As summer deepens, a small signal lights up somewhere in the mind. It’s a sign that you want to pause for a moment, that you want to leave for somewhere and return to yourself. Then you have to choose: will you rest quietly on your own, or will you shake off stress by dancing and singing? This year, there’s time waiting for you to try both. It’s a “Buddha and Zorba” session that spans 2 nights and 3 days in front of the sea in Yangyang, Gangwon-do.
A time when meditation and play flow together
The Korea Body-Mind Psychology Education Association will hold its summer intensive training, “Inner Fire and Ocean, Meeting of Buddha and Zorba,” at Nam-ae Surf’s Village in Namhae-eup, Yangyang, Gangwon-do, from June 26 to 28, 2026. Even from the name, it feels intriguing. On one side sits Buddha, quietly seated and looking inward. On the other is Zorba, expressing the vitality of life through dancing and singing with your whole body. Just the setup of these two figures meeting in one space sparks curiosity at once.
When people hear “meditation,” they often picture the act of sitting still and closing your eyes, but this training steps away from that mold. As time inwardly sinks deep and then alternates with moments when the body opens wide to move, participants get to meet both a still self and a dynamic self.
Buddha’s time: meeting yourself in stillness
This is a flow that starts with refining your breathing through qigong, then begins meditation with scents, and continues into walking meditation—slow walking along the seashore. It’s an exercise in slowing down the speed of thoughts that usually race, and staying with the sensations of this moment. Even without any elaborate explanations, you’re likely to experience how much lighter your mind feels just by walking one step at a time while listening to the sound of the waves.
Zorba’s time: coming alive again through the body
There’s also a program set up to explore the voice in your heart through drama therapy and voice therapy, to awaken a body that had been stiffened through Vinyasa yoga, and to enjoy the liberation of the body while pairing Pelden Tango with a glass of wine. Movements and expressions you would normally feel too shy to try are naturally permitted in this time. It seems you’ll be able to feel the moment when, once your body loosens, your mind loosens too.
The body and mind aren’t separate
The Korea Body-Mind Psychology Education Association that leads this intensive training is an organization that has studied body-mind psychology for a long time. Body-mind psychology is the field that views emotions and stress as being embedded in the body, while also seeing that the state of the mind can change through breathing and movement. Professor Ok Gyeong Jo, who founded the association, is someone who has continued research and lectures for years in the fields of yoga psychology and body-mind psychology, and together with the various instructors joining this training, she will fill the 2 nights and 3 days.
As much as the program itself, a standout point is that you can spend dense time in one place with the people researching this field and developing new programs together. Sharing an experience of walking, moving, and exchanging silence side by side with others who have the same interests is something that’s bound to linger for a long time.
2 nights and 3 days with the sea in Yangyang
The venue is Nam-ae Surf’s Village, located in Hyeonam-myeon, Yangyang-gun, Gangwon-do. On the first day, the schedule begins with arrival and orientation and features Soma improvisational arts meditation. On the second day, qigong, scent meditation, Ayurvedic food meditation, Vinyasa yoga, and Pelden Tango follow in sequence. On the final day, the intensive training is wrapped up with right-walking meditation and the alchemy of breath.
If you want to step away from your weary everyday life for a while, keep the sea close by, and look back at yourself as you move back and forth between stillness and vitality, you may want to keep an eye on these 2 nights and 3 days in Yangyang this summer. You can check the detailed schedule and how to apply through the announcements of the Korea Body-Mind Psychology Education Association.
https://blog.naver.com/kasp_edu/224249064119
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