The Choose Again Society

The day at El Cielo begins at 5:30 a.m. with howler monkeys and songbirds, according to the centre's sample schedule for a ten-day retreat. Meditation with instruction follows at 6:30, then yoga, a guided hike or expressive movement. The rhythm continues through a morning Six Step circle, a Buddha-bowl lunch, a nature hike that sometimes ends in the lake, and a candlelit dinner where guests share the day's gratitudes. The evening closes with quiet study by the fire and stargazing on the veranda.

The work behind that schedule is Choose Again, which has operated since 2006 around the Six Steps to Freedom, developed by founder and program director Diederik Wolsak. The process is simple to state: notice the upset, take responsibility for it, feel it, recall when you felt this way as a child, ask what you believed about yourself then, and forgive. It is designed to be practised without an external therapist, and the centre's own materials say it has helped thousands of people.

The centre sits at mid-elevation among manicured gardens and lush jungle, overlooking Lake Arenal. It has a communal dining hall, indoor and outdoor spaces for group circles, a yoga studio and a greenhouse that supplies its salads and micro-greens. Rooms have a private bath and a veranda facing the garden and lake. In-house chefs serve three buffets a day, and each intensive includes at least one excursion, such as the hot springs by Arenal Volcano.

The flagship program, 100 Days to Freedom, pairs a residential intensive of one to two weeks with a three-month online Practice and Integration program. Groups are capped at twelve, and the days include therapeutic Six Step sessions, yoga, mindfulness and holotropic breathwork. Beyond Costa Rica, Choose Again runs live online circles, private counselling and a self-guided course. It also offers a year-long work-trade immersion at El Cielo, which begins with a one-month period of mutual evaluation. Its offices keep Pacific-time hours.