Ix Balam, San Marcos La Laguna
Lake Atitlán, Guatemala
back to the roots
JULY 22- 26 2026
a 5 day immersive journey to embody your elements
The Retreat
Back to the Roots is a 5 day immersive journey held on the sacred shores of Lake Atitlán, Guatemaya to dive deep into embodying the elements within you.
We are energetic as much as physical beings. our being is made of the elements around us and in all original cultures it has been known that we are relational beings. All of our relations are what allows for us to walk in an aligned or Mal-aligned path.
Because of this we invite you into days of practice with your elemental guardians.
Working with the earth, fire, water and air and allowing for these elements to come into balance on our alchemical day of coherence.
In order for you to feel fully alive inside, connected not simply with your own heart, but with the bigger purpose of life.
we invite you to join us in this dance of becoming.
Proposed Schedule
each day we dive into the embodied practice and forms of prayer to come into harmony with our elements.
everyday
9am to 5pm
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morning:
we meet the element of fire through mayan fire ceremony and the medicine of cacao
LUNCH & nature time
afternoon:
a journey into our own internal fire through activation of breath and danza ovarica
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morning:
we meet the element of earth by reconnecting with our own rooted nature through grounding breathwork and danza ovarica
LUNCH & nature time
afternoon:
a guided clay practice to commune with the Earth element and craft our unique elemental amulet
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morning:
water purification ritual and offering to the lake
LUNCH & nature time
afternoon:
danza ovarica
water blessing ritual, connection to the umbilical chord & yoga nidra with sound journey
dream time practices
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morning:
danza ovarica
shamanic drum and breathwork journey for healing and ancestral guidance
LUNCH & nature time
afternoon:
plactica (heart strengthening talk)
rattle cleansing and breathwork practice to clear stagnation and revitalize our energy
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integrating our elements into our hearts of hearts.
INIPI SWEAT LODGE CEREMONY
& integration circle
What is included?
5 full days of Immersive Elemental Practices and Prayers
Mayan Fire Ceremony & Cacao Reading
Clay Crafting Ceremony & Firing of your Piece (you will take your altar piece home with you)
Your personal Elemental Ritual Kit (all artisanal made in Guatemaya) so you can take your elemental altar with you
Daily Ovaries Dance and Breathwork Practice
Inipi Sweat Lodge Ceremony
Everyday Nourishing Lunch
Meet your Guides
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Rosa Maya Cubides Sánchez was born in the Colombian Andes region of Boyacá.
For over ten years, she has walked the path of traditional medicine within the Chibcha/Muisca, Maya, and Mexica territories. She is also a Moon Dancer in Mexico. For the past decade, she has lived in the territory of Guatemaya alongside her children and her partner.
She has been practicing massage for as long as she can remember; her work focuses specifically on traditional therapeutic bodywork and healing massage.
She also emphasizes how to care for the body using traditional methods rooted in the elements—including steam baths and Temazcal ceremonies.
She supports women through their various life transitions, as well as during pregnancy, childbirth, and the postpartum period.
Her practice centers on reconnecting with the roots of our ancestral lands, applying the wisdom of herbal medicine and ancestral steam therapies, and—above all—maintaining harmony within our physical, mental, and emotional bodies.
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Annika Rech was born and raised in the Illtal Region of Germany.
Original lineages there trace back to the Treveri & Mediomatrici, at root gallic, then Celtic & germanic descent, yet many traditional practices in these regions were completely annihilated, which led Annika to exploring cultures that still live in relationship with the elemental forces of nature nowadays.
She journeyed off of her ancestral lands 18 years ago, in a quest of the essence of all things.
Elemental forces opened up her healing path, an ally into intuition and knowing through our flesh and bones, Silent quests in nature being the guide.
It has been through breath, sound, movement & plants that she explored consciousness deeper, being led to explore villages in the Amazon, where she found herself immersed in traditional teachings.
It was here that she realised that western household systems are exhausting our resources and that we were never meant to parent by ourselves. Women need the support of the village to be able to raise the next generations well.
With that knowing annika went into deeper study through some of her teachers anchoring in the vision of creating relationship based cultures for our new generations, and through mother centred education and care and integrating this into her elemental care and earth oracular practices.
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Arielle Mesa was born in Maryland on the original lands of the Piscataway-Conoy people of Turtle Island and shares ancestral roots with the Celtic, Hebrew, Basque, and Chibcha/Muisca peoples.
She is a Licensed Somatic Psychotherapist, Shamanic Practitioner, and Ceremonialist with over 11 years of experience supporting individuals in healing complex, intergenerational, developmental, and sexual trauma. For the past eight years, she has also apprenticed and studied the path of Curanderismo with various teachers and elders of the Toltecayotl, Mexicayotl, Lakota, Yoeme, Shipibo, and Mayan lineages and traditions.
As a trained psychotherapist and ongoing student on the path of Curanderismo, Arielle intentionally bridges Western trauma psychotherapy with ancient ancestral healing practices to curate multidimensionally supportive healing containers around the world. Through her practice, Sacred Space, she helps the collective reconnect with their inherent healing capacities, restore inner harmony, and re-right humanity’s relationship with all living beings through individual therapy, healing retreats, and communal ceremonies.
Guest Teachers
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Nana Ixquik Zavala and their entire family have been strong allies for me in practicing in the Maya K’iche tradition, especially in the practice of the traditional fire ceremonies that are held to consult with and divine under the weaving of time through the sacred calendar Chol’qij.
Family Zavala come from an unbroken lineage of traditional mayan birth keepers [parteras], of pregnancy and post partum care.
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Keber began his journey in ceramics ten years ago at the National School of Plastic Arts in Guatemala. Currently, he is a self-taught researcher specializing in primitive ceramics and the various artisanal modeling techniques employed prior to the advent of the potter's wheel. He also practices the use of wood-fired kilns and open-fire firing, delving deep into ancient techniques that bridge the past with the present.
Keber has explored the world of traditional utilitarian ceramics and its methods of waterproofing without glazes. For the past three years, he has been conducting research in archaeomusicology, seeking to uncover the secrets held within the sacred musical artifacts discovered throughout the continent—particularly in Guatemala.
THE INVESTMENT
We offer an equitable exchange model to ensure this retreat is accessible to people from diverse socioeconomic situations. Please take a moment to reflect on what price point feels most resonant with your current financial and material capacities.
SEED $999
SPROUT $1111
ROOT $1222
A $300 non-refundable deposit is required to reserve their retreat spot and goes towards the full cost of your retreat.
*if you are not able to afford this course, please contact me at annika@annikawildrose.com with reference [SCHOLARSHIP “YOUR NAME”]
for each full course there will be max 3 spaces available for full | and or partial scholarship
