Some places simply exist. Others breathe. Dynamis belongs to the second kind. It is not a destination but a living organism where every element has been placed with intention to support something that cannot be forced: inner transformation.
In this article I want to open the doors of this ecosystem. Not as a marketing brochure, but as a map of the territory. One you can walk through before you arrive, or after you leave, to understand why every stone, every tree and every silence has its place in this process.
The Origin: What Does Dynamis Mean?
The word Dynamis comes from ancient Greek (dynamis) and means "potency" or "inner force." For Aristotle, dynamis was the latent capacity of something to become what it is meant to be. The seed that already contains the full tree. The caterpillar that already carries the butterfly within.
That is the principle guiding everything we do: we are not here to give you something you lack. We are here to help you discover what is already there, waiting for the right conditions to take root.
"You do not come here to be healed. You come here to participate in your own healing."
This is not a slogan. It is our operating philosophy. Dynamis is not a resort and it is not a spa. It is a space where you actively engage in your own process. You help prepare the food. You participate in the rituals. You walk the land. The process does not happen to you. You make it happen.
The Sacred Terrain: Where Geography Becomes Therapy
Located in the mountains of Guanacaste, Costa Rica, the sacred terrain of Dynamis was not chosen at random. Its two natural hills, its centuries-old trees and its topography create an energetic container that you feel from the moment you cross the entrance.
The Entrance: Angel and Demon
The first thing you encounter upon arrival are the statues of the angel and the demon, guarding the entrance that faces north. They are not decoration. They represent the fundamental duality of the human being. The light and the shadow we all carry. Walking between them is a symbolic act: accepting that your process includes both sides.
The Infinity Path
A path that winds between the two hills of the terrain, tracing the infinity symbol. This is not an imposed metaphor. The natural topography of the land created this route where the two elevations form the eyes of the symbol. Walking this path is a meditation in motion: it has no beginning and no end, like life itself, like the cycles of healing that never truly finish but only deepen.
The Four Guardians
Four ancestral trees protect the energetic entrances of Dynamis at each cardinal point:
- Sister Melina (North): Guardian of new beginnings
- Yellow Cortez (East): Guardian of the sunrise and renewal
- Grandfather Guanacaste (South): 200 years of ancestral wisdom
- Brother Guapinol (West): Guardian of the sunset and transformation
These are not poetic names for the website. They are real presences you feel as you walk the land. Grandfather Guanacaste, with his two hundred years of life, is probably the oldest therapist on the property. His shade invites contemplation and his energy transmutes the burdens you carry. Beneath him you will find hammocks, benches and meditation spaces where more than one person has found the answer they were seeking.
The Ceibas and the Path to the Maloca
Two majestic ceiba trees guard the sacred path that ascends toward the Maloca, the ceremonial heart of Dynamis. Walking between them is crossing a threshold. Leaving the everyday behind and entering a space where the rules are different.
The Maloca: The Living Enneagram
If Dynamis has a heart, it is the Maloca. 150 square meters of sacred circular space where ancestral geometry meets modern healing.
Its circular structure is not random. The circle is the oldest form of human containment: the primitive fires, the tribal councils, the ceremonies of every tradition. The Maloca reproduces this with nine pillars that hold the structure, each one representing a facet of the human being, a mirror of the Enneagram that is the central tool of our work.
Everything happens here: sacred ceremonies, yoga sessions, breathwork, guided meditations, conscious dance, music healing, cuya healing with sacred stones from the Andean Apus, and sessions of rape. Each practice finds its natural space within this container.
The Sacred Fire
Intentionally positioned to the west of the Maloca, the sacred fire burns alongside the sunset. This is not coincidence. The west represents closure, transformation, release. Every evening, as the sun drops behind the mountains and the flames dance, something is let go. This is the moment for writing intentions, burning what no longer serves, and marking the passage between one day and the next.
The Path of the Four Directions
The entire ecosystem of Dynamis is organized around the four sacred directions. These correspond to the four elements and the four stages of the healing process:
North. Earth. Reconnect. Inner stability, clarity of intention. This is the starting point where you ground yourself. Where you meet yourself for the first time in a long while. The direction of reflection and introspection.
East. Air. Heal. New beginnings and hope. Here the work focuses on emotional release, letting go of trauma, gaining clarity. Like the wind that cleans and renews, this stage restores what was broken.
South. Fire. Transform. Vitality and action. Here the deepest shadow work happens. Patterns are confronted, logotherapy is applied, and the question is asked: "What am I here for?" This is the stage of purpose and inner fire.
West. Water. Integrate. Closure and release. The stage where experiences are consolidated, sustainable practices are built, and you emerge renewed. Like water that flows, you learn to let go.
Depending on the package you choose (Reconnection at 4 days, Healing at 7 days, or Transformation at 14 days) you will go deeper into this path.
The Healing Studio: Science and Wisdom in Dialogue
The Healing Studio is the space where contemporary psychology meets integrative wisdom. It is not a conventional office. It is a laboratory of self-knowledge where multiple tools converge into a single process.
Logotherapy and Existential Analysis
Based on the work of Viktor Frankl, logotherapy does not ask "What is wrong with you?" It asks "What meaning does your life hold?" In a world where existential emptiness is the silent epidemic, this tool offers a concrete path toward discovering personal purpose. Not as an abstract concept, but as a daily compass.
