If I think back over the 31 years of my life and what events have shaped me the most, one of them is *hands down* the week long retreat I attended with Dr. Joe Dispenza in Santa Fe, NM in February 2018. (shout old to my *old self* for procrastinating until now to do this post) I attended this retreat after going to one of his live Progressive Workshops in Philadelphia for a weekend. Make no mistake – both events were transformative – but there is a BIG energetic difference between being at a Dr. Joe Dispenza retreat for 2 days vs 7 days.
Sidenote: Dr. Joe’s progressive workshop is a pre requisite to attending his Advanced Week Long Retreats. He currently offers the online Progressive workshop (self study) with the purchase of a ticket to an Advanced Week Long Retreat for your convenience.
When I went to this retreat, Dr. Joe’s latest book “Supernatural” had been out for a couple of months and of course, I had read it cover to cover by the time I got to Santa Fe. I wanted to be fully prepared for my journey on this Advanced Week Long with Dr. Joe to honor the investment I was making in myself. I am so glad I did because it made the new material Dr. Joe taught in Santa Fe that much easier to understand and apply, throughout the week. He gives you several opportunities to apply the material throughout the week. If you are looking into attending a Dr. Joe workshop – I highly advise that you study before attending. Read his books, watch his interviews on Youtube, read Dr. Joe’s blog on his website, make yourself a sponge for all things by Dr. Joe so that you can make the most of this big investment in yourself.
Another tip, if you want to attend a workshop – sign up ASAP. As soon as registration opens, BE at your computer. Yes – I’m serious. These puppies sell out fast AF. I would highly recommend meditating prior to this process because if you aren’t prepared, the demand can throw you for a loop and leave you frustrated. If you get your workshop ticket and the hotel accommodations sell out (aka the hotel where the workshop is held) , don’t worry. The same thing happened to me but it ended up being a good thing because, well, we stayed at the Four Seasons Santa Fe instead. And that was magicccccal. Any Four Seasons for an extended stay is just the dream. (see my babymoon at the Four Seasons Surf Club here)
I know, I know, you want me to get to the good stuff like WHAT TO EXPECT when you attend a Dr. Joe Dispenza Advanced Week Long Workshop! Gosh, where to begin. You can expect to not get a lot of sleep and the days you get the least amount of sleep are the days that will be your best. I love that loopy feeling, getting up early before the sun, not knowing what Dr. Joe has up his sleeve – truly being in the unknown. Dr. Joe keeps the schedule under wraps for the most part throughout the whole week. He keeps you in the loop as he has to – because, hello, these events consist of 1,000s of people so a schedule is somewhat difficult to avoid – but he does a phenomenal job of keeping his attendees in the unknown and the present moment. He keeps you timeless.
You can expect to meditate ALOT in allllll kinds of ways. Sitting down meditations, laying down meditations, and my personal favorite: walking meditations. You cannot beat doing a walking meditation with Dr. Joe at a workshop – all of the destinations he chooses for his workshops are stunning & Santa Fe was no exception – especially the morning ones that are timed with sunrise. Initially you might be worried about how cold it is outside (it was freezing in Santa Fe during these meditations) or how tired you are going to be at 4 am, but show up, feel the feels, and you won’t second guess getting up for the next walking meditation. You will be cheering when he announces that there is another one on the schedule, trust me!
Alright so, the meditations at this Advanced Week Long Retreat with Dr. Joe are pretty much a no brainer in terms of what to expect for the week. If you’ve read Dr. Joe’s books – I’m sure you could hypothesize the amount of meditating involved with his seminars. However, what I didn’t expect was a physical challenge. On the first day, Dr. Joe kept referencing these physical challenges that some of the attendees were doing and I immediately broke into a sweat. WTF, I came here to meditate not conquer my fears.
Boy was I in for a treat when my group was called for the physical challenge. I WAS TERRIFIED. Walking to the challenge, doing all the challenges, watching other people watch me terrified while doing the challenge – literally, terrified the entire time. But I’ll tell you what – when I finished walking on that beam and got to look around at the beautiful Santa Fe landscape from way up there after conquering my fear – I felt unstoppable. I reference that moment and that feeling in my life whenever I am scared and remind myself of what we as humans are capable of. I am so thankful that Dr. Joe pushes his students beyond their limits. I know it sounds cheesy but it really was a huge lesson for me and helped me have a deeper transformation during the retreat. It liberated so much of my energy to meditate and create my future with!
