A restorative retreat where the wisdom of horses, the healing power of nature, and the depth of Somatic Internal Family Systems (IFS) invite meaningful transformation.

With Shelley Tom (Somatic IFS psychotherapist), Sally Nilsson & Eric Kolesar of Tula Vida · 24-30 January, 2027

Come as you are. Leave lighter, steadier, clearer.

Join Shelley Tom, Sally Nilsson, Eric Kolesar and the team at Tula Vida for an immersive retreat nestled in the natural beauty of Costa Rica. Together, we’ll create a restorative space where the wisdom of horses, the healing power of nature, and the depth of Somatic Internal Family Systems (SIFS) invite meaningful transformation.

Somatic Internal Family Systems (SIFS) is an approach to healing that sees the mind as made up of different “parts” — like an inner protector, an inner critic, or a part that’s still carrying old pain — each trying, in its own way, to help us feel safe. Rather than pushing these parts away or trying to fix them, SIFS invites us to get curious about them and meet them with compassion instead of judgment. Underneath all of these parts is what SIFS calls the Self — a calm, centered core that’s always there, even when it’s hard to access.

The “somatic” piece is about how we get there: instead of just talking about or analyzing our parts, we learn to notice them in the body first — the tightness, the bracing, the settling — because the body often knows what a part is holding before the mind can name it. Working this way tends to access material faster and more deeply than talk alone, and it builds a felt sense of safety that lasts beyond the session itself. This retreat blends that body-based inner work with the powerful presence of horses, who have a remarkable way of helping parts show up and settle.

Tula Vida and Shelley are bringing two incredibly aligned modalities together: Somatic IFS and horses, each already working in the language of the body, presence and safety. Horses sense and respond to what's happening inside us before we've named it ourselves — which is exactly where Somatic IFS begins. Paired together, they create a depth and pace of transformation that's hard to reach through either alone.

The horses of Tula Vida offer a unique invitation into your inner world. Through the compassionate lens of Somatic Internal Family Systems, participants will deepen awareness of their internal experiences, cultivate greater Self-leadership, and integrate new insights through embodied practices.

Surrounded by nature and supported by experienced facilitators, this retreat is designed to foster nervous system regulation, authentic connection, and lasting personal growth.

Arrival — Landing in the Valley

The journey in. Group transfer at 2pm from Liberia International Airport (LIR), winding toward a landscape of volcanoes and open plains, the noise of the world falling away with every mile.

Settle into your room as the light softens over the valley — spring water already running through the tap, the sun having quietly done the day's work — and gather for a warm, home-cooked welcome dinner as the group begins to take shape.

Meeting the Herd — First Somatic Session

AM: Gentle yoga to arrive fully in the body, a hearty breakfast to set you up for the day, then out to meet the horse herd for your first Somatic IFS & Equine session — meeting your parts in the quiet, non-judging presence of the herd.

A nourishing lunch follows, grown just steps from where you're sitting.

PM: The afternoon we keep exploring — immersed in nature, with integration time to let the morning settle into the body, not just the mind.

As evening falls, dinner brings the flavours and culture of Costa Rica to the table.

Going Deeper

AM: Qi Gong with the horses to start the day in motion and stillness together, a traditional Costa Rican breakfast, then a further session with the herd — going deeper into what began to surface yesterday.

PM: Lunch, guided reflection time, and the invitation of our mile of private trails — a quiet path to walk alone and let the day's work settle, perhaps spotting a toucan overhead or watching the clouds take their own shapes. Dinner as the sun sets right over the valley.

Into the Cloud Forest

AM: We leave the ranch for El Jilguero — a strange and beautiful pocket of rare cloud forest, thick with moss and mist, alive with day-orchids, inspiring awe and wonder in every gaze.

PM: Lunch back at the ranch, then somatic exercises for you to practice at your own pace. Time to take your journal and sit in the quiet company of the horses to practice or to talk through what is stirring within you.

The day closes with Yoga Nidra, resting deeply enough that the nervous system gets to fully recalibrate, not just relax.

Offsite Adventure — Arenal Hot Springs

AM: Breakfast, then a drive around the shores of stunning Lake Arenal before arriving at warm, mineral-rich waters rising straight from the ground at the foot of the volcano — nothing to do here but sink in and let the heat do its work.

PM: We make our way back to Tula Vida for dinner, the volcano still visible as the light fades and the colours of the sun paint the sky.

Gathering the Threads

AM: Gentle yoga, breakfast, and a final Somatic IFS & Equine session to gather everything the week has offered.

