Designing Women's Wellness Retreats for Rest, Reflection, Reconnection: The Journey Behind ‘A Nurturing Pause’

Why did we decide to design and host a women's retreat?

About two years ago, a conversation began between the three of us (Laura, Laura & Jessamyn). Each of us had separately imagined ways that we might create transformative spaces that allow people to have an escape, a place to rest and feel renewed. At first we weren’t sure what this meant. How could the three of us merge our ideas and make something together?

It started as a text thread where we exchanged ideas. Maybe we could provide curated “Air BnB” getaway experiences? Host local women’s groups for individuals to find support and connection? Host a retreat of some sort?

At the time, we were just dreaming, but we knew, regardless of what we came up with, we wanted participants to feel a sense of belonging, feel cared for and nourished, and to leave with a stronger sense of who they are and how they want to write their next chapter. That dream felt important and energizing, but it also wasn’t ready to be brought into being yet. It sat on the “shelf” (actually, in our shared Google docs), as we each pursued different paths and creative endeavors, but it never completely left our collective consciousness. 

Fast forward almost two years. Laura Woody and I attended a workshop titled “How to Design Experiential Learning Retreats” where we learned from others and got to crowdsource some of our ideas. We left that workshop feeling encouraged and bolstered by the positive feedback from the other participants, so we dug out our notes from two years earlier. We saw the words refuel, creativity, clarity, and community and recognized that our vision had stayed alive and we were still excited about it. 

A few days later, we called Jessamyn on speakerphone and said, “What if we host the retreat…?”    Jessamyn’s enthusiastic, “I’m totally in!” was all we needed to hear. Within two weeks, we had a beautiful Lake Anna location reserved, and our first participant registered for our first retreat, Who Am I Now?. 

This probably sounds like a circuitous path to get from point A to point B. Some who are focused on efficiency might say we took a long time to make a decision. There were probably even times when we each thought it was just a nice thought exercise that wouldn’t amount to anything. However, we never fully let go of the idea because we knew there was something good and true about it. And when the timing was right and we had the support and encouragement we needed, that idea was still there for us to breathe life into it.

While our original text thread was "just a dream," it left its mark. We kept coming back, never sure where or how it fit until it did. 

In Kobi Yamada’s children’s book, What To Do With An Idea, the story ends with the protagonist exclaiming, 

“And then something amazing happened. My idea changed right before my eyes. It spread its wings, took flight, and burst into the sky. I don’t know how to describe it but it went from being here to being everywhere. It wasn’t a part of me anymore… it was now a part of everything.”

At our women's wellness retreat, we hope you will have the opportunity to do the same: to get a sense of your dreams, hold them and nurture them in the safety of a community that supports and encourages them, and then gather the strength to carry them forward into your daily life, keeping them dear and close, ready to be fully realized when the timing is right. 

What’s just under the surface for you? What’s waiting to appear if given the space and time it needs and tender loving care it needs? What idea gives you energy each time it pops back up again? What will you carry with you into your next chapter? I hope you’ll join us in June to ask these important questions of the wisest person in the room - YOU. 

-Laura Bowles