Ihya · The Grand Journey
Seven days of walking among the Dolomite peaks, and every step outward is a step inward.
About the Gathering
An invitation to seven days and six nights of walking among the Dolomite peaks, in Val di Fassa in Trentino, Italy, with Samer Hassan.
The Grand Journey is Ihya's summer retreat, the one that gathers the threads of body, self, relationships, and work into a single harmony. Here the hike is the road the whole revival journey travels on: one step outward and one step inward, with Samer beside you on the trail.
You walk and enjoy the hike, and at the same time you travel inward, accompanied rather than alone.
It is a chance not only to cross borders but to cross cultures. Whatever the headlines say about us, sit for a few days with people from other countries and languages, notice how they see things, how alike we turn out to be, and what we can do for each other. Balance is easier found in company, and a better future is easier to imagine together.
The journey is led in Arabic and English together, as the group needs. Because it is built around people, and around where each person stands rather than around one timetable, the language follows: you are looked after in the language you need.
You come as you are.
What you take home from the mountain
- A harmonious relationship between body and mind, built on listening rather than control, sensory acuity as a daily skill, and your natural rhythm found again.
- A calmer relationship with your thoughts and feelings, the ability to stop instead of deplete, and an inner clarity that shows in your daily decisions.
- Presence that holds in the company of others, connection without self-erasure, and relationships built on awareness rather than need.
- Imagination unhooked from fear, and expression that is new and rooted at once.
- Work reconnected to meaning, impact that lasts because it is clean, and leadership grown from presence rather than force.
- Body, self, connection, and impact in one rhythm, a return that lasts, and a new beginning rather than a finish line.
Who is in the room
- For anyone who feels the days passing while running on preservation rather than presence, and wants seven full days to give themselves in the arms of nature.
- For anyone who wants one journey that brings body, self, connection and work together.
- For the coach and the leader who want to live presence in the body before they teach it.
- For those who love walking and do not love racing.
The walk is a journey inward
Each day a new trail among the Dolomite peaks, and each day devoted to reviving one part of you: a question at the climb, long stretches of silence, a conversation that finds its own moment, and in the evening a circle that gathers what the day opened.
What surrounds you on the trail
The dirt trail climbs through meadows thick with yellow and white summer flowers, then drops to a stream tumbling over stones. Horses with golden manes graze free in the meadow, cows rest on the slope, and spotted red mushrooms wait in the grass by your boot. Above, the pale Dolomite peaks hold the valley like two open arms, changing colour with the light. At the yellow trail sign you stop to catch your breath, and the whole valley lies below you. The air is cold and clean, and the only sounds are water, your steps, and your breathing.
Company like you
A small circle of people who came for a reason close to yours. You walk together by day and gather as one circle in the evening, with the mountain a silent companion all week.
The evening circle
Every evening we sit as one circle, and each of us says what we noticed during the day. There are no lectures to sit through and no notes to keep. The learning lives in the body, on the trail, before it is put into words, and what is said in the circle stays there.
What should I bring?
No mountain experience is needed. We walk at the group's pace, with no racing, no scrambling over rock, and no ropes, and most guests need no more than ordinary fitness and a good pair of walking shoes. Bring light layers for the cold morning and the midday sun, a small backpack, and a water bottle.
The Journey
How do the days go?
Monday 26 July
Arrival in the valley
- We arrive from the airports of Verona, Venice or Bolzano, with the transfer arrangements that reach you after registration. We put down our bags, take a short walk to get to know the place, and in the evening we sit our first circle: why did we come, and what are we bringing with us to the mountain?
Tuesday 27 July
The first climb
- The day of reviving the body. We walk slowly, we hear the step and the breath before the word, and we let the body's sensory signals be our guide on the trail. In the evening, a circle: what did the body say today?
Wednesday 28 July
A day of silence on the trail
- The day of reviving the self: we walk for hours without a word, and in the evening we say what each of us noticed when the noise stopped, and it may differ from what the person beside us noticed.
Thursday 29 July
Walking in pairs
- The day of reviving connection. We walk in pairs that change. You walk beside another person for hours, a conversation opens between you that the city never allows, and in the evening you sit together, having seen the same mountain.
Friday 30 July
To the highest point
- The day of innovation. We climb to the highest point of the week: a horizon that widens the higher we go, time to sit alone with a notebook, and ideas that arrive on their own once the mind rests from its tasks.
