Hi Friends!
Today’s post is one I’ve been really excited about writing. A few weeks ago, I attended my first yoga retreat in Occidental, CA. For those of you who live locally in Sonoma County, you are probably familiar with Occidental. It is an adorable little town that’s pretty close to the ocean. It’s filled with lots of nature and beautiful landscapes. It is also known to be great for those of us who love to lead a healthy lifestyle! There are lots of farms, hiking, yoga, wholistic nutritionists, acupuncturists (and on and on), and the people who love all of these things. It’s an amazing place to visit.
To give a little background, I have wanted to go on a yoga retreat for years. Yoga has been something that’s held a special place in my heart for a long time. During difficult times, yoga was always there to help ground me and keep me centered. When I was recovering from distorted eating patterns back in 2014, I turned to yoga as a form of medicine and man was it transformative! Fast forward to 2016 and I completed my yoga teacher training at Yoga Works in Southern California. While I don’t teach, the experience was very transformative and positive. I could go on and on but yoga really just holds a special place in my heart as I know it probably does for many of you!!
I heard of The Lotus Feed from my Mom who has actually been three times now. This is the first time that we’ve gone together and to be able to experience it together made it that much sweeter. My Mom and I are very close and love to do these kinds of things together.
We arrived on a Friday afternoon, just in time to make the first yoga class on the yoga deck. The retreat center is basically a stunningly beautiful farm in the middle of nowhere on the outskirts of Occidental. The weekend was filled with lots of yoga, vegan means created with all of the ingredients grown there on the farm, sleeping in yurts, drinking beautiful tonics & herbs, and plugging deep into my soul. It was a transformative weekend in many ways.
The theme of the weekend was “harvest” and was such an incredible way to transition into the new season of fall. The biggest takeaway from that weekend for me was the intention of finding “bliss in the in-between times of life.” The theme of harvest and celebrating all the hard work we put in all summer couldn’t have come at a better time for what’s currently going on in my life. Right before this retreat, I felt like I was really in a transitional time in my career. I am happy to announce that I actually started a new position for a functional wellness space that recently opened, and saw the “fruits of my labor” all come to fruition soon after attending this retreat. The retreat reminded me so much to focus on that bliss in the in-between times of life and not to withhold happiness even if things aren’t exactly as “settled” as you want them to be. Such is life!
Another huge blessing from the yoga retreat was getting back to my actual yoga practice! I had honestly been away from it for a while and it felt SO amazing to get back. Yoga truly is like a best friend, it is always there when you need it, even if you haven’t talked in a while. Since experiencing the retreat, I signed up at a local studio and will be going weekly again.
Between the colorful/ nourishing meals from the earth, massage in a yurt, essential oils, yoga, meditation, and meeting lots of incredible like-minded humans, the weekend was just the best. I highly recommend looking into a yoga retreat near you if it’s something you might be interested in! It is like a gift to your soul.
P.s. You can check out the Instagram Story highlights here under “yoga“! I was going to take more photos but was also trying to “un-plug” and honor my time to “rest.”. 🙂
