Mystery & Mastery

Experience the extraordinary within the ordinary

Welcome

We invite you to join us on this journey of developing a greater relationship with yourself and the wisdom that resides within you. We are honored to share the ancient and progressive practices that we have been studying and teaching for over 30 years. One thing we know for sure is that this life is both heartbreaking and filled with astonishing beauty.

JOIN US

Coaching, Qigong & Meditation Retreat

November 2-5, 2023

Being committed to navigating the unknown territory of life from a place of presence, courage, love and Wisdom is our evolutionary opportunity.

These Practices are designed to celebrate and enliven your body, open your heart, expand your mind and engage your spirit. When we choose to do this essential work in community, the energy is amplified and this supports our transformation. We are excited to be with you on this journey!

Join us and step into the magic and mystery of Ratna Ling Retreat Center…

Located in the towering redwoods of coastal Sonoma county, a 90 minute drive north of San Francisco. This beautiful retreat center offers you the opportunity to drop into a quiet, naturally sacred space, in lovely cottages, each with an expansive view of the surrounding countryside.

Many of us are struggling to feel purpose and connection to ourselves and others.

Coaching & Qigong can act as a a guide on the path, a reminder of your beauty, radiance and uniqueness.

In our time together we will explore stillness and movement as doorways to the sacred.

Stillness is a great ally and something to be embraced. In the stillness we can access our truth and our true nature — answers come, creativity comes, and clarity comes.

“The most beautiful thing we can experience is the mysterious. It is the source of all true art and science.”


Albert Einstein

What is Mastery?

Mastery is a verb. It is a process and a path that includes self-awareness, self-compassion, intention and attention.

Coaching & Qigong support us in releasing resistance, letting go of obstacles experiencing more flow and freedom

The heart of the energy cultivation practice of Qigong is to learn to harness our energy and orchestrate it in such a way that we experience our radiance and aliveness. Coaching facilitates our relationship with the Witness, opening the doorway to discernment and choice.

The journey starts with choice, the choice to start down the path, step into the stream, be with the beautiful mystery, surrender to it and celebrate this astonishing thing called life.

We will share with you simple and effective ways to connect to your inner guide and teacher, practices to identify where you are losing energy, how to restore and rebuild your energy, and bring inspiration and illumination into your life.

Your Guides

Jackie Priestley

I have been working as a professional coach and facilitator for more than thirty years. My style of coaching is intuitive, unique, and transformative. I am certified through the Center of Excellence, Tony Robbins Breakthrough Training and Working with Women programs. I use the Enneagram system to bring self-awareness, compassion and transformation in the workplace and in personal relationships.

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In addition to coaching individuals, I offerThe Excel Training program that supports self-mastery in every life role. I have facilitated trainings on leadership, personal growth and development and communication.

“Jackie Priestley is a master coach supporting leaders, entrepreneurs and change-makers in achieving freedom, fulfillment, and expression within themselves and in the world. She is dedicated to the art and science of breaking free.

For nearly 30 years she has guided individuals and groups toward liberation, self-awareness and the ability to live life with courage, delight, passion and wisdom. Jackie brings a lifetime of master’s level study in meditation, personal inquiry, personality insight and mind/body/lifestyle optimization. Her approach is highly personalized, holistic and guided by the nuances of each person’s situation, aspirations and state of being.

Jackie uses her innate compassion, wisdom and humor to support her clients. Through her guidance they learn self compassion, clarify intention and take inspired action. This work is her life’s passion and her lifestyle.”

Matthew Cohen

I have been captivated by movement and ancient practices most of my life. I am the founder and creator of Sacred Energy Arts: a unique, integrated system of health and self development drawing from the teachings of Qigong, martial arts and yoga. I developed this method after discovering that Qigong, yoga and the internal martial arts stand alone as great health systems. Together, the practices create a powerful and transformative experience.

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At 5 I discovered yoga in a book my brother Scott had by Richard Hittleman. I was drawn to the postures and as I practiced I loved the way it made me feel; more calm, alive and connected to something big and somehow familiar.

At the age of 7, I was interested in gymnastics and a few years later I was deep into Shaolin Kung fu. Over the next 25 years I studied martial arts, yoga, dance, qigong, bodywork and energetics. I earned black belts and linage in several martial arts styles and systems like Kuntao Silat de thouars under grandmaster William De Thouars, 6th generation Bagua & Neijia linage under Liu Xu Yang, 5th degree black belt in Tai mantis Kung Fu under grandmaster Kam Yuan, permission to teach primordial chaos qigong under master Duan zhi Liang among several others. I also studied traditional Chinese medicine, and a dozen styles of coaching, hands on healing, and trauma healing.

I developed Sacred Energy Arts ( SEA ) in 1999 after 15 yrs of teaching and synthesizing what I had learned as an offering to those I teach, an honoring of my teachers and mentors, and an outlet of the creative forces in me that must be expressed and shared .
SEA , is a multidisciplinary approach to health and self development drawn from inspired by qigong, martial arts , yoga, shamanic practices, poetry , dance , metaphysics , coaching and energy medicine. I have been blessed to work with all ages, CEOS , olympians, athletes from the MLB , NBA, NFL, NHL , A-list actors ,veterans , police, Fortune 500, youth at risk seekers of experience in over 15 countries.

I believe these ancient & progressive practices are a gift for humanity. They have the power to heal us transform us and unite us.

