Do Retreats Really Change Lives?

By Tammie Kip

DO YOU EVER JUST WAKE UP WITH A SENSE OF EXCITEMENT ABOUT LIFE? GRATEFUL FOR ALL THE EXPERIENCES YOU’VE HAD AND ALL THE POSSIBILITIES THAT LAY AHEAD?

Have you danced your way through the day contemplating the amazing things you are going to do, the places you’re going to explore, the fears you are about to conquer, the boundaries you are going to test and the memories that you have yet to make?

Welcome to my life since arriving home from the Ultimate Girls Week Away #UGWA2020 in Fiji earlier this year – Celebrating “we don’t have to be good girls to be good people”.

Every day was filled with new experiences, learnings and emotional release. From starting each day at sunrise with yoga on the beach or chi running to the point, both of which were led by incredible instructors Kim Dashiell Danz and Sarah Richardson, to ending the day with champagne sunsets and entertainment including traditional Fijian ceremonies, magic show, talent night, karaoke and dancing and laughing the night away. I would love to share every detail of each and every moment with you but obviously, that’s not feasible, so

Take your shadow and put it into the light.

During the workshop with my friend Liz, (I feel like we are friends now since we spent an intimate week together on a remote Fijian island) she had us write a number of letters to ourselves. One of those letters was from our fear and it started like this;

Dear Tammie, I am your fear and this is what I want to tell you. I am afraid of …. From here, the fear took over and shared all of the things she is afraid of. My role was simply to listen. I did not console fear, I did not tell fear that everything was going to be ok or that the things fear was afraid of were trivial, silly or unwarranted. I just sat and listened as fear expressed herself. When she was done, the letter from fear was read aloud to a complete stranger. It was one of the most liberating moments of my week. Unburdening myself with all the fears that I had silently tucked away for years and bringing them into the light so I can face them and stop letting them interfere with my enchantment (which is all the things I love to do).

So – do retreats really change lives? Well, this one certainly did mine. In my view, as long as you are open to learning, growing and even more importantly, letting go of what you think you know, open yourself to vulnerability and leave your judgment at the gate, then opportunities for transformation will present themselves in the most beautiful ways and in the wildest of places. If after reading this you’re suffering from a little FOMO (fear of missing out), don’t worry – you can catch the next UGWA in Lorne, Victoria in March 2021, hosted by one of the most extraordinary women I know, Liesel Albrecht.

Tammie Kip

Author — Your Extraordinary Self, a book about helping you define your version of success packed with strategies, tips and challenges to help get you there! Lover of all things personal growth, wellness, self-love, self-care, spirituality and leadership.

Read more about Tammie's experience here.