Turned On: A Queer Wellbeing Summit
The world’s leading voices in wellbeing for GBTQ+ men. Two days. One question: what does it look like to burn your brightest?
December 02–03, 2026 · Virtual · Attend from anywhere
AS SEEN ON
So What Do We Mean By Wellbeing?
Wellness takes care of the body. Wellbeing takes care of the whole person – your mind, your body, your relationships, your sexuality, your sense of purpose, your joy. The parts of you that a massage can’t reach and a green juice can’t fix.
All of it, together, as one very queer, living system.
Not a detox. Not a diagnosis. Queer wellbeing is what’s left when you stop performing and start burning bright.
See Qasa for Yourself
Step into the land, the spaces, and the feeling of a Qasa retreat. Throughout the year, we host Sacred Plant Journeys, Embodied Pleasure retreats, and Out & Wild Nature Adventures – each held with care, choice, and experienced facilitation.
Retreats are offered on confirmed dates throughout the year. Hotel stays may also be available on select dates outside retreat periods.
John L
This experience introduced me to a community of men who were more than their trauma. I felt liberated, loved, and heard.
The Question
What does it feel like to be fully turned on to your own life?
Lit up. Unedited. Burning your brightest – not the rehearsed version you’ve learned to offer the world.
Authentic
Authentic in who you actually are - nothing edited, nothing hidden.
Embodied
Embodied in the life you actually feel - present, alive, at home in your body.
Connected
Connected with the genuine belonging we all need - not striving to fit in.
Every participant completes an eligibility and screening process after registering. If Qasa determines that the retreat is not the right fit, the deposit is fully refunded.
Who This Is For
You’re not here because something is wrong with you.
You’re here because you’ve tasted what it feels like to be fully yourself – and you want more of it. More aliveness. More passion. More truth. More belonging that doesn’t cost you anything to enter.
This summit is for queer people who are ready to burn their brightest.
What You’ll Experience
Two days of programming that go all the way in.
Keynotes
The leading voices in queer wellbeing, psychology, embodiment, spirituality, and culture. Seekers on their own paths - who continue to do their own work and show up with experience, curiosity, and humility.
Workshops
Embodied, immersive, practical experiences that get you out of your head and into your body. Tools and practices that you’ll actually use - not inspiration that evaporates.
Honest Conversations
The conversations that don't usually make it onto a conference agenda. No panels where everyone agrees. Honest, alive conversations about identity, sexuality, relationships, joy, and what it actually takes to show up as yourself.
Community
Something shifts when queer people stop performing and start connecting. The people in this room are asking the same questions you are. Feel the difference. Find your people.
Three Themes. One Journey.
Each Qasa retreat offers a different doorway into connection, embodiment, nature, and queer joy.
Authenticity
What it means to wake up to your most authentic self and start burning bright.
There’s a version of you that’s fully lit up unedited, unfiltered. Most of us have felt it in glimpses. This track is about living there, not just visiting. The creativity, the courage, the particular electricity that moves through a room when queer people stop performing and show up whole.
Embodiment
What it means to get out of your head and into the aliveness of your body.
Most of us live from the neck up. Planning, analyzing, figuring it out, staying one step ahead. This track is about what happens when you drop in – joy, movement, sexuality, somatics, spirituality, plant medicine, transformation. The body is where life is actually happening. Come feel it.
Belonging
What it means to find belonging through connection, not conformity.
Most of us have spent years earning our place in rooms that required us to leave pieces of ourselves at the door. The cost of that is real. This track is about what happens when we stop trying to fit in, and what becomes possible when belonging doesn’t require conformity – chosen family, modern queer relationships, and community that lets you arrive whole.
What Will You Walk Away With?
You won’t leave with a certificate or a 10-step plan.
You’ll leave turned on – to yourself, your body, and your people.
With practices and tools that actually landed.
Conversations that stayed with you.
Connections that feel like they were always supposed to happen.
Why This Summit Exists
There are summits for business. Leadership. Personal Growth. Mental health. Spirituality.
And you’ve probably been to some of them – the only queer person in the room, quietly translating everything through a lens nobody else was using.
None of them ask the question that lives underneath all of it for us:
What does it actually feel like to be a queer person fully turned on to my own life?
Turned On is built around that question. Not as an answer – as a gathering. A room where the conversation finally happens at scale, with the people already doing the work.
What Our Community Is Saying
Our virtual summit will be attended by existing and new community members. Here’s what some of them have to say about Qasa.
The Voices Shaping It
Therapists. Coaches. Guides. Researchers. Authors. Creators. Community builders. You. And brilliant souls on their own path.
The people already redefining what queer wellbeing can look like — in one place, for two days.
Shelby
Shelby Clark (he/him) is a certified yoga instructor, trained meditation guide, and somatic facilitator focused on helping queer people unlearn performance and return to authenticity.
Marcos
Marcos brings three decades of teaching to the mat. His path runs from the vigor of Ashtanga through the energy work of Tantra and into Ayurveda.
Mike peck
Mike is a Conscious Embodiment Coach based in London, dedicated to supporting others through modalities such as Tension & Trauma Release Exercises (TRE®), Yoga, Classical and Neo-Tantra, Breathwork, Meditation, and Somatic Movement Therapy.