As you can see, I can go on and on about this Dr. Joe retreat. I can’t say enough good things about Dr. Joe’s teachings or his workshops. Feel free to shoot me an email if you have specific questions – there is nothing I love talking about more! I hope if you were on the fence about attending a Dr. Joe retreat before you read this blog post, now you are ready to go all in.
next time I’m going with!!! that four seasons looks like a dream!
xx reb
loved your article! my questions are about logistics. i am looking into going to cancun, it is still not sold out! should i get there the day before? leave the day after? will the link me to the hotel website to make reservations? i guess I won’t be swimming! with all these meditations. thanks a million. hope you can answer asap.
Georgina
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what kind of logistics? thanks for reading! Xo, cath
Love Dr. Joe I want to go to a retreat so bad. I think you have convinced me to do it. I’ve read all his books and do lots of his meditations. Do you have any favorite meditations of his? Was is life changing did you learn a lot during your time at the retreat. Its one thing to read his work but in person, I can only imagine!
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Agina,
Thank you so much for your comment! It’s hard to pick a favorite meditation… they are all so good. Have you tried any of his walking meditations? They are some of my faves 🙂
The retreat is 10000% worth it and beyond life changing. I can’t imagine life without his work! Not only can it be applied to most areas of life but being at the retreat, with people who are learning his high vibe work at the same time, is priceless.
Feel free to ask anymore Q’s. Happy to connect!
XO,
Cath
Hello Cath, thank you so much for your post.. I have a question… How many days before the long week event date the subscription is allowed? I have followed the events subscription in the Dr Joe´s website, but as you said the tickets run out so quickly. Thank you in advanced. Many blesses for you
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Patricia,
Thank you so much for your comment and for reading my post on cathclaire.com!
Things have changed so much over the past year so I can’t give you an exact parameter as to when each retreat open up. In the past, registration opens a couple months in advance!
Personally, I make sure to stay on the Dr. Joe’s email list so I can be notified when registration opens for the retreat I am interested in. It sounds like you have done just that so I bet you will get into a retreat very soon!
I hope this helps! Lots of love and light <3 XO, Cath
Hi Cath..thnks so much for this post!..So Im scheduled to go to Dr. Joes retreat in Orlando in a few weeks..and despite having a deep inner desire to do this..im equally just as scared to go!..there are several resons..but the main one is the physical challenge…iv noticed most of them seem to include heights..which im deathly afraid of..like im talking full blown panic attack!..lol…so im wondering if you happen to know if we have a few different challenges to choose from..or if we can opt out of it if we choose to in the moment?…any insight would be greatly appreciated!.thnks..~ Sulema
Hi Cath..thnks so much for this post!..So Im scheduled to go to Dr. Joes retreat in Orlando in a few weeks..and despite having a deep inner desire to do this..im equally just as scared to go!..there are several resons..but the main one is the physical challenge…iv noticed most of them seem to include heights..which im deathly afraid of..like im talking full blown panic attack!..lol…so im wondering if you happen to know if we have a few different challenges to choose from..or if we can opt out of it if we choose to in the moment?…any insight would be greatly appreciated!.thnks..~ Sulema
Author
Hi Sulema! Thanks for stopping by my blog:) I am so happy to hear that you are headed to experience a retreat with Dr. Joe Dispenza, what a delight! My understanding is that each retreat is different to keep us in the unknown. If you have anymore questions, I highly encourage you to reach out to Dr. Joe’s team! They are highly trained, amazing and always helpful. Enjoy your time in Orlando! Lots of love <3
Hi Cath,
In what very specific ways do you feel the week long retreat altered your life? Did you have a mystical experience? A kundalini awakening? Out of body experience?
I’m heading to the Orlando retreat this month. Truly looking forward to it.
I facilitate people in questioning the thoughts that cause them to suffer so much. So looking forward to being with like-minded people.
