What to Expect at a Women's Retreat with Michelle Fox
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[00:00:00] Hello, my favorite life traveler. It's me, Michelle Fox. Stopping into your earbuds with a little bonus episode. While we're in the process of looking for new inspiration for nourish with Michelle Fox. I thought I would share a recent recording. I did for my YouTube channel. You can find that over at @michellefoxlove. If you want to see me in action. But otherwise I made it convenient. So you can listen to it right here as a bonus episode on this podcast. I also see on YouTube, there was a request for me to share more. About the 30 day sabbatical, I just embarked on and just returned from. And I would love to share that with you, if you're interested. So if you are. Go ahead and send me a DM. on Instagram, Facebook, YouTube, anywhere to get my attention, just so that I know that you actually hear my voice, which. [00:01:00] Motivates me and encourages me to continue sharing. Alright.
I hope you love this, especially if you are on the fence about attending one of my retreats and or on the fence of just. Wanting and knowing that you deserve to spend money on yourself. To go to a beautiful destination. I truly hope these words help to give you some of the answers that you are seeking. Alright, here we go.
Let me ask you something. Are you ready to hit the reset button on your life? Have you been considering a sabbatical, a vacation, a retreat? If any of that sounds like a breath of fresh air, then please stick with me because today we are talking in particular about what to expect at a women's retreat. I can tell you the timing felt So divine.
I [00:02:00] actually just got goosebumps saying that. Um, but I just got in from a walk with my Chloe dog and we weren't listening to. I was going to say a podcast, but it was a YouTube by picky girl travels the world. I believe her name is Adalia Aborisade. And. It was all about and actually, let me look, I can tell you, I've got a second screen over here.
So if you see my eyesight moving, please know you still have 100 percent of my attention, but I've got a few notes over here because, you know, as a woman over 50, my memory isn't always that great. And yes, we're working on the hormones right now. So, you know, If you can relate, and hopefully you can, hopefully that's why you're here, then thank you in advance for your compassion and for your grace.
So as I look over here at her beautiful channel, it's Picky Girl Travels the World, Adalia Aborisade. Her title that I listened to today, again, more goosebumps, is Should You Take a Vacation? [00:03:00] Sabbatical or retreat choosing the best option for your situation. If you've been with me in my community for five seconds or for, you know, as long as I've been doing this a little over 15 years, then, you know, I am all about wellness, specifically wellness for women.
And I've got you. So what I loved about picky girl travels the world, what I loved about what she had to say about, Each of those is one that she did go in depth. She did talk about exactly what a vacation may feel like, what it may look like versus what a sabbatical looks like in this day and age in 2024, how the word sabbatical kind of has shifted a little bit from the past.
And then of course, retreat, um, picky girl travels the world. She has a partner that she hosts retreats. And so of course, check out her offerings, see if that fits for you. I also offer retreats. And so if anything I say in [00:04:00] today's video resonates with you, it feels good to you. Then I would love to have you in one of our circles as well.
So to find me, you can go to michellefox.com forward slash retreat, hop on our wait list and see if any of those offerings look great. Um, but you know what? I feel like I'm jumping ahead of myself. So let me take a step back, especially for my new friends, for my returning community. Of course, welcome back.
And to my new friends, welcome. I am Michelle and I host international wellness retreats for women. I also teach social media classes in addition, and I should say, including, um, podcasting. I am helping people, folks, human beings work on how to build their podcasts and how to amplify their voices.
And then of course, on this channel, I do share the occasional culinary nutrition workshop as well. So thank you so much for being [00:05:00] here. As I mentioned at the top. Today, we are talking about what to expect at a women's retreat. So my friends who may fall out of that circle, you're still welcome to listen, but I'm specifically talking to my women friends who are just ready to hit that reset button and to take a moment to breathe and hear their own voice.
As I say that it kind of pulls me back in. I am About a week and a half fresh off of my own sabbatical. I did take a 30 day sabbatical, which if you are interested in hearing about that, let me know in the comments, because I am happy to share. I will tell you though, in this moment, I'm still processing, like there was so much beauty that was revealed to me.
