KISSED BY FIRE - RETREAT BY AMBER JOY RAVA
5-9 JULY - sacred embodiment for men & women
Some people spend their lives studying transformation.
Amber Joy Rava has spent hers accompanying it.
As both a birth doula and a death doula, her work has brought her into direct relationship with two of life's most profound thresholds: arrival and departure. Again and again, she has witnessed a truth that exists beneath both experiences that every ending contains a beginning, and every beginning asks us to let something else die.
Over time, this understanding became the foundation of her own practice: a path of sacred embodiment, movement, ritual, and deep listening that she calls Dancing with the Divine.
Rather than seeing transformation as something that happens once, Amber approaches it as a lifelong cycle of death and rebirth. The shedding of identities that no longer fit. The release of stories that have become too small. The courage to step toward the archetypes, gifts, and callings waiting to emerge.
In this sense, we are all constantly becoming.
The retreat Kissed by Fire explores this inner process through the symbolism of fire itself.
Fire has always been more than an element. Across cultures it has represented spirit, inspiration, passion, creativity, vision, and the mysterious force that animates life. It is the spark that moves us from comfort into possibility. The force that illuminates hidden gifts and awakens dormant parts of ourselves.
To be kissed by fire is not to be consumed by it.
It is to be ignited by it.
To remember the dreams that have gone quiet.
To reconnect with the talents waiting beneath self-doubt.
To awaken the courage required to live more fully from one's essence.
For many in the Bonjuk community, Amber is not a newcomer. Over the years, she has returned to the bay through residencies, ceremonies, workshops, and countless shared moments of transformation. Her work has become woven into the living story of this place, evolving alongside the community itself.
Perhaps this is why her approach feels so at home here.
Bonjuk has always been a place where people arrive in transition between chapters, between identities, between who they have been and who they are becoming. A place where nature, community, art, movement, and ritual create fertile ground for renewal.
Amber's work speaks directly to this process. Not as an escape from life, but as a deeper participation in it.
Through movement, ceremony, embodiment practices, and collective ritual, participants are invited into a journey of renewal one that honors both the parts of themselves that are ready to be released and the parts that are longing to be born.
Because sometimes the next version of ourselves is not something we need to create.
It is something already alive within us, waiting for the right conditions to catch fire.
This season, we are honored to welcome Amber Joy Rava home once again, as she guides us into the sacred dance of remembering, releasing, and becoming one spark at a time.
weekly tunes
A visionary DJ, producer, and founder of the internationally acclaimed label Wired, Enzo Siffredi has spent decades crafting immersive musical experiences that bring people together through rhythm, atmosphere, and connection. Blending deep electronic sounds with organic influences from around the world, his sets invite both movement and presence, creating moments that linger long after the music fades.
We will have the chance to listen to him during The Journey - Jul 15-21
bonjuk recıpes
mango stıcky rıce
Thailand’s most iconic dessert, from street food culture to royal cuisine, reimagined through modern mixology.
Traditionally served on a plate, Mango Sticky Rice takes on a new form in the glass. The vibrant clarity of mango, revealed through pectinase clarification, meets the velvety texture of a coconut rice foam, creating a unique sensory experience. This signature creation is designed for cocktail enthusiasts seeking both technical precision and familiar comfort.
Ingredients
Cocktail Base
50 ml Premium Vodka
60 ml Clarified Mango Juice (pectinase-treated)
10 ml Fresh Lemon Juice
5 ml Simple Syrup (1:1 ratio)
Coconut Rice Foam
100 ml Coconut Milk (high-fat content)
50 ml Jasmine Rice Infusion (rice essence water)
20 ml Simple Syrup
2 Gelatin Sheets or Pro-Espuma Cold (for foam stabilization)
Technical Note
Pectinase enzyme breaks down the pectin naturally present in mangoes, allowing suspended particles to settle quickly. This process preserves the fruit’s full flavor and color while removing fibers and impurities that could affect the cocktail’s texture, resulting in a crystal-clear and silky mango juice.
Preparation
1. Clarified Mango Juice
Add 1–2 drops of liquid pectinase per liter of fresh mango purée and let it rest at room temperature for 30–40 minutes. Once the enzymatic reaction is complete, centrifuge the mixture or strain it through a coffee filter to obtain a clear mango juice.
2. Coconut Rice Foam
Combine the starchy cooking water from jasmine rice with coconut milk and simple syrup. Add softened gelatin and gently heat until fully dissolved. Strain the mixture and transfer it to a cream whipper (ISI siphon). Charge with two N₂O cartridges and chill in the refrigerator.
3. Build the Cocktail
Fill a shaker with ice cubes. Add the vodka, clarified mango juice, lemon juice, and simple syrup. Shake vigorously for 10–12 seconds.
4. Serve
Double strain into a pre-chilled coupe glass, leaving approximately two fingers of space at the top.
5. Final Touch
Dispense the chilled Coconut Rice Foam over the surface of the cocktail, creating a smooth, even layer. Garnish with lightly toasted sesame seeds if desired.
A familiar Thai dessert, transformed into a refined cocktail experience where tropical fruit, creamy coconut, and delicate rice aromas meet modern mixology techniques. 🍋🥭🥥🍸
why music, arts, wellness, personal & spiritual growth matter
One of the sentences in our manifesto reads:
"We value Music, Arts, Wellness, Personal and Spiritual Growth."
At first glance, these may seem like separate interests. Music belongs on a dance floor. Art belongs in a studio. Wellness belongs in a yoga shala. Personal growth belongs in a workshop.
But beneath their different forms, they all serve a similar purpose: helping us become more fully ourselves.
Psychologist Abraham Maslow called this self-actualization, the process of realizing one's potential and expressing one's authentic nature. Not becoming someone else. Not improving ourselves into worthiness. Simply becoming more of who we already are.
Music helps us feel.
Art helps us express.
Wellness helps us regulate.
Personal growth helps us understand.
Spiritual growth helps us connect.
Each offers a different doorway, but they all lead toward the same place: a life lived with greater awareness, freedom, and authenticity.
In modern life, it is surprisingly easy to lose contact with ourselves. We become occupied with responsibilities, expectations, roles, and routines. We learn how to function, but sometimes forget how to listen. We know what is required of us, but not always what is alive within us.
This is why throughout history, humans have created spaces for music, ceremony, creativity, movement, reflection, and community. Not as luxuries, but as technologies for remembering.
A song can reveal an emotion we could not put into words.
A painting can express something language cannot hold.
A walk through nature can quiet the noise enough to hear an inner truth.
A meaningful conversation can illuminate a blind spot.
A moment of stillness can reconnect us to something larger than ourselves.
None of these experiences complete us. Rather, they help remove what stands between us and our own wholeness.
At Bonjuk Bay, we value "Music, Arts, Wellness, Personal and Spiritual Growth" because they invite us into that process. Not toward a fixed destination, but toward a deeper relationship with ourselves.
And perhaps that is what fulfillment truly is: not becoming extraordinary, but becoming fully, unapologetically, authentically human.
If you have a story, project, or idea you’d like to share, we’d love to hear from you and help spread the word. Feel free to reach out to us at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.