First retreat: a SUCCESS! Next retreat: January 2025✨
Just over a month ago, I hosted my first mental wellness retreat, and it was a huge success!
A slightly-goofy version 🤪 of us is at the bottom of this post. Missing in the photo: Madison, who took this picture; a learning for next time, for now: letting go of imperfections 😅!
It took a year to plan, fill, and sell out this retreat, and everything went incredibly well. The biggest gain for me was the confidence and belief that I can do this, and do it really well.
All of my life experiences — my neuroscience background, the hustle from tech startups, Airbnb hosting, solo travelling, yoga teacher training — all contributed to the success of this retreat. And because of it, I’ve become a better experience curator, empathetic listener, and a safe space creator.
The 9 of us came together as perfect strangers, each bringing kindness, humour, and wisdom, and left, 8 days later as friends.
This retreat has taught me that:
empathy and compassion are always the answer
laughter and curiosity keep us moving forward
the sun, ocean, and healthy delicious food are the ultimate healers
There is so much more to unpack from this experience, and I can’t wait to share the learnings, reflections, and perspectives gained from this journey.
A year ago, everyone else believed in me, except me. Now, I’m so proud of myself for having done this retreat how I envisioned it.
Since the retreat ended, I spent an extra week in Tulum, Mexico with my family, returned to Toronto for two weeks, and then moved to San Juan, Puerto Rico 😱🧳✈️! More on this later, stay tuned 😉!
It’s been non-stop for a while, but the dust is finally settling. I’ll be sharing more healing moments from the retreat in the coming weeks, as well as reflections, and next steps for my business and life.
For now, here’s what one of the participants had to say about the experience (click on the video to watch the full testimonial 🍿):
Testimonial video transcript:
“For me, the biggest best benefit has been the space that Anna has created. Not just a space, but different aspects of space. And what I mean by that is, for me, it has been extremely well thought out. Every detail has been carefully planned, and intentionally planned. And that, has been obvious to me.
There has been a great balance between learning and experiential learning as well. Sharing, and wellness outings. And all of those wellness excursions were balanced against the learning, the intellectual part of the retreat — the workshops, the thinking about things, learning about neuroscience, all of the different things — and these outings on a daily basis, that touched all of our senses.
Not to mention that the food has been an unbelievable sensory journey!
Every one of those excursions we went on, were sensory — it wasn’t all yoga (and we had great yoga; we had great yoga teachers), it wasn’t all thinking and learning, or meditation — it was balanced with these opportunities for sensory learning, and integrating what we were learning.
Before I came here, I had made a big step in my life to let go of something that has held me back and wounded me for a very long time. And I think the journey here was part of solidifying that letting go of that piece of myself that has been harmful to me and harmful to others.
What would I say to people that are considering it?
It was a right fit for me. It took me a long time to find this particular retreat, and it took me a long time to research, because I knew what I didn’t want (and there is a lot of what I don’t want out there). I would encourage people to come to this retreat, and I would encourage them to research if it’s the right fit for them. It has been profound, it has been wonderful! It might not be for everybody, but it certainly has been for me.”
✨❤✨️
So, what’s next? Many of you mentioned you couldn’t make it to the April retreat and asked about the next one. I’m thrilled to announce the next retreat will be:
January 5-12, 2025!
I’ll be updating the photos and adding some videos to the page gradually, but I wanted to share the new dates because I’m so excited!
We’ll be returning to the same beautiful location — Dora Resort in Tulum, Mexico, the staff were incredible, the food was delicious, and the setting was so serene — it went so perfectly that of course we’re going back! The program will be slightly improved based on the valuable feedback from the April cohort, and I can’t wait to welcome my perfect clients — hopefully you’ll be one of them 😊!
If you’ve been waiting to join my next retreat, take advantage of the Early Bird pricing now:
As always, feel free to book a call with me any time here. And, if you’d like to chat with a retreat alumni from the April group and hear about their experience directly, contact me here and I’ll connect you with one of them 😊
The imperfect photo of us being silly. Yes I’m a business woman building a professional business around mental health, but we can let go a little too!
Can’t wait to talk soon,
Anna ❤️
