Explore & Restore in Greece
Crete
I arrived two days early at the resort where the first half of the retreat took place. Paralos Lifestyle Beach is a large and impressive resort located on the coast of the Cretan Sea, which is part of the Mediterranean Sea. The weather was a bit chilly those first couple days since it was still technically late spring at the time. It was cloudy, windy, and rained on and off. My room had a walk-up pool bed right outside my door, with a small pool that I shared with two neighbors. There were a lot of pools at the resort, but unfortunately none were heated, which I later learned is the norm in Greece.
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Athens
I was offered the opportunity to partner with a retreat management company to host a wellness retreat in Greece in May of 2025. I have led several retreats in the past, but on much a smaller scale – mostly three-day weekends in the Colorado mountains or New Mexico. I had never partnered with anyone on those retreats, and I have to admit it was a lot of work to coordinate and facilitate on my own. Which is why this was a deal I couldn’t pass up – the retreat management company handles all the logistics of planning and coordinating the retreat, and all I have to do is get 10 people signed up and teach one yoga class a day during the retreat.
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Marsala
When I visited France in 2023, I felt a strong impulse to visit Italy. Cannes is only a couple hours from the border of Italy, and a lot of Italians live in the south of France. The impulse didn’t subside after returning home from France, and during my three months in Guatemala in early 2024, I began to plan my return to Italy.
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The French Riviera
Cannes
My first visit to Europe was a 2-week vacation with my ex-husband 14 years ago. We spent a week in Italy and a week in Spain, and it was my first time ever leaving the country. I learned a lot on that trip, and I’d thought about returning many times, but hadn’t mainly because of the cost.
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Goa
Toward the end 2022 while I was in Progreso, Mexico, I realized that I had become quite disconnected from my spiritual practices since the pandemic hit in early 2020. I had abruptly stopped teaching yoga, which for six years had been a grounding force that kept me rooted in my yoga and meditation practices.
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Panchakarma
During my stay at Preksha Yoga, I decided to do a consultation with the Ayurvedic doctor who worked on the premises. She did a comprehensive analysis of my doshas to give me an understanding of what was out of balance in my body. Her recommendation was that I do a personalized version of Panchakarma. Panchakarma is an intense Ayurvedic detoxification process made up of five parts: vamana (purging by vomiting induced by ayurvedic medication), virechana (purging induced by herbal laxatives), basti (ayurvedic enema treatments), nasya (cleansing of the nasal passages), and raktamokshan (therapeutic bloodletting using leeches).
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I was initially inspired to start leading retreats firstly by yoga, one of my greatest passions. My second source of inspiration was travel, my second greatest passion. The idea of being able to combine yoga and travel sounded like a dream. And thirdly, money. Who doesn’t want to make money while doing what they love? My fantasies didn’t exactly play out in real life as they had in my mind, but leading retreats has become one of the most rewarding experiences I have ever had.
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Oaxaca
Oaxaca City
In 2022, I had the opportunity to spend six months in Mexico, split into two trips. The first trip lasted four months, and I spent the first two weeks in Oaxaca, and the remainder in Chiapas. I began my trip to Mexico on December 31, 2021, after one of the most challenging years of my life. Not only was I navigating the changes and challenges along with the rest of the world that the pandemic brought, but I also finished my master’s program, started a new business, and put my 16-year-old dog to sleep. And it all came to a head in December of 2021.
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