Thousands of people on 5 continents have attended the ISTA training over the past 10 years and have been radically changed for the better by uncovering reactive patterns and transforming them into conscious ways of being.

This retreat focuses on clearing the physical and emotional body of shame, guilt and fear related to sexuality and authenticity. This is done through multiple pathways of healing: guided visualization, emotional release, shamanic initiations, energy tracking and conscious touch are just a few of the practices used to dive deep into the inner realms. The inner masculine and inner feminine archetypes are explored because when they are fully integrated a door opens to a deeper knowing of the Self as whole and complete.

This event unfolds within a powerful group process based on unconditional love, intimacy and acceptance of what is arising. By the end of this event, you will feel more open, relaxed and present and be more in touch with effortless flow of life, no matter what it looks like.

No prior knowledge of shamanism or sacred sexuality is necessary to attend this retreat. This event is about expanding beyond your comfort zone, while honoring your healthy boundaries. Nudity and intimate touch are a part of this training, however, you are always at choice and the facilitators will help you navigate what is authentic for you. Individuals and couples of any sexual preference are welcome to attend.

This is an individual process that happens in a group environment and a level of ability to be self responsible is needed to navigate the spiritual sexual shamanic space. ISTA is a mystery school and approaches trauma from the shamanic perspective of connecting with the body and soul. We recommend that if there is known deep seated trauma, individuals seek one on one sessions and get the ok from their therapist before entering the group process.

Spiritual, Sexual, Shamanic; Each of these areas carries enormous potential for freedom, love and joy, as well as for healing & integrating our golden and painful shadow aspects. As we come to know all these aspects, we begin to see what it means to be awake, empowered, in community, and in service as love in the world.

The training focuses on clearing the physical and emotional body of shame, guilt and fear related to sexuality and authenticity. The deeper transformation comes from reconnecting to your personal power. In exploring sexuality, we create a fast path to encountering the challenges and gifts of fully owning our own power.

A team of skilled Temple Arts faculty will share, inspire, guide and support you to bring light to the shadows where your power awaits to be reclaimed.

The transformation is supported through multiple pathways using the best of the ancient temple arts including the wisdom of Tantra, Taoism, and different traditions of Shamanism. We add to this modern day techniques NLP, bioenergetics, guided visualization, emotional release tools, and conscious touch/ consent skills. The list above includes many, but not all the practices we use to dive deep into the inner realms. The inner masculine and inner feminine archetypes are explored because when they are fully integrated, a door opens to a deeper knowing of the Self as whole and complete.

This event unfolds within a powerful group process based on unconditional love, intimacy and acceptance of what is arising. By the end of this event, you will feel more open, relaxed and present and be more in touch with effortless flow of life, no matter what it looks like.

Optional nudity and safe intimate touch are a part of this training, however, you are always at choice and the facilitators will help you navigate what is authentic for you. Individuals and couples of any sexual preference are welcome to attend.

If this is your first time experiencing ISTA and you are ready for the next step, then it is possible to join both trainings one after another. Or if you have already experienced Level 1 then now is your chance to take it that step deeper in Level 2. We look forward to meeting you in Power and Love!

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SSSIn (Level 2) guides the participant through a series of self - initiations that say goodbye to old patterns of relating and anchor the identity in the deep self that is already free, inherently loving and dynamically creative in the world.

This week provides the teachings and experiences we should have had around our spirituality, our relationship with the transpersonal and its integration with the personal and universal.. This provides us with the opportunity to take initiation - to shift our identity into the soul and become the source of our own life, love and empowered expression in the world. Its symbol is the offering up of the heart. Once the life is 'given up’ or ‘taken over’ by this deeper part of ourselves then we are ready for the greater mysteries - the identification with the universal life of our cosmos and planet. The self becomes a source of inflowing current to our surroundings enabling others to awaken, initiate and transform. We become a creative force in our environment.

The Level 2 training deepens the experience of level 1 , allows for more hands on practise with some of the tools and techniques taught and provides a alchemical container for transformation through group practise, ritual and meditation.

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• The Shamanic Initiation - its core is death and rebirth. This overcomes the fear of death in the base chakra and also sets the shaman apart from the tribe in order to serve the tribe in a special way. It is an essential component to the integration of sexual and spiritual worlds because it results in the transcendence of ego and the dedication of ones awakened powers to the collective. The result is Power.
   

• The Sexual Initiation - The rituals of self pleasure and sacred spot in Level 1 awaken a deeper relationship with our sexual energies. In Level 2 we explore the unification of our masculine and feminine, conscious penetration and sacred union. The result is Love.
   

