in Normal Heights on each Monday evening of February 2025 plus one Friday evening the last week to close. How much you choose to integrate in between and/or participate in the groupchat is completely up to you! 

What does the facilitator want me to know???

Since I embarked on my yoga journey 9 years ago, I have become drawn to working with and embracing Season and Element energy and it has become a big part of my personal practice. I am so passionate about this, that I feel called to offer you this immersion. This is a unique offering that comes from my heart.This container is rich with things I love and want to share with you. If you know me, you know there is nothing I love more than to gather in community with like-minded women, practice yoga, embrace Mother Nature, engage in ceremony with Mama-Cacao, and to create and enjoy safe sacred spaces for real and raw connection.. If you would like to discover a way to carry out your new year’s resolutions while embracing what Winter is offering you, and you like the things I do, I invite you to come join us. No experience in Yin Yoga or Cacao is required, just come with an open mind and heart. You are warmly invited to come just as you are to turn inward, connect, be seen by others, and most importantly to truly see YourSelf. 

Details and Agenda are below. If you have any questions or want to chat to know more, please reach out to me at [email protected] and/or the venue at [email protected] or DM me at @mindfulnesswithmandy. :) 

What you receive in this offering:

A sacred container to engage in practices designed to align your body, mind, and spirit with the Season of Winter through:

• 2 Cacao Ceremonies 
• 4 Yin Yoga Classes
• Weekly Journal Prompts and Handouts
• In-Person Community of like-minded women 
• Group chat for check-ins and connection
• A little welcome gift 

Host or Publisher Wild Island Collective