PM: Lunch, a closing circle to look towards taking all this home, and a final dinner together to celebrate a deep, transformational week.

Departure

Breakfast, one last look at the valley, and departure transfer to LIR.

Tula Vida is an off-grid eco retreat sanctuary in Costa Rica offering immersive, nature-based experiences that encourage deep rest, connection, and transformation. Set across 85 acres of lush forest, open pasture, and flowing rivers, the land itself becomes an integral part of the healing experience.

Designed to support nervous system regulation, Tula Vida’s peaceful environment offers spaciousness, quiet, and an abundance of wildlife. The horses, the land, and the dedicated Tula Vida team create a welcoming atmosphere where participants can feel safe to slow down, reconnect with themselves, and experience meaningful personal growth. Everyone is included, everyone belongs.

Accommodation

The retreat center features eleven beautifully appointed guest rooms, open-air dining, a yoga deck, and thoughtfully designed gathering spaces that balance rustic elegance with modern comfort.

The rooms are beautiful and comfortable with a terrace and individual bathrooms. The horses are free to roam and it's a delight when they appear to join you for your morning coffee.

Nourishment

Guests enjoy nourishing local cuisine, hot showers, Wi-Fi, and abundant natural spaces for reflection, restoration, and integration.

Meals are home-cooked with love, using fresh local ingredients. The water comes from an abundant natural springs and the air is fresh from the trees to breathe – everything is designed to be in harmony with the surroundings and support your mind, body and spirit to rest, re-energise and renew.

This retreat is designed for individuals seeking deeper self-understanding through experiential healing. Whether you are looking to reconnect with yourself, navigate a life transition, or deepen your therapeutic practice, this retreat offers a compassionate and supportive environment for meaningful transformation.

The Land

Eighty-five acres of off-grid sanctuary, set between three volcanoes, next to a rainforest preserve — the kind of place your nervous system starts to settle before you’ve even unpacked.

Wander the trails at your own pace. Find a favourite spot. Watch the light change over the valley. There’s no hustle here — just open land and the rare gift of genuine quiet.

The Somatic IFS & Equine Experience

Our Somatic Internal Family Systems Equine sessions invite participants into a compassionate exploration of their inner landscape through the presence of horses.

Rather than analyzing experiences from the mind alone, participants are guided to notice the body’s responses, emotions, sensations, and internal parts as they naturally emerge in relationship with the horses. 

Horses offer immediate, nonjudgmental feedback that can illuminate patterns of protection, connection, vulnerability, and Self-leadership, because the horses often invite awareness of protective patterns and internal parts as they naturally arise.

Through mindful somatic awareness and the Internal Family Systems model, participants are supported in developing greater curiosity toward their inner experience, cultivating nervous system regulation, and accessing deeper healing from the inside out — leading to an increased embodiment of Self Energy. 

No horse experience is necessary. The work takes place primarily on the ground in a safe, supportive environment where each participant’s pace and process are honored.

This work is woven through the week, giving each part the time and safety it needs to be met.

The Movement

Some mornings begin on the yoga mat with Shelley; others begin among the herd, moving through Qi Gong in their quiet company. Either way, you arrive in your body before the day's inner work asks anything of you. Yoga Nidra is woven through the week as a practice of its own — a chance to rest so deeply the nervous system gets to recalibrate, not just relax.

Start the day in your body, in the presence of the herd, and feel the difference it makes.

The Cloud Forest

Midweek, we leave the ranch for El Jilguero — an untouched pocket of cloud forest, thick with moss and mist, where the trees seem older than time and the light barely reaches the ground. It's wild, quiet, a little strange — the kind of place few travelers ever find.

Some places don't ask anything of you. They just let you wander, and wonder.

The Hot Springs

One day we will travel around the sparkling lake to Arenal, where volcanic springs run warm and mineral-rich straight from the mountain. There's nothing to do here but sink in and let the heat do its work.

Let the water hold what the day has loosened.

The Food

All meals are home-cooked with love, using fresh ingredients from our garden or sourced from the local area. We do serve meat and we can cater to most dietary preferences.

Come and be taken care of. Feel your taste buds come alive with fresh Costa Rican fruits, share the culture in local dishes and feel a sense of belonging around our table where all are welcome.

The Sunsets

In the evening we watch the sun paint the sky spectacular colors and sink down over the valley. It’s a simple ritual, and often one of the things guests remember most.

Enjoy the awe and wonder, and let the day close gently around you.

