The Route to Ancient Tibetan Healing A Journey into Balance & Well-Being

Reawaken your mind, body, and spirit through the timeless practices of Tibetan healing. A day dedicated to your renewal, harmony, and well-being 

 Step into a world where ancient wisdom meets modern healing sacred space where the body, mind, and spirit unite in harmony. On March 22, 2025, at the Jacques Marchais Museum of Tibetan Art, Staten Island, we invite you to embark on a profound journey into Tibetan healing a transformative experience guided by masters

of movement, medicine, and sound.

Retreat Schedule

9:00 AM – Breakfast

Start your day with a nourishing breakfast to energize your body and prepare for the healing journey ahead.

10:00 AM Rise & Flow: A Gentle Morning Yoga Practice

Facilitated by Kerry Sullivan

Awaken your body and mind with a soft, intentional start to the day. This gentle yoga practice is designed to ease you into movement, helping you shake off stiffness, set a positive tone, and cultivate inner balance. Through slow, mindful stretches and soothing breathwork, you'll reconnect with your body, release tension, and prepare yourself to move through the day with clarity and ease. This is your time to set intentions whether it’s embracing patience, finding gratitude, or simply allowing yourself to be present. 

11:00 AM –Guest Speaker Dr. Dawa Rigdak

Tibetan Science of Healing: Unlock the Secrets of YourBody’s Natural Balance

Imagine discovering the deep wisdom that has sustained health and well-being for centuries. In this powerful session, Dr. Dawa Rigdak will guide you through the profound teachings of Tibetan medicine, helping you uncover the hidden secrets of your body’s natural balance. This is your opportunity to explore how the ancient Tibetan system of health—rooted in the balance of wind (lung), bile (tripa), and phlegm (kaph)—can restore harmony to your body, mind, and spirit. As you delve into the principles that govern health and vitality in Tibetan healing, you will be introduced to the seven essential bodily constituents and the three waste products that shape your physical, mental, and emotional states. Understanding how these elements work together will empower you to take charge of your health, enhance your vitality, and unlock your full potential.

Key Takeaways:

Experience the ancient wisdom of Tibetan healing: Learn how the balance of wind, bile, and phlegm affects your well-being and how restoring their harmony can bring peace, clarity, and vitality into your life.

Personalized insights for your health journey: Dr. Rigdak will show you how pulse examination and tongue analysis can help you better understand your body’s unique constitution and guide you toward the practices that best support your health.

Discover powerful tools for everyday wellness: From Tibetan herbs and energy healing practices to lifestyle adjustments, you will gain practical wisdom that can be integrated into your daily routine to promote longevity, balance, and vitality.

Unlock the secrets to emotional and spiritual well-being: Tibetan healing doesn’t just focus on physical health

it helps you understand the deeper connection between your mind, body, and spirit.

12:45 PM – Lunch

Enjoy a wholesome meal to nourish your body and support your healing process.

If you are unable to eat a particular type of food, please state what you cannot eat below.

We will be in touch with you if we have any question.

2:00 PM The Five Movements: Balancing the Five Elements

Facilitated by Dr. Chok Tenzin Monlam

In this transformative session, Dr. Chok Tenzin Monlam introduces a Tibetan healing practice that focuses on balancing the body's energy system through the Five Movements. Rooted in ancient Tibetan wisdom, this practice uses specific movements, breathwork, and mindfulness to help clear blockages in the body's subtle energy channels, known as nadi (meridians), and restore the flow of life force energy (lung).

Key Takeaways:

Restores the balance of the Five Elements: Earth, water, fire, air, and space core principles in Tibetan healing that govern the body and mind. When these elements are in harmony, the body functions optimally, and vitality is restored.

Reawakens the natural flow of lung (vital energy): By engaging in the Five Movements, participants unblock the pathways of energy, allowing lung to flow freely throughout the body. This practice aids in mental clarity, emotional release, and physical healing.

Aligns the physical, emotional, and spiritual bodies: Tibetan healing views the body as a whole system, and this practice helps integrate mind, body, and spirit, enabling the practitioner to find inner peace, emotional balance, and energetic rejuvenation.

Supports emotional healing and mental stillness: The Five Movements help to release trapped emotions and clear the mental clutter, leaving space for clarity, joy, and a deep sense of calm.

3:45 PM Sound Healing & Meditation

Facilitated by Leslee Penny,

This session offers a profound escape from daily struggles, using the ancient power of Tibetan gongs and sound healing to guide you into deep relaxation. The resonant vibrations work to dissolve tension, release emotional burdens, and quiet the restless mind, creating space for inner peace and clarity. As the rich, meditative tones of the gong wash over you, stress melts away, and a profound sense of balance and renewal takes its place. This is more than just a session it’s a journey into stillness, where sound becomes a bridge to deep healing and emotional restoration.

Key Takeaways:

Immerse yourself in the transformative power of sound healing and meditation. This session will guide you into a deep state of relaxation, allowing you to release tension and cultivate emotional and energetic harmony.

This is your time. Your sanctuary. Your journey toward well-being.

During this retreat, you will experience a day dedicated entirely to yourself in one of the most tranquil and serene spaces on Staten Island. This full-day immersive journey is complemented by nourishing meals, creating a holistic experience of relaxation and renewal. For those joining us from New York City, we offer round-trip transportation from the Staten Island Ferry terminal, ensuring a seamless and stress-free journey. Throughout the day, we will leave the outside world behind, allowing you to fully immerse yourself in healing practices led by highly skilled teachers who will guide us into a space of deep balance and transformation.