Saturday 31 July
The descent
- The day of reviving impact: what we carry down the mountain with us, and a clearer view of the next step. And what the mountain teaches about pace: one step, then the next, never the whole road at once.
Sunday 1 August
The gathering day and the return
- A slow final morning: body, self, connection, innovation, and impact in a single rhythm we take back into our lives. A letter you write to yourself that reaches you thirty days later, and then the departure to the airports.
Who will you meet?
Samer Hassan
MCCCreator of Somatic Thinking, who leads the Ihya retreats himself
Samer leads the Grand Journey himself and walks every trail with you, sits in the evening circle, and asks when the time for a question comes. He leads in Arabic and English together and moves between them as the circle needs. His full profile is on his page.
View full profile
The Venue
The Dolomites, Val di Fassa
A valley in the heart of the Dolomites, with walking trails from the door of the hotel. Full board in a mountain hotel, named two months before the trip.
- Full board
- Trails that begin at the lodging
- A hall for the evening circle
- Single and shared rooms
A pause on a high trail as the valley opens out below.
Walking the trail one step at a time, with the cloud close overhead.
A quiet meeting with a horse on a mountain pasture.
Horses grazing quietly on the slope.
A clear turquoise lake set in the forest.
Samer on a sunny day with the lake behind him.
The jagged rock peaks seen from high on the trail.
A mountain pasture with timber huts and rock peaks on the horizon.
The valley from high on the trail, a small village between meadow and forest.
A quiet stop at a viewpoint on the trail.
A riverside path in the morning light of the valley.
A herd resting on the slope with mist over the mountains behind.
The same herd from a wider angle.
A short rest on the grassy edge with the valley below.
Walking the trail one step at a time, with the cloud close overhead.
A quiet walk along the valley floor with the peak ahead.
A marmot keeping watch from the grass.
High on the ridge with the lake far below in the valley.
A rustic timber hut among wildflowers with mountains opposite.
A clear stream finding its way between rocks beside the trail.
The path runs on toward a distant hut in the high valley.
Wild red mushrooms in the grass beside the trail.
A distant waterfall gleaming between the forest trees.
The village on the valley floor, seen from a viewpoint.
The forest path, shade and light taking turns.
Secure Your Place
Up to 15 participants
Investment
What's included
- Seven days and six nights in Val di Fassa, full board.
- The retreat led personally by Samer Hassan throughout.
- A guided daily hike, each day reviving one part of you, and an evening circle.
- An invitation letter and booking confirmation to support a Schengen visa application, once the venue is confirmed.
Not included
- Flights.
- Transfers to and from the airport (arranged after registration).
- Insurance and visa fees.
Pay by Visa, Mastercard or Apple Pay; you receive an invoice after payment, and you can reserve with a 5% deposit and pay the balance by 6 December 2026.
You can learn more about this program
View programBefore you book
- What language is it in?
- Arabic and English together, as the group needs; Samer moves between them.
- What if my plans change?
- The figure shown is an estimate; the full cost and the venue are confirmed two months before the trip. The deposit is refunded in full, for any reason, until the full cost and venue are announced and for fourteen days after; and in full in any case if the trip does not run.
- Is it recorded?
- The circles are not recorded; what is said in them stays in them.
Frequently Asked Questions
Neither. Days walked in the mountain, and a circle in the evening where we say what we noticed. It is an educational awareness experience, with no diagnosis and no treatment.
No. These are walking trails, not rock faces, walked at the group's pace.
Your confirmation reaches you two months before the trip, and you have fourteen days after it to take your deposit back in full if you change your mind.
In both together, as the group needs; Samer moves between them.
Say so, and we find you a shorter way or an hour's rest; the pace is the group's, not the fastest walker's.
At registration you state your preference: a single room, a shared room, or sharing with your companion if someone comes with you. The final arrangement is confirmed with the venue.
The nearest airports are Verona, Venice and Bolzano. Arrival and transfer details for Val di Fassa reach you after registration, with the venue confirmation.
The trip is inside the Schengen area. Start your visa file when you book; some nationalities need six to twelve weeks, and the invitation letter and booking confirmation reach you as soon as the venue is confirmed.
Seven days of walking among the Dolomite peaks, and every step outward is a step inward.
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