How Yoga, Meditation and Sea Lions Nourished My Soul in Mexico

Todos Santos Ocean Retreat FORM yoga Soul Nourish

Life can be an incredibly difficult and enlightening journey. I learned this at an early age. I’ve suffered through losses—my father, brother and my first baby have all died. My mother and I do not speak. At all. I’ve survived gang rape and molestation at the hands of many men and boys. For far too long, I have chosen to suffer mostly alone, not knowing how to share with others without burdening loved ones with my pain. I’ve found the ability to do transformative work in yoga sessions but it’s only 60 to 90 minutes. Then it’s gone. The benefits leak out slowly. As hard as I work to retain them, it’s like capturing air with a fishing net. I wanted more and I needed guidance to do it.

How yoga meditation and sea lions nourished my soul in mexico

So when my yoga teacher Mandy Roberts told me that there were still spaces open on her and her business partner’s Soul Nourish retreat, which was heading to Todos Santos, Mexico, I gave it real consideration. I’d seen the posters for previous Soul Nourish Retreats when I’d gone to practice yoga in her studio in Decatur, Georgia. But when she personally reached out to say, “Hey, Kirsten, I really think you might enjoy this,” it gave me pause. It wasn’t just yoga, after all. Mandy Roberts, owner of Form Yoga, has teamed up with Shari L. Fox, owner of Soul Nourish Institute, who is an enneagram instructor as well as a certified yoga instructor. The six-day trip promised to be full of adventure, plus loads of mindful meditation, inner work—a soulful journey. A gift to oneself. And I said yes.

I said yes to magic. To transformation. To nurturing myself and to nurture others. I said yes to feeling the quiet strength of 15 women in a room sitting silently, setting intentions for themselves and then going about the day mindfully intent on carrying out their intentions. I said yes to swimming in the Sea of Cortez, blue water deep, sea lion pups whirling around us, saying yes to the fun too. I said yes to learning to surf with Jan Federico William Bird, a Mexican-born holistic health mentor and regenerative ecological designer, consultant, and educator. I said yes to going on a Seva trip, which was an opportunity for the retreat attendees to serve selflessly by planting an organic vegetable garden and fruit-bearing trees at a local elementary school where families are often hungry during slow tourism months. I said yes to rising with the sun and meeting my new friends for guided meditation on the rooftop of our eco-luxury resort looking over the desert toward the Pacific Ocean.

It is incredibly hard to suffer, but it is brutal and unnecessary to suffer alone.

I said yes to practicing yoga in a room with women who all had different body shapes than me, some who had been doing yoga for far more time than me and some who’d only taken a class or two. I said yes to laughing during yoga and even a little dancing too. I said yes to holding a new friend’s hand. I said yes to a vision quest of which I was doubtful of at first but ultimately felt tremendous healing from while watching energy of spirits pass through me. I said yes to learning about enneagram, a typology that maps out your personality type, and I said yes to being open to what my type says about me, my vices and my virtues, and how I can better navigate the world knowing both my type and my instincts. I said yes in letting a room full of women come together and offer their love and healing blessings to me and to each other. I said yes to sharing my losses and listening to others share theirs. I said yes to feeling less alone. I said yes to making magic, to being magic. I said yes to myself and I said yes to others. I said yes to the lessons that came to me there: We are all emanating lights of energy with or without the vessel of a body. It is incredibly hard to suffer, but it is brutal and unnecessary to suffer alone.

How yoga meditation and sea lions nourished my soul in Mexico

About Kirsten Palladino

Kirsten Palladino is the author of Equally Wed: The Ultimate Guide to Planning Your LGBTQ+ Wedding (May 2017, Seal Press), and the cofounder and editorial director of equallywed.com. She’s currently working on a memoir about healing herself after trauma, a topic she infrequently blogs about on foragedwellness.com. She lives with her spouse and their twin boys in Atlanta, Georgia.

AHO

women weekend retreat Elohee Retreat Center

This spring I co-lead a Women’s Weekend Retreat in the north Georgia mountains with my dear friend and sweet soul sister Shari L. Fox. Months of dreaming and planning led all 26 of us to journey northward and meet at the Dahlonega Spa Resort just 90 minutes outside of Atlanta.

Women's Weekend Retreat

A menagerie of women from all walks of life came together: mothers with their daughters, two groups of sisters, longtime friends, new friends, solo travelers, students of mine from FORM {yoga}, guests of Shari’s past retreats through Soul Nourish Retreats, and a few women who had never met Shari or myself.

As each woman arrived you could see so much beauty in their bravery. Each of them showing up with some hint of uncertainty about what the weekend will hold.

Women's Weekend Retreat

In our first circle we each selected one person we didn’t know and we sat and took turns truly listening to the other as we each told our story. Nervous laughter lifted the room when Shari announced that next that each person would introduce their new friend to the group and say a little something about them. We each took turns holding the talking stone to introduce our friend over laughter and a captive audience. This exercise in deep listening set the tone for the weekend, the ice was broken. We commenced to dive deeper into our sister souls with each passing hour.

Women's Weekend Retreat

Over the course of this weekend we connected with deeply rooted layers of trust and vulnerability. We learned together, created art together, sang together, meditated together, yoga’ed together (both on and off the mat), and had a couple of impromptu dance parties.

Together we shared wine, tears, laughter, laughter through tears (this is for Pam and all my Steel Magnolia loving friends).

Women's Weekend Retreat

We shared stories and truths in the circle, in the hot tub, and as we lay dozing off to sleep at night.

More than anything, together we showed up with pure presence, perfectly imperfect and in doing so we wove a powerful and moving experience for each woman there. We created memories, friendships and deep bonds that will last us a lifetime. And this my friends, is what life is all about.
Ahhhh-fucking-ho

Women's Weekend Retreat

Interested in your own magical women’s weekend? Join Shari and Mandy July 22-24, 2016 for our Summer Women’s Weekend Retreat. Check out the Soul Nourish Retreats website for more information or to register.

Big thanks to Linden Tree Photography for the beautiful images above.

todos santos dreamcatcher mandy roberts

About Mandy Roberts

The inspiration and driving force behind Atlanta’s FORM {yoga} Mandy is always learning, adapting and growing. As a studio owner Mandy has built a beautiful, inclusive community that focuses on empowerment, trust and connection. As a single mom Mandy leads by example teaching her two kids to (playfully) grab life by the horns and to live life to the fullest. And as a yoga teacher and retreat leader Mandy encourages her students to face their fears while exploring humility, playfulness and laughter.

Read more at mandyrobertsyoga.com