A unique opportunity to...
MEET CHALLENGE WITH PRESENCE.Â
Immersive retreat near Sydney · May 21-24
For those ready to meet discomfort — in the body, in the mind, in life — with presence instead of force.
- Maybe this feels familiar:
You’re capable. Responsible. High-functioning.
But underneath it all:
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You’re tired of constantly pushing.
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You rarely feel fully present.
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You achieve — but don’t always feel satisfied.
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You hold it together for everyone else.
- And somewhere along the way...you stopped feeling fully aliveÂ
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This retreat isn’t about doing more.
It’s about choosing yourself — and staying with yourself.
How do you react when life becomes uncomfortable?
Do you get angry? Do you fight and struggle for as long as you can? Do you give up? Or do you stay present when everything in you wants to escape?Â
Because this isn’t just about the longest plank or the longest breath hold. It’s about how you respond when life feels too much.
Now imagine this: Joska held an abdominal plank for an incredible 9h 38min 47sec
No force.
No aggression.
No visible suffering.
Just calm focus.
Breath.
Presence under pressure.
While his body was screaming.
Naturally, I wanted to understand: how? and why?
What allows someone to remain steady when discomfort rises?
How do you stay with intensity — without hardening or shutting down?
That curiosity led to this collaboration.
Together, we guide people through grounded, carefully designed challenges — not to push limits, but to understand how they meet them.
This retreat is designed to help you:
âś“ Meet fear with presence
âś“ Rebuild trust in yourself
âś“ Stay steady when life feels uncomfortable
Not by forcing more — but by responding differently.
INVESTMENT & RETREAT DETAILS
A Rare, Immersive 4-Day Experience
COUNTRY RETREAT - WISEMAN'S FERRY (NEAR SYDNEY)
$2,800 pp
Payment Plans available
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Thursday 21– Sunday 24 May 2026
- Includes accommodation, all gourmet meals, non-alcoholic drinks, and the full 4-day immersive program guided by Joska & Miska
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Arrival Thursday between 3pm-7pm + 3 nights accommodation
- Immerse yourself in nature, fall asleep to the sound of the birds and a nearby stream, and enjoy quiet evenings by the fireplace.
- Shared rooms are included. Private rooms available for an additional fee (subject to availability).
- This is not a large-scale event. It’s a small, curated experience designed for depth — maximum 16 participants.
- Secure your place with a $500 deposit upon acceptance.
7-DAYS MONEY-BACK GUARANTEE
Need a little time to be sure? Secure your spot with a deposit and you’ll have 7 days to change your mind for a full refund, as long as you’re more than 90 days out from departure.
Most people think that resilience is about pushing harder.              Â
But pushing harder is often what's breaking them.
ABOUT THE RETREAT
Where the Mind meets Body.
Most people aren’t exhausted because life is hard.
They’re exhausted because they’ve learned to respond to pressure by tightening, pushing, and holding it all together.
Over time, that way of living leads to exhaustion, disconnection, and a quiet loss of meaning.
There is a different way. Not pushing harder — but learning how to stay steady when pressure rises.
Not forcing resilience — but understanding how you meet discomfort.
Throughout the retreat, you’ll explore experiences such as:
- Fire walking
Not about proving courage — but about noticing what happens in your body when fear arises. The same fear that shows up before difficult conversations, big decisions, or stepping into something new. - Glass walking
An exercise in conscious focus. When your mind wants to panic, you learn to slow down and choose your next step deliberately. - Water-based experiences
Water teaches softness, surrender, and trust. You’ll explore how to stay steady without tightening — strong without hardening. - Breath & nervous system regulation
Practical tools you can use when work feels overwhelming, emotions rise, or pressure builds.
Nothing is forced.
Participation is always by choice.
The real work is internal — the fire and glass are simply mirrors. This retreat is about how you relate to yourself under pressure.
Introducing...
Joska Salek
The Man Who Redefines What's Possible
Coming to Australia from the Czech Republic.
Some people inspire simply by being present.
And then there are those whose life becomes a living proof of what’s possible.
Joska Salek is one of them.
His story reminds us that even the tallest mountains can be climbed — not through force, but through trust, determination, and unwavering purpose.
“Everything is possible.”
For Joska, this isn’t a cliché. It’s a lived truth — one that reshaped his entire life. At the age of 48, Joska stood at a crossroads. Struggling with excess weight, alcohol, and a sense of stagnation, he chose change.
Seven years later, he holds three Guinness World Records:
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Longest abdominal plank (male): 9h 38min 47sec
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Barefoot half marathon in snow & ice: 1h 50min 42sec (surpassing the previous record held by Wim Hof, widely known as “The Iceman”)
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Weighted plank (18 kg): 1h 25min 02sec
The numbers are remarkable.
But what matters more is how — and why — they were achieved.
Joska is also a survivor of 66 days of wrongful imprisonment in an Arab jail. He emerged not bitter, but stronger — with a deep understanding that even when the odds are against us, we remain responsible for creating our own happiness.
Today, Joska is planning to rewrite more world records and he has dedicated his life to helping others reconnect with their inner strength, step beyond comfort zones, and become the heroes of their own stories.
Miska Werner
Guiding people back to calm, clarity, and self-awareness — through breath, water, and soft power.
Michaela Werner is a freediving athlete and coach based in Newcastle, NSW. She's life-long student of water and Guinness World Record holder. Her mission is to guide people to reconnect with themselves on a deeper level — not by pushing harder, but by learning how to slow down, listen, and trust.