• The Spiritual Initiation - Meditation training and essential identity inquiry open us into our primordial awareness and provide a taste of sunyata or the void experience. An overnight invocatory temple combined with a personal vision quest where each individual has an opportunity for deeper levels of their being to be contacted, honoured and integrated. The result is Presence.

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PLEASE NOTE: This is an individual process that happens in a group environment and a level of ability to be self responsible is needed to navigate the spiritual sexual shamanic space. ISTA is a mystery school and approaches trauma from the shamanic perspective of connecting with the body and soul. We recommend that if there is known deep seated trauma, individuals seek one on one sessions and get the ok from their therapist before entering the group process.

Read more about ISTA on our international website

I feel blessed to have found the ISTA community. my soul has longed for my tribe, my heart has yearned to love without fear and my body has begged me to finally declare her as sacred. I am grateful for the wisdom, compassion, and guidance of Triambika Ma Vive, Araminta Barbour and Frank Mondeose as leaders of the sacred ceremonies of the past and facilitators of emotional and sexual healing. Throughout the training you three have artfully and gracefully broken me open to discover the beauty and truth of myself. I feel now that there is nothing that stands in the way of the possibilities I am now dreaming for myself and the world. Participating in ISTA Level 1 was the greatest transformational experience of my life. I feel an incredible surge of aliveness and can declare myself a powerful being, in touch with my sacred sexuality, connected to the immensity of love in my heart and devoted to my community and tribe. I can now say YES to life, YES to passion, YES to freedom of expression and YES to LOVE. Where else can you get such gifts ? Thank you. I am humbled, grateful and yes in Awe of the experience and the courage of my fellow beloveds on this journey. Love you all so much for holding the space for me, for loving me as I am, inspiring me and also for all the fun !!!! Til we meet again! Stay wild, stay present, stay connected and Love Love Love

What a beautiful container for inner transformation. Was it a healing big-bang? a transformational earthquake? What I can say is, as soon as was in, no way to hold back, no way to stay in the old fashion comfort zone, no way to resist ​to the call for growing, no way to struggle, just surrendering to the wheel of transformation. Standing out, facing challenges, surrendering, expanding, going more and more out of the comfort zone, saying good bye to the social conditioning, standing boldly in the life, releasing blocked and unexpressed emotions, healing, growing, expanding, honoring myself, honoring my body, integrating more and more of my sacred sexual being, breathing, nourishing more and more my body, my being, quieting and clarifying my mind, releasing old useless and inadequate patterns, realigning with my pure authenticity, embodying my sovereignty, embodying my freedom. Coming back to the simplicity of naked mind in a naked body with a powerful innocent magic awesome sexual power. Far away from social mind controlled perception of reality. Far away from social distorted view of sexuality generated by church and society. This was the time for reconnection to one’s true nature, for taking back one’s personal power, deepening one’s awareness, coming back home to my body with bliss, power and love.

This journey has been an amazing experience that really shifted the way I feel about myself. Learning to integrate the male and female part within myself and see everybody else as both parts gives me a new way to approach others. After the training I really feel the way to honour and stand up for myself, while remaining on touch with physical and emotional body and the sweetness within it. what a journey, what a change, I don’t even want to go back to the way before Thanks for providing this beautiful journey with its deep insights and enormous skills.

There are no stories I can tell to describe this journey. Imagine you are an ocean with deep waters full of terrifying creatures. You close your eyes and jump in all the way to the bottom. As you come up through the ocean you encounter all these scary things and realize that they aren’t what you thought they were. You hold your breath and trust you will make it through. When you emerge from the depths you realize a beautiful, powerful creature awaits you. And that creature is you.

I am very grateful for all the different processes I went through this week, each one was profoundly transformative, the team provided me the loving safe space to let go of some very old and deep wounds.

ISTA training is of an essential nature. It takes the journey of a human experience into the perspective of healthy empowered being, it offers tools that allow you to heal your body and emotions and therefore enables participants to claim their birth right to truly live life.

ISTA offered me an opportunity and a space to shake up free up and escape into a reality of truth and honesty. It’s a journey I took with abundance of teachers that showed me the way into myself, the real me, my real body, my true pleasure. It made me find ways to beat the fears and illusions awake and realise they are there, it it poured for me a pavement to walk steady on, towards the encounter with myself. ISTA took me with many other and put us in a container, shook that container up again and again, and let us find what was shed, and what was left in each and every one of us. I am now stepping, aware, present and brave towards the most important change that will ever happen to me.

If you feel a call in your heart to attend this training then go for it… yes, your mind will come up with all kinds of struggles and fears.. but still trust your heart and go for it. It is not just another seminar that fills you with information, but it will touch you deeply within your very soul and then the healing takes place.. a healing from the source, such a sacred place… take the chance and do it for yourself .. for your life!

