Living on the Line
A Retreat

April 25th - April 27th 2025

Join us for a transformational journey to
restore balance and alignment.

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About the Retreat

The ‘Living on the Line’ retreat is a one-time, exclusive event focused on helping participants reconnect with their original alignment and find balance within themselves. Guided by experienced instructors, you will learn to feel deeply, to shift your weight effectively, and
to perceive a deeper self.

It is being held at the wonderful Vallombrosa Retreat Center in Menlo Park, CA. 

Retreat is all inclusive: 13 hours of class, room and three meals daily.

Meet Your Instructors

  • Special Guest – Angie Thusius: Angie Thusius, who brought the Aplomb technique to the US, will join us to share her insights on achieving physical balance.

  • Jean Couch:

    I didn’t need a Stanford MA in Education to get me teaching. I started teaching dance at 14. Soon after starting yoga classes, I was teaching yoga at the YMCA. After doing Continuum for a year or so I was passing on this deep physical exploration to my yoga students. My passion was for all things physical, but in my heart of hearts I knew I hadn’t found the essence yet. When I was introduced to Aplomb in 1988, every cell in my body informed me that I had found my life’s work. That lead to the Balance Center, 1992 – 2017, where I have had the honor to teach thousands of students and teachers the basics of Aplomb. My work continues to this day, teaching in person and on the internet, to anyone who wants the freedom of living on the line. 

 

  • Thea Sawyer: In 1991, a debilitating back pain began to make my desk job impossible. It was my good fortune to find a yoga teacher who introduced me to Aplomb, a technique derived from yoga and ethnographic studies of people without back pain. I felt relief right
    away and became a passionate student and practitioner. In 1996 I moved to Paris to learn from the originator of the technique, Noelle Perez. After a year I returned and taught Aplomb aka Balance to students of yoga and to people with MS for over 25 years. My objective continues to be a pain-free and vibrant, functional life at any age. My book Put Your Back at Ease is available on Amazon.

  • Janet Cook: Everyone in my yoga class loved Savasana…. except me! I hated it. Due to a hidden scoliosis, it was impossible to get comfortable. One day my yoga teacher handed out a flier for an intro class at Jean Couch’s Balance Center. After experiencing sitting in Balance and being exposed to the logic of Aplomb I knew I was hooked. I joined the teacher class and have been teaching since 2004. Over the years I attended seminars with Noelle Perez and the French teachers. My body has changed dramatically: neck straighter, back muscles more balanced, scoliosis reduced significantly, shoulders back and settled down, hips more even, bunions nearly disappeared, and a sense of peace has come to my body… all due to the practice of Balance.

 

What You'll Experience

  • Learn to live on the line in everything you do
  • Experience hands-on guidance
  • Receive Individual feedback
  • For teachers, assist and practice hands-on checking
  • Leave stronger, straighter, and with greater ease
  • Create and deepen friendships within the OA community

What You'll Experience

  • How to sense your body.
  • How to make sense of your body.
  • Individual feedback for symmetry.
  • Where to strengthen for spinal health.
  • How to center yourself.
  • Grounding that energizes and leaves you stable on your feet.
  • A greater ability to be aware.
  • Community support for on-going practice.
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About Balance

Posture is learned. Every child on the earth is in Balance until the age of 3. After the age of 3, children begin to imitate the postures of the people around them. If a person lives in a culture where the adults are Balanced, then that person grows up in Balance. However, in modern cultures, most people are out of Balance. Posture is a cultural phenomena.

The Physics of Flesh and Bone.

Up until 1920, most people on the planet were in Balance.

In the 1920’s, there was a shift in the fashion of posture when the flappers ushered in a new trendy way to stand, sit and move. They moved the pelvis forward, uncentering it. This caused the spine to lean backwards, in compensation the head and shoulders moved forward, causing imbalances throughout the body.

You are designed to be friction-free. However, when the pelvis is off-center, every joint compensates and is off center. This causes friction in the joints and is the wear and tear that is the underlying cause of premature aging, joint and back pain. So, when you realign and recenter the body, underlying wear and tear dissolves. You experience pain relief and soon regain your strength and vitality.

Even if you’re not in pain, balance optimizes performance because it makes everything efficient and easier, in daily life and athletically and artistically.

Register for the Retreat

Overnight Guests

Our Overnight and Commeutre Choices have SOLD OUT!
Thank you!!

We are starting a waiting list. To secure a spot on the waiting list,
please pay the refundable $200 fee.

Once you've paid your deposit, you will be emailed if a spot opens up. Once you're accepted, you'll need to pay the balance within 5 days. After 5 days, we'll move to next person on the waiting list.

Pay $200 for a spot on the waiting list. This amount is fully refundable if you don’t get admitted to the Overnight session.

These 2 registrations are ONLY for those who’ve already paid a deposit before 12/5/2024. Do NOT sign up for these if you haven’t pad a deposit before 12/5/2024.

Commuter Guests

Pay a $200 refundable (until 1/25/25) deposit to secure your space for the retreat.

These 2 registrations are ONLY for those who’ve already paid a deposit before 12/5/2024. Do NOT sign up for these if you haven’t pad a deposit before 12/15/2024.

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Cancellation Policy

  • A $200 deposit is required to reserve your spot at the retreat.
  • The deposit is refundable before January 25, 2025, with a $25 handling fee deducted.
  • On January 26, 2025, the $200 deposit becomes non-refundable.
  • If you pay $200 for being on the waiting list, this $200 is fully refundable until 4/1/2024
  • There is a full refund of full tuition paid before 1/25/2025.
  • There will be 50% refund of full tuition if requested by 2/25/2024.
  • Beginning on 2/26/2024, there will be no refunds for either commuter or overnight guests. 

Secure Your Spot with Easy Payment

We accept payments through various secure methods, including Zelle. Ensure your place at the retreat with a simple and reliable payment process.

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What My Students Say

For questions or concerns, contact Jean@Balancecenter.com

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