Five Life-Changing Retreats at Omega: A Healer's Journey
How transformative experiences at the Omega Institute shaped my approach to healing and led me back to teach my own retreat
There are places in this world that hold a special kind of magic—spaces where transformation isn't just possible, it's inevitable. For me, the Omega Institute in Rhinebeck, New York has been one of those sacred places. Over the course of eight years, five retreats at Omega fundamentally changed not only how I practice medicine, but how I understand the very nature of healing itself.
The Beginning: Meeting a Living Buddha (1999 & 2001)
My first visit to Omega in September 1999 was nothing short of profound. I had come to attend a retreat with Thich Nhat Hanh, the Vietnamese Buddhist monk whom many consider one of the most respected Zen masters in the world. His students simply called him "Thay"—teacher.
Despite his small stature, Thay possessed an extraordinary presence. On that very first day, I watched in awe as he brought over a thousand people into complete meditative silence. The power of that moment—the collective peace that filled the room—demonstrated his greatness as a spiritual leader and taught me something I carry with me to this day: peace in the world begins with cultivating peace within ourselves.
During those five transformative days, Thay shared teachings that would forever change my perspective. He taught us that anger and aggression can never be the right response—that when we feel these emotions arising, we must find ways to resolve them. Most powerfully, he emphasized that we must forgive our parents and loved ones, no matter what they've done to us, because they too have experienced suffering.
I returned for a second retreat with Thay in 2001, and both experiences profoundly shifted how I viewed life and how I treated people—including myself. These retreats introduced me to the concept of mindfulness and the critical importance of paying attention to the daily quality of our lives and how we show up in the world.
Deepening My Studies: Retreats with Dr. John Veltheim (2003 & 2005)
My next two visits to Omega, in 2003 and 2005, were to attend retreats with my teacher and mentor, Dr. John Veltheim, creator of the BodyTalk system. Dr. Veltheim had been invited to teach at Omega after accomplishing something remarkable—curing one of Omega's main sponsors of a long-term irritable bowel condition in just one session.
Dr. Veltheim had been my teacher and mentor for over 20 years, and I can say without hesitation that he was one of the greatest healers the world has known. From him, I learned how to approach the most difficult cases and understand that environmental conditions—including relationships within families and society—are essentially important to physical health.
He stressed the vital importance of daily practices, which he called "rituals," to break unhealthy habit patterns. Most significantly, he taught me that healing is really about personal and spiritual transformation.
This understanding was crucial for my development as a Chinese medicine doctor. I wanted to move from helping 75% of my patients achieve lasting results to reaching close to 100%. The tools that Dr. Veltheim developed and shared completely transformed my understanding of what it takes to be an effective healthcare practitioner.
Indigenous Wisdom: A Journey with John Perkins (2007)
In 2007, I returned to Omega for a retreat with John Perkins, author of the bestselling "Confessions of an Economic Hitman" and several books on indigenous healing traditions in Central and South America. Through his Dream Change Coalition, Perkins works to bring the wisdom of ancient traditions into the western world, creating opportunities for a more sustainable world.
What captivated me about his work was his deep immersion into indigenous healing techniques and their application to modern health conditions. I was fortunate enough to join one of his trips to Ecuador, where I witnessed something extraordinary.
A member of our group—a woman who had lost her hearing 20 years earlier during the stress of her parents' divorce when she was just 16—received a healing from an indigenous woman healer. Remarkably, her hearing eventually returned. This experience opened my eyes to healing possibilities that western medicine rarely acknowledges.
The Transformative Power of Sacred Space
What I learned from these five retreats at Omega is something that has become fundamental to my understanding of healing: in order to bring about transformation in our lives, we have to take a time out.
We need time away from:
The demands of work
Internet and social media
Family obligations
The limitations of our daily routines
At Omega, we create space to look at our lives and ourselves with fresh eyes. We allow ourselves to experience personal evolution in a beautiful, harmonious environment where transformation becomes not just possible, but natural.
This insight has shaped everything about how I approach healing with my patients. True transformation rarely happens in the midst of our everyday chaos—it requires sacred space, intentional time, and the support of community.
An Invitation to Your Own Transformation
If you're dealing with chronic health challenges that conventional medicine hasn't been able to fully address, or if you simply know there's more vitality and joy available to you than you're currently experiencing, I invite you to consider what a retreat could offer you.
The combination of stepping away from daily life, receiving expert healing support, learning practical tools, and connecting with others on similar journeys creates a unique alchemy for transformation. It's the same alchemy I experienced in my five retreats at Omega—and it's what I'm excited to offer to you.
I'm honored to return to Omega for my second year of teaching. This August 24-29, 2025, I'll be offering my Reset Practitioner Healing Retreat.
This five-day retreat combines both learning and healing. Participants will not only receive healing sessions but will also learn Reset techniques so they can be their own doctor and apply these simple 10-minute a day techniques on themselves.
Join me in this sacred space where healing, learning, and transformation naturally unfold. Because sometimes, the most profound changes happen when we give ourselves permission to step away from our ordinary lives and into the extraordinary possibilities that await.
Ready to take a time out for your own transformation? Learn more about the Reset Practitioner Healing Retreat here: https://www.janetgalipo.com/omega-retreat
Dr. Janet Galipo, DOM, has been practicing integrative medicine for over 30 years. As co-founder of the BodyIntuitive method, she combines Eastern wisdom with Western science to help people activate their body's natural healing abilities.