In a world that constantly asks us to think faster, do more, and keep going, Mulih Rasa Retreat offers a gentle pause for those who have slowly lost connection with their own bodies. We live in our heads—planning, worrying, and overthinking—while our senses quietly shut down just to survive.
Mulih Rasa Retreat was created as a gentle response to this disconnection: an invitation to slow down, return to the body, and remember how it feels to truly be present. Through sensory-based and embodied practices, the retreat offers a space to reconnect with feeling—not as something to control, but as something to listen to.
Mulih Rasa Retreat and the Practice of Returning to the Body
Sensory (or sensoric) art is a gentle way to return. Unlike art that focuses on results or aesthetics, it invites you to feel before you think. Through touch, movement, texture, color, breath, and rhythm, the body is given permission to speak again—not to perform, but to express, release, and regulate.
Psychological research shows that artistic creation is not only cognitive but deeply embodied. A 2025 study in Frontiers in Psychology explains how processes like painting engage perception, action, and sensation together, helping the nervous system shift from hyper-thinking into present awareness.
Studies in arts and health also show that sensory-rich creative practices can reduce stress, regulate emotions, and support nervous system balance—helping people feel more grounded and safe.
For those who have lived long periods in stress, emotional suppression, or people-pleasing, sensory practices help the body move from survival into safety. When the body feels safe, clarity and presence naturally follow.
This is why returning to yourself is not a mental process—it is a sensory one.
Before intention.
Before discipline.
Before devotion.
We need to come back to the body that carries it all.
Why Mulih Rasa Retreat Understands Mental Health as Embodied
Many of us try to heal by thinking harder—analyzing emotions, setting intentions, or pushing ourselves to be more disciplined. Yet mental health does not begin in the mind alone.
It begins in the body.
When the nervous system is overwhelmed or stuck in survival mode, the body prioritizes protection over reflection. This is why purely cognitive approaches often feel exhausting when we are already tired. Before clarity and intention, the body needs to feel safe.
This is where body-based and sensory practices become essential—not as trends, but as regulation practices that gently help the nervous system slow down.
Gentle Movement and Yoga: Creating Safety Through the Body
Gentle movement and yoga offer a way back into the body without force. Through slow, mindful motion and awareness of breath, the body is invited to release stored tension—especially the kind that accumulates quietly in the shoulders, jaw, chest, and hips.
Rather than “doing” yoga for performance or flexibility, gentle movement supports nervous system regulation by reminding the body that it is safe to move, pause, and rest. When the breath softens and the body feels supported, mental noise naturally begins to settle.
Therapeutic and Slow Art: Letting Emotions Move Without Words
Not everything we carry can be spoken. Therapeutic and slow art offer a sensory pathway for emotions that are hard to name. Through texture, color, and gentle movement, the body can express what the mind may not yet understand.
Psychological research shows that art-making is a deeply embodied process, engaging perception, movement, and sensation together—helping the nervous system shift out of constant thinking and into present awareness, without the need to explain or rationalize.
Journaling and Intention Setting: Integrating Body and Meaning
When the body has slowed down, reflection becomes gentler.
Journaling and intention setting are not used here as productivity tools, but as spaces for listening—connecting bodily sensations with thoughts and emotions. Writing after movement, art, or grounding allows insights to emerge organically, rather than being forced through mental effort.
In this state, intentions arise from clarity, not obligation.
Somatic and Grounding Practices: Returning to the Present Moment
Somatic and grounding practices help anchor attention in what is happening now—the sensation of the feet touching the ground, the rhythm of breath, the feeling of weight and support.
These practices are especially important for those who experience rumination, emotional overwhelm, or dissociation. By reconnecting with physical sensation, the nervous system receives cues of safety, reducing the urge to stay stuck in the past or worry about the future.
Shared Meals as Rituals of Care: Nourishment Beyond Food
Mental health is not only individual—it is also relational. Shared meals held as rituals of care create a sense of belonging and safety that many of us miss in daily life. Eating together slowly reminds the body that nourishment is not only about food, but about presence and connection.
These practices are not about fixing what is “wrong,” but about restoring connection—between mind and body, emotion and sensation, self and presence.
When the body feels supported, the mind can rest.
