Awakening Passion: Trust, Play & Love (California)

Awakening Passion: Trust, Play & Love is a Tantra weekend retreat for couples and individuals, led by Sara Stout and Thomas Stout of LovePassionately at Four Springs Retreat Center in Middletown, California. It is built around the idea that deep intimacy and a strong sense of self can grow together, and it is open to anyone ready to bring more aliveness, love and consciousness into their intimate relating and daily life.

What to Expect

The weekend opens with registration and dinner at 6pm on the first evening and closes at 12pm on Sunday, followed by lunch. Saturday is the full seminar day, with practical exercises and guided sessions led by Sara and Thomas Stout, and meals provided across the day.

The work draws on Tantric methods and treats play as a path to awakening. Through hands-on exercises, you explore how to establish the trust, verticality and boundaries that allow you to merge with another person without losing your individuality. Themes include reawakening primal passion, exploring where sexuality and spirituality meet, building sacredness into your love life, and celebrating your sexuality in a safe, affirming environment. You also learn tools for bringing Tantra into everyday life, so the practices can be repeated at home.

The retreat falls over Valentine's weekend, and couples are invited to spend it together in fun, safe ways that deepen connection. You do not need a partner to take part. The weekend is open regardless of gender, relationship status or sexual orientation.

About Sara Stout and Thomas Stout

Sara and Thomas Stout teach together through LovePassionately. They have been married for more than thirty years, and they bring that experience to the question of keeping love and passion alive while each partner stays a distinct individual. This weekend was newly designed in response to requests for deep intimacy that preserves autonomy. It also serves as the prerequisite for the Love & Ecstasy Training® cycles, an intensive course in SkyDancing® Tantra built on the methods of Margot Anand.

The Setting

Four Springs Retreat Center, at Sheveland Road in Middletown, is a camp-style retreat center with a private natural setting, trails, an unheated pool, a lodge for socializing and a workshop venue. Accommodation is chosen at registration and ranges from private cabins to camping:

- Private cabin with bathroom for couples: a queen bed and futon, or two twin beds that can be separated or combined.
- Duplex cabin with a shared bathroom between cabins: two twin beds, suitable for couples.
- Shared one-room cabin with two twin beds and a communal bathhouse in a separate building, suitable for couples.
- Indoor camping, available year-round, with a shared bathhouse.
- Outdoor camping with a shared bathhouse. From November through April this is for RVs only.

All cabins are double occupancy. Early registration is recommended if you want a particular lodging type.

Before You Go

All levels are welcome, and no prior knowledge of SkyDancing Tantra is needed. The workshop is taught in English. Space is limited.

The fee covers the full weekend seminar, meals from Friday dinner through Sunday lunch, access to the grounds, trails and pool, and your chosen lodging. Indoor campers bring their own sleeping mat and gear. Summer outdoor campers bring a tent, bedding and other amenities. Travel to Four Springs is not included.

People who have attended an evening or longer event with LovePassionately can request to register directly. If you are new to LovePassionately, Sara and Thomas ask that you schedule a free conversation with them before registering.