The Feels

The Feels is a healing workshop for single adults who want dating to feel more empowered, easeful, and grounded. It applies somatics, mindfulness, and authentic relating to the experience of meeting and relating to others, and it takes place over four days at Kripalu Center for Yoga & Health in Stockbridge, Massachusetts. Allie Hoffman and Ryel Kestano present the program, which is built around one idea: reconnecting with the wisdom of your own body so you can trust yourself more fully in connection.

If dating has felt especially hard lately, this gathering starts from the understanding that you are not alone in that.

What to Expect

Each session ties the practices directly to dating and relating. Lessons include Somatics 101, nervous system regulation, boundary setting drawn from Gestalt psychology, attachment theory, patterning, and radical discontinuation. Alongside these are tools from the Authentic Relating, Nonviolent Communication, and neo-tantra movements, meant to help you meet others with more honesty.

The work is embodied. You practice alone, in pairs, and as a group, and there is time set aside to reflect. Participants are guided into consent-filled touch with fellow singles, giving the nervous system an imprint of healthy contact. The aim is to notice the patterns that have kept you stuck, try new tools, and practice them with others who are equally open and receptive. Past participants have stayed in touch for years.

The days follow a steady rhythm. On the opening day, check-in begins at 2:00 pm, followed by a Kripalu Yoga class, dinner, and an evening program session from 7:30 to 9:00. The full days begin with yoga from 6:30 to 7:45 am and a silent breakfast, then a program session from 9:00 to 11:30 am. After lunch, another session runs from 1:30 to 4:00 pm, with yoga and dinner before a final session from 7:30 to 9:00 pm. On the closing day, yoga and silent breakfast are followed by a session from 9:00 to 11:00 am, then lunch and departure. Actual times may vary, and the schedule given at check-in has the details and room locations.

About Ryel Kestano

Ryel Kestano is a facilitator who co-leads The Feels with Allie Hoffman.

The Setting

Kripalu Center for Yoga & Health sits in Stockbridge, in the Berkshires of western Massachusetts. Accommodations are intentionally simple, meant to help you unplug and feel grounded. You can choose a single or double private room for solitude, or a shared community-style dorm if you want more connection with fellow guests. Three meals are served each day, with breakfast taken in silence.

Rooms are ready by 4:00 pm, and a luggage room is available if you arrive earlier. Room check-out on the last day is at 10:00 am, though you may remain on campus and join workshops until 2:00 pm.

Before You Go

No experience with somatic work, yoga, or meditation is needed. The program is designed for adult singles of all backgrounds and is offered in English.

Your stay includes three nutritious meals a day, more than ten yoga classes over the program, accommodation on campus, access to the Kripalu grounds, and all program sessions and embodied practices. Healing Arts sessions, items from the Kripalu Shop and Cafe, and transportation to and from the center are not included.