And there were some darker areas of my life that were revealed as well. And so I'm processing. All of that. And if you know me, and hopefully as you're watching this, you're getting to know me, you know, I am an open book and I love to share. I love to share specifically so [00:06:00] that I can help be a part of your journey to make any part of your journey a little bit smoother so that perhaps some of the tougher lessons I've learned, hopefully I can make that easier for you.
So let's talk about what to expect at a women's retreat. I can tell you That all retreats are not created equal. I have been on quite a few retreats in my life. I'm a 51 year old woman. And so in that time, I would say I've been about a handful of other retreats. And so as I watched other retreat hosts host.
I'm like, Oh, I could probably do that better. Or, Oh, I really love that. So I'm going to share a few of those items with you today, but then also as a retreat host, I can share with you. I was an executive assistant for a little over 25 years. And so I have that organizational background, but more important to you and to this topic, what to expect at a women's [00:07:00] retreat.
I have hosted retreats for other women in the corporate setting. throughout my lifetime. And so when it was my turn to start hosting my own retreats about three years ago, it's been a beautiful lesson. And each retreat keeps getting better and better. And oh my gosh, just yesterday I put down the deposit for our retreat in September.
I am like, Oh, I so bad. I want to spill the beans and let you know where and when and all the details, but I promise that's coming up soon. Like Literally days, hours away from the announcement. So if you are curious, head over to michellefox.com forward slash retreat and hop on our wait list. And I promise you will be one of the first to know when we open the doors for registration.
But this I sincerely believe is probably going to be our best one yet. It's a villa. It's a gorgeous home. Directly on the ocean where everybody has their private space, but we also have a lot of community space. And that's what lights me [00:08:00] up for my retreats. It was interesting as I was listening to Adalia in picky girl travels the world in her video.
Should you take a vacation, sabbatical or retreat, choosing the best option for your situation. I kind of giggled cause she was very clear. She was like beaches. That does not speak to my soul. She's like, don't, okay. Get me anywhere near the sand. I don't want hot. I don't want heat. And so if that is for you, if that speaks to you, then of course, find a retreat where you have the environment that works for you.
I will tell you, you know, never say never, but for me, I am a beach girl. You can see I did even my beachy hair for you for this video. Got one of my beach dresses on. Because the beach lights me up. And so if you are one of my fellow beach lovers, then there is a really, really, really strong chance that if you retreat with me, we are going to be on a gorgeous beach somewhere.
So that's one of the things you want to [00:09:00] be aware of and be mindful of is where's the location of this retreat? Secondly, I would say, what do you want to get out of this retreat? Is it a wellness retreat where you want to get more in touch with your body, get more in touch with your sensuality? If you want to kind of hit the reset button on some of your poor eating choices, and you want to learn with somebody on how to teach you how to eat for your body, then dig in, like learn as much as you can about that facility.
The retreat facilitator ahead of time. Also look at the reviews, see what people are saying about this retreat. It's really important to do even just a little bit of research ahead of time. I know a lot of the women I'm speaking to you're busy and you're like, Michelle, just tell me where to hit the buy button.
Let's just go. And I get that. I will also say in my past retreat experiences as far as attending retreats, there were some surprises that came up that I'm like, Oh, yeah, I guess this person probably did say that, but I was just so [00:10:00] hungry for a retreat and hungry to get away. I maybe didn't do all of my research.
And so. I will just say do your research ahead of time, find out if there is an agenda, because some people for retreats, they want to be really active and they want to go, go, go. And maybe that's like a yoga retreat where you're doing two to three classes a day and you come back renewed, feeling stronger and healthier.
And that's great. There are plenty of yoga retreats out there. Do a nice Google search, talk to your friends, talk to me. I actually have some younger friends who host them. I am happy to guide you in that direction. I will say for my retreats, they are specifically and particularly aimed at, aimed at, and for women over 40.
And so a lot of us at this point, we're just tired. And so what I aim to do at this point. All of my retreats is to give women options. So you have an agenda that I create. So there typically is going to be a yoga class and or [00:11:00] a movement class to get us in our bodies. We are going to have the healthy, nourishing, grounding food, and then we're gonna have a lot of time just to relax.
