Rest, and why
it feels so hard.
Five slow days at the close of the year, with some honest teaching in the middle of them. A short ferry from home, and two of us holding it.
Five slow days at the close of the year, with some honest teaching in the middle of them. A short ferry from home, and two of us holding it.
Why we go away
Some were lovely. Some ran me from six in the morning until nine at night, and I came home needing a holiday to recover from the holiday.
What I kept wishing for was fewer things in a day. Longer mornings. Somebody else deciding when we ate, so that I did not have to decide anything at all. And nobody minding if I quietly skipped something.
So that is what these are.
You can usually watch it happen on the second day. People arrive asking what time things start. By the second afternoon they have stopped asking, and stopped checking their phones.
Last year one of our guests messaged me from her room in the middle of an afternoon. She had sat with it, she said, and her body did not want the group activity. She was going to stay where she was instead.
That message is the whole thing. That is what the days are for.
Which one is this
People ask me which retreat they should come to. The honest answer is whichever one you can actually get to.
But if you want my suggestion, it is only the one my own body taught me. Start with the body. When I was at my most tired, I could not think my way out of anything. What helped first was sleep, warmth, long mornings, and somebody else deciding what happened next. Then, once the body has caught up, the mind. There comes a point where you can rest and still feel guilty for it.
This is the mind one. Soulful Sanctuary, the body one, returns in a future edition. If that sounds more like where you are, tell us and you will hear about it first.
That is a suggestion, not a route. Some people come back to the same retreat three years running because it is the one their body keeps asking for. That is not standing still. That is knowing yourself.
A day, gently
Nothing here is required. Every part is an invitation.
Slow mornings. A cycle or a wander around, the earth basket tour if you fancy it.
A hearty breakfast, unhurried.
Yoga by the beach, then lunch.
Curated workshops by Jasmine, and long open afternoons to do as little as you like. Or a private conversation with Tien and Jasmine, if you would rather.
Evening practice and dinner. And one night, a bonfire and BBQ dinner by the sea.
Every session is optional, including the ones with teaching in them. Skipping one is a legitimate use of the day.
Who comes
Often from healthcare, finance, teaching, technology. Often the ones other people lean on.
There is a reason for that, and it is a reason you can work with once you can see it.
You slow down, and five minutes later something in you starts totting up what you should be doing instead.
Language and frameworks you can still use in February, when the retreat is a long way behind you.
You never have to. There is one to one time, and a room of your own to go back to.
What the teaching is
The rhythm is the same as our other retreat. What is different is that once a day we sit down together and look at why any of this is difficult.
What your nervous system is doing when you cannot settle. Why slowing down can feel unsafe when nothing is actually wrong. What to do with the guilt when it turns up. It is a conversation with some structure under it, not a seminar, and you can sit at the back of it.
Most retreats have one facilitator. This one has two, from different disciplines. I bring psychology and the body. Jasmine brings psychotherapy and somatic work. Between us there is enough range that you are unlikely to arrive with something neither of us can hold.
What it costs
No hidden rates and no pressure. A room of your own gives you the solitude this kind of work tends to ask for. Sharing is a gentle invitation into connection. Choose what best supports you.
Eight places remain
Choose your room
Sea view and beachfront villas are available in small numbers. Tell us what you would like and we will send you those rates.
Any of these apply to you?
A 50% deposit of $1,150 confirms your place. The balance is due in November.
One saving applies per person, whichever is kindest to you. We always apply the better one for you, without being asked.
Four nights accommodation
All nourishing meals, full board
Two daily practices
All workshops and guided explorations
Opening and closing circles
Full access to resort facilities
A curated reflective journal with prompts, tools and frameworks
The ferry to and from Bintan
Travel insurance, which is required
Spa treatments
Personal expenses
With the weekend either side, it need not cost you much leave at all. The Residence sits on the eastern coast, a 75 minute drive from Bandar Bentan Telani terminal, and return land transfers are included.
Your guides
Founder of Yoganic. Yoga teacher. Psychology trained at NUS and trained in cognitive behavioural therapy.
I built Yoganic after burning out twice from over giving, first in a special needs classroom and then in a startup. I am drawn to practices that work with the body and the nervous system rather than pushing harder at them.
