I've never been one to think I would enjoy retreating from the world and society. I'm a hit-the-ground-running type girl and someone with a severe case of FOMO. So escaping from society all together just wasn't my cup of tea...until last week.
I've been wanting to do this retreat for awhile. Once I decided it was a must, Kate was the first to know about it...which also meant an obligatory sister adventure. It was decided she would meet me after I got my zen on in Ecuador.
Last week, I arrived at a hacienda tucked away in the mountains of Otavalo. When I saw the hammock on my back porch and the hot tub overlooking the valley (it was heated with hot coals btw), I knew I was in for the real deal. A hippie, earthy, soul searching week. And I assumed that role quite nicely. I even found myself wearing socks with my Birkenstocks. You get the idea.
I haven't seen the light of day at 6 am since I used to go to early morning church seminary in high school. But you bet we were up at 6 am for oil pulling. Haven't heard of it? Swish coconut oil around in your mouth for 20 minutes and spit it out. Kate still thinks I'm lying when I told her we did that. Then we drank lemon water. Not pleasant lemon water with one wedge for taste. We're talking multiple whole lemons in one glass of water. My eyes water just thinking about it. But talk about a deep cleanse to your body. It's stronger than any morning dose of caffeine ;)
Then it was up to a sanctuary room for yoga and meditation. Now, I love yoga. But workout yoga. Ashtanga or power yoga. I was told we were going to be doing Koundalini...which consists of a lot of breathing and stretching...#boring. I thought I would for sure fall asleep. And try meditating at 6 am. There's no way I would survive that. What is meditating anyways? I've always just closed my eyes and tried not to laugh in silence. Shutting down my brain? Not a chance. After I go through every question in the book, my body screams 'where's the diet coke and donuts!?' So. I was a little skeptical to say the least.
But you guys. I did it. I meditated and did Koundalini yoga and didn't even pass out. In fact, my body was more energized than ever before. And if you know me, you may think that's impossible. But for real. It happened. And my body didn't even yell at me about diet coke OR donuts. In fact, the whole week consisted of green juices, smoothies and raw food. I feel like I deserve a medal that says 'I survived my diet coke withdrawals like a champ.' And not only that, I didn't eat any of the candy that I brought on the trip. I for sure thought I would shove my face in bed in the middle of the night. #winner
Do I sound like a converted 'retreater' yet? Well I am. The people putting on the retreat were nothing short of amazing. And so healing. If you need a reboot, Mara and Danny have a pretty good path carved out to get there.
And for the record, I haven't had diet coke or donuts for 9 days now. We'll see how long that lasts.