And there usually is one or two excursions. But within all of that, I always stress. It is absolutely your choice. Every single thing we have planned, whether it's the massage, the private chef, the meals, it's your option. So yes, it's on the agenda. Yes, it's there. But if you want to sleep in one morning, if you just are saying, ah, that's a little bit too much community time.
I want to be on my own. Then that's absolutely your prerogative. And so I like to create space and room for you to advocate for yourself at my retreats. Other retreats, it might not be like that. Specifically, again, I would look at the Wording, I was going to say terminology, but some of the words that you see in other people's retreats, because I ended up at a [00:12:00] boot camp a couple years ago, and I guess somehow I didn't see or understand the word boot camp, which, you know, I can laugh at now, because I mean, boot camp has a certain kind of You know, terminology or not.
What's the word? Not terminal. Um, it conjures up a different feel for compared to a retreat. But this boot camp was in this gorgeous tropical destination. So that's, I think, where my eyes and spirit went. I'm like, well, I want to be there. But at that boot camp, we were running like it was event to event to event.
And again, I actually would gladly do that all over again in a heartbeat, but I just wish I would have known ahead of time that there wasn't gonna be a lot of relaxation time and or time just to hang out in the beautiful villa. And so I take responsibility for that. And so I just share that with you to say, Do your research ahead of time, comb through the retreat page offering, and then if that [00:13:00] doesn't answer your questions, then of course, reach out to your facilitator and see if that person is open to having a Q& A with you, and or just answering some of your other questions.
So, there's that. What else to expect? Community. Community. And actually, let me take a little sip of water.
Community. That is one of the things that I feel so proud of at the retreats that I host, is because at each retreat, I specifically put together like hearted women. I know some people like to use like minded, but, My women typically are entrepreneurs and or really high achievers in the corporate world.
And so they're coming from slightly different places, slightly different places mentally, slightly different places physically around the world. But I like to talk to people. I call it an interview. Some people can call it an orientation before [00:14:00] the retreat happens because not everybody is like hearted.
And I really do. What's the word I really do want. All of my spaces to feel safe. And so at this orientation slash interview, before you get into my retreats, we're going to talk, we're going to see what feels like it's a match and what feels like maybe it's not. And I'll be honest with you. I don't accept everybody into my retreats and it can be kind of a tough conversation, but I'm willing to kind of.
You know, I've got broad shoulders, you can see. I'm willing to take on that brunt of somebody being disappointed, than to have a whole group of women being disappointed at the retreat. And so, just so you know, when you are in my care, you are in my care. From the moment we even think and talk and believe that we can do this retreat, to the even after care.
Um, I do, tomorrow, [00:15:00] actually, This evening, I have a follow up with the group of women that we went to Tamarindo, Costa Rica, this past March with we're going to have our follow up get together on zoom, we're gonna have a little pajama party. And so in my heart, and in my, my passion for supporting women and their growth and their comfort.
It is really important to me to. Start from A to Z so that my women feel completely taken care of. I share that with you to say, Not everybody feels like that. And that's okay. Like, maybe that's not your goal. Maybe, again, maybe your goal is to be in a boot camp. Or maybe your goal is to get amazing photos on the beach.
Which, by the way, We do that as well. Um, but just I want to ask you specifically, be really clear on your motivations for going on retreat. And if you want a little bit more explanation and or, information on [00:16:00] what you might be needing versus, you know, the vacation versus the sabbatical versus just a really long nap.
Then please check out Picky Girl Travels the World. Check out her channel, of course, but then the video, I'll link her video in the description so you can hear because she does a really great job of explaining what, what might, might come up. I actually want to take a moment just to kind of back up and share.
I had a little bit of each, the vacation, sabbatical, and retreat in a month and a half time period. So we hosted the nourish the soul. That was my retreat. We, again, there were six of us, six women over 40 in Tamarindo, Costa Rica. And that was towards the end of March. I came home for a couple of days, grabbed the kiddos.
I've got three teenagers and my husband, and we actually went back to Costa Rica, this time in Jaco, Steve, my husband, and my [00:17:00] three teenagers, amazing teenagers, and. I like to say they're very good at being teenagers, meaning they know how to advocate for what they want, which doesn't always make it feel like a vacation, but you know, it was spring break.
