You can’t only inhale, you’d only be taking in, you can’t only exhale, you’d end up being completely empty. Just like our breath we need both- giving and taking. That’s what separates our retreats. We don’t just take, we give back to the local communities.
My first yoga teacher training was in Africa. It was focused around learning yoga but also around community. We completed a few “Seva” or selfless service offerings as part of the hours that were required of us to complete our Teacher Training. I personally got to help build a school in Kibera, Nairobi, one of the largest slums in the world. I also went to orphanages and a deaf children facility where we taught the joy of yoga to the kids that were living there. We went to schools and prisons as well. This part of my teacher training left a huge impact on me. Not only because it was my first time seeing a 3rd world country, but I felt really connected those living there.
I had experienced retreats where people just partied and took classes. Where we were just at a resort and barely left, being waited on hand and foot. Where our privilege was rewarded in luxury. When I decided to create a wellness retreat organization, I wanted it to be different. I wanted us to give back to the community directly. I wanted the retreats to be more fulfilling for your soul, not just your pleasure-seeking body.
The first retreat that we offered this, looked a little different. I had resided in Sayulita in 2020 in the “not so nice” area or really “where the true locals lived” and when I took a retreat to Haramara Resort in 2023, I rented golf carts and brought my guests to the real part of Mexico that I knew for a Temazcal Ceremony that a traditional Mexican Shaman guided us through. Some people were stunned at the poverty, but they instantly felt welcomed. I saw people overcome fears that day. I saw the glow that comes from being integrated into a community instead of just being on the outside of it like a tourist.
From that retreat on, we have connected with the community we visit. In Costa Rica, we went and learned how to make tamales from a local at her kitchen, in Peru we visited a Quechuan School and taught the kids how to do Cyanotype and played games with them, and in Portugal we will be going to a farm to help harvest vegetables and then handing them out to the community who is in need.
I believe that what we take we should give back.
That retreats should not only feed your soul, they should feed others. Sometimes, Literally.