Behind the Scenes of My Most Magical Retreat to Date (and lots of pics)

Last month, myself and my dear friend and business strategist, Jessica Scheer, had 15 amazing, entrepreneurial women from all over the world join us for Magic 2020, a spiritual business retreat in Lake Atitlan, Guatemala. The retreat truly lived up to its name – full of magical moments, big and small, and it was the perfect way to start this new decade.

Have you ever been on a retreat? I absolutely love them. Each one has its own vibe, with different people, in different places, and each time I leave feeling inspired, having met new parts of myself and with a handful of new friends.

I LOVE leading retreats and I’d been feeling a bigger one brewing in my heart, so when my Jess asked if I wanted to co-lead a retreat with her in Guatemala (where my family could join me!), it was a BIG yes.

Here’s a fun behind the scenes look at what we learned and how we played over the 4 days we spent at Isla Verde and Lake Atitlan

Arrival Day

After spending some time in Antigua my family and I made the trek (complete with a boat ride!) to our retreat space at Lake Atitlan. All the ladies began arriving and soaking in the sunshine and views from our little oasis before we hiked to watch the sunset and cheers with carrot juice.

View of the active volcano (!!) across the lake

Friday

We began with a yoga class led by Eryn Marshall where we set the tone for a day full of connection: to ourselves, to our businesses, and to the earth around us. During the Year Ahead Visioning workshop, we took time to say thank you for 2019 and all it entailed, and began letting the hard stuff show up as growth.

Setting the stage for building a sustainable business, in our Entrepreneurial Mindset Workshop, we discussed the tools we need to show up every day and support our best self both in life and in our business.

With the overarching theme of connection, our excursion to the permaculture farm Granja Tzikin fit right in. We got to soak in wisdom from Neal Hagarty, the founder of the farm who shared incredible insight on the ecosystems of the world. Our health and the health of our planet are intrinsically intertwined. At this farm where everything serves a purpose and is used to nourish, create, or restore something else, and nothing is considered waste, we saw deep connections between sustainable farming and running a sustainable business. 

And of course we made a quick stop at Love Probiotics for one of my all-time favorite krauts and energy balls made from the stuff of dreams.

Saturday

We woke up to the most amazing spread of pancakes (gluten-free, too!), fresh local fruit, eggs, and veggies to nourish our bodies for the day. Over breakfast, we got a lesson in Mayan spirituality from Julio Tot, a lawyer-turned-spiritual-guide, who provided us each with an individual Mayan horoscope reading throughout the retreat. This ancient wisdom gave us another way to connect with our energy and spirit.

That afternoon, we dove into our Business Intuition Mastery Workshop. This means taking your intuition off of that special shelf, and we talked through the nitty-gritty of actually trusting that deep-gut feeling. We talked strategy and tools for hearing the answers: asking the right questions, using your breath, and following the feeling. We also learned that intuition can look different for everyone. Maybe it’s a physical sensation, like butterflies in your stomach, a heart push or pull, or a vision/dream.

Next up, we talked Business Offerings. This session was all about the tools needed for everything from one-on-one coaching to brand partnerships to live events and retreats.

Sunday 

We headed to the quaint village of San Juan where all of the tourism was created by the community and features goods made there by hand. We visited a local artisan collective where we got to see Mayan tradition in action: hand-spun cotton, locally dyed with plants and fruit, empowering dozens of artisans with fair wages and access to supplies. Can you believe that it can take weeks to make a single shirt? What an amazing process!

Today’s session was all about Social Media and the power of Instagram! Several of the retreat attendees discovered me and found out about the retreat through this app – it’s a lot more powerful and full of much deeper connections than we realize. Think about it, when you meet someone new, how often do they ask for your website versus your Instagram handle? It’s amazing that we can create community in our lives and our business through a screen from across the world.

The day ended with a traditional Mayan fire ceremony led by Julio where we released all of the old and called in the new. Our connection to each other and to the earth was undeniably clear.

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Monday

Feeling full-hearted and all the feels, we headed into our last day with another amazing breakfast with the new life-long friends. In our final workshop, all things Marketing and Launching, each attendee had the time and space to create a plan of action. Everyone laid out their 2020 game plan, month-by-month, and decided what is and isn’t a priority for the next 12 months. Everything we’d learned over the last 4 days came together, and it really felt full-circle. I can’t believe it was only 4 days!

We said our goodbyes (for now at least!) with a closing circle where we allowed ourselves to soak in all that we learned, created, and transformed. 

I left with gratitude for this place, my wonderful co-leader Jessica Scheer, and each attendee for making this dream-of-a-retreat possible.

And now I want to share the magic of a retreat with you! This time a little closer to home and in one of my favorite places on Earth. Join me June 12th-14th for my second annual Go with Your Gut Retreat where we’ll be diving deep into how to connect to your intuition and you’ll return home with tools and tips on how to really bring this concept into your everyday life. We’ll also practice some epic deep meditations, do some journaling and have tons of time to connect to ourselves.

During this relaxing and inspiring weekend and beyond the workshops I’ll be teaching, you’ll get time in nature, unlimited yoga and delicious, healthy food from the Kripalu kitchen. You can probably understand why this is one of my happy places and why I’m personally so excited for this special weekend. 

Plus, I’m bringing back my offering for a bonus group coaching call for the first 15 people who sign up! 

Learn more + register for the retreat here: Go with Your Gut Retreat at Kripalu

Xoo,

Robyn

PS If the stars didn’t align for you to join us Guatemala, don’t you worry. I’m so excited for June to come around; I will be hosting my second-annual Go With Your Gut Retreat at Kripalu – one of my favorite places on earth (think adult summer camp). This is the perfect time to take time for yourself and commit to doing something for you.