A New Kind of Retreat for Women
The story behind my side project: For the Women (FTW) Retreat
Every Tuesday through my funemployment, I publish a blog post as part of my self-guided learning program . Last week, I shared tips on how to work effectively while on the road.
While it was still winter on the East Coast, on some dark day in March, three other women and I flew to the sunny Jamaica and stayed at a beach-side house for 4 days, as a beta experiment for a retreat idea that I had been brewing for a while.
As a certified yoga teacher and avid meditator, I love retreats. They offer me a precious time and space to study with a teacher, go deep into the discipline, and dedicate undivided attention to the practice. On top of that, sleeping in or close to nature, eating nourishing vegetarian meals and meeting likeminded people have an astounding amount of detoxing effects on my body. I come back from retreats feeling at ease and content.
Yet as I participate in more and more retreats over the years, I’ve slowly developed a craving for something different. A retreat without a rigid agenda. A moment to connect with nature and with each other, without being bounded by a single activity. A personal time to dedicate to creative endeavors that aren’t yoga or meditation. So I started asking:
What could a yoga retreat be without the yoga? What could a personal retreat with a collective of creative women look like?
A beta test on a new kind of retreat
In Jamaica, in the white house with a pool, the four of us spent the unstructured days on quiet reflections and creative endeavors. No alarms were set, so we woke up to our own body clock. The mornings were cool enough for long beach walks and deck yoga, and the afternoons perfect to chill in the pool, read on the lounge chairs and paint on the porch.
One day, we boated through a downpour to “the coolest bar in the world” for one Red Stripe. Other days, we walked to a group yoga class just steps down the house. No agenda — only ideas and whynots.
The house was staffed with a chef and a housekeeper, and they took care of us. Our Jamaican chef cooked family-style, local dishes for lunch and dinner. Over ackee and saltfish and callaloo fritters, we talked about our career aspirations, womanhood struggles, and travel bucket lists. After meals, our housekeeper cleaned up the kitchen, washed the dishes and tidied up the place. No guilty feelings — We were completely relieved from any house duties or chords.
The days were ours to play. Erin finished 50 pages of her upcoming graphic novel. I painted over 10 sheets of watercolor drawings for the first time (never to be seen by anyone). Leslie and Becca perhaps finished 4 or 5 books. And we left feeling rested, renewed, and inspired.
On my flight back home, I recalled what my friend Alex once told me, “When the kids are bored, they come up with the most amazing things.”
Aren’t we just kids who forget how to play? We need unstructured, agenda-free time and space so we can relearn how to play and relax.
For the Women (FTW) Retreat v1.0
That was my hypothesis proved to be valid through the beta trip to Jamaica, and this October, you’re invited to join us for the official first edition of FTW Retreat in Québec, Canada.
As the striking autumn colors quietly take over the peaks of the Laurentian Mountains, we will gather in the modern house on the slope side with a hot tub, a sun deck and plenty of nooks.
The pantry will be stocked with your favorite breakfast food. The chef will cook family-style, authentic Québecois cuisine with her creative twist. The days will be yours to play and wonder. So pack your hiking shoes, cameras and your favorite fall scarves. Bring your sketchbooks, paintbrushes, books, tarot decks, and knitting and sewing kits.
A picturesque drive just 1.5 hours from Montreal, the eight-bedroom, contemporary residence will be our homebase for the retreat. Watch the fall leaves spectacle from the deck, indulge in a soak in the outdoor hot tub, and get comfortable in the two separate living areas. Next to the Mont Tremblant National Park, there is easy access next to gondola rides, hikes, bike trails and many water activities on Lake Tremblant.
To advance into possibilities with grace, we retreat as women together. The group will intentionally small — a total of 10 women, so we will get to know each other and foster connections. We will rest, and create an experience that’s both a personal retreat and a group vacation with your girlfriends.
It’s a new kind of retreat for women. You won’t find this anywhere else. Excited to join us in Mt Tremblant this October?
Registration opens next Monday, July 23rd. Sign up on the website to be notified.
FAQs
What’s unique about FTW Retreat?
FTW Retreat was designed to meet these two goals:
- Intentionally small to foster connections: Share homemade meals, motherhood stories, skincare tips, career aspirations, and adventure tales with a total of 10 women.
- Retreat at your own pace: Three full pliable days to honor the reader, artist and outdoorswoman in all of us. Sleep in or wake up early for a sunrise hike. The retreat is yours to play.
How much does the retreat cost?
The retreat costs between $1,250 and $1,750 depending on your room choices (most of the accommodations are private rooms with queen-size beds). It includes 4-night accommodations, nourishing meals every day and round-trip transportation to and from the airport.
How to get to the retreat?
The house is about a 90-minute drive from downtown Montreal. The closest airport is Pierre Elliott Trudeau International Airport (YUL). We will meet at the YUL airport on Thursday, and share transportation to the house. If you plan to drive, let us know.
What time should my flight arrive by and leave at?
Arrive at Pierre Elliott Trudeau International Airport (YUL) by 3pm on Thursday, October 4, and book your return flight no earlier than 2pm on Monday, October 8.
I’m vegetarian/gluten-free/vegan. Can I come?
Of course. You are guaranteed to enjoy every meal.
I’m not creative. Can I come?
Creativity is the expression of doing the things you love. If you fancy the idea of having an agenda-free vacation with a small group of women in a beautiful house surrounded by nature, then this is the retreat for you.
What should I bring?
Art supplies, sewing and knitting kits, sketchbooks, journals — anything that you want to dedicate the unstructured days to.
Wait, I have more questions!
Get in touch at contact@forthewomenretreat.com or via twitter @ftwretreat.
Follow Back and Forth as I journal through my funemployment every Tuesday. AMA @kuanluo.
