Retreats in France
The Art of Alignment – Immersive Retreats with Maria Friese
Twice a year, I welcome small groups into our beautiful space in the Southwest of France for exclusive retreat experiences — spaces to pause, breathe, create and remember your peaceful essence.
Art as a Path of Presence
A creative retreat in the heart of nature – in a small, exclusive group of 6 participants
These retreats are not about producing or performing.
They are about slowing down, listening, and allowing what is true to unfold.
Through intuitive art practices, sacred geometry, gentle movement, and connection with nature, you’ll rediscover your own inner rhythm — the one that aligns you with nature and brings you back to peace and flow.
Each retreat is a living work of art — shaped by the group’s energy, the season, and the natural cycles surrounding us.
Spring Retreat
“Blossoming”
11–16 May 2026 (english speaking)
Spring is a season of renewal — a gentle invitation to open, soften, and begin to blossom again.
This retreat offers a nurturing space to reconnect with your creative life force. Through a weaving of creative art rituals, embodied practices, energy work, and mindset alignment, you are guided toward lightness, clarity, and renewed inspiration.
Like nature in spring, your inner landscape is invited to unfold at its own rhythm — allowing new beginnings to take shape from within, supported by inner clarity and trust.
Autumn Retreat
“The Art of Letting Go(l)d”
1–6 November 2026 (german speaking)
Autumn is a season of surrender — an invitation to slow down, turn inward, and honour completion.
This retreat creates a spacious container to release old layers, integrate lived experiences, and reconnect with the quiet gold of your essence. Through sacred geometry, reflective creative practices, energy work, and gentle mindset integration, you are supported in honouring endings not as loss, but as thresholds — openings into what is ready to emerge next.
Like nature in autumn, you are invited to soften, simplify, and trust the wisdom of letting go — grounded, resourced, and inwardly aligned.
What Awaits You
Each Retreat Includes:
✔ Daily creative sessions (intuitive watercolor, sacred geometry, journaling)
✔ Gentle embodiment practices (Yin Yoga, breath, and presence)
✔ Guided meditations and group sharings
✔ Nourishing vegetarian meals
✔ Time in nature, silence, and integration
✔ Accommodation in our guesthouses
The retreats take place in a peaceful rural area of Southwest France near Lourdes— surrounded by forest and the gentle presence of the Pyrenees.
The atelier and guest spaces are infused with warmth, creativity, and quietude — an environment that supports deep rest and inspiration.
Your Hosts: Maria & Eric
This retreat is guided by Maria Friese and supported by her life partner Eric Vergniaud.
Maria is an artist, mentor and practitioner in creative healing. She brings together intuitive painting, sacred geometry, energy work, and personal transformation. Her retreats are known for their depth, warmth and creative healing power — combining artistic expression with inner alignment.
Eric is the founder of the place where the retreat is held. With over 25 years of daily practice in Vipassana meditation (including 12 retreats), he brings a grounded presence and a deep understanding of mindfulness in everyday life.
During the retreat, Eric will offer sessions in meditation, yin yoga, and other practices to support your experience gently and authentically. His approach is simple and accessible, focused on presence, grounding, and reconnecting to your own rhythm.
“Together, we share the intention to create a welcoming, peaceful space where you can reconnect with yourself — through art, presence, nature, and authentic connection.”
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