There are boundless lessons to take with me from this experience, but perhaps the most precious for me in this moment was to witness the creation of Sacred Space; space where all is held sacred and safe; space without judgement; space made from love. I truly feel that I can carry this with me and recreate it anywhere I want or need. Thank you!

ISTA provides the training we all needed in prep school. It's the fast track process to healing and awakening! I'm so blessed to have had come across this family. I can never express with words my gratitude and love for my brothers and sisters from ISTA. Namaste!

The training has been the most powerful and transformative experience I had in my life. It really kicked up my transition towards a more peaceful and aligned life. I am really grateful that I had the courage to be fully immersed in this experience.

DISCLAIMER - This is based on my experience, and everyone's experience is unique, because it's a deep process! [Feel free to share]

I have decided to write this taster for those people who do not know the International School of Temple Arts, for those who feel tuned out when they listen to videos and descriptions about ISTA Level 1, because it's in a language not accessible to them.

I first came across ISTA totally by chance; I was traveling with my beloved in Guatemala and a poster caught my attention. Probably because it had the word sex in it, and because it looked attractive and exotic. David and I signed up as a present to our love, not knowing what the week would be about. We are both grateful we took the plunge, as ISTA L1 is a well-oiled machine!

So why are people so mysterious about ISTA Level 1? Why can't they just give me the curriculum so I can decide if it's for me? The answer is simple; a lot of the transformational work that is done during that week needs to be in context. Out of context, it sounds nuts. I have done 2 Level 1s; once as a participant, and another time as an assistant, and I can guarantee that my learning and journey was unique each time. However, I understand that your mind wants something more palpable, so here goes.

In one sentence - ISTA Level 1 is the education every human being should get when growing up.

Boundaries - Do you ever feel like you should have said no, but ended up saying yes? This relates to #metoo, but it also relates to those times when you accept too much responsibility at work, when you give a friend a shoulder although you really don't have the emotional strength at that moment, and other situations in which you are not clear about your boundaries and end up feeling depleted. ISTA Level 1 explores this expertly from different angles, so even if you think you are brilliant with your boundaries (and the boundaries of others), you'll become better.

Tools - Even if you are content and emotionally switched on, there is space to become happier, more connected to your feelings, desires, fears, dreams. Exploring anger was one of the more difficult challenges for me, precisely because I am pretty joyful. In a nutshell, the tools involve using your voice and body movements to let energy move through you. I'm sure at a moment of stress, you've stretched out your arms, or have gone for a walk. This is the next level and has much more impact.

The thing is not the thing - Whenever you feel angry that someone arrived late, frustrated about a decision made at work… you are becoming a victim of that thing or story. You might not be able to change how late that person is, but you can change how it affects you. ISTA L1 teaches you how to move into your power and break this cycle of victimhood. It takes practice post-training, but you are given tools.

Honesty - We are brought up to be polite, and this can get in the way of honesty. Since our first ISTA L1, my beloved and I have had some seriously deep and painful conversations, which have brought us to beautiful places. Sometimes you feel unsure about being upset about something someone did, but here's the trick, you can tell them that! You can be honest about how it makes you feel, instead of blaming them for it. The key is to be clear that it is not a competition, it is not an attack. Put yourself in that vulnerable place of "I love you, and I'm not sure why this triggers me, but when you xxx I felt xxx", keeps the channels of communication open, and you will be surprised how things shift in most of your relationships. You also have to accept that some people are still stuck in fight or flight mode, so you might not have such a successful honest conversation.

You are not your story - I'll take a simple example. Everyone feels that at some point their parents didn't make the best decision (even if like me, you think that overall your parents are incredible and did a brilliant job raising you). Guess what, you are a whole human being, you have yourself. You are your own mother, your father, you design your story from now on. Everyone has traumas (to different levels and degrees), and it can feel like you are messed up for good, but you are not. More and more research is going into neuroplasticity, so we have the ability to rewire through a change in habits, and like William Ernest Henley says in his poem Invictus, you are the master of your own fate, you are the captain of your soul.

Why is it so expensive? You will have a full-time one-week experience with 3 expert facilitators who will support you 24/7 during the week, and a number of assistants (number depends on size of group), accommodation, full board… so surely this costs money. ISTA might sound alien to you, but it is made up of human beings who pay bills.

There are numerous more gifts (and each of them more powerful) you will receive with this training, but I don't know how to explain them in all their awesomeness without you actually being there. So, take the plunge, and you will love me and yourself for it!