Why Retreat?

There are thousands of retreats offered all the time all over the world. They all share similar themes of self-care and transformation, yet differ greatly around personal style, details, investment, length, intention, flow, content, location, venue, and focus. So how do you choose? How can you know which one will be best for you, right now? How can you be sure your hard-earned money goes to the most impactful + enjoyable experience? Well, I’m in the same school of thought as Denise Duffield-Thomas, who quips (about personal growth + transformation), “Throw everything at it.” Meaning, you can’t really go wrong here, loves. But what can help, as you scroll through and debate all the juicy options, is being super clear about what each retreat offers and stands for – and be aware when you feel that deep inner knowing sit up and go, “oh hello, I’m feeling this one!” (intuition sing-song is the BEST!) So, let us offer that clarity for our straight up #UnicornMagic retreats.

(Already wanting to see what retreat’s we’ve got coming up? Click here for what’s coming up NEXT WEEK!)

When we retreat we can give each step our full attention. The beauty of going on retreat is that no matter where you go or how long you stay, you’ll always meet yourself when you get there.

Madisyn Taylor

Our master retreat recipe

Lovingly, masterfully curated over the last decade, here’s the super-simple-high-level ingredients that make up our retreats. We’ll break it down even more for you as we go on.

• A small, intimate group of women who walk and grow through the week together
• Held in secluded, cozy and gorgeous private homes + estates
• Therapeutic immersion into experiences of music, art, nature, movement and more
• The legit superpowers of our approach to Heartwork™ (doing the inner work)
• And the undeniable freedom that comes with being celebrated, supported and loved exactly where you are, for who you are.
• Oh yeah, they’re also fun as hell. 🙂

#ThisIsHowWeHOYH

A little bit louder, now

And a little bit ‘o science. HOYH incorporates several aspects of learning and therapies to more fully integrate the theme + intention of every retreat on the most soul-deep level possible. The depth to which we feel something enables us to change at the cellular level, thereby altering our behaviors from the source – rather than just temporarily alleviating the symptoms. What’s that now? Basically it just means seriously impactful, lasting change that you carry with you forevermore. (Oh, is that all? Lol). And since we know everyone learns in different ways, we include all types of experiential learning styles: visual, aural, verbal, sensory, logical, social, solitary, and creative. So, our retreats are a fully immersive experience; full of varying therapeutic workshops and healing activities to incite different and new ways of learning. They are fully sensory; engaging taste, touch, feel, sight, hear, smell – and fully feeling; igniting the mind, heart, body and spirit. Becoming fully awake enables us to lean deeply into a more centered, present, and whole-souled version of ourselves.

More succinctly, #TheHOYHway follows a four-fold sequence: immerse, practice, transcend, and restore. It’s the formula we follow after seeing it work wonders and miracles in people’s lives as they step into it and choose it for themselves. Here’s why.

The intimacy. Keeping the group small (around 13) keeps it real; there’s an element of safety that builds beneath the conscious surface, moment by moment and day by day. It bubbles up and manifests as shows of deep bravery in sharing, showing up, and supporting others with newly energized surges of compassion + love. It manifests as a collective trust that feels like it’s been building for years, among established confidantes. And with that safety emerges massive amounts of healing, connection and joy. Such intimacy is intentionally cradled by the chosen environment: private, secluded homes + estates surrounded by nature that allow for cocoon-like energy to deepen and support the feelings of utmost safety, permission, and space for what needs to rise. And when it arises, it’s then allowed to be met with utter acceptance without distraction, judgment, or violation (can anyone say DON’T OBJECTIFY ME WHEN I’M RETREATING!). When we feel the energies and hustle and bustle of a retreat center or resort or hotel, it can interfere with this deep inner work. Even simple, slight interferences can truly jar your trajectory, can distract and disconnect you from really going where you need to for the change you want to embody. We’ll take every excuse out there to run from our feelings and our work lol, so being in a public shared sphere can be detrimental to the depth we are able to experience in HOYH retreats.

The music. Live music offered by talented individuals, group song creation and music therapy activities that are full-bodied expressions of play, creation, and fun – sending harmonies and holies like a virtual bond uniting every participant. Professionally curated custom playlists cradle and embrace the theme and lead each intentional segment throughout the days as the ever-deepening guide to brand new realms of healing, holistic love, and climactic and transcendent hope. Yeah. We believe music is kind of a big deal.

The art. We support the science-backed and science-based proof of what happens in your brain and body when your hands are part of the creation process. Creating assists you in examining and exploring the theme, helps the synapses and connections in your brain to strengthen – to hold fast or weaken old ties of dysfunction, and hurt. Bottom line, arts and crafts ain’t just some throw-away, people. It’s not a joke or something to reserve for pre-school or the nursing home. It’s the superpower that knits and unites the mind, body, heart and spirit in such a way that creates lasting change. #WholeSouled

“When our eyes see our hands doing the work of our hearts, the circle of Creation is completed inside us, the doors of our souls fly open and love steps forth to heal everything in sight.”

