An Impromptu Retreat

The timing couldn’t have been better for both of us … we both desperately needed self-care—I was exhausted after finally getting my family’s home on the market, and she had received a health-related wakeup call self diagnosed as stress-related. We both needed to slow down, to breathe. As our intentions were set, everything was falling into place without much effort; the divine was leading and we just had to show up.

“If travel is like love, it is in the end, mostly because it’s a heightened state of awareness, in which we are mindful, receptive, undimmed by familiarity and ready to be transformed. That is why the best trips, like the best love affairs, never really end.” – Pico Iyer

 

steph mex bikeA few hours into our ten-hour drive down the Baja peninsula, we both began to decompress and share our hearts – breathing our concerns into the cab of her truck and dusting away our tears with the desert air. Emotions that had built up for each of us over the past few months were being released…It wasn’t long before the sheer wonder of the desert began to replenish us.

We saw bobcats, quails, doves, sea-birds, vultures, lizards, snakes, cacti, wildflowers and even whales playing in the bay. We enjoyed swims in the ocean, bike rides through villages, mindful walks along the shore and footprints on sandy trails atop rocky cliffs. We watched orange sunrises, inviting meditation, and were embraced by a starlit canopy, swooning us to sleep each clear night. We had no idea how many blessings would unfold during the week.

I guess that’s what happens when you consciously decide to use a week for transformative healing.

Back to A Grief Observed blog post…

-Jess

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