A regular practice of Heart Rhythm Meditation brings the incredible experience of being in the heart, which opens more and more to include all things and all beings. It is this experience that makes the philosophy you learn in the courses come alive.

Led by IAM founders Puran and Susanna Bair in  collaboration with other IAM teachers, the group retreat provides a setting where you have all the support you need to really deepen your  experience of Heart Rhythm Meditation. For those who are new to meditation, the group retreat is a way to gain experience that will be key for the individual retreat. The group retreat will lead to a real and lasting opening of your heart.

The group retreat experience includes guided meditations, partner and group exercises, lecture and discussion, walking meditation and movement, and special activities which include music, whirling, and walking on fire. Time is set aside to create friendships, discuss the teachings, and share experiences.

The group retreat vaults you ahead, causing a synergistic effect with the rest of the curriculum— your work in the courses will be enriched, your daily practice of HRM will deepen, and your work with your mentor will gain an added dimension.

Two 5-day group retreats are included in the IAM University of the Heart program. IAM holds a Summer retreat in New Lebanon, NY, and a Winter retreat in Santa Barbara, CA each year. Four group retreats will take place during the 2010-2012 class, and students may choose which two of these retreats they would like to attend.

I came to the retreat feeling very confused. I had a burning in my throat, heart palpitations, and an overwhelming sense of anxiety about the state of my life. I cannot express how wonderful each and every person was. So warm, so loving, so welcoming. I felt free to speak my mind with no threat of judgment or criticism. The meditations were moving, deep, and effective. I am leaving the retreat with a new family. I feel more grounded, have a greater clarity of my direction, and a better sense of who I am, what I want, and the greatness that I can give. And a bonus… my palpitations are gone!  Amy Bassett-Wells

I am reminded of the words to the song, To Sir With Love: “How do you thank someone who has taken you from crayons to perfume? What can I give you in return?” That sums up not only my retreat experience, but my experience in working with Puran and Susanna Bair. They have helped me move from the world of crayons (appearance) to perfume—the perfume of my soul and all the illuminated souls who work through me. How they do it, I don’t know. I just show up and leave transformed and embraced with perfume. What can I give in return? Service to humanity. Jeannie Underwood. 

The retreat process is so carefully guided and prepared that even though one has left one’s ordinary world behind I felt that I had come home—to the home of my soul, to such a great degree that when I return to my “ordinary” life, I left transformed and engaged.  Elijah Imlay

I had a feeling of complete transformation. My heart felt expanded to a new level and I felt like I was in a completely different body of radiant love and light.  Linda Turner

The IAM group retreat process is an accelerates change at all levels of a person’s development. By changing the way I perceived reality, the model I held of the way physical, emotional, and interpersonal change happens was completely restructured. You realize your true nature, and the transformative understanding becomes real in your heart—which I experienced as the heart of All.  Judith Simpson

In seven years of working with Susanna and Puran and practicing HRM, I have changed the quality of my life from one that was selfish, narcissistic, and self-absorbed to one where I strive to be of service to others: my family, my friends, my co-workers and our world. I feel more open to life, full of hope, trust, joy and gratitude.  Greg S. Murphy