Michael Bridge

The nature. What is there more to say, really? We spend significant time allowing the immeasurable gifts of the outdoors to aid the retreating process. Letting the restorative frequencies of the earth soak up through the feet and legs as we walk and hike and yoga and paddle board and rest and dance and sing and create and move. The outer sanctuary surrounds our inner sanctuary in protection, and invitation to settle into resetting, recalibrating, and reverberating that prime healing energy from our heads down to our toes.

“Of utmost important to all life on our planet, the Earth’s field has a normal lower range of ~7.8 Hz, also known as the Schumann Resonance. This natural rhythm is found in multiple places within the human organism, and it is inherent to functioning at our most efficient, sustainable, and coherent state. The human body cavity resonates at 7.8 Hz. Our Alpha and Theta brain waves both border the frequency of 7.8 Hz. These brain waves are associated with insight, intuition, inspiration, meditation, relaxation, and calmness. Thus, the Earth resonates with our biological system, bringing us into a state of greater coherence.”

Adam Lanka

The movement. “Women’s bodies, women’s wisdom“, the brilliant Christiane Northrup titled one of her books. (Read it. Soooo good). Our bodies hold it all, and exploring various types of feminine movement shifts and shimmies our inner work like an oracle; like a goddess primed for retaking her throne. Letting the female body move the way she’s designed to move is the impetus, the catalyst, and the liberator for all that women desire, need, and are capable of. Within each woman’s body lies an untapped, depthless reserve of power straining and ready to be released. Sometimes that release requires attention and feeling and allowing, permitting generations of repression, atrocity, and abuse of our selves and our gender to be acknowledged, and liberated from the cells that we still carry those stories in. Sometimes that release is a shattering of joy, sensuality, and self-acceptance. Every time, it’s a powerful healing that affects every man, woman and child you interact with. That kind of physical freedom is a master thread in the story of women’s wisdom. #Goddesses

The food. How we feed ourselves matters. It’s an act of connection, service, and pleasure. As part of the practice of both giving and receiving, women take turns cooking delicious homemade dinners for one another during our retreats. The act of gathering together to break bread is nigh to holiness, and also comedic sometimes too. 🙂 The cozy atmosphere of anticipation and hunger (we’re hungry for all things that nurture and fill and warm us) – there’s a reason food seems to taste so much better when we’re outside or at retreats or with the people we love. We’re awake. We’re alive. We’re present. We’re here. Serving and receiving nourishing food heals us; swapping stories and laughter and making memories that morph into cherished traditions. How we are fed and who we share that with plays a huge part in our retreats.

The Heartwork™: Each theme follows an intentional, specialized, and powerful sequence of Heartwork™ over the duration of each retreat. We give opportunity for each woman to go as deep as she’s ready for, trusting the innate wisdom that guides each heart. We explore and offer many different experiential practices and healing rituals. We spend time in solitude, guided meditation, raucous laughter and tender vulnerability. We have workshops where other women come to share their expertise, and we also encourage our own participants to step into the spotlight and share their unique talents and gifts that bless everyone. We are all contributors, teachers and participants. We do this together – we take turns leading each other, and leading ourselves. Intentionally celebrating the women around us helps us practice that celebration we can then take into our every-day lives, erasing bit by bit the insipid poison of envy, competition and female-cruelty. Not here, not now, not anymore.

The Women. The unmatched vulnerability. The vast amounts of compassion. The easy friendships. The challenging mirrors that reflect our own work. The many opportunities to change stories and wounds of female-perpetuated abuses. The transformative offerings of acceptance. The environment of connection, empowerment and hope experienced with others is how we learn how to connect more deeply with ourselves. We find answers to our own challenges when we listen and witness other women sharing their situations and stories. We find that we really do belong, just as we are, as we are. #WeAreHOYH

“The best and most affordable therapy I have ever received was in a room full of brave and vulnerable women, who loved me quietly as I spoke my story into existence.”

Brittany Johansen

The guts + glory of riding the edge of discomfort

Wait, all this so far sounds amazing – what’s this discomfort you speak of? Nothing that heals and transforms you comes without some level of discomfort. Nothing. For our retreats, some of those may look like sharing a room and maybe even a bed and bathroom with a woman you may or may not know (the reality of renting private homes, even the largest estates have a set number of bedrooms). Attending nearly every activity with the whole group, whether or not you’re particularly interested or even possibly resisting. Preparing the meals in teams for your fellow ladies. Occupying your space in the small, intimate circle because you can’t hide – everyone knows if you’re there or not. Being encouraged to share and lean in more than you would if it was just your usual, “hide in the back of the class and don’t introduce myself to anyone” gig. Following the ever-deepening and ever-widening sequence of Heartwork™ that challenges your best self to step forward and speak loudly with the parts of you that want to stay small and unseen. Feeling your feelings. <– #TheGutsAndTheGlory. When we intentionally sign up for transformation, the required work will always show you the way forward. The good news, however – is that you won’t do it alone. And, you’ll leave knowing you’ve done something braver than you’ve ever done before. You’ve chosen you, and you can never lose that experience. You can only build upon it.

