I am a writer first and foremost. I am always curious about stories and how we tell them, how we live them and how they create significance in our lives. Stories are what sell me, make me a believer, and help me forgive a person. Stories are at the core of each of us. Our stories are what carry on far beyond this one human life for generations to come.
So, I want to share with you the story of She Glows Retreats just so you can know where this dream comes from.
I have always been pulled to retreating. As a child, I was a fiercely shy girl. I was quiet and introspective, observant and rarely spoke out in class. I had a funny side that I shared with friends, but to the core, I was quiet.
We went to church when I was little and while some of the dogma didn’t resonate, I was enchanted by the notion that there as a place I could go once a week to reflect on my inner life. This was where I wanted to spend my time – with the inner workings of the spirit. I had a sense of “coming home” each time I stepped into a sacred space.
I remember the first time I visited Crestone, Colorado as a girl and saw where the nuns went into retreat for a month at a time. I was deeply inspired by this. I didn’t want to become a nun myself (I liked boys a wee bit too much), but I remember having an actual physical experience of clicking in, feeling right with the world when I saw these sacred spaces.
I met a Tibetan Buddhist meditation master while I studied abroad in Nepal in my late teens. I spent hours learning about Buddhism, meditating and going on lengthy silent retreats. This was an inspiring and mind-expanding time for me.
But it wasn’t all unicorns and daisies, folks. I had a love hate relationship with retreating and with religion at this stage too. The tradition of any religion runs deep, and I continued to bump up against forcing myself to do what I was “supposed to do” during my retreats (endless recitation of prayer, meditating for hours on end and more), and what I felt I wanted/needed to do (journal, reflect, read personally chosen works, go on hikes in new places, do yoga, feel sensations in my body, dance and nap).
I yearned for my experience to be more personal. I wanted to drop in, let intuition guide as opposed to being guided only by ancient tradition and practice. I wanted the contemplative path, but something was lacking for me.
Many years later, I had three children. This changed my ability to retreat substantially. But having kids gave me a sense of urgency along with permission to use my very limited time in a way that was deeply significant to me. So after I finished breastfeeding each one of my children, I went on solo retreat. This time, I did it how I wanted.
I no longer cared about how retreats were “supposed” to look. While I’d taken what I’d learned from being steeped in tradition, I uncovered something entirely new, inspiring and life shifting for myself. And it felt fucking great.
She Glows Retreats are born out of this wild feminine energy of intuition, stepping into our unique yet universal power, taking a risk, and most important, allowing ourselves the space for transformation we deserve.
My feeling was that every woman could relate to that yearning for reconnectedness within herself. I wanted to offer what I call ‘heart curriculum’ that is more personalized to a woman’s inner journey than just yoga alone. Sometimes we need a framework to find our way back to connectedness. I believe that’s what we’ve created. Man, am I excited.
Thank you for being a part of the She Glows Retreats story. May we all continue to find ways back to ourselves and to the stories that resonate in our hearts.