When the nervous system settles, intention becomes clearer.
And when we slow down enough to feel, healing begins naturally.
This understanding is at the heart of the Mulih Rasa Retreat.
Mulih Rasa Retreat: Coming Home to Yourself Before Ramadhan
When mental health is understood as a process that begins in the body—through safety, regulation, and presence—preparing for Ramadhan calls for embodied readiness, not just mental strength.
It’s time to return to Yogyakarta.
It’s time to return to feeling.
Before Ramadhan arrives, many of us carry quiet exhaustion—mental fatigue, emotional heaviness, and unspoken tension in the body. In this state, slowing down is not a luxury; it is care.
Mulih Rasa Retreat is an invitation to pause, breathe, and soften—to come home, not just to Jogja, but to yourself.
In Javanese, mulih means returning home, and rasa speaks to feeling and inner awareness. Together, Mulih Rasa Retreat is a gentle journey back to the body, where intention and devotion begin.
This is not a retreat to escape life, but a space to re-enter it with more presence and care.
A Safe Space to Pause, Breathe, and Feel
Rooted in the understanding that healing begins with safety, Mulih Rasa Retreat is a 2 Days 1 Night Creative Sensoric Retreat designed as a women-only space to slow down before Ramadhan begins.
Here, you are not asked to improve, perform, or “fix” yourself.
You are simply invited to arrive as you are.
Through sensory-based and trauma-informed practices, this retreat gently supports a shift from survival mode into presence—from being stuck in the mind to reconnecting with the body.
It is a space to rest the nervous system, release stored tension, and reconnect with intention in a way that feels embodied rather than forced.
What You’ll Experience During Mulih Rasa Retreat
Over two days and one night, Mulih Rasa Retreat offers an embodied journey integrating mental health, movement, creativity, and reflection.
Through gentle movement, therapeutic and slow art, journaling, somatic grounding, and shared meals as rituals of care, participants are supported to reconnect with body and senses. Each element serves one purpose: coming back into the body—safely and compassionately.
This retreat is not about productivity, but about regulation, reflection, and remembering how it feels to be fully present.
A Gentle Two-Day Flow
Day 1 — Release
A day to slow down and let go through grounding, journaling, slow art, and somatic release—allowing the body to soften.
Day 2 — Intention
A day for clarity and renewal, beginning with sunrise yoga, followed by visioning, creative reflection, and gentle sharing—closing with grounded intentions to carry into Ramadhan.
Who Mulih Rasa Retreat Is For
Mulih Rasa Retreat is for you if you:
- Feel mentally and emotionally tired
- Long for a safe, non-judgmental way to heal
- Struggle to pause and truly rest
- Want to prepare your heart and inner space before Ramadhan
- Feel drawn to art, body-based practices, and self-awareness
- Miss Jogja or want to experience Jogja with deeper presence
No prior experience in yoga or art is needed.
You don’t need to be “ready.”
You only need to come as yourself.
A Meaningful Collaboration
Mulih Rasa Retreat is a collaborative offering by Talk Mental Health Indonesia × Roemah Renjana
Held in the warm, intimate space of Roemah Renjana, Pandega – Yogyakarta, this retreat is facilitated by practitioners who hold space with gentleness, professionalism, and deep respect for each participant’s journey.
Event Details
Location: Roemah Renjana, Pandega – Yogyakarta
Date: Friday–Saturday, 6–7 February 2026
Participants: Women only | Age 18+
Accommodation: 1 room for 2 people (you may register together)
You are welcome to come with your sister, close friend, or loved one—or to meet yourself in a new way.
Coming Home, Gently
Healing is not about running away from life,
but about returning to it—with more softness and awareness.
As Ramadhan approaches, Mulih Rasa Retreat invites you to pause before the month begins. To arrive with intention, not exhaustion, by first listening to the body.
Come home to your body.
Come home to your breath.
Come home to yourself.
For more details about the retreat and registration, visit our Instagram: @talkmentalhealth.id
You can also download our free zines and reflective resources to support your self-reflection journey at: https://talkmentalhealthid.org/freebies/
Through Mulih Rasa Retreat, our zines, and community spaces,
Talk Mental Health Indonesia is here to hold space, so you don’t have to heal alone.
