Tau aims to love the world by guiding people on transformative journeys toward shalom. Any truly transformative journey is an inner and outer one, and the lifelong pilgrimage toward personal and global well-being has long monotonous sections as well as dramatic and cathartic periods. Our online journal and newsletter help us to experience contemplative ways of being as a compass in the regular seasons of life, while our wilderness journeys employ powerful experiences of raw nature, spirituality, wonder, play, indigenous encounters, open and restorative community, and contemplative practices and prayer in order to serve as an intense and focused crossroads for ongoing renewal and stewardship.
We are in the process of building out our retreat offerings; our next goal is to lead quarterly "Journeys" in at least four distinct locations, one for each season of the year. We have so far prototyped retreats unique to and informed by Panama in the Winter, Santa Cruz in the Spring, New York City in the Summer, and Moab in the Fall. Under the right circumstances we may also be for hire as a vendor on a private trip, retreat, gathering, or adventure that a client has themselves planned.
Reach out to inquire or express interest in future opportunities.
TAU JOURNEY RESPONSES
"Whether you are religious, spiritual, or non-, Tau Journey Panama is exactly the retreat experience 21st-century Westerners need. Jamison invites his participants to rediscover the power of childlike wonder, awe, and adventure – allowing the natural world to be our mentor and teacher in combination with practices of silence, contemplation, and unplugged rest. His 'Shalom Steps' are incredible. Take a journey into the jungle to find your deepest self." - Tau guest from New York City
"I needed to see something outside of my everyday. The experience reminded me of God’s love for me through communion with nature and friends and food and animals, etc. The wildness of the trip showed the wild imagination our Creator has, and the joy he longs for us to have as we participate in his masterpiece. At the same time it brought to light some important patterns of my life that needed to be restructured and gave me rituals (centering prayer, yoga, breathing) to incorporate into my daily rhythms." -Tau guest from New Orleans
"‘Tau Panama was exactly what I needed. My soul, body, and mind were rested and restored." –Tau guest and missionary to the American West
"If Tau's goals are promoting contemplative Christianity, love and stewardship of the Creation, and clergy renewal, then I'd say you're batting a thousand." –Tau guest and minister in Chattanooga
NEXT SCHEDULED JOURNEY
Panama, Winter 2024
February 3rd – 9th, 2024 (currently taking applications)
What is it?
This is our flagship journey and place of origin. Bocas del Toro is an off-grid, car-free, tropical jungle archipelago in the Caribbean Sea that inspired the formation of Tau and serves as our deepest place of renewal and reorientation.
Read a more detailed description of the previous 2023 retreats to Panama here.
What's the cost?
Essentially, the all-inclusive cost is $1500 per person or less and depends on choice of lodging and number of roommates (the cost would only be more if you want a private jungalow or room for one person). A limited number of scholarships are available; please inquire if you are in need.
What's included?
Pre-trip– Up to three (3) one-on-one sessions with our licensed health coach, a holistic (mind, body, spirit, relationships) well-being inventory, and recommended readings and media.
On-trip– Accommodations for six (6) nights and seven (7) days (see lodging options below), three (3) meals per day, morning yoga and guided contemplative prayer, immersion into Tau's proprietary "Seven Steps to Shalom" – bespoke written meditations with journaling prompts that foster contemplative habits and ways of life culled from your wilderness journey that you can practice back home – curated guidance to the many experiences, excursions, adventures, flora and fauna available in the Bocas Del Toro archipelago, and restorative and open community with like-minded people seeking more well-being for ourselves and the world.
Post-trip– Recommended readings and follow-up. Assistance crafting a "Prosperity Plan"/Rule of Life to weave the retreat back into your life at home.
What's not included?
All flights and travel to and from the Bocas Del Toro archipelago off of Panama's Caribbean shores, travel insurance, paid local excursions (there are plenty of free ones!), snacks, boat taxis, alcohol.
APPLY HERE
Note on travel to and from Bocas:
To get to the beautiful island and jungles of Bocas Del Toro, first fly from your hometown to Panama City and then take a small Air Panama plane for the one hour flight to Bocas Del Toro. Last year the round trip flights from Panama City to Bocas topped out at $200/person. It is recommended to spend a night in Panama City to enjoy and explore the canal and capital, then to catch the earliest flight to Bocas on the day your retreat begins. (It is also possible to travel through the capital of Costa Rica, but we have not tested that ourselves. Reach out if that's a desirable option and we can help with research.)
Other Cost-Measuring Tips:
1- Check the cost of a flight from your origin to Panama City, then add approximately $200 for an Air Panama connection to Bocas. Add these two numbers for your flight total.
2- Recommended Hotels in Panama City range from $100-$400 / night.
(With enough participants and planning there may be an option for a chartered flight from Bocas to Panama City that would allow our group to skip the sleepover night in Panama City on the return trip.)
3. Travel in Bocas is almost exclusively by foot or water taxi. Most boat trips from the retreat center to other popular spots in the archipelago are $5/person. There is plenty to do that does not require a taxi if you are open to hiking and/or using water equipment.
4- A half-carafe of wine at the retreat center is $5, beers and sodas are $1.
5. Paid excursions mostly range from $20 - $50 per person. (Examples include: Day-trips to an unpopulated paradise island, or to a "locals" beach with lots of character and food vendors; Organic farm or cacao plantation tours with food samplings; a visit to an indigenous village hidden up a thin mangrove river in order to spelunk in bat caves filled with water and shark-tooth fossils; indigenous-guided plant-walk and foraging tour with tea- or mask-making; etc.) Surfboard rentals are approximately $20/day. Available sailboat, fishing, and scuba charters are more expensive and vary.
6. Offsite restaurants (unnecessary but for those interested in sampling more food) range from very affordable Caribbean restaurants to foodie meccas that might cost $50/person at most.