March 25, 2024

Spring Renewal Retreat (aka snail girl spring 🐌)

My god, retreating works.

It really does. I just finished one of the deepest and most soulful retreats I’ve led (and definitely the most intimate).

I’ve watched it happen again and again (fourteen times now to be exact!) and its simply stunning how much we can heal and unwind and process when we rest.

When we retreat.

I feel really, really, really blessed that this is my job.

And I also have a confession: This retreat almost didn’t happen.

In October, I met the delightful owners of @firecreekretreat and we decided I’d host a retreat there in March. It was a quick turnover time, in terms of sales and marketing, but I got excited about it. Thrilled to host another retreat near my hometown (Asheville, NC) and thrilled to get to collaborate with this beautiful new property.

I put all my efforts into selling it, knowing Firecreek is special, trusting my own retreat leadership skills. In the end, no one signed up except four of my close childhood/college pals and one of their dear local friends.

I felt shame. A voice inside me somewhere created a story that this made me a loser.

But what it meant, what it means—the people closest to me, the ones who’ve seen me through some pretty insane times (ahem, my early 20s): They trusted me.

They trusted me to lead a badass retreat and they didn’t sign up out of pity, they signed up because they believed I’d lead a good retreat.

And I did. We did. Chef David with @sweetpotatotoothcooking made us food and @gavindmckenzie and @christymckenzie made sure every single detail was perfect. The container we all created was oh so special. It was honest and open and fun. I taught some pretty deep practices and we all laughed and cried and danced and played and got deep.

So that’s it. A truly humbling and beautiful experience. A heart filled with gratitude. An acknowledgment of the power of retreat and rest.

And most importantly? Seeds planted for future retreats…☀️

{stay tuned for October…}