It was hot. I found sips of relaxation in there, but you know, the difference between, uh, retreat with women in Costa Rica and time with my family in Costa Rica Two very different stories. And so again, it goes back to intention and what you want, but then also, just to bring it back to the vacation, sabbatical or retreat, I came back from that spring break knowing, ah, Mama needs a sabbatical, because being home, having my gorgeous Chloe dog, beautiful husband Steve, awesome three teenagers needing my attention, I'm like, yeah, as long as I stay in this house, this is not a sabbatical, because I, I'm a mama [00:18:00] bear, like I, I'm responsible for, you know, the energy I put out, but here in my office, people see me when they go down the stairs, there's a dog who wants to go outside, who's hungry, I'm like, I'm hungry.
Like I just finally realized I can't do a sabbatical at home. So thank God, literally, thank God. I went down this YouTube rabbit hole. It was Michelle Wedderburn. You can check her out. I love her channel on YouTube as well with Casa Elm. And she was talking to Stephanie Perry. Um, who's now my teacher here on YouTube.
Love, love, love Stephanie Perry. Please follow Stephanie Perry and or Stephanie Perry, Stephanie. Media, but she talks all about house sitting. And so I did a two week house sitting stint in Northern California, and it was perfect. I'll actually put a link in the description below if you're interested in house sitting as well.
So I was two weeks [00:19:00] away from the home that was kind of pulling me out of my Feeling of being in a sabbatical and I got to babysit a super cute puppy dog in a luxurious home. There was no money exchanged. So, you know, the homeowner gets the benefit of having a responsible adult taking care of their home and their cute puppy dog.
And I got the benefit of staying in this beautiful, luxurious And I didn't have to pay any money to stay in that beautiful, luxurious home. So if you want to hear more about that, of course, leave that in the comments, because I would love to share that experience with you if you are curious. And if you have specific questions, even better.
Ask me specific questions here in the comments here on YouTube. Find me on Instagram. I'm at Michelle Fox love on pretty much all the socials. So reach out. I would love for this to be an ongoing conversation. So back to the subjects. I don't want to get too far off, but what to expect at a women's retreat.
I love what Techie Girl [00:20:00] Travels The World says about when you go on a retreat, if you don't feel some kind of way as far as different from when you entered the retreat, It might not have been the retreat for you. And so a lot of the feedback I get from the retreats I host is, Oh, Michelle, I didn't see things that way.
Or, Oh, Michelle, the lens has been widened. Now I know I have more permission to break up with that boyfriend or permission to eat the foods I want to in my house instead of eating the foods my family wants to eat, or, I have permission to have me time. I have permission to set boundaries and hold those boundaries.
And so it's often surprising things that come up, but my goal is for my women to forever be changed in positive ways so that they can feel more empowered in their lives. And so that's how I Run my retreats. And that's the intention [00:21:00] I have for my retreats. And so if there's anything that I'm saying that resonates with you, then I absolutely want to invite you to one subscribe to this channel because I plan to talk a lot more about retreats and how they can support you.
But then also head to michellefox.com forward slash retreat so that you can sign up for our wait list. And you can be one of the first to know when we open the doors for registration. Okay, so let me look through my notes and just make sure I'm not forgetting anything else that I wanted to share with you about retreats.
Um,
So yeah, I think that covers most of it for now. That's all I have to say right now. I just want to double down. I cannot say it enough. I want you to be clear on your intention. If you are just looking for a reset button, And you just want to get away quickly, then, of course, book that vacation. Go sit on a [00:22:00] beach.
If you don't like beaches, go sit under a tree in Central Park. I don't know. But if you want to have a getaway with some intention and you want to be in loving, supportive care of a facilitator who sees herself as a servant leader and who loves to empower women to improve their lives, then consider joining me on one of my retreats.
Michellefox.com/retreat. And then last but not least, I can't say it enough. I would be so grateful if you subscribe to this channel, because when you subscribe to the channel, it gives the YouTube algorithm, the heads up that says, Hey, other women like me over 40, who are interested in traveling, who are interested in hitting the reset button, who are interested in retreats can come find me.
All right. I hope this was helpful. And again, if you have any questions whatsoever, put them in the comments and I would love to serve you. Take care. I will see you soon.
