We gather at the foot of these ancient mountains not simply to build, but to remember.
Heart of Cob Retreat
Join us for a six-day immersive retreat exploring clay, sacred Mexican traditions, bioconstruction, and the intelligence of nature. Set in the Sierra La Laguna Biosphere Reserve at El Santuario, Baja California Sur, Heart of Cob invites you to leave behind schedules, notifications, and constant noise. You'll wake with the mountains, shape earth with your own hands, sit beside the fire, enter the womb of the temazcal, walk through living waters, and sleep beneath thousands of stars. Working with clay demands presence, patience, listening, collaboration, and humility — every handful of earth becomes a reflection of yourself.
Is This Retreat For You?
- If you want to learn to build your own earthen house
- If you enjoy working with clay
- If building with more environmentally friendly methods makes sense to you
- If you want to create living and breathing objects
- If you want to use clay as therapy
- If you’d like to experience something unique, magical, and full of inner and outer learning
- If you want to connect deeply with a beautiful community and nature
- If you have no prior experience in art, clay, or construction
- If you’d like to learn how to use what nature gives us
Techniques You'll Explore
Connect with the Earth
- Walls and load-bearing structures
- Wood-fired ovens and stoves
- Complete homes
- Built-in furniture
- Garden elements
- Sculptures and art
- Monolithic, durable and ecological structures
Meet Your Guides
Augusto Montaño
Homesteader, Visual Artist, Aztec Massage Practitioner, Temazcal Leader, and Natural Builder with over 20 years of experience, Augusto has 17 completed independent projects in natural building as well as extensive community living and development experience.
Augusto Montaño was born in Mexico City in 1981. His constant search for identity led him to move to Hermosillo upon turning eighteen. Around that time, he met Macario—a close friend and master healer—who initiated him into the arts of energy work, massage, and the temazcal (traditional sweat lodge), taking him to the mountains of Oaxaca each summer to refine his skills.
In Sonora, he studied at the Faculty of Visual Arts, specializing in sculpture. Later, he discovered cob—an ancient bio-construction technique—and began experimenting by building bread ovens. Upon engaging with the material, he realized it could also be used for sculpting; he began incorporating art and sculptural elements into the ovens, which led him to experiment with artistic temazcals before eventually taking the step of building cabins. His encounter with clay and straw opened up a world of infinite possibilities. Through experimentation and constant hands-on work with the material, he has mastered the art of cob construction, learning to adapt it to diverse climates and environments.
Augusto is currently a co-founder of "El Santuario" in Baja California Sur, a paradisiacal space dedicated to health and spirituality. Together with his life partner and family—Teffie ,he manages the massage area and serves as a guardian of the sacred temazcal. He shares the joy of life with his small community and is always ready to share his knowledge and help those who trust in his heart.
Stéphanie "Teffie" Liévana
Mother, Visual Artis, Temazcal Guid, Therapeutic Massage Practitioner, Natural & Rhythmic Living, Self-Inquiry Facilitator, and Earthen Builder, Teffie provides loving support throug ceremony, art, healing, and compassionate guidance.
Born in Brazil, raised in the vibrant heart of Mexico City, and deeply rooted in the lands of Baja California Sur... for the past eight years, Teffie has shared her life with her partner Augusto. Together, they stewarding land, community, and raising their children at the foothills of the mountains of Baja California Sur, where they have chosen a life that is simple, free, close to nature, and rooted in the living memory of the Earth.
Teffie believes that every act is sacred, and it is from this place that she offers herself to life through art—creating, dancing, singing, playing, contemplating, speaking with intention, moving with awareness, and, above all, learning how to learn from life each day.
She serves through universal consciousness, always remembering that her greatest life's work is her son and her family. They are her deepest commitment and the legacy she hopes to leave behind.
From that foundation, Teffie feels honored to accompany others in meaningful journeys of self-discovery, empowerment, healing, and expansion. She works with women, children, bioconstruction projects, Temazcal ceremonies, and therapeutic bodywork, creating spaces where people can reconnect with themselves and with the wisdom of nature.
Teffie believes that she is medicine because she is a woman. Her path is one of continually rooting herself in her body and in Mother Earth, allowing both to teach her how to live with presence, humility, and love.
She is here to walk beside others on this journey of remembrance—with an open heart—inviting them to reconnect with their own creative essence and with the courageous part of themselves that is willing to truly be seen through the eyes of Nature.
Samples of our work
Heart of Cob Retreat Location
Hosting Site Details
Heart of Cob is hosted at El Santuario, a beautiful rural retreat center in the Sierra La Laguna Biosphere Reserve, Baja California Sur. The area is surrounded by desert-to-forest mountains, canyons, rivers, and springs that have been undisturbed for centuries -- sacred land, ideal for ceremony and hands-on building work.
Our retreat site offers simple, intentional, and beautiful facilities, including indoor and outdoor community gathering spaces, kitchen and dining areas, bathing facilities, and comfortable accommodations. The highlight of this location is its access to a living river, waterfalls, and swimming holes just a short walk away.
Accommodations - heart of cob retreat
Experience the perfect balance of comfort and connection with nature in our spacious large glamping tents or smaller igloo tents within Baja's stunning landscape. Our thoughtfully appointed canvas retreats offer a serene sanctuary where you can rest deeply while remaining immersed in the healing rhythms of the natural world.
The large tents are equipped with a full-sized mattress or two on request, bedding materials, and can accommodate up to two people. Igloo tents have 1 full-sized mattress and can accommodate one person. Bringing your own camping gear and camping on-site is also an available option.
What You'll Experience
A Six-Day Immersive Retreat
Food as Medicine
Meals & Nourishment - Heart of Cob Retreat
Nourishing, locally-sourced meals will be provided throughout the Heart of Cob retreat, honoring the land and the work of building with earth.
This retreat centre views cooking as art and food as medicine. The kitchen takes great pride and pleasure in creating carefully prepared meals, snacks, and nourishment specifically tailored to the needs of each retreat group.
The food is organic, vegetarian, sustainably-sourced, free range, and natural. Most of the dishes include carefully combining ingredients as well as following supportive ayurvedic principles. In addition to meals, there are teas, water, vegan milk, fruit, dried fruit, nuts, and cookies on offer throughout the retreat.
We can accommodate most dietary restrictions with advance notice.
Join us for the follow-up Iboga Retreat OCT 26-NOV 2
Description
Join us for our Iboga Retreat Baja 2026 and experience transformation in a stunning natural surrounding near an amazing hot springs oasis! Participate in this profound healing potential in a supportive community setting. Our Iboga Retreat Baja 2026 also includes additional ceremonies and integration activities.
What's Included
7 nights accommodation, 8 Days
All meals (vegetarian focus, organic, high quality, locally-sourced)
Airport shuttle to and from San José del Cabo (SJD)
2 Iboga Ceremonies
2 Temazcal (Sweat Lodge) Ceremonies
2 Fire Ceremonies
1 Sacred Pipe Ceremony
1 Bufo Ceremony (Optional Add-On)
Nature Excursions & Hot Springs Soaking
Integration and Counseling Support
1-on-1 Counseling Support
6 Months of Post Retreat Group Integration Calls (1 per month)