Authentic Me Ibiza – Not just another retreat
Hosted by holistic coach and founder of Actors Academy, Nita Arpiainen, this transformative weeklong experience in Ibiza is open to everyone – no experience required.
As the year draws to a close, it’s perfectly natural for thoughts to turn to goals, resolutions and creating the life you truly want. For many people, this means living a life that feels authentic – true to your beliefs, feelings and sense of self. For others, it’s breaking free from limiting mindsets, shedding any self-doubts and embracing a more empowered version of themselves. If any (or all) of this sounds familiar and you’re ready to take the leap and transform your life in 2025, now is the time to enrol in the Authentic Me Retreat in Ibiza – an immersive and holistic weeklong experience designed to inspire and ignite the mind, body and soul. All you need is the willingness and curiosity to connect to others and to yourself.
Hosted by acting teacher, actor, yoga instructor and holistic coach, Nita Arpiainen – founder of Actors Academy – the third edition of the Authentic Me Retreat takes place in Ibiza from Sunday April 06 to Saturday April 12, 2025. Drawing on the principles of the famous Meisner Acting Technique – originally developed by Sanford Meisner in New York City in the 1930s and practiced widely to this day – Nita has designed a transformative program that will benefit anyone (not only performers or creatives) looking for a reset or those seeking personal or professional growth. Empowering, inspiring, intense, profound, creative, supportive and – importantly – fun, the intimate retreat is limited to 12 residential spaces within the villa and only 16 places overall, to allow island residents the opportunity to attend the daily workshops, classes and sessions.
Taking place within a beautifully authentic Ibiza villa, immersed in nature and with plenty of space for moments of repose and reflection, the Authentic Me Retreat brings together a group of like-minded people of all ages (previous participants have ranged from 16 to late 60s), from all backgrounds. Nita recommends participants drop any preconceived notions of acting (this is not what the Meisner Technique is about) and ditching labels such as actor or novice in favour of simply being in the moment. “The work itself is so beautiful and profound,” she says. “Because you are enough, as you are – as humans, we often find it difficult to ‘just be’. We find our way through trust, authenticity, our impulses and a curious mind. By becoming childlike again, experiencing one moment after the other, the work is fascinating, and we see people’s authentic inner selves shine.”
Drawing on the principles of the famous Meisner Acting Technique, Authentic Me is all about being in the present moment and letting your inner self shine.
A typical day on the Authentic Me Retreat begins with morning group sessions designed to get you out of your head and into your body – a combination of yoga, body awareness, meditation, breathwork or EFT (tapping). A healthy, wholesome and fresh breakfast, lovingly created by the retreat’s in-house chef, fuels you up for the day ahead, followed by your first workshop with Nita. Participants are guided to work in pairs, or as a group, conducting a series of exercises based on repetition that encourage them to respond instinctively in the moment.
“In this practice, the aim is to get to the root of the moment,” says Nita of her intuitive, interactive, compassionate and hands-on teaching methods. “Our natural tendency is to be polite and avoid conflict, never revealing how we really feel. Eventually, we lose our connection to our selves, our intuition and guidance, but in the Meisner Technique, we simplify things to reawaken our instinctive truth, something that is immediately felt in the body.” The result is genuine expression, emotional freedom and radical self-acceptance, all nurtured in a safe and grounded environment.
A break for lunch and free time comes next – the ideal time to explore the island and go on nature hikes, visit the old town, go horse riding, have some beach time and more – before reconvening for the second workshop of the day, coaching and a meditative closing circle. Discuss the day’s progress over dinner, followed by evening sessions that include yin yoga, movie nights, sound healings and more, before sleeping deeply and soundly, ready to dive deeper into the process the next day.
Previous Authentic Me Retreat participants have forged strong bonds with one another, staying in touch long after the retreat is over. “It’s a very deep experience they share,” explains Nita. “They are really being seen, as well as seeing others in their full truth, and this might be the first time they experience a true sense of belonging in their adult lives. It’s real intimacy, developed in a very short time. At the end of the retreat, you may not know each other’s surnames or professions, but you ‘know’ each other deeply.”
The two-day Authentic Me Workshop in Ibiza offers the chance to dive deep into the Meisner Technique before embarking on retreat.
For Nita, who divides her time between Finland and Ibiza, facilitating the Authentic Me Retreats and lengthier holistic acting courses (which also take place in Helsinki, Amsterdam and Tallinn) has led her to feel that her life’s purpose has been fulfilled. “It completely fills my heart,” she says. “Witnessing the depth and results of the work. Seeing people step back into their truth, their light, their aliveness, their beauty in their uniqueness, their authentic human expression and experience, as they start to live more courageously, believe in themselves and in their lives and dreams again. Supporting others in this way feels like a life calling; my purpose is offering something I wish I’d had throughout many different stages of my life, like when I was struggling with myself and feeling like I didn’t belong.”
For anyone interested in diving into the transformation potential of the Authentic Me Meisner Technique methodology prior to the intensive retreat in April, Nita is also hosting a two-day Authentic Me Workshop in Ibiza on Saturday January 11 and Sunday January 12, 2025. Taking place between 10am and 3.30pm each day, you’ll get a full-on taster as you learn to express yourself freely, embrace your authenticity, connect to your full spectrum of feelings, develop your communication skills and enhance your confidence. Open to all, you can be a first-timer or experienced with the technique – the workshop suits all levels and can be useful for actors and performers, creatives, public speakers, coaches and anyone simply looking to discover more freedom, courage and awareness within themselves.
“If you want more self-awareness, to reconnect to your childlike joy and lightness, to have more meaningful connections and to feel at peace with difficult conversations or confrontation, Authentic Me is for you,” concludes Nita. “You’ll remember what it is to really let life move you, and learn to experience life more profoundly.” While it’s impossible to know what the new year will bring, one thing is for sure: life won’t wait. And as Nita is often known to say, if not now, when? So much more than just another retreat, enrolments are now being accepted for both the Authentic Me Retreat and Workshop in Ibiza at the link below – it’s time to let your authentic self shine.
