Why You Should Come on a Mini Retreat!

Have you ever reached a point in your life, when just when you think things can’t get more stressful, something else happens?

If you had been with me a couple of years ago you would have seen me living the corporate dream. I was working for a university, setting up a national research network. What had started out as a wild idea had become a full blow thing and a showcase piece for the university.  Suddenly I was presenting at the top level, to CEOs and university VCs, travelling and speaking. And to be honest I was very much winging it. 

I had also just moved back in with my husband after a period of separation, and it wasn’t going well.

During the separation I had been trying to figure out my life. I had done my first two silent retreats and had been shocked at what they gave me – a sense of clarity and peace and knowing exactly what I wanted in life.

Because I was so inspired, and because I can never do things by halves, I’d applied to train to study with the founder of the retreats, Sara Avant Stover.

Sara is everything you would expect in a yoga High Priestess. Calm, serene, beautiful and a little aloof. When I applied, I had so little expectation I’d succeed that I figured I’d work out how I would manage if it happened, (let alone how to get to Colorado for the final live training!) and forgotten about it. I was sure I was not what they were looking for. I wasn’t a full time teacher, I taught unconventional yoga to people in offices, and I was deliberately fun and unserious.  

Imagine my shock when I did, the first person in the southern hemisphere. And because it is a spiritual lineage, it was rigorous. At the start there were 9 of us. 2 of us made it through.

My stress levels were through the roof!

I knew that this training was powerful, had transformed my life and could transform the lives of people I shared it with. But I felt like a complete fraud, stressed out of my brain and with my personal life in tatters.

What could I do? I dived in. I got up at 5 am every day. I dumped my resistance to the quieter practices of yin yoga and mediation and gave myself wholeheartedly to the course. And waited for things to collapse around me. The amazing thing was, they didn’t. In fact, I was so calm and focused that thing started to go better.

What I learned was that when we do the quieter practices, even when we are at our wits end, too stressed, too broke, too busy – it gives back rather than depleting us. The very thing we resist are exactly what we need.

These days I do my own mini retreats and online challenges. I have no shame in telling everyone they should practice, because I know that no matter where you are at, practicing will enhance your life.  

Wanna dip your toes in, with me to hold your hand but no MAJOR commitment? Join the Spring Self Care mini challenge

Want to go deeper and experience a deep refresh and recalibration? Come to a mini retreat (sign up here)

Ready to really create a shift in your life every day? Work with me privately to tailor the perfect practice for every aspect of your wellbeing. Book here

As always, lots of love

Ruth