Everything here — the land, the horses, the stillness — is designed to support one thing: helping you meet your own parts with more compassion, and come home to Self.

Shelley Tom, MS, LPC

Shelley Tom is a Licensed Professional Counselor, Yoga Teacher, and somatic psychotherapist who is passionate about creating spaces where people can slow down, reconnect with themselves, and discover their own pathways toward healing and wholeness.

Shelley’s clinical work is grounded in Somatic Internal Family Systems (SIFS), an approach that invites us to meet the different parts of ourselves with curiosity, compassion, and less judgment, while reconnecting with the deeper Self that exists beneath our protective patterns. She also integrates her training in EMDR, Safe and Sound Protocol, Sensorimotor Psychotherapy, Acceptance and Commitment Therapy, Healthy Relationships and Attachment Theory.

Throughout her career, Shelley has worked with teens, adults, and families healing from trauma in residential treatment, wilderness therapy, and outpatient settings. She has served as a Clinical Director of an integrative residential program and has held clinical positions in a variety of community settings.

Today, Shelley brings her clinical experience together with body-centered practices, mindfulness, yoga, nature, and equine-assisted experiences. She believes healing is not simply about changing what is happening inside of us, but about developing a more compassionate relationship with ourselves—learning to listen to the wisdom of the body, honor the parts that have worked hard to protect us, and create space for greater connection, choice, and aliveness.

Her work with horses is a natural extension of this philosophy. Horses offer a powerful opportunity to slow down, become present, notice what is happening within us, and experience relationship in a way that is immediate, embodied, and often deeply revealing.

Shelley is honored to walk alongside others as they reconnect with their inner wisdom, cultivate greater self-trust, and move toward a life that feels more authentic, connected, and whole.

shelleyjoytom.com

Sally Nilsson, Co-Founder Tula Vida
Sally's journey from corporate lawyer to experiential coach was guided by a golden thread — her profound connection with horses. Throughout her 15-year legal career in London and Hong Kong, horses were her refuge and rejuvenation, until an encounter with a horse named Beauty in Costa Rica became the catalyst for transformation, leading her to step off the corporate path and devote herself to horse-facilitated coaching and personal growth.

With training in numerous related modalities, and rich, personal experience on the ground immersed in a herd of horses, Sally co-founded Tula Vida as a sanctuary for horses and humans and now, in collaboration with Beauty and the horse herd, guides others on the path of authentic self-discovery.

Sally is an Advanced Certified Equine Experiential Learning Facilitator in the Eponaquest model, Polyvagal Equine Institute certified, a Certified Professional Life Coach through the Institute of Professional Excellence in Coaching (IPEC), a Systemic Constellations with Horses Facilitator, and an Equine Facilitated Sand Play Practitioner and co-creator of the Equine Facilitated Sand Play modality.

Eric Kolesar, Co-Founder Tula Vida
Eric has been guiding transformation in the wellness space for decades, from yoga studios to adventure retreats to horse pastures. His work — rooted in mindfulness, breath awareness, and the body's wisdom — helps people balance mind and body and step into their most authentic expression.

Bringing his martial-arts, breath-based and body-aware practices into horse-training and equine coaching, and drawing on years of experience in property stewardship, Eric co-created Tula Vida as a living sanctuary — shaping the land itself, tending to the herd, and guiding guests back into their bodies alongside both. He brings the same steady attention to restoring soil and cultivating food forests as he does to facilitating a guest's work with a horse.

Eric is a Certified Equine Experiential Learning Facilitator in the Eponaquest model, a Masterson Equine Specialist, an Equine Facilitated Sand Play Practitioner, a Systemic Constellations with Horses Facilitator, a Certified Professional Life Coach, a 500-hour Certified Yoga Instructor, a Reiki Master, and a Certified Paddleboarding Instructor.

Tula Vida Ranch

With a shared passion for facilitating profound personal growth and a deep trust in the wisdom of horses and the healing rhythms of nature, Eric Kolesar and Sally Nilsson created Tula Vida Ranch on 85 acres of ancient, off-grid land in a remote corner of Costa Rica — surrounded by volcanoes, lush rainforest, and abundant wildlife.

The land itself facilitates as much as anyone here, its wild beauty and quiet holding space for whatever needs to surface.

Running on pure spring water and nature's rhythm, this living sanctuary is where wild beauty meets deep comfort, and where their herd of 17 free-roaming rescue horses — alongside the fun, lovable family of dogs — invite profound connection and transformation.