I'm in Costa Rica guiding a retreat for 10 wonderful people who said "yes" to the opportunity to recharge in this place that has a special energy about it that keeps us coming back. Since I started traveling to Costa Rica in 2011, I've gone back every year at least once (except 2020). The first yoga retreat I ever led was at Blue Spirit in Nosara, Costa Rica. I continued to return not only to lead retreats, but also for advanced yoga teacher training and personal travel.
While I was ready for an escape after the stress of the election (and the fact that it snowed all of last week at my home in Evergreen, Colorado), in all of my years of attending and leading retreats, I've learned that retreats are not about leaving your life behind, but rather discovering more about who you are so you can live your most authentic life.Â
On retreat, you have the opportunity to explore what you need to thrive, partly by being in a new environment, but also because you get to set down your daily responsibilities and focus on you! At home, we tend to take on many roles and labels that others impose on us or that we give ourselves. Traveling to a new place with a group of people who are also seeking connection allows you to peel back the layers and get to who you really are at the core.Â
I firmly believe that the answers we seek are already within us. The noise of the outside world is what makes it difficult to hear your voice. A yoga retreat is the perfect place to be still and quiet long enough to allow those whispers to get your full attention. I've seen it happen over and over again – people on retreat get to re-connect to their intuition and inner wisdom, and have fun at the same time! There's always a lot of laughter when people come together on retreat and lighten the loads that they're so used to carrying. The connections that participants form with each other is a big part of what keeps people coming back year after year.Â
While I typically lead a retreat in Costa Rica annually, I'm skipping 2025 to make space for an adventure to the Azores islands of Portugal. You can learn more about that retreat here. As much as I love leading retreats, I've decided to reduce the number of retreats that I guide per year from four (five in 2023!) to three. Don't miss our popular Colorado Winter Retreat at Mt. Princeton Hot Springs Resort in February. I'm still working on the third retreat for next year, so stay tuned for more information.Â
I hope you can join us for one of our 2025 retreats to see for yourself the importance of taking time to reset and recharge and the impact a retreat can have on your overall health and happiness. Be sure to watch Firefly's social media feeds on Facebook and Instagram this week to see how things are going in Las Catalinas!
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