A private Love Alchemy retreat for one couple, deep in the Costa Rican jungle. Your own secluded eco casa on a 65-acre nature preserve, private guidance from Melanie and John-Adam, and days shaped around the two of you.
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Imagine waking up in the heart of the jungle. No alarm. No overflowing calendar. No laundry waiting to be folded. Just the sounds of the rainforest, your lover beside you, and a whole day that belongs to the two of you.
Maybe you’re craving deeper connection after years of taking care of everyone else. Maybe your relationship is wonderful, and something is whispering, “There’s more.” Or maybe you’re ready to explore new depths of trust, intimacy, and sacred partnership.
Whatever brings you here, this is Love Alchemy, made for two.
Every Love Alchemy retreat has a beginning, a deepening, and a closing. In Costa Rica, that arc unfolds privately and at your pace, with Melanie and John-Adam guiding just the two of you.
Settle into the jungle and into each other. We get to know what you’re hoping for, set intentions together, and agree on how you’ll pace and pause the practices.
Breathwork and embodied practice. Relationship labs for communication and repair. Rituals that celebrate you as lovers, and space to explore sensuality and pleasure, always at the pace of the more cautious partner.
A closing practice to honor what you’ve discovered, and simple rituals to take home, so the connection doesn’t stay behind in the jungle.
A rhythm, not a fixed itinerary. We shape your days with you before you arrive.
Your home for this retreat is Butterfly Casa, a private off-grid eco casa within our 65-acre Sacred Jungle Retreat on the Río Sierpe.
Melanie and John-Adam stay at Iguana Casa, a three-to-five-minute walk along the jungle trail: close for sessions and support, far enough that your private time stays yours.
The jungle is alive here: birds, insects, changing weather, the rhythms of the river. It’s part of the experience, not something we hide.
Our luxury isn’t marble bathrooms and room service. It’s space. Privacy. Wild beauty. Undivided attention.
Couples come with different intentions. Most find themselves in more than one.
Understand your patterns, communicate with more compassion, rebuild trust and closeness, and find new ways of meeting each other.
Deepen sensuality, sacred sexuality, tantric connection, and embodied intimacy, without performance or prescribed outcomes.
Already strong together and curious what’s next? More adventure. More honest expression. More play. More depth.
Every practice is optional and consent-based, and the more cautious partner sets the pace. This is relationship coaching and embodied practice, not therapy or crisis support.
Sacred Jungle Retreat sits on the Osa Peninsula, known as the last great frontier of Costa Rica and often called one of the most biodiverse places on the planet.
Our 65 acres are a designated nature preserve, with only four casas on the entire property. Power comes from solar panels, and water comes clean and fresh from a gravity-fed well. The garden grows bananas, plantains, cacao, rambutans, pineapples, coconuts, and star fruit.
From the front porch of Butterfly Casa, we’ve seen howler monkeys, capuchin monkeys, sloths, toucans, macaws, hummingbirds, aracaris, even a coyote, and hundreds of butterflies an hour, including the electric-blue morpho.
At home, attention gets pulled in a hundred directions. Here, it has somewhere to land: your breath, your body, and the person beside you.
In Love Alchemy, meals are part of the practice: slowing down, savoring, and nourishing each other in every sense.
Before he became a physician, John-Adam was a highly trained chef. Some of your meals may be prepared by Melanie and John-Adam, and you may have the chance to cook together with local ingredients in a guided cooking experience: chopping, tasting, laughing, and making something nourishing side by side.
Bananas, plantains, cacao, rambutans, pineapples, coconuts, and star fruit grow right in the garden.
It isn’t a restaurant. It’s a table you share.
Nearly 27 years ago, we married each other. Four boys, countless adventures, career changes, and more than a few messy seasons later, we’re still intentionally deepening our emotional, spiritual, and sensual connection.
This retreat reflects what we believe: extraordinary relationships are created through presence, intentional practice, play, pleasure, and continued growth.
Trauma-informed Certified Somatic Sexuality & Relationship Coach
Melanie leads your sessions. Her work is consent-first and shame-free: you choose your pace and your edges, and every “no” is welcome.
