Soulful Summer Retreats

This month's Glow! News is about Girlfriend Getaways and retreats. Our Glow! writer Melissa (of Spa Defined) shares her girlfriend getaway in Tuscany (read article here) and I recently took some time off for my personal retreat. Every year for my birthday (July Cancerian) I do something to expand myself physically and spiritually so I ended up in Big Sur's Esalen. A totally stunning place with amazing vibes, it was my home for 3 days. I participated in a workshop with Laura Day, the intuitive I've been following for over 10 years, where I was trained in my ability to read and direct energy. That's a whole topic in itself but basically it's about changes in our lives and having a greater effect on the people and situations around us -- in business, love, health, happiness, rejuvenation. I learned how to facilitate this process in others.

A weekend of no coffee, no phone, no computer -- I survived. I shared the little cottage (below) with 3 beautiful women from NY, CA, and AZ. I took in a sulfur 'a la freeing nude' bath and massage (omg it was the most incredible experience) al fresco (last photo is of bath house) and drank in some silence in the meditation hut (middle photo) which sits right above a waterfall and ate 3 healthy organically grown meals day. Esalen became distraction enough to forget lack of being connected to outside world and by the last and third day I lost the urge to plug in... actually i avoided it!

I continued my retreat in the bay area with a week long yoga conference dedicated to the legacy of iyengar. So after dropping back in nature for the weekend, my body was all loose for day long asanas. The highlight of that experience was day 4 where I gathered the courage (even though my brain thought otherwise) to stand on my hand for what seemed like an eternity really though i was told for less than a minute. Success to me!

so back now re-charged and re-focused on how better i can serve while i'm here in this world. I love retreats like this, a contrast to laying on the beach, where here i expect to push my limits and step outside of my usual boundaries to that very uncomfortable place.

Have any experience to share that took you outside of your box? Email me maria@destressessentials.com