Greetings!
We are so excited about the launch of Welcome Home—A Staycation Yoga Retreat, designed to ground and connect deeper to ourselves and our home. Many of us have had the privilege of attending retreats before. I have furthered my education and practice in some of the most beautiful places, yet coming back home requires some serious integration to try to implement all of my learnings into my ‘real life’.
The idea for Welcome Home came when a friend planted a seed with me (Britt Buntain, our beloved friend and creative director). She suggested while we were on a phone call that we create a retreat that people can do at home. This idea sparked something in me, my wheels started turning, and within a few months, I took action on the idea. I reached out to my friend and photographer/videographer/creative who also is the Digital Content Creator for Dutch Bros Coffee, and she was up for the challenge of capturing the content for this project. We set a date in the calendar and brainstormed together through text and a few phone calls. She asked me to send her a specific list of everything I wanted to capture for the weekend so she could come prepared with all of the equipment needed to execute all of my goals.
As the weekend got closer and closer, my nerves started increasing. I was both excited and nervous to have myself filmed on camera, and also have my home captured and shared virtually. Once Melody arrived, she made me feel so comfortable in front of the camera, and came with a checklist to assure that we could capture everything I wanted. We spent the whole weekend filming & photo shooting from Friday evening until Sunday evening. Jonah was a huge help through the process cleaning, modeling, and keeping everything fun and lighthearted through the weekend.
Melody was quick to deliver the edits to me, and by July I had all of the videos from her. Then the procrastination hit. I started planning our retreat to Belize shortly after and time continued on with this project still in the back of my mind. I could list all of my excuses as to why I didn’t take action earlier, but the real reason is that I didn’t gift myself enough time to focus on it and execute the final product.
After our Belize retreat was finished, I made a commitment with my coach that I wouldn’t plan another retreat until I finished this project. And then COVID-19 hit… As soon as I saw that people were required to stay home, I knew that this work could really help people. I flashed back and remembered all of the difficult times that I have been through, and how my yoga, meditation, and self-care rituals have saved my life. The simplest act of moving my body, showing myself some love, and allowing my home space to hold me up when I needed it the most has truly been transformational.
I started taking fierce action with a few dead-ends. I reached out to some references with no response, but had to continue my quest. I needed someone far more tech-savvy than myself to really make this project a reality. Guess who was available to help? Britt Buntain, who’s idea it was to create this in the first place. Praise be! After a few phone calls with cohorts and a coaching session with Liz Dennery Sanders, Britt and I had a clear road map of how to execute this plan. We worked tirelessly and quickly to assure that this product was finished while we were all still under shelter in place orders. We hit a couple road blocks prior to launching, but that didn’t stop us. Britt and I kept faith, Jonah was a grounded masculine for us, and we made it happen.
I may have cried once or twice over this project, doubting myself and having frustrations, but I didn’t give up hope. I know people need these practices more than ever, especially right now. Although we could look back and see that it may have been ‘procrastination’ as to why I waited this long to execute the project, I truly believe that it was divine timing. Or perhaps it took me 9 months because I was properly ‘birthing’ this project. Also, we were traveling so much during those 9 months that I wasn’t home long enough to even settle before we took off again. This time at home has gifted me the opportunity to be inspired, and to create something I’ve intended to help people with for a long time coming.
Even better, I am able to use this as my 300hr YTT graduate project (I am that much closer to becoming a 500hr certified yoga instructor)! Thank you to the Sage Yoga School for all of the support.
Final thoughts: Transformational experiences don’t have to happen while we are away from home base. Transformation happens at home base. Bringing these practices right into our homes with all of the noise, chatter, messiness, animals, family, etc. is really where the magic lays. If we can practice healing in our own space, our space and people heal, too.
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