Self-Discovery for Self-Transformation at the Wise Wellness Retreat

I recently had the privilege of attending and speaking at the 5-day Women’s Wellness Retreat Move ~ Nourish ~ Love, organized by Emilee Wise of Wise Wellness in February 2024. It was a unique opportunity to integrate movement, nourishment, and heart-centered connection with a group of amazing women at Cedar Trunk Ranch, 30 minutes outside of Austin, Texas.

The retreat was designed to help women reconnect with themselves, their bodies, and their purpose, and to empower them forward in their lives. It featured a variety of activities, including yoga, meditation, hiking, cooking, dancing, and featured guest speakers, such as myself and Bekah Vandenberg of Entranced Awakenings, where we shared our insights and expertise on topics related to running, and wellness.

I was honored to share with the group some of the concepts and methods that I use in my Innerunner coaching program, that demonstrate movement is a powerful tool for self-discovery, self-expression, and self-transformation. I also shared some of the stories and lessons that I learned from my own journey as a triathlete, coach, and structural integration specialist.

Some of the inspiring themes shared during the retreat were:

“You are enough, you have enough, and you have all the resources you need”. This is an important message, especially in today’s age of social media, where we tend to compare ourselves with others and feel like we are lacking or missing something.

We spoke of the drowning person analogy, which illustrates how we can lose our options, perspective, and rationality when we are ‘drowning’ in a state of panic, anxiety, or stress. We can become reactive, reflexive and make bad decisions. We can also miss the opportunities, solutions, and support that are available to us.

We discussed how we can avoid or overcome this state by slowing down, creating pause and space, and trusting ourselves and the process. I like to quote Rumi, who says: “When you start on the spiritual way, the way appears”. We can realize that we have everything we need within us, and that we can access our inner wisdom, creativity, and power when we turn to the wisdom within.

Another theme was “Shifting from reactive to proactive”. We explored how we can move from being passive, rigid, or resistant to being active, flexible, and adaptable. We used the Flow Rope, a tool to help us move with smoothness, rhythm, and ease,  to practice this shift. As we move from the centre out, rather than from the outside in, we become the authors of our movement, rather than the followers of the mind.

Many women at the retreat were not serious athletes, but they were all athletic and adventurous. Helping them move better was part of my agenda, and I shared some of the techniques and exercises that I use with my Olympic clients,  Innerunner community and myself.

We started with the reset at the beginning of the day, where we reset our breath, which is the foundation of our movement and life. We take about 20,000 to 24,000 breaths a day, and slowing them down and making them more efficient can have a huge impact on our health, performance, and well-being. We also unwound neural tension, which is the tension that accumulates in our nervous system due to stress, trauma, or injury. By releasing this tension, we can become more relaxed, fluid, and responsive.

We also relaxed and empowered the pelvic floor, which is the group of muscles that support the pelvic organs and control the bladder and bowel. The pelvic floor is important for balancing our autonomic nervous system, which regulates our stress and relaxation responses. For females in particular, especially postpartum, the pelvic floor can be a big deal. It can affect our posture, movement, and sexuality. By relaxing and strengthening the pelvic floor, we can become more grounded, present, and empowered.

Another theme discussed at the workshop was “Feeling things fall into place for you”. We explored how we can move from a state of struggle, effort, or resistance to a state of ease, flow, or alignment. We learned how to tap into our feminine energy, which is the energy of being, receiving, and trusting. When we learn how to relax and let go of control, and allow things to come to us, rather than chasing or forcing them, we learn how to be in our power, which is not the power of domination, but the power of creation. We practiced this by using the Flow Rope, a device that helps us move with smoothness, rhythm, and ease. As we became the authors of our movement, rather than the followers, we started to move with creativity and expression, rather than with rigidity and repetition, tapping into the joy and playfulness of the exercise, rather than with seriousness and pressure.

Another theme was “Being grounded”. We explored how we can connect with our base chakra, which is the energy center at the base of our spine, which represents our survival, security, and stability. We learned how to feel rooted, supported, and safe in our bodies and in our lives when we learn how to balance our physical, emotional, and spiritual needs, and to honor our boundaries and values. We practiced this theme by working on our sacral plexus, which is the network of nerves that connects our lower back, pelvis, and legs. We learned how to activate and mobilize our sacral plexus, the source of our creative movement and energy and how to take our groundedness forward in life, by moving with purpose, direction, and confidence. We practised gait training, where I taught attendees how to walk properly, with efficiency, grace, and power. We did an exercise to teaching them how to walk forwards by walking backwards, which I love as a concept. Backward walking helps us to challenge our balance, coordination, and awareness, and to break our habitual patterns of movement.

We also unwound and animated our spine, which is the core of our movement and life. When we create mobility and health in our spine, which increases the flow of cerebrospinal fluid, which is the fluid that nourishes our brain and spinal cord, we improve our creativity, problem-solving, and vision.

The last theme was “Speaking your truth”. We explored how we can connect with our throat chakra, which is the energy center at the base of our throat, and which represents our communication, expression, and authenticity. Bekah Vandenberg, who is an amazing voice coach and singer, taught us how to open up our throat chakra and our vocal cords, and to use our voice as a powerful tool for self-expression and connection. She taught us how to speak with range, tone, and volume, and to use our voice as an instrument of beauty and harmony.

Our throat chakra is connected to our pelvic floor, which is the group of muscles that support our pelvic organs and control our bladder and bowel. She explained how our pelvic floor is connected to our femininity, our sexuality, and our creativity, and how by relaxing and empowering our pelvic floor, we can also relax and empower our throat, and vice versa.

Bekah explained how many of us have difficulty speaking our truth, because we don’t know our truth. We don’t know our truth, because we are not grounded, which means our pelvis and sacral plexus are not working properly. We are not working properly, because we are stressed, tense, and reactive because we are not in our power, our flow or in our alignment. We can break this cycle by balancing our masculine and feminine energies, integrating our sacrum and creativity, intellect and rational mind, and expressing them through our throat. We explored how we can use writing and journaling as a way to process our thoughts, feelings, and experiences with the help of Eliza Turner, who is a wonderful writer and teacher. She explained how journaling can help us to reduce stress, boost mood, enhance memory, and increase self-awareness to achieve our goals, track our progress, and celebrate our growth.

The Wellness retreat was a wonderful opportunity to connect, learn and grow and we hope to do similar events in the near future to encourage more women to empower their soul, mind and body in 2024.

If you would like to know more find Emilee Wise at www.wisewellness.com
Bekah at www.entrancedawakening.com and myself at www.innerunner.com where you can join the community.