The Enneagram as an Inner Map
Every process of self-knowledge needs a map. The Enneagram is ours. A system of nine personality types that goes far beyond simple classification. Our 144-question test does not tell you "you are this." It tells you: "these are your patterns, these are your traps, and this is your path of growth."
The Enneagram runs through absolutely everything we do at Dynamis. From the initial assessment to the 9Seeds program, from individual sessions to the way we understand why certain experiences in the retreat affect you in a particular way and not another.
Integrative Homeopathy
Homeopathy is not a supplement in our work. It is one more dimension of an approach that understands mind, body and spirit are not separate departments. The remedies accompany the psychotherapeutic process, working on levels that words cannot reach.
9Seeds: The Program Born from a Metaphor
The 9Seeds program is perhaps the most complete expression of the Dynamis philosophy applied to a specific challenge: recovery from substance use.
The name comes from a simple but profound metaphor: each week of the program represents a seed planted in the inner soil of the person. These seeds do not sprout by force. They grow through attention, time and the right environment.
Over nine weeks, each seed represents a dimension of the human being inspired by the nine types of the Enneagram:
- Seed of Order: Structure, conscious discipline, ethical foundation
- Seed of Connection: Genuine bonds, giving and receiving love
- Seed of Authenticity: Real identity beyond the masks
- Seed of Depth: Honest emotions, creativity as healing
- Seed of Wisdom: Observation, understanding, inner resources
- Seed of Trust: Courage, belonging, support systems
- Seed of Freedom: Presence, gratitude, commitment to joy
- Seed of Power: Life force, healthy boundaries, vulnerability as strength
- Seed of Peace: Acceptance, integration, wholeness
The program integrates neuroscience, logotherapy and a harm reduction approach. It is not just about stopping a substance. It is about learning to inhabit yourself. For those who wish to take the process deeper, 9Seeds can culminate with a 7 to 10 day immersion at Dynamis.
The Retreats: Three Depths, One Path
Every retreat at Dynamis is intimate. Four people maximum. This is not a logistical limitation. It is a therapeutic decision. Deep transformation requires containment, personalized attention and a space where each person is truly seen.
Reconnection (4 days, $950). Your first immersion. Includes 3 sessions of integrative psychology, Enneagram test and analysis, sunset rituals with meditation and fire, and a trip to Tamarindo beach. Ideal for those who need a pause with purpose and clarity.
Healing (7 days, $1,950). The deep emotional process. Adds guided breathwork, sound healing, daily rituals and 6 personalized sessions. This is the space for working through grief, life transitions and emotional wounds that need time and containment.
Transformation (14 days, $4,200). The complete path. Daily personalized sessions, breathwork, sound healing, cuya healing, intensive shadow work, logotherapy to discover your life purpose, and multiple nature outings. For those ready for a deep new beginning.
All packages include a private cabin nestled in nature, vegetarian and organic meals prepared as a community, transport from Liberia airport, and virtual integration sessions after the retreat.
Plant Medicine: The Psychotherapeutic Retreat
For those seeking an experience with ancestral medicines, we offer a 7-day plant medicine retreat that differs fundamentally from what you will find elsewhere: here the ceremony is not the center. It is one more tool within a complete psychotherapeutic process.
While other centers work with groups of 30 to 50 people, Dynamis maintains its principle of four people maximum per retreat. The process includes a pre-retreat video consultation, the full Enneagram test, a personalized preparation guide, and direct communication with the facilitator before, during and after. Two ceremonies in the Maloca, preceded by days of preparation and followed by deep integration.
The Beings of the Forest
Dynamis is not just a space for humans. The land is home to deer that appear at dawn, howler monkeys that mark the rhythms of the day, red foxes that cross the paths at dusk, raccoons that visit with curiosity, and a diversity of birds whose song is the permanent soundtrack of this place. And of course, the cats of the property: silent companions who appear exactly when you need them most.
Living alongside these beings is not a tourist attraction. It is part of the process. Nature has its own therapeutic intelligence, and at Dynamis that intelligence is alive and present.
The Complete Ecosystem: Micro and Macro
What makes Dynamis unique is not any single element. It is the way everything connects. The Enneagram we use in individual sessions is the same one that inspired the nine pillars of the Maloca. The four cardinal points that organize the terrain are the same ones that structure the stages of each retreat. The seeds of the 9Seeds program germinate in the same soil, both literal and metaphorical, where the guardian trees have been doing exactly the same thing for centuries.
This is an ecosystem where the micro and the macro mirror each other. Your inner process reflects in the geography of the place. The cycles of nature accompany your cycles of healing. The sunrise marks new beginnings and the sunset invites you to let go.
"He who knows himself, knows God." (Clement of Alexandria)
That phrase guides everything we do. Nosce Te Ipsum. Know Thyself. Every tool, every space, every ritual at Dynamis points to the same thing: creating the conditions for you to see yourself clearly, accept what you see, and transform what needs transformation.
An Invitation
If something in these words resonated with you, perhaps it is not coincidence. Sometimes change begins with a simple conversation. A question. A first step.
You can take the free Enneagram test to begin knowing yourself. You can schedule a consultation with no commitment. Or you can simply save this article and return when the moment is right.
What I can tell you is this: the seed is already there. The dynamis, that inner force driving you to grow, is already part of who you are. Sometimes it just needs the right environment to take root.
See you on the path.