Axel Watts
Axel Watts is a yoga teacher, movement educator, retreat leader, and community builder with over a decade of experience helping people reconnect with themselves through movement, mindfulness, and shared experience
John Jacob
A facilitator whose approach brings together sacred traditions, breath, psychology, embodiment, and personal development.
Gil bar Sela
A facilitator whose approach brings together sacred traditions, breath, psychology, embodiment, and personal development.
Rafa Gondim
Rafa is responsible for providing leadership across QASA’s retreat and event portfolio – advancing program excellence, building strategic partnerships, and facilitating sacred plant journey retreats.
alex Sloan
A facilitator, coach, and longtime explorer of queer sexuality, pleasure, kink, and embodiment. He is the creator and lead facilitator of Conscious Kink at Qasa and the founder of the Queer Sovereignty Method
Radha Agrawal
Co-founder and investor of several wellness companies. Named by MTV as a woman who will change the world, she’s a recognized leader in innovative community-building
Kaelan Strouse
Author, spiritual guide, and keeper of thresholds. Shaped by seven years in a meditative ashram and decades of devotional practice, he founded Ecstatic Self and has written three books on the ecstatic path.
Blake Mycoskie
Blake Mycoskie is the founder of TOMS Shoes and the One for One movement. After his own journey through depression, he now helps others remember their worth through ENOUGH and his podcast, No Magic Pill.
Justin Michael Williams
Dan Link
Lead Adventure Facilitator
Dan is a biologist, survivalist, and six-time Naked and Afraid champion who brings deep knowledge of the natural world, practical wilderness skills, humor, and steady guidance to Out & Wild.
What’s Included
Live access to every session, Session recordings, Bonus workshops, Community discussions, Retreat offers, and exclusive discounts
Event Details
Flexible Stays
December 02–03, 2026
Virtual
Attend from anywhere in the world live and on-demand.
All Access Pass: Free
What’s Included:
Live access to every session, session recordings, bonus workshops, community discussions, retreat offers, and exclusive discounts.
About Qasa
Qasa — inspired by casa, the Spanish word for home — is a GBTQ+ focused retreat center and sanctuary in the Diamante Valley of Costa Rica. A place for queer men to come home to themselves.
At the heart of everything we do is a simple mantra: As I am, in this body, I belong.
Not as an aspiration. As a felt experience. We’ve witnessed it happen again and again with the 1,000+ queer men who have joined us in the jungle — dropping the weight of everything they’ve been managing, and remembering what it feels like to be fully themselves. Authentic. Embodied. Connected.
Our retreats — Awaken, Unleash, and Explore — are built around that experience. The Summit is that work at scale. Because not everyone can make it to Costa Rica.
Connect With Us
We’re excited to meet you and answer any questions you may have. Please choose your preferred communication channel below.
Getting to Qasa
Qasa is located near Dominical, Costa Rica, approximately 3.5-4.5 hours from San José International Airport. Scheduled ground transportation is included for retreat participants at specified arrival and departure times.
From San José
Join the scheduled retreat transfer or arrange private ground transportation.
From Quepos
Take a short domestic flight from San José, followed by ground transportation to Qasa.
Driving
A 4WD vehicle is recommended and may be required during the rainy season.
Apply Here
We review every application. Take the time to book a call with our team and provide your contact info. This allows us to get to know you better, answer your questions and guide you through the booking process.
frequently asked questions
FAQs
Got questions about our retreats in Costa Rica? Read the FAQs or get in touch via the contact form below.
Need more insights? Read our comprehensive blog about all things retreat-related in Costa Rica.
Qasa offers three retreat series for gay and queer men: Awaken Sacred Plant Journeys, Unleash Embodied Pleasure Retreats, and Out & Wild nature adventures. Each series includes different paths, facilitators, activities, and confirmed dates throughout the year.
Each retreat has its own focus, but Qasa experiences generally combine guided programming, queer-centered community, nature, shared meals, rest, preparation, and integration. Individual date pages explain the practices, schedule, facilitators, accommodations, and participation expectations for that experience.
Open the retreat date that fits you, review the details, choose an available room, and pay the required deposit. You then complete the eligibility form and screening process before your participation is confirmed.
After paying the deposit, you complete the required eligibility and screening steps. If Qasa determines that the retreat is not the right fit, your deposit is fully refunded. If approved, you receive confirmation, payment information, and preparation guidance.
Yes. You can book a free discovery call to compare retreat paths, dates, facilitators, prices, and room options. Booking a call does not reserve a retreat or require you to register.
Qasa retreats are primarily created for gay, bisexual, trans, and other queer men who feel aligned with a men-centered experience. Each retreat page explains its audience, environment, privacy, and participation expectations in more detail.
Qasa generally hosts retreats throughout most of the year, often with one or more experiences available each month. The retreat schedule is usually quieter from August through October, when flexible hotel stays may still be available.
Yes. On select dates outside retreat periods, Qasa welcomes hotel guests of all identities. You can visit alone, with a partner, or with friends and enjoy the property, accommodations, nature, meals, and available activities.
Your Qasa Experience Starts Here