In this 3-day Retreat, we will offer…

  • Meditation

  • QiGong & Movement Practices

  • Coaching Practices to deepen and expand our capacities

  • Stillness

  • Ritual

  • Community

You will experience…

  • Stillness as a useful & necessary step on a spiritual path
  • Cultivating and managing your Energy 
  • Utilizing intention to empower your actions 
  • Increasing your power of conscience awareness & focus
  • Developing a daily devotional practice 
  • The power of discernment and choice 
  • How to optimize your innate  gifts and maximum your potential
  • Listening to the answers that reside within you

During this retreat, we will support you to:

  • Step into intentional living
  • Release fear – more calm, joy, space brightness
  • Shift from contraction into expansion
  • Connect to yourself and the larger community
  • Learn mindfulness tools for everyday
  • Movement from self criticism into appreciation of the great mystery

You will learn powerful tools to live a life on purpose, with the knowledge that you can cultivate your energy & choose your relationship with your path.

We will guide you to move from where you are now into
greater self awareness, acceptance, empowerment, actualization, and realization.

 

 

Step into the mystery to experience mastery and a new way of being…

Location & AccoMmodations

Ratna Ling Retreat Center

Ratna Ling Retreat Center is guided by the Tibetan Buddhist tradition, and are open to all people looking to find inner strength and spiritual peace. Located in the coastal redwoods of Sonoma County, a spectacular 90-mile drive north of San Francisco, the center offers you the opportunity to experience beauty and quiet, in elegant private cottages, each with an expansive view of the surrounding countryside, complete with deer, wild turkeys, rabbits and quail.

A collection of 2 bedroom private cottages spread out across a majestic landscape, each providing an inspiring view of the surrounding countryside. Each suite-style cottage is a home unto itself, including a living room, dining area, full bathroom, stocked kitchenette and outdoor deck.

You will discover details that create comfort and allow you to luxuriate in serenity, like fine linens, gas-burning woodstoves, quality furnishings, and modern bathrooms with spacious Jacuzzi tubs.

Registration

Costs below are per person in a 2 bedroom cottage, bathroom, living and dining room. (20-26 max)

Early Bird

$1,499

or 2 payments of $749.50

Savings of $200 if booked by 7/31/23

Balance due by 8/31/23

 

Standard Rate

$1,699

or 2 payments of $899.50

Rate for registration as of 8/1

Balance due by 8/31/23

 

“Matthew's teaching deepened and strengthened my practice on so many levels.

“…The rare addition of Qigong has added a profound stillness to my life and is an inspiring, moving meditation. Most teachers I’ve known articulate their knowledge in a steady and cerebral way, Matthew takes it a graceful step further by connecting that knowledge through the emotional, physical and spiritual and allowing it to settle without force.”

 

Actress, Minnie Driver

"Jackie is the single best coach I’ve ever worked with...

“She has a way of partnering that is energizing and uplifting so that you can move forward with more ease – whether you’re making a big life decision, shifting to better lifestyle choices or breaking free from inner conflict and confusion. I always walk away feeling expanded, clearer and more capable inside.”

 

Paula Kravitz,
MANAGING DIRECTOR, PUBLIC ENGAGEMENT & COMMUNICATIONS, SKOLL FOUNDATION

"It was so amazing how relaxed and renewed I felt...

“I’m very happy to have had the chance to meet with Master Matthew Cohen and have a private session with him. As an athlete, I do high intensity exercise every day, which causes great fatigue and stiffness in my body—plus many injuries. It was so amazing how relaxed and renewed I felt after Matthew’s session. During the entire session, Matthew kept observing my body and my energetic state being able to adjust the practice specifically to me. His adjustments were exactly what my body needed as I felt myself slowly open. After the session, I felt better communication between me and my body—and hope I can remember and keep the feeling in the future.”

 

Liu Shiwen, Olympic Gold Medalist Table Tennis, China

"...one of the most unique and powerful teachers around.

“I’ve been working with Matthew over many years now. His approach to yoga makes him one of the most unique and powerful teachers around. He masterfully intertwines Chinese ancient forms and elements of Qigong in the flow of his yogic practice where the physical challenges are met with energetic awareness and healing capabilities.”

 

Mia Maestro Actor/Musician

"Without this work I would still be caught up in self destructive and undermining patterns.

“I wanted to face up to hard things inside myself and Jackie was the one who helped me. She’s able to create a safe, nonjudgmental space to do the deepest, most vulnerable work of self-understanding, forgiveness and release of shame. Without this work I would still be caught up in self destructive and undermining patterns. Instead, I am so much lighter, more empathetic and free inside.”

 

R.W. Henson, Labor Relations Specialist

"Jackie helps you free yourself up inside so that you feel the life force coursing through you again.”

“Jackie is for the person who is ready to break through. If your questions are, who am I, what do I want, where am I going, and how am I going to get there then she is the one for you. She helps you free yourself up inside so that you feel the life force coursing through you again.”

 

Michelle Keating

The Program Includes:

  • 3 nights lodging and accommodations
  • 4 days facilitation (2-3 group sessions per day)
  • All vegetarian meals
  • Daily Qigong, meditation, coaching, and access to ratna ling grounds

Session Dates & Times:

November 2-5, 2023
Checkin: 3 PM on 11/2
Arrival Dinner: 5:30 PM on 11/2
Departure Day Brunch: 10 AM on 11/5
Departure: 1 PM on 11/5

Covid & Vaccination

Proof of Vaccination is required for all guests to Ratna Ling Retreat Center. Covid testing required and provided upon arrival. Masks are not mandatory.

“ Let the beauty you love be what you do.”

Rumi