Thank you for your article. It is very helpful. I am trying to decide if I should stay at the hotel that is connected to the conference center, rent Airbnb that is significantly cheaper and about 15 min away by car, or stay at home and commute (about 26 miles/30 min if traveling early morning, late evening).
It would be best for me to stay at home from the financial point of view, but I am a little bit concern that I might be exhausted if I travel each day to and from with very little sleep. What would you suggest? Would staying at the hotel/resort where the conference happens be a best options considering no “commute” and being where others are; thus, having better connection and experience? Thank you for your input!
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Hi Martyna! I always recommend staying at the resort if that is an option for you in terms of availability and your finances. In regards to staying at home or in an airbnb, I have done an airbnb that is within a 5 minute drive to the Dr. Joe Dispenza conference as well.
In my experience, I have never been tired past day 1 at a Dr. Joe retreat. The energy there is absolutely energizing!
Follow your intuition with what accommodations would be best for you and feel free to reach out to me via email for any other tips from my personal experience. I always recommend to reach out to Dr. Joe’s team because they are super helpful and know best! 🙂
XO and thanks for reading,
Cath
Sounds great! Looking to sign up for next one. Question…can you sign up for 2 people on his site or each person has to sign up on their own? I want my sister to go and don’t want to risk only one of us gets in.
Thank you for sharing.
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I played this game for 3 out of the 4 Dr. Joe retreats I’ve attended and recently to an AFU in Marco Island because my best friend and I love to go together!
There is always a chance that we both don’t get in, but we try to sign up at the same time as best we can on different computers.
His retreats are super popular so the servers can get overwhelmed with the amount of people signing up. It has always worked out for the best so give it a try and be open to possibility 🙂
I hope you both get into a Dr. Joe Dispenza retreat together!
XO,
Cath
Thank you so much I definitely will try my best to get to a retreat. May I ask you have you seen many healings? Am so desperate to try all as I have stage 4 cancer and am so afraid right now but I definitely believe in his work. If you know of anyone who can help me heal I would forever be grateful. Many thanks and god bless you. 💖
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Eileen, Thank you for having the courage to share your story with me. I am sending you so much love & light. To answer your question, I have seen healings at the retreats and more importantly, have seen so many testimonials. For your benefit, Dr. Joe Dispenza has uploaded many testimonials to his YouTube page. I recommend checking them out so that you can see what is possible. If you have more questions, please reach out to Dr. Joe Dispenza’s team – they are incredibly helpful. I am here for you as well. Lots of love! – Catherine
Hi my name is Eileen mckee and after reading your blog I more so now than ever before want to attend Dr Joe Dispenza week long retreat.
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Dr Joe’s retreat’s are an experience of a lifetime! <3 Thanks for reading love!
Hello Cath,
Thank you for posting about your retreat experience! I just got tickets for Nashville in April and am so excited to go. I am somewhat of a newbie to consistent meditation. I did read You are the Placebo and have started doing some of Dr. Joe’s meditations. My question is about physical discomfort both at home and during the retreat. It looks like you are in folding chairs (AKA super uncomfortable!). Do people bring some kind of cushion for the chairs? I recently got a meditation pillow for home and it is better than being on the floor but my body is screaming at me. I tried a one hour meditation daily for two weeks and had to switch to the morning meditation because it is much more tolerable (time wise). Please share any tips you have for getting past the pain in the neck, back, hips etc.
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Hi Jessica! I am so excited for you to attend your first retreat with Dr. Joe. I haven’t experienced any comfort issues with the setup at his retreats that I have attended, but I have seen students with pillows and what not throughout the day. You can always reach out to his event team and they can give you more information. I hope this helps and good luck with your meditation practice!! The more you do it, the more magical it gets <3 XO, Cath
Appreciate the article, this has been helpful. Going back and forth mentally on attending Nashville in April (I’m registered) or an Ayahuasca retreat in Costa Rica. Not sure if you have any experience in plant medicine or not but would love to hear your opinion. Would love to be able to manifest better in my daily practice. Any advice would be greatly appreciated.
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Hi Brian, I apologize that I did not see your comment in time. Would love to hear if you attended Dr. Joe’s retreat!!!