If you’re an open minded, spiritually conscious person who’s ready to deepen your level of trust in yourself and learn how you can communicate with the spirit world, then join us for a tropical island retreat where you can relax, be nourished, learn, grow and have FUN!

Sonja would like to welcome you to the Big Island of Hawaii where she has lived since June, 2022. She was called here, not to just any place on the Big Island, but to a very specific location along the southeastern coastline of the island to an area called Puna. The retreat will be held here, at the Kalani Retreat Center.

There’s something magical about this particular place. Sonja has traveled extensively around the globe and found the energy here to be unlike any other energy in the world. You must come experience it for yourself.

Sonja came to Hawaii to honor her inner guidance, to heal, learn, grow and share with others the many things she knows as a mental health therapist and healer. She invites you to join her and Daniela as they teach you to tune in to your intuition and connect with the spirits.

Sonja has a Master’s Degree in Human Development Counseling and a Doctorate Degree in PsychoSpiritual Studies. She is a Licensed Clinical Professional Counselor, a Shamanic Minister and Breathwork Facilitator, a Reiki Master, and a Soul Collage Facilitator. She also has advanced training as a hypnotherapist and was certified through EMDRIA as an EMDR therapist and consultant.

Sonja has written and illustrated two children’s books, WooHoo For Sensitive Somjay (2021) and Feel Your Feelings, Feel Them All (2023). She has also contributed a chapter in three different collaborative books, Shaman Heart - Turning Pain into Passion and Purpose (Chapter 10, 2022), The Chaos of Covid (Chapter 8, 2022), and Shaman Heart - Sacred Rebel (Chapter 10, 2023).

She is curious, adventurous, nurturing and highly sensitive. Her secret desire is to be like the hugging Hindu guru, Amma, hugging those in need of a hug and those needing to be truly seen and loved. She is very connected to nature and animals and loves to hike, swim, snorkel, kayak, and has a daily yoga practice. She also loves reading, writing, painting and making things. She loves people and has learned that the first person she needs to love, and take care of, is herself.

Daniela is a certified hypnotherapist (NGH/SBVH), psychological counselor, NLP master, Aura Soma counselor (color therapy), and a family systems therapist. She is also a psychic and a medium. She trained for over ten years according to British spiritism and has communicated with a few thousand loved ones from the other side.

One of her biggest joys is assisting in her client’s healing process as she uses her skills as a medium to be a conduit between her clients and their loved ones who have passed. She’s convinced everyone can be a medium and loves teaching and supporting people in their personal and spiritual growth. She runs spiritual exercise circles, teaches new mediums, and organizes healing and spiritual retreats in Europe.

Daniela has contributed a chapter in the Amazon best selling book Shaman Heart - Sacred Rebel (Chapter 14, 2023).

She’s creative, highly intuitive and loves dancing and music. She loves being in nature and skiing in the Alps and Nordic-walking, which she has easy access to as she lives outside of Zurich, Switzerland. Fortunately, living in Switzerland, she also has easy access to Swiss chocolate, which if we’re lucky, she will bring and share with the group!

Sonja is excited to teach you how to tune into your intuition. Last year she wrote a chapter in Shaman Heart - Turning Pain into Passion and Purpose titled “Accessing your Intuition - The Cure For Indecision.” There, she described one technique for tuning in. Multiple ways to tune in to your intuition exist and Sonja looks forward to teaching you your personal best way to access your internal guidance system.

Sonja is also looking forward to giving you the opportunity for self- exploration through Shamanic Breathwork™. This particular form of breathwork, which includes a specific way of breathing while listening to chakra evocative music, was created by Linda Starwolf, Ph.D. founder of Venus Rising in Whittier, North Carolina, and taught to Sonja by Carly Mattimore, MS, LCPC, one of the co-founders of the Aahara Spiritual Community in Springfield, Illinois. Sonja first became a Shamanic Minister in 2013, then in 2015, became a Shamanic Breathwork™ Facilitator.

In 2020, Sonja became a SoulCollage™ Facilitator. SoulCollage™ is an intuitive process of creating a collage. While in a relaxed state you choose pictures from magazines then glue the cut out pictures on a card. Towards the end of our five day retreat, she hopes to guide you through a SoulCollage™ experience to help ground you to all of the magical experiences you are sure to have had throughout the training.

Imagine waking up to the sounds of the ocean rumbling in the distance as the water meets the rocky shoreline. The wind gently blows, rattling the palm fronds. The saffron finches and mynah birds are twittering a “Good Morning” greeting. You decide to follow your intuition and get up and go for a short walk before the workshop day begins.

Leaving your place of lodging, you start walking. You intuitively know the gentle downward slope will lead you to the ocean’s edge. You pass by ohia lehua trees with their fiery red, fluffy orbed flowers. You inhale and smell the plumeria blooms. Up ahead, there it is! The view of the crystal clear, turquoise waters of the ocean opens up before you.

You walk beneath the canopy of long-limbed Southern Live Oaks as you approach the edge of where the lava land meets the Pacific Ocean. A light, salty spray fills the air as a big wave crashes into the lava cliff wall. You breathe in the healing salty air.

You konw the tide is low as you can see the seagrass covered boulders against the rocky shore line beneath you. Look! Is that a fish you see in the clear waters thirty feet below? Could this colorful parrotfish be one of your animal guides for the week?

You find a bench and sit down as you soak up the tranquility of this place that’s so full of life energy. You think, 'How interesting to come to this magical place that's so full of life, to be learning about how to connect with the dead.'

After a few minutes in meditative wonder, you get up and walk back to your lodging. As you brush your teeth, you mentally prepare for a day of exercises that will help in your exploration of the magic of connecting with the spirit world.

The training begins at 9a.m. After a morning of getting to know the other workshop participants, and practicing tuning into your intuition, you are provided a light lunch accompanied by local, in season fruits, some of which you’ve never heard of before. You wander out onto the back deck and see the ocean once again. The sun warms your skin. A new friend joins you and you stand together and revel in the beauty of the tropical ocean scene before you. You’ve longed for a friend by whose side you could stand in companionable silence.

Back in the studio downstairs, you settle in for an afternoon of learning only to be asked to stand up again as together you move your body to the music of Taylor Swift.

After a fun filled afternoon of exercises designed to help you connect with the spirits, you are treated to a delicious dinner provided by an experienced local caterer who knows how to make sure your special dietary needs are met. You linger in the dining area as you connect with other like minded individuals who are also here to learn, heal, and grow.