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New Beginning · New Year's Retreat
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“We all carry the potential to realize, in real time, that the vibrant energy we experience when we feel truly loved, seen and met, is who we actually are.” — Dawn Cartwright
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December 30th - January 2nd · Topanga
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New Beginning · Dec 30th - Jan 2nd · NeoTantra Retreat For Singles & Couples
Someone once said that what you do on New Year's, you'll be doing all year long.
I'll be spending three nights in Topanga, practicing NeoTantra.
I also have plans to walk the canyon trails in silence. Prepare cacao for ceremony on New Year's Eve. Weave a talisman I'll carry into 2027.
And you're invited to join me.
Inspired by my current fascination with the untamed erotic and the rewilding of love, we’ll be immersed in partnered practice. We'll discover what appears when eros is felt, welcomed, received and met between us.
Because there are aspects of ourselves that emerge only in the presence of another.
New Beginning is designed especially for singles and couples. Old friends and new. Time to listen, deepen, rest and restore. Space to create a new beginning.
All practices are taught fully clothed. There is no nudity and no sexual contact between participants. Every practice may be engaged solo or with a partner. No prior experience required.
I'm opening the doors today with a one-week early early bird rate of $2,497 per person. Pricing rises to $2,797 after September 7th, and to $3,397 after October 7th.
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Here's What We'll Explore . . .
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New Beginning · Dec 30th - Jan 2nd · NeoTantra Retreat For Singles & Couples
From Wednesday’s first meal together to Saturday’s closing ceremony, we’ll share three nights in the mountains. Time to honor the year behind us, discover what becomes possible between us, and create space for a new beginning.
Gather
We’ll gather in the canyons above Los Angeles. In the quiet space that appears before the new year begins. A world apart. A place of earth and sky.
We’ll be greeted with healthy snacks and conversations that take us off the beaten path. We’ll establish the shared agreements that support our time together. And then, when we’re ready, we’ll be guided to our rooms and cabins to rest and settle in before dinner and the evening session.
Root
Something about being in nature invites us to exhale. Our senses awaken. We see life and our place in it through a wide-angle lens instead of a microscope. We root and anchor in the present.
As the retreat begins, we’ll acknowledge what the year has brought us. The triumphs and the challenges. We’ll honor our growth. Our grief. Who we are. Who we’ve become. Through ritual, we’ll center in the present before opening to what’s ahead.
Encounter
Whether we’re meeting for the first time or have known each other for years, there are new edges and spaces to be experienced. New inner landscapes waiting to be explored.
Through guided NeoTantra partner practices, we’ll encounter one another. We’ll co-create unique experiences of meeting with openness and curiosity. We’ll discover who we are when we are together.
Flow
Our pulse changes. Warmth builds. We move closer. We take space. Intimacy is a current we enter. We sense. We respond. Energy flows.
Through movement, breath, and practices devoted to giving and receiving, we’ll explore the changing shape of pleasure and connection. We’ll discover new eddies and rapids as the experience unfolds.
Contact
We meet at our edges. You, inside yourself. Me, inside me. Together, through self-inquiry, listening, clear agreements, and the practice of sharing and honoring our needs, we create containment. Space for exploration. A clear sense of what is possible. Room to set down what we’ve been holding and make contact.
We’ll practice leading, following, and responding within the partner container. We’ll discover what appears when we truly touch.
Rise
The erotic is very much alive in each of us. A sleeping serpent. An incandescent flame. It appears in infinite forms. It is what inspires us. To rise.
Through NeoTantra practices, we’ll explore the many different expressions of eros and how it moves through our bodies. We’ll bring special attention to the pelvis, the spine, and the relationship between sensation and our capacity to receive it.
Realize
The experience of relationship allows us to see things we could not see alone. Through it, we discover hidden parts of ourselves. Unnamed intricacies of the world we live in. Unknown aspects of who we are. And what is possible for us as human beings and lovers.
We’ll practice The Wave of Bliss, a NeoTantra ceremony exploring the extraordinary reality that exists within this one. We’ll make room for what becomes possible through our presence, for ourselves and for one another.