Don’t overly worry about the discomfort, because that necessary aspect is surrounded by pillowing folds of luxury, safety, pleasure, and joy. Having the challenging parts of expansion held in a gorgeous container of comfort makes it something you can definitely tolerate. There is space within you for both the carving out for growth + transformation and enjoying yourself a ridiculous amount.

So what’s wrong with 100% comfort and ease? Nothing. Nothing at all. There is a time and place for simple relaxation and disconnecting from our hectic lives. We’re just spotlighting how we do it differently and how this recipe produces such immediate, saturating power that shifts things immeasurably faster than doing it over years or singly on your own. A vacation can be restful and fun – but a retreat like ours is how you get both time away and come home a different person.

So then, who exactly are your retreats for?

They’re not only for the I’m totally ready for this! women, they’re for the “I’m in the middle of my shit,” women. The “I can barely breathe and keep surviving,” women. The “feeling pretty good but I don’t know why I keep tripping up on the same freaking things over and over,” women. The “every time I do this work I go deeper and get stronger and I need more of that,” women. The “I’ll never be ready but I am willing,” women. The “maybe I’m escaping / coping with too much alcohol / TV / work / exercise / religion / wine / sex / food / social media” women. Middle of the journey, not having arrived to be worthy and perfected enough to deserve it – but deserving of it right NOW (even if that doesn’t feel true yet). Yes. Even with the extra judgment still weighing on your body and the miserable or even tolerable job sucking all the hours from you and with the babes still attached to your body and with the imperfect, insufficient financial situations and partner choices and life choices. You’re exactly who our retreats are for. It doesn’t have to wait until after you’ve Kon Marie’d your whole house (but damn, we ALL need that!) because there is stuff everywhere, but NOW. NOW IS NOW IS NOW. How do you think we get from who we are to who we want to be?! By not doing the same things we did that got us where we are. Change it up. There will never be an easy time to choose you, to invest in you, but love? That’s exactly when it’s time to change the game. And only you can do it.

• It’s for you, love. You, who are waiting for things to calm down and ease up before you add something to the mix.
• You, who believe that everyone and everything must be taken care of before you care for yourself.
• You, who feel like you don’t deserve something so special because you’re not perfect no matter how hard you try.
• You, who struggle to take a break because it also means letting others care for themselves (and you might not be sure you know who you are by yourself)
• You, who are tired + lonely and could really use some self-care and self-love time
• You, who are feeling pretty good about things but want to deepen your connection to your inner wisdom and are willing (if not ready :)) for the next layers of growth + evolution.
• And you, who have been to our retreats before and you know you’re IN every time you can be!

The power of compounding repetition

Incremental upgrades are our every day mantra and they’re imperative for how we keep on keepin’ on…they’re they daily medicine that can take just a few minutes each day, a few hours each month. Whether it’s online courses you’re taking, therapy (YASS), moving your body, meetings / circles / gatherings to practice honesty and authenticity, workshops and education…however you do YOU on the day to day is the daily grind. Retreats, however, are how we level up. How we amp up our literal state of being and change our aura’s and slice up the ego and learn a whole new language in one week (we’d argue that the “feelings” lingo is it’s own language and yeah, you can be fluent in that shiz by the end of just one of our retreats).

If you’re the kind of curious gal that wants to know more about why retreats in general are so impactful, head over to this amazing article written by an amazing woman also hosting amazing retreats. She gets in to some of the amazing details that happen in the brain, and the power of repetitive participation – and we are 100% in agreement. #WomenCelebratingWomen

“The best time to plant a tree was 20 years ago. The second best time is now.”

Chinese Proverb

Still with me? Well then, it’s exactly for you that this blog post was written. And good thing, because there’s just one spot left in our “Great Migration” retreat happening NEXT WEEK from August 7-11 in a private eleven acre sanctuary in Eden, Utah. It’s all about filling each well and filling each heart. It’s about gathering the pieces of ourselves that get scattered and lost to find the strength and energy to balance, heal + enjoy our lives. If you’re feeling our vibe, come take a look, and if your intuition and body wisdom are tingling, you know you’re in the right place. It’s time to sing your song, and then deeply listen. You are the pied piper of your soul, and all that’s missing within you comes when you call. #JoinUs

(Check out our IG #UnicornMagic highlight story for some visual deliciousness for this retreat!)