Psychotherapist and coach. @jasmineteo.jiamin · texturedlifewellness.com
I spent years building a life that ticked all the right boxes on paper, but always felt like something was missing. Because it was not the life I actually wanted. So I tore down what I had and rebuilt a life that is my version of thriving, and never looked back. My life’s work is now supporting heart led people like you to do the same: to live out your thriving life sustainably, so that you are fulfilled, and what you give the world comes from fullness, not depletion. Let’s create better worlds together.
“I am grateful to have attended this retreat curated by Tien & Jasmine. They really made sure that the space was safe and comfortable for everyone. The heavy emphasis on listening to our intuition or felt sense really strengthened the trust for myself, and I think it is amazing how this can be done within such a short time frame. Would really recommend to all the burnt out souls, or just anyone who wants to give yourself the permission to rest.” Restful Thriving · June 2026
Before you decide
Soulful Sanctuary is where you stop. It is experiential and body led, and it is about letting rest happen. Restful Thriving is where you learn how to keep stopping. It is educational as well as experiential, and it gives you the frameworks and the language to understand why rest was hard in the first place. Many people do both, in whichever order suits them.
It is the most common way people come. Most of the group will be arriving on their own. A room of your own gives you the solitude this kind of work tends to ask for, and there is easy company whenever you want it.
No. These are wellness education sessions, not therapy or clinical treatment. You will learn how your nervous system works and practical ways to work with it. If something deeper surfaces, we will hold it kindly and help you think about where to take it next.
No. Practices are gentle, supported, and paced to the room. Props for everything. If you spend a session under a blanket, that counts.
No. Our practice is secular. Movement, breath, and attention, taught in plain English, informed by psychology.
A ferry from Tanah Merah to Bandar Bentan Telani, then a 75 minute drive which we arrange and include. The ferry itself is yours to book and we will send recommended times when you confirm. With the weekend either side, it need not cost you much leave at all.
A 50% deposit confirms your place, by PayNow to Yoganic Pte. Ltd., UEN 202526337Z. A card link is available if you prefer, just ask. The balance is due in November. Your deposit is transferable to a friend or to a future edition, and is not refundable, because it holds your room from the moment you commit. Travel insurance is required for every guest.
The retreat runs with a minimum of ten guests. If we do not reach ten, we will move it rather than run it thin, and every deposit transfers. We will tell you in good time.
A letter
There are moments when we pause and ask ourselves why we keep creating spaces like this. Retreats are not small undertakings. They ask for our care, attention, patience and presence, long before the retreat actually begins.
And yet, every time, we return to the same answer.
We create these retreats because we have seen, again and again, how many of us, especially those who give so much, rarely give ourselves the space and permission to rest.
We want to offer you a space to come home to who you are, before the world, and your job, told you who to be.
♥
In this Bintan Restful Thriving retreat, our intention is simple. To support you in building and living your version of a thriving life.
And for this thriving life to be sustainable, it requires your capacity to rest. We learn how to actually rest and thrive, together.
We believe deeply that rest is not just the activity you are doing. It is not simply lying on a beach, or going on a holiday, or doing nothing. Rest is a state of being that needs to be cultivated.
And if resting has never come easily to you, you are not alone. Many of our nervous systems learned, a long time ago, that safety looks like being always on, always available, always dependable. Slowing down can genuinely feel dangerous, from your nervous system’s point of view.
Our work together is not to push through what our nervous system is experiencing. Rather, it is to understand what is going on with genuine curiosity, and from there build the new evidence your body needs. That you can rest, and nothing bad will happen. In fact, you can rest, and you can thrive.
During the retreat you are never expected to participate in everything. You are never required to share more than feels right. You are always encouraged to listen to your own rhythm, and only choose the activities that call out to you.
You will leave Bintan with a gentler, more trusting relationship with yourself. You will feel more spacious inside, and be more anchored in your own body and your own choices.
Let us build this life where you can thrive restfully and restfully thrive, together.
We look forward to meeting you in this space.
With warmth and care,
Tien & Jas ♥
If any of this sounds familiar, come and tell us. No commitment, and no rush. An early hello is enough.
Tell us your preferred room, whether you are coming alone or with someone, and anything you would like to ask. We answer everything ourselves, usually within a day.
Prefer email? huitienlim@gmail.com
Soulful Sanctuary and Restful Thriving come back every year, in new places. If this edition does not fit, the next one will, and the waitlist hears first.