Begin
We’ll take time to receive what these days have given us. What we’ve discovered in our bodies, hearts, and minds. What we want to carry into the year ahead. New practices, new friendships, new memories. A new beginning.
New Beginning is a New Year’s NeoTantra retreat for singles and couples. You're invited to join me in the Santa Monica Mountains, December 30, 2026 through January 2, 2027.
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The Schedule . . .
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New Beginning · Dec 30th - Jan 2nd · NeoTantra Retreat For Singles & Couples
The flow of the sessions may change over the course of the retreat - we ask, in advance, for your flexibility and understanding.
WEDNESDAY EVENING — ARRIVE & GATHER
3:00pm – 5:00pm · Check In
Welcome · Healthy snacks · Meet your fellow travelers · Settle into your room or cabin
6:00pm – 7:00pm · Dinner
7:30pm – 9:30pm · Opening Session
Honoring the year behind us · Centering in the present · Entering the NeoTantra space
9:30pm onwards · Free Time
Stargazing, sauna, hot tub, and plunge pool available
THURSDAY — ENCOUNTER & FLOW
7:00am – 7:30am · Fruit, Tea, Coffee
7:30am – 8:30am · A Silent Walk in the Canyon
Nature as our teacher, movement as meditation (weather permitting)
8:30am – 9:30am · Breakfast
10:00am – 1:00pm · Morning Session
Encounter · NeoTantra intimacy practices · Giving & Receiving · The changing shape of pleasure and connection
1:00pm – 2:00pm · Lunch
2:00pm – 4:00pm · Free Time
Hike, Sauna, Plunge Pool, Nap · Fresh Bread & Snack Spread
4:00pm – 6:00pm · Afternoon Session
Contact & Containment · Leading & Following · Sensing & Responding
6:00pm – 7:00pm · Dinner
7:30pm – 9:00pm · New Year’s Eve Divine Lovers Cacao Ceremony
Chakra Puja · Ceremonial Cacao · Rose Petals · Ritual · Divine Love
9:00pm onwards · Free Time
Hot tub, community, a personal midnight meditation, or an early night
FRIDAY — RISE & REALIZE
6:30am – 6:45am · Fruit, Tea, Coffee
6:45am – 7:45am · Sunrise Meditation
Crossing the Threshold · First Light · A New Beginning
7:45am – 8:30am · Time to Reflect & Refresh
8:30am – 9:30am · Breakfast
10:00am – 1:00pm · Morning Session
The Yoga of Love · Pelvis & Spine · The rewilding of erotic energy
1:00pm – 2:00pm · Lunch
2:00pm – 4:00pm · Free Time
Hike, Sauna, Plunge Pool, Nap · Fresh Bread & Snack Spread
4:00pm – 5:30pm · A Thread to Carry Home
Creating a personal talisman · Bringing new awareness home
6:00pm – 7:00pm · Dinner
7:30pm – 9:00pm · The Wave of Bliss
Intimacy · Practice · Presence · Exploring the extraordinary reality that exists within this one
9:00pm onwards · Free Time
Stargazing, sauna, hot tub, and plunge pool available
SATURDAY — NEW BEGINNING
7:00am – 7:30am · Fruit, Tea, Coffee
7:30am - 8:30am · Packing Our Bags & Our Cars
9:00am – 10:30am · Closing Celebration
Closing Ceremony · Sharing Circle · New practices, new friendships, new memories
10:30am – 11:30am · Saturday Brunch
Depart at 12:00 pm. Topanga is full of epic hikes and cool little local shops, and the beach is just 20 minutes away. Ask us for recommendations.
We ask everyone to attend all sessions. Participation in individual practices is optional.
All practices are taught fully clothed. There is no nudity and no sexual contact between participants. Every practice may be engaged solo or with a partner. No prior experience required.
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The Venue . . .
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New Beginning · Dec 30th - Jan 2nd · NeoTantra Retreat For Singles & Couples
Commune Topanga sits on ten acres of meandering paths, oak trees, and organic gardens at the end of a road in a remote canyon of the Santa Monica Mountains — less than an hour from the heart of Los Angeles, and another world entirely.