Board-certified emergency physician · Retreat co-guide
John-Adam brings a steady presence, guides breath and movement alongside Melanie, and helps you find your way back to each other after a hard moment. Before medicine, he was a highly trained chef. Here he’s your co-guide, not your treating physician.
“She created a space that felt safe, welcoming, and completely free of pressure. She never made either of us feel like one person needed to be ‘fixed.’ … We laughed, cried, played, communicated, and connected in ways we never imagined—even after 28 years together.”
J + M
“Melanie, our teacher, is a blessing. She teaches, pushes you gently to grow, and creates one of the safest spaces imaginable to work on yourself and your relationship.”
K + D
Dates are arranged privately. Tell us when you’d like to come, and we’ll check what’s possible.
Ask about dates, pricing, or whether it’s the right fit. A few details are all we need, and we’ll reply personally.
It’s the same Love Alchemy flow, with a beginning, a deepening, and a closing, adapted for one couple. There’s no group and no shared schedule. Melanie and John-Adam guide just the two of you, at your pace.
Per couple: $9,500 for 5 days and 4 nights, $11,000 for 6 days and 5 nights, or $12,500 for 7 days and 6 nights. That includes your private casa, Melanie and John-Adam’s time and travel, and the core guided Love Alchemy experience. Your own travel and any optional excursions aren’t included.
In Butterfly Casa, a private off-grid eco casa within Sacred Jungle Retreat, our 65-acre nature preserve on the Río Sierpe on Costa Rica’s Osa Peninsula. We’ll walk you through the casa in detail when we talk.
We stay at Iguana Casa, about a three-to-five-minute walk along the jungle trail. Close enough for guided sessions and support, with enough space that your private time stays yours.
Shared meals and cooking experiences are part of the retreat, and some meals may be prepared by Melanie and John-Adam. We’ll talk through meals and any dietary needs when we plan your stay.
Optional excursions aren’t included in the retreat fee. Options include snorkeling, diving, fishing, a mangrove tour, a national park tour, and a cultural tour, with pickup right from the Sacred Jungle dock. We’ll help you choose when we plan your stay.
No. Every practice is an invitation. Either of you can pause, sit out, or change direction at any time, without explaining. The more cautious partner sets the pace.
Touch practices are between the two of you. Melanie and John-Adam demonstrate on each other, fully clothed, before you try anything together. At times a facilitator may offer supportive touch, and only after asking first, something as simple as “May I place a hand on your shoulder?” A no is always welcome, and nothing changes if you say it. Anything more intimate happens in your own casa, on your terms, if and when you both want it.
Sacred Jungle Retreat is remote, deep on the Osa Peninsula. We’ll share detailed travel and arrival plans with you personally before you book.
The jungle is alive, and that’s part of the magic: birds and insects, heat and humidity, sudden rain, and trails instead of sidewalks. Power comes from solar panels and water from a gravity-fed well. If you’re picturing a conventional resort, this will feel different. We think that’s the point.
Tell us when you reach out. This is a remote setting with uneven jungle trails, farther from medical care than a typical hotel, so some health and mobility needs can make it a less comfortable fit. We’ll talk it through honestly with you. John-Adam is a board-certified emergency physician, but here he’s your co-guide, not your doctor.
It’s relationship coaching and embodied practice, not couples therapy, crisis support, or medical treatment. It isn’t the right setting if either of you feels afraid of the other, if there’s abuse or coercion in the relationship, if one of you is coming mostly to please the other, or if either of you is in a mental-health crisis. If that’s where you are, a licensed therapist is the right next step, and the door here stays open. If either of you carries trauma, is pregnant, or has a health condition, tell us before you book so we can adapt the practices or suggest you check with your own doctor first. If you don’t feel safe at home, the National Domestic Violence Hotline is available 24/7 at 1-800-799-7233.
Use the short form above. Your names, an email, and roughly when you’d like to come are enough. We’ll reply personally to talk through dates and fit.
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