Her work is shaped by years of high-level freediving, motherhood, and a personal journey of self-discovery. Michaela believes that true strength is quiet, that water is one of our greatest teachers, and that growth happens when we stop resisting discomfort and start meeting it with softness and acceptance.
Known for her calm, intuitive approach, she creates safe, grounded spaces where people can explore their edges, regulate their nervous system, and rediscover what it feels like to move through life with clarity, ease, and confidence.
Two Guinness World Records:Â Â
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Longest Distance Underwater in 1 Hour (Female)
2,525m — Dynamic No Fins (25m × 101) -
Longest Distance Underwater in 24 Hours (Team, Breath-Held - under review) 98km — Dynamic No Fins (25m × 3,920)
Invitations. Not Expectations.
A glimpse into experiences that may be part of the retreat — always guided, mindful, always optional, and held with care. Each experience is designed not to push limits, but to invite mind–body connection, awareness, trust, and presence. You are never asked to prove anything — only to participate if it feels right. Often, the most powerful learning comes from choosing not today, from witnessing, and from noticing what arises within you.
Country Retreat near Sydney
Set in the Hawkesbury region, just under an hour from Sydney, this place offers the kind of quiet that’s hard to find without going far. Spread across a few simple, self-contained cottages and surrounded by bush, river, and open land, it’s a space that naturally invites you to slow down. You’ll wake to birds, move through the day with views of forest and hills, and have plenty of room to rest, reflect, or sit outside between sessions.
And when you feel like stepping back into the world, the small riverside town of Wisemans Ferry is only a short walk or drive away — close enough for ease, far enough to let the retreat do its work.
What Others Are Saying:
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John Cejka
"An incredible event full of intuition, inspiration, freedom, and powerful experiences. Try it at least once."
Simona Hechtova
"You don’t have to climb Everest or run barefoot marathons — everyone has their own “Olympus.” What seemed like entertainment sparked a deep desire for personal change. This experience truly changed my life."
Jarka Jungova
"Walking across hot coals felt natural, fearless, and deeply empowering. The energy, support, and trust in ourselves was extraordinary. This was my first step into a more conscious life."
Stanca Prochazkova
"The results came surprisingly fast — fears dissolved, balance returned, and the change within me positively affected those around me. A deeply meaningful experience."
Petra Vernerova
"A truly special day with amazing people. Something profound shifted for me immediately after — I’ll carry this experience with me."
Sarka Sofie Ledvinkova
"I felt reborn and euphoric. Walking on coals and glass was powerful — but feeling the shared energy of the group was unforgettable. I wholeheartedly recommend it."
Itinerary
Here’s a typical taste of what your retreat might look like — a balance of nature escapes, carefully held challenges, and spacious moments to contemplate and integrate. The exact flow may shift slightly depending on weather, group energy, and what feels most supportive in the moment.
Day 1 - WelcomeÂ
Arrive at your own pace on Thursday afternoon / early evening and check into your accommodation, allowing time to land and settle. We begin by meeting each other exactly where we’re at — with no expectations and no pressure to share more than feels right.
After a shared dinner, we’ll close the day with a screening of Joska’s full-feature documentary, "Vsechno je Mozny /Anything’s Possible" by the Czech director, Tomas Adam — an honest and inspiring story of resilience that sets the tone for the days ahead.
Day 2 - Earth & FireÂ
We begin the day early with a grounding morning meditation, followed by an optional barefoot run with Joska — an invitation to connect with your body, breath, and the earth beneath your feet. Through a sharing circle and a practical, motivational talk, Joska introduces clear mental frameworks, real-life examples, and simple techniques for meeting challenge with confidence and focus. These are then explored through a guided plank challenge, where physical discomfort becomes a gateway to presence, resilience, and conscious choice. Join Joska as he performs a plank with 25kg backpack!
A glass and fire walking experience invite you to meet and release fear of injury through calm awareness, softness and acceptance, reinforcing the understanding that soft power — not force — is what keeps us safe, grounded, and strong, both in the water and in life.
Day 3Â - Water &Â AirÂ
The day begins with gentle breathing practices designed to awaken and softly challenge your system, preparing both body and mind for the water. Guided by Miska, you’ll move into an underwater meditation where breath holds, stillness, and awareness invite a deeper connection — not only with the water, but with yourself.
Through simple, fluid movement, Miska embodies the essence of no-fins freediving, offering a living example of efficiency, softness, and trust. Nothing is forced; everything unfolds through presence.
And speaking of trust — you’ll also be invited into a powerful, carefully held exercise that explores trust in your own decisions and in others: a conscious backward fall through the air, safely received by the group. It’s a simple moment, yet one that often reveals far more than expected.
Day 4Â -Â The Journey Continues
We greet the final morning at sunrise, with an optional barefoot run alongside Joska — a quiet opportunity to reconnect with the body, breath, and the ground beneath your feet.
A final plank challenge invites you to put the skills of presence, clarity, and self-regulation into practice, noticing not how long you last, but how you meet the moment.
We close the retreat with a final sharing circle — a space for reflection, integration, and intention — before departing, not with an ending, but with tools, insights, and embodied experience to carry forward into everyday life.
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Joska's Mission
To strengthen bodies.
To awaken spirit.
And to ignite the belief that when courage, determination, and purpose come together —
everything truly is possible."
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Josef Salek
Miska's Philosophy
You can’t fight water — if you do, you will lose.
And life is no different.
When we stop resisting and move with awareness, we conserve energy, protect our life force, and discover a deeper kind of strength. I call it soft power..
Water reveals.
Water heals.
Water teaches.
