Wildly Aligned Retreat Recap (and photos!)

We like to share some of our reflections on the retreat, as well as some of our favorite photos in these blog recaps. Thank you so much Sarah Miller for these STUNNING images! Generate some good karma by showing her some love at Whispering Willows Photography!

Bryana’s Retreat Reflections

This is the first retreat I’ve been able to stay overnight at, without a baby, for a loooonnnngggg time!  In fact, this was my first night(s) away from the cute little bugger…. EVER. I couldn’t ask for better company and support for such a big milestone.  So many yogis were checkin’ in with me constantly, asking me how I was doing, cheering me on for continuing that good ole’ pumping routine, and giving me a lot of encouragement in general as a new mom.  Also, my husband is awesome and he and baby Graham did great on their own. 

Of course one of my favorite parts was also that my sweet lil’ babe did visit with his daddy during the day on Saturday.  We took the opportunity to snag the very talented photographer, Sarah Miller, to take some pics with the baby. I must say, a baby on a yoga mat makes me incredibly happy.  CAN YOU BELIEVE THESE PICS?! AHHHH, I love them. 

In addition to baby related things, I’ve been enjoying getting back in touch with my body.  I was SO SORE and EXHAUSTED, after more physical activity than I’ve had in months. However, the opportunity to indulge in several yoga classes, as well as teach in such a beautifully energetic space was incredibly inspiring.  THANK YOU!!!

I also loved spending time with my college roommate over the weekend.  The opportunities are sweet and memorable. Love you Kristen.  

Last, I loved spending time with Joella and Stacy.  My life has been very baby focused, and it was fun to be with them for the weekend because first, and foremost, we are FRIENDS. 

Joella’s Retreat Reflections

The drive from Duluth to Hackensack offers me an opportunity to sit back, relax, and take in the gorgeous scenery of northern Minnesota. I usually see a plethora of wild animals. I’ve seen wild turkeys, deer, and even a bobcat once. One thing that is very interesting, is that with every retreat I adventure to I always see an eagle or two.

If you’re into animal symbolism, then you know eagles represent courage, strength, and the ability to stretch the limits by looking at things from a higher perspective.

Seeing an eagle soar in the sky brings so much comfort to me and this tradition of seeing them on my way to every retreat, and sometimes on my way home, reminds me that I am exactly where I am supposed to be, at all times. 

I always get so excited upon my arrival to Deep Portage. It feels like home and the familiar faces fill me up with so much joy. Getting that hug in and a moment to catch up with Bryana and Stacy is by far one of my favorite highlights from the weekend. Even though we all work together, we are friends first, and with our very busy schedules right now sometimes these retreats are the only time we get to see each other throughout the year. It’s crazy how fast life moves, isn’t it? 

Settling into the great room and preparing for our first yoga class on Friday, I felt even more at ease and was so excited to have the opportunity to meet the other yogis attending this retreat. To see all of the smiles on their faces and to answer all of their questions, nervous or not, while checking them in, is such a treat for us, but nothing is more exciting than offering a deep connection through movement and breath during an empowering yoga class.

Friday night I taught a vinyasa and yin yoga class tailored around the first and second chakra. If you want to learn more about the chakras, feel free to check out this blog I wrote leading up to this retreat. Throughout this entire weekend, we offered sound bowls at every session.

Each class was themed around a specific chakra and either at the end of class or at the beginning of class I would play the chakra sound bowl correlated to the specific chakra. This offered such a nice change to our classes from the past and allowed the yogis to fall even more into a deep state of meditation and relaxation.

I loved hearing how much these yogis all loved hearing the sound bowls and their experiences with them after each session. If you don’t know much about the crystal sound bowls and haven’t personally experienced them, you can read more about them in our previous blog here. 

Saturday, I taught a more invigorating yoga classes themed around our third chakra, our solar plexus.

We took deep breaths, twisted our bodies in loving ways, practiced some core building exercises, and had a little fun with some balancing postures. We definitely worked up a sweat and the savasana offered a moment to relax deeper from all of the fun we previously had throughout the day, depending on what activities the yogis decided to attend. 

Later that night we had the opportunity to create a vision board.

With a vision board you can cut out pictures and words from anything you wish that speak to you and place them on your board so you can stay aligned with your visions. At first, I wasn’t really into this at the moment and grabbed my coloring book and colored pencils and began coloring in geometric shapes while talking to the girls and watching them cut out pretty pictures and inspirational words. Bryana picked up a beautiful card with the phases of the moon and told me that she had brought that card just for me. And then Stacy kept pointing out neat things in the magazines that reminded her of me like astrology themed words and what not, and then FOMO began to settle in and I immediately wanted to make a vision board. I got so into this that I actually ended up skipping the fire and continued to create my vision bored until about ten pm, with no other yogi in the great room. It was a beautiful experience and the time alone was very nice. 

Every yoga retreat offers a different opportunity and a different feeling. This retreat I felt so much joy, love, and gratitude to be able to call this work. Life for me is moving rather fast right now, but these retreats always remind me to slow down and that it’s ok to be a little selfish with our love for ourselves. Everything was perfect this weekend, and I can't wait to do it all over again for our second 2020 winter yoga retreat. Thank you for being a part of our journey! 

Stacy’s Retreat Reflections

It was a great weekend and a great group of people. Everyone who came seemed to be all in and ready for all that there was to offer. Even the chef Tammy mentioned how much she enjoyed this group and how they seemed different then the others. 

I was feeling very anxious about  going at first, but once I pulled onto that long Deep Portage road it was like a big welcome home for the weekend and I instantly started feeling better. I recently completed my 200 YTT and am still learning how and what that all means for me. I taught my first class at yoga retreat and it went really well. I learned so much and am excited to continue to learn from my besties and pursue self-study.

It felt so good to move my body and discover new ways of moving. I have been really caught up in coming up with sequences and as a result, I forget to really pay attention to my own body and self-awareness during practice.

Ah learning is so fun, challenging and full of ah-huh moments! 

Another favorite memory is after I taught my class I had a celebratory beer and found some women gathered around the fire in the great hall. We talked yoga, babies, and how small the world is. We basically solved all the world problems in that short time. One woman’s mom was from Finland, Mn and so was my mom. Then she shared that she grew up on “da range” where my husband is from. The more we talked, the more we connected. I get so excited about these connections, about people coming together from all walks of life with no judgement and simply enjoying one another’s company.

We hope y’all are feeling as WILDLY ALIGNED as we are! Thanks for a beautiful weekend together!

Thanks Green Scene for another DELICIOUS Friday evening meal!