A Decade of Wonder: Inward reflects outward

Is well-being rooted only in the body? Or can we also find balance through harmony in the mind, while embracing creativity, spirit and cultural expressions?

In the intersection of Mind, Nature and Sound, we began to see that what we cultivate inwards reflects outward. How we take care of ourselves frames our place in the world and how we impact it. 

"We aim to offer a space and cultivate a culture where the path to awakening is not only profound but also joyful, celebratory and communal."

– Black Turtle, Co-Founder, Dhyana

Created by researchers from Black Turtle and multi-disciplinary artists, Dhyana unlocked meditation, contemplation and spirituality. Based on ceremonial Buddhist teachings, these practices are also created to be accessible to Wonderers regardless of where they came from.

Workshops ranged from purifying smoke rituals to offerings of traditional dance from the Northern Thai region of Lanna and from Nepal. In 2023, Japanese musician Kanho Yakushiji led an acoustic chanting session that integrated Buddhist sutras and sacred texts with contemporary elements. 

In 2024, guides like Tulku Ngawang Tenzin, a Tibetan Buddhist lineage holder of the Nyingma tradition, led Wonderers through visualized meditations, sacred offerings and rituals, tracing a path to deeper awareness. 

From its humble beginnings, our sanctuary for inner balance and wellness expanded over the past decade into its own village. First launched in 2018, Wonderness is a sacred place to revive and rebalance. Here, Wonderers reconnected to themselves, to each other and to nature through healing, heart-opening and health workshops. 

Wonderness’s village sprouted distinct zones, each devoted to workshops that embody different elemental energies: air, earth, water and fire. Over the years, this has also grown to include other places of sanctuary and slower gathering, including Unconditional Space, Bath House, the Ancestral Forest and Medicinal Plant Village.

Here, workshops that focused on the body helped us recenter, refocus and even find joy, from ecstatic dance and yoga to guided ice bathing experiences. Likewise, journeys guided inward helped ease bodily troubles. Wellness practitioners invited Wonderers into sound journeys, rituals, ceremonies and other practices from around the world. 

Last year, Mab-Ueang guided us through traditional Thai methods of balancing mind, body and soul. James Marriott invited participants through a calming sensory journey grounded in Shinrin Yoku, or forest bathing.