If you wish to extend your stay and spend the night on the island, we can arrange accommodations through our trusted partners—simply reach out, and we’ll provide you with options.

Registration Deadline: March 21, 2025 (Advance registration required!) 

About our teachers:

Kerry Sullivan has 17 years of dance experience and has been practicing and teaching yoga for over 8 years. She received her 200hr certification through Yoga Alliance at Tula Yoga in 2015 and is Reiki II attuned, as well as an Advanced IET practitioner. In 2020 she received her birth and postpartum doula training through Healthy Women, Healthy Futures with DONA teachers Debra Pascali-Bonaro and Amadoma Bediako. She also completed the Radical Birth Keeper School of Free Birth Society in December of 2020.  Her goal is to help her students connect to their divine potential, see their inner strength and find healing of mind, body and spirit through the practice of yoga, movement and energy healing.

Dr.Dawa Ridak was born in Lhoka, Tibet and is a traditional Tibetan Medicine Doctor. Dr. Dawa has developed a line of products to be used proactively for preventative health care, integrating traditional Tibetan Medical wisdom.  He has formulated herbal supplements, including massage oils, five elements air spray, hair and body cleansers and conditioners, hair spray, detoxing and relaxing bath therapies, and anti-aging chocolates. Each of these products can be used according to an individual’s personality and disposition, current health needs, and general constitution, helping to foster their health and wellness. Over the course of his medical career, Dr. Dawa has consulted with diverse patients with a variety of ailments and health issues.  He integrates a compassionate and thorough approach, helping patients find their best path to a better quality of life and health. Consultations are an interactive experience, during which patients can to ask questions regarding their well-being.  He learned basic Tibetan language and medicine from his late uncle Professor Samten (a renowned professor of Lhasa Men-Tsee-Khang) and Dr. Lobsang Wangyal (former Physician of H.H. Dalai Lama). After being exiled from Tibet, he joined the seventh class of medical students at the Tibetan Medical and Astrological College, Men-Tsee-Khang College, Dharamshala in India and received both his Kachupa (Bachelors) and Menrampa (Doctor of Tibetan Medicine).  After completing his studies, he served as an intern at Men-Tsee-Khang Branch Clinic in Ladhak. He then also worked as a Pharmacist within the Pharmacy Department under the guidance of Dr. Tenzin Choedak (former Physician of H.H. Dalai Lama). He later assumed responsibilities as the director of the Herbal Product Research Department. Altogether Dr. Dawa’s career with Men-Tsee-Khang lasted almost two decades. 

He received further training and assisted research, focusing on the quality analysis of Tibetan Medicine, with Dr. Dakpa from Hayashibara Biochemical Laboratory and Life Science Research Institute – Japan. He was invited to the United States and exchanged information regarding herbal product development during his time as a consultant with Horst M. Rechelbacher, a founder of Aveda and Intelligent Nutrients. Dr. Dawa is currently working along with Dr. Norman Suhu, a doctor of Naturopathy and Acupuncture. Dr.Dawa helps to provide consultations regarding diet and lifestyle to patients. He uses the traditional diagnostic methods of pulse examination, tongue examination, and urine analysis. He also provides various kinds of therapies; massage, medicinal bath etc.

Dr. Chok Tenzin Monlam is an accomplished teacher who has dedicated his career to the continuance of Tibetan Buddhist culture and language in modern society. A practicing academic, teacher, and healer, he teaches a wide range of modalities, from Tibetan language to Tibetan yoga, meditation, and Buddhist science and philosophy.

Ordained by His Holiness the Dalai Lama, he studied and practiced as a Tibetan monk for ten years. Having advanced his studies through institutions for two decades, Dr. Chok has obtained multiple degrees in Buddhist and Tibetan studies, including his PhD from the University of Delhi. He has studied and trained for decades in Buddhist studies, Tibetan yoga, healing, and meditation under the direction of many teachers of the major and minor Tibetan Buddhist traditions. He served as the Head of the Research and Translation Department at the Library of Tibetan Works and Archives in Dharamshala for 13 years, until he relocated to the United States in 2019.

An author, translator, and certified language instructor, Dr. Chok has written two books on how to learn the Tibetan language, written and translated more than 36 books and many articles, and has taught both Tibetan and English language courses in affiliation with multiple learning institutions. His passion, however, lies in Tibetan yoga and meditation. The Tibetan style of yogic practice is exceedingly rare, and few people are qualified to teach it today. Dr. Chok is qualified to teach yoga in this Tibetan tradition, as well as being certified in the Indian tradition. To share the health benefits of Tibetan yoga to the body, energy, and mind, he has taught prolifically in India, the United States, and over a dozen other countries. Dr. Chok is also qualified in and practices healing modalities inclusive of Chöd, pranic healing, mantra healing, and more. Since the pandemic, Dr. Chok has taught virtual courses all over the globe. He currently teaches Tibetan Yoga and Meditation at the Jacques Marchais Museum of Tibetan Art in Staten Island, NY, Tibet Center, Chicago, Tibet House, Frankfurt, Germany, Nimes Association and is an instructor in the Brooklyn Public Library’s biannual University Open Air program, Dr. Chok offers diverse and inclusive teaching series on Tibetan yoga, meditation, healing, and Buddhist science and philosophy in partnership with multiple organizations. 

Leslee Penny is a highly experienced meditation instructor, hypnotist, and cognitive behavior practitioner with

over 30 years of expertise. She specializes in guiding individuals through deep healing practices, including breathwork, somatic stretching, and transformative meditation techniques.