December 2021 Revive Retreat Weekend Recap
Halie stoking the fire.
This past weekend I co-hosted my open-to-the-public retreat with my doctor, dear friend and holistic living twin, Dr. Halie Schoff. When I first met Dr. Halie, it was over an app we all know as Instagram. At that point I was 3 years into my lost cycle and I was very discouraged by the number of prescriptions that had failed me over the years. When I finally met with Dr. Halie, she validated that something was wrong that needed to be addressed at the root. She didn’t give me another band aid, she helped me go inward and figure out how to step into the power of being the alpha of my own health.
2 years later, with life looking a whole lot different, I hosted a dream wellness retreat weekend with her in the Adirondacks, and to say it was a dream is an understatement.
We had 13 girls travel to the Lake Placid retreat house, from as far as St. Louis, to as close as western New York.
To see the desire from each and every retreatant to show up, to practice self-care, to step into THEIR power as the alphas of their health, it was all perhaps the most inspirational experience I’ve ever witnessed.
On Friday we ventured over to the local studio for a Yin practice. It was slow, it was yummy, it was challenging, but it made a delicious dinner all that much more satisfying. After yoga we made our way home, where a magical farm-to-table crock pot meal was waiting for us. Ask any of the girls, the sauce was the G.O.A.T. (featuring Primal Kitchen ingredients to limit that inflammation), shout out to Mr. Mike for hooking us up. And after dinner my True You workshop helped us all get real with ourselves on how our energy flows and where we might be out of balance.
Ashlen & Ally during the True You workshop
Halie teaching how to make liver burgers
Morning yoga
The first night there may have been a few nerves amongst the group, different ages, new faces, but by breakfast the next morning, the relationships I saw forming I could tell would last a lifetime.
Saturday we started our day with meditation, yoga and breakfast. Then we headed out the door for a hike up Cobble Hill, a local favorite in the Lake Placid village. The rain cleared up so the views did not disappoint. And with the Holiday Village Stroll happening on Main Street, our Saturday afternoon outing to town was nothing short of a Hallmark movie experience.
Once we cozied on up after returning from town, we relaxed into our Sound Healing experience. A mixture of Tibetan singing bowls and other unique instruments brought us into a meditative state for over an hour. It was a unique experience that none of us had ever experienced, so it was very cool to be in it together.
In the evening Halie taught how to make liver burgers, which led perfectly. into her workshop on how to detox our system and our lives so as to balance our hormones. She finished her workshop with cupping - an ancient form of alternative medicine that supports detox and recovery. The evening was another one of connection and community before heading into our last day.
The group enjoying the summit of our hike
Cupping after Halie’s workshop
Sunday morning we woke with yoga and meditation, and then enjoyed some face masks as a crew to round out the weekend. Breakfast was delicious, but then came wrapping up the weekend. It was incredible to hear how even 48 hours spent together made such huge impact on our retreatants lives. As we hugged each and every one of the ladies goodbye, we could feel this sense of overwhelm: we did it, we did it, we actually did it!
And just like that we knew this would be the first of many retreats we would hold together.
