This May, myself, Olivia Jensen, and Laura O’neill, will be hosting the second iteration of Soft Core. The creation of this retreat has been a source of deep love, bonding, and soul sustenance for all three of us. I’m profoundly grateful for the resource of support that we’ve held as part of its core essence. And it is what we bring with us when we gather with others.
Last summer we held our first gathering of this kind in Wicklow, Ireland. There, we experienced something we had long known to be possible. A profound and gentle depth of beauty and presence was realized through the particular group of souls who gathered with us. There was a soft and exquisite emergence of replenishment and radiance that unfolded, shared and felt by all and held by Celtic lands.
This year, we’re delighted to bring Soft Core to the UK, sharing the continued evolution of this body of work and how it keeps shaping and enriching our lives from the inside out. Soft Core was born from a deep devotion to tending what is most essential in us, and from a longing to gather in ways that genuinely restore. We come together slowly, held in care and attuned presence, allowing connection itself to become the medicine.
This retreat is for all bodies, at every stage of life. It offers a gentle and welcoming entry point for those new to this kind of work, while also providing a rich space for integration for those who have spent years in personal or transformational inquiry. The retreat is held in a way that honors where each person is arriving from, and what they are ready to receive.
Our work weaves together three pillars: body, heart, and soul. Each is honored in its own right, and gently brought into conversation with the others. Our lens is one that takes us through our inner ecology and how it is mirrored by-and inseparable from-the natural world and our relationships. As safety settles in the body, truth and love move through the heart, and aliveness is welcomed at the soul level, something wholly human and divine is realized.
A little more on each of the pillars of Soft Core:
Body- Safety, Sensation, Pleasure, Belonging
Our work opens here because this is the ground in which we rest and exist from. The body is our earthly home and expression of the living earth itself. We begin here in our relationship to self and establishing well being from within. Through nervous system practices, gentle somatic inquiry, rest, and rhythm, we attune to the body’s signals and pacing.
We listen for what the body needs and we move at a pace that allows sensation to be felt, emotions to land, and trust to deepen. And we invite the wisdom that our bodies hold for each of us, connecting to vibration, pulse, aliveness, wildness, and earthly intelligence.
This pillar restores a sense of belonging within the body, creating the conditions for regulation, resilience, and grounded presence. When the body feels safe, pleasure can be experienced in profound and subtle ways, allowing the rest of the work to unfold organically.
Heart- Truth and Tenderness
The heart is where true meaning is made.
This is where our deepest humanness resides. It is a doorway to our cores and to the spark of divinity that lives within each human heart. Our hearts hold what is eternal in us, while governing the pulse that allows us to be here in our finiteness.
Our heart is the gateway into our capacity to give and receive, and to live as love. It is the center that holds both the deeply personal and our connection to that which is universal. Here we explore our relational world, with ourselves and with others, through presence, attuned witnessing, and connecting our inner listening to the beat, sound, and voice of our hearts. We allow what is true- whether it be heartbreak, passion, tenderness, or longing- to be met with care.
This pillar also supports emotional integration and relational healing, cultivating intimacy that is slow, consensual, and deeply respectful. The heart learns that it can open softly, and feel and express deeply from truth without overwhelm.
Soul- Creativity, Eros, Reflection, Interconnection
This pillar invites us into the deeper currents of psyche, mystery, and innocence. Soul work is about remembering who we are beneath conditioning. The soul is the unique expression of love that lives within each of us.
It is the body, the psyche, and our fates that orbit our soul’s patterning. The soul communicates through dreams, creativity, eros, and longings. It is the part of us that knows what life is asking of us.
It is in this pillar that we also allow for the delicacy of the soul to be met and reflected in truth. We make space for creativity and for that which is sacred to us to be felt and honored. We support the orientation from soul to group, from self to the broader field of connection that extends far beyond the human realm.
In soul, we touch belonging once more. We explore how our individual lives participate in the wider web of life. And how this is possible through intimate connection with ourselves, each other, and the natural world.
Bringing body, heart, and soul together.
By tending all three simultaneously, Soft Core creates a retreat where transformation emerges as a natural unfolding of being met at each of these layers of our being. We trust that meaningful change happens when people feel resourced, held in love, and met in their deepest selves. This is a body of work that offers deep and lasting sustenance and support for soulful, heart-centered living that happens in direct relationship with Life.
For more on the retreat and us visit https://softcore.community/
