Mind of the Body™ Sensit Yoga Somatics retreats are a week-long invitation to come home to the body — gentle, grounded, and guided by Maja Zilih, systemic family psychotherapist-in-training and founder of Sensit Yoga™ Somatics, with over 20 years of teaching experience.

Upcoming retreats

Sensit Yoga retreat on Crete, June 2026

7–13 June 2026

Mind of the Body | Sensit Yoga Somatics Retreat on Crete 

A 7-day retreat at Agios Pavlos, southern Crete. Twice-daily practice of mindful somatic yoga, interoceptive awareness, and psycho-emotional self-care.

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What makes these retreats different and unique?

  • Gentle, mindful and recovering — the practice is slow and interoceptive, drawing from somatic movement modalities. Suitable for all levels, including complete beginners and those recovering from injury or burnout.
  • Body-mind integration — weaving mindful movement with nervous-system regulation, self-compassion practices, and resilience-building.

The practice is slow, interoceptive, and attentive — drawing from Feldenkrais, Body-Mind Centering, and Continuum movement, and weaving together mindful yoga with psycho-emotional self-care: nervous-system regulation, self-compassion, and resilience-building.

Through embodied intelligence, breath awareness, guided reflection, journaling, and listening to different inner parts, we explore how emotional experience is held and expressed through the body. We gently release the restriction patterns in the fascia, which calms the mind and brings a sense of relief and comfort in the body.

For twelve consecutive years, the retreat has returned to the same magical place on the southern edge of Crete: Agios Pavlos, on a yoga platform, with its 180° view of the Cretan sea, untouched beaches, and the quiet rhythm of the coast.

An invitation to move while listening deeply to the subtle intertwining of sensation, thought, breath, and the impulse for movement — to discover what becomes possible in the meeting places between physical awareness and mental acceptance.

Maja Zilih, founder of Sensit Yoga Somatics

About Maja Zilih

Maja is the founder of Sensit Yoga™ Somatics and Athens Yoga Center. She is a systemic family psychotherapist in training under supervision at Sigmund Freud University Vienna, and an E-RYT 500h Yoga Alliance registered teacher and teacher trainer with 20 years of experience. Her work draws from Feldenkrais, Body-Mind Centering, and Continuum movement.

Her method bridges mindful somatic movement with tools of emotional regulation, resilience-building, and psycho-emotional self-care — helping participants develop a more compassionate relationship with themselves, awaken inner resources, and open to growth and vitality.

Research & Publications

Maja's academic work on body-mind integration, somatic practice, and mental health

Body-Mind Integration in Psychotherapy: Theoretical Approaches and a Qualitative Case-Study

Master's thesis · Sigmund Freud University Vienna · 2025

This thesis investigates psychotherapy through the lens of mind-body integration, tracing the historical development of psychotherapeutic approaches toward the growing inclusion of body-oriented modalities. To ground theory in lived experience, Maja conducted a qualitative study with four long-term yoga-somatic practitioners, examining how sustained practices of body-mind awareness contribute to their mental health and wellbeing. The interviews demonstrated that yoga-somatics can enhance physical and emotional awareness, support resilience, and serve as a stabilising resource during critical life events. Together, the literature review and qualitative findings argue that incorporating body awareness, movement, and touch into psychotherapy may enrich therapeutic practice and lead to more holistic outcomes.

Bringing therapy to life: Exploring the benefits of yoga and somatic mindfulness in psychotherapy

Research paper · Sigmund Freud University Vienna · August 2023

This paper reviews the substantial body of empirical evidence on the beneficial impact of yoga on mental health, with particular attention to stress reduction, anxiety and depression, emotional regulation, and pain management. It examines the growing trend of incorporating mind-body practices into psychotherapeutic work as a way of complementing and expanding traditional talk-based approaches, aspiring towards a more comprehensive, holistic way of healing. Maja explores both the clinical advantages and the potential challenges of such integration, including questions of practitioner training, therapeutic boundaries, and the careful adaptation of somatic practices for clients with trauma histories. The paper offers a foundation for understanding how somatic mindfulness can enrich contemporary psychotherapy.

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