This past weekend I was so lucky. I was invited on a retreat with Kendell Sullivan. Kendell is a co-teacher of mine at FocusOm and Kendell leads retreats to all sorts of interesting places (think Spain, Nepal, etc.) and her most recent was to a cute little farm in Sonoma. As you know, I love farms so I just had to go.
This is the inside of my tent. I slept in the bed on the right. The weekend started rainy and chilly. I’ve slept with lots of stuff, including mice, bugs and the gopher that was digging below the tent that night. But, I’ve never slept with a hot water bottle. I am hooked. What a treat.
This is the little tent village I slept in. There were also yurts elsewhere at the Lotus Feed Retreat (that’s where the retreat was), but I slept here. Cute, huh? Just a note, in case you are contemplating such a trip: tents do not insulate sound. So, if you sing, burp, tell stupid jokes, or anything more racy, your neighbors get to hear it all. Being a yoga retreat, there wasn’t much racy going on, but just think you should know.
Sleeping wasn’t the only thing we got to do outside. We also ate, did yoga, and yes, showered outside! The shower was built around a big tree, and had hot water!!
Here’s another picture.
The food was great; all vegetarian and healthy. But, I was really taken by the elixirs and smoothies in the morning. There’s something about an elixir that just feels life-changing, like a little shot of health going straight into the veins. Here’s one now!
And another!
Imagine waking up in the morning and having a smoothie like this waiting for you.
Whoa, and look at this. Someone was thoughtful enough to add an edible flower garnish. This doesn’t happen in my kitchen. Yet.
Here we have an especially colorful elixir served with a delicious granola-type cake, fruit and whipped cream. Yes, the food was extraordinary.
You might be wondering if this yoga retreat included any actual yoga. Yes, it did. Here is where we did yoga when it was cool. There was a wood-burning stove that heated like gangbusters. I put myself in charge of feeding it logs and I think everyone hated me when, during our first practice, I pumped it up and we accidentally did hot yoga.
There were even some educational moments. Colleen gave us a medicinal herb presentation. We made a salve, a toner, and even made face masks, which we used in the moment. I did not take pictures and did not allow pictures of me, but I admit my face felt pretty smooth and purty afterward.
Speaking of purty, this is Kendell and myself on the outdoor yoga deck. Kendell was the best yoga host ever! I now know why her travel retreats are so successful. She took such good care of us, led great practices, gave Thai massages, and just was the best hostess ever. Thank you, Kendell, for a super retreat!