Guests sleep on organic mattresses and linens in charming A-frame glamping cabins, private tea house rooms, and intimate guest quarters — each space thoughtfully designed for two. Bathrooms are shared, inviting the kind of unhurried morning encounters that remind us we are part of something larger than ourselves.
Every meal is home-cooked from the bounty of LA's finest local farmers, shared together at a common table. Sauna, hot tub, and plunge pool are yours during free time — along with the trails, gardens, and places to spend a little time on your own.
Songwriter Neil Young lived on this land for many years and said it inspired some of his best work. I know it will inspire the best in us as well.
Directions and parking details sent with your registration confirmation.
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Our Facilitator . . .
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New Beginning · Dec 30th - Jan 2nd · NeoTantra Retreat For Singles & Couples
Dawn Cartwright has been teaching NeoTantra for more than thirty years. Certified in SkyDancing Tantra by Margo Anand in 1994, she is the founder of the Chandra Bindu Tantra Institute in Los Angeles, creator of the Fragrance of the Lotus Year-Long Teacher Certification Program, and host of the Be Fully Alive podcast.
Her teaching draws on classical and Neo-Tantric lineages, contemporary neuroscience, somatic practice, and three decades of direct experience. Her current podcast series, The Untamed Erotic, explores themes at the heart of New Beginning, including rewilding the erotic body and what becomes possible in the nuanced interplay between leading and following in relationship.
An Aquarius with her moon in Leo, Dawn has a natural love for community. Following June’s Coming Home retreat, she’s delighted to return to Topanga to welcome the new year with longtime loves and best friends she has yet to meet.
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Investment & Registration
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New Beginning · Dec 30th - Jan 2nd · NeoTantra Retreat For Singles & Couples
Come as you are and leave the logistics to us. This is a fully residential experience — shared rooms, shared baths, and every meal from Wednesday dinner through Saturday brunch included. Three nights. Glamping, Topanga style. All you need to bring is yourself.
Singles will be matched with a same-gender roommate. Couples will share a private room or A-Frame cabin. If you are traveling solo and would prefer your own room, solo occupancy is available with a single supplement.
WELCOME IN — YOUR INVESTMENT
Early Early Bird · $2,497 per person
Register by September 7th, 2026
Early Bird · $2,797 per person
Register by October 7th, 2026
General Registration · $3,397 per person
Register by December 20th, 2026
Solo occupancy · $600
Private single room, shared bath
NEW BEGINNING · DEC 30TH - JAN 2ND · REGISTER NOW
All sales are final. No refunds or transfers. In the event of extraordinary circumstances, credits toward a future event may be offered at the sole discretion of Dawn.
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From Those Who Have Experienced My Work
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New Beginning · Dec 30th - Jan 2nd · NeoTantra Retreat For Singles & Couples
While New Beginning is a brand new immersive experience, I've been passionate about NeoTantra for years. A few voices from those who have joined me so far.
The last ceremony, when I circled the candle around my partner, something happened - I can’t quite name it. Cosmic entry??? — Huw
I signed up to the Coming Home retreat inspired by the name and the teacher. To be in physical presence of Dawn and the sweetness she emanates while being led into a feeling of home. I left feeling time stretched as the practices and tremendous depth of the teachings and participants allowed, with more availability to love, my body trained to more nuance and to orient towards weaving connection. In love with life and the eternal companion. I feel spacious and in awe of the mystery of life! — Carolina
I have worked with Dawn more than once and each time I learn something new. She has a way of getting you to open up, clear out and make space for whatever it is you need. Her intuitive approach works for everyone. I have seen participants from all walks of life respond to her work. If you're looking to connect deeper with your partner or yourself, Dawn will show you the way. — Steven
I was so in awe after my experience. I literally was a different person afterward. I learned about my energy that was — and is — always present within me. This is an amazing experience, very fun, sacred and awakening. I felt overflowing with life, love and joy for the present moment. — Karen
I left feeling energized and hopeful — not just about sex, but about new, more connected and embodied ways of relating in general. — Brendan
Your story is waiting to be written. I'd love for you to join us.
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Chandra Bindu Tantra Institute
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www.chandrabindutantrainstitute.com
310.592.1293
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