There are experiences in life that leave you breathless in the moment.
There are also experiences that leave you feeling suffocated in your own life.
You feel weighed down by a relentless force and no matter what you do, you seem to carry this chaotic heaviness with you day in and day out.
Extreme stress, exhaustion, burnout, unmet expectations and grief all make up the tangible emotional weight that seems to take our literal breath away. The underlying problem that comes along with carrying that emotional weight is that too often we aren’t gentle enough with ourselves in those seasons.
We lack self-compassion.
Practicing simple, yet effective self-care is the foundation of living out self-compassion.
Breathing with intentionality is one of the simplest and often most overlooked forms of self-care.
So, let's breathe.
"Breathing is the greatest pleasure of life."
- Giovanni Papini
BREATHE is written through my lens of being a mother, specifically focusing on the heart shattering grief that monopolized my life after the death of two of my youngest children - grief that killed my most important friendship and almost ended my marriage.
With this book project I share the insights and lessons learned during the season of my own self-care journey after the death of my children. I lost both of them in miscarriages. I share the details of my motherhood journey in the book - about how I suddenly felt suffocated in my own life and about the day that I started breathing again.
Throughout the book, you’ll learn about the simple, easy to use self-care framework that I initially developed and started using for myself, the S.P.A. Method™ . As a self-care coach, I know the importance of developing simple and effective ways to infuse self-care into day-to-day living. Prioritizing the time to practice the rituals in this book will enhance and improve your self-care practice immediately.
The BREATHE Retreat is focused on holding space for you to practice self-care through relaxation, introspection and self-compassion and of course - breathing.
Your self-care doesn't have to be complicated or expensive. The BREATHE Retreat is a great way to reset - the perfect mini-escape without the travel or spending thousands of dollars.
If you have an overwhelming need for a moment to breathe, plan to attend the next at-home retreat.
This retreat has a lot of personal significance for several reasons, the main one is related to my own self-care journey after both of my miscarriages. I share the details of that journey and about the day that I started breathing again in my recent post, Are you breathing?
My desire as a self-care coach, is to work with clients to develop simple and effective ways to infuse self-care into their day-to-day lives.
The purpose of each at-home retreat is to provide practical tips and resources that can be added to your self-care toolkit and used whenever you need them. Each at-home retreat will consist of a combination of pre-retreat preparation as well as LIVE group exercises led by me during a 90-minute ZOOM session.
The at-home BREATHE Retreat includes:
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Pre-retreat prep checklist
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Introspection exercise
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Group breathing exercise
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Creative play exercise
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Reflective prompts
The investment to attend is $29
The next at-home BREATHE Retreat is scheduled for:
Saturday, September 19th at 7:00a - 8:30a (AZ) / 10:00a - 11:30a (EST)
I recognize the hurdles that come with finding the time, energy and resources to practice self-care. Even as a self-care practitioner I struggle to implement self-care on a daily basis. So I’m not saying that your self-care practice will always be easy, but I am reminding you that it is necessary.
Sarah Adams
"This retreat showed me that I'm doing better with my self-care than I thought - I needed to realize that!"
Maria Mwangi
"During the retreat, I learned to not feel guilty about practicing self-care."
Chyna Coleman
“Because of the retreat, I’m focused on being intentional about caring more for my deeper needs than the superficial needs.”
Dr. Nadia Brown
“ My biggest takeaway from the retreat was acknowledging all that I was carrying and that was weighing so heavily on my mind.”
Ilana Myerson
“This retreat was exactly what I needed!!!!”
Danielle Ellis
“After the retreat, I felt like I could go conquer the world!”
Ashanti Blevins
“It was hard to take this time for myself today but I am glad I did!!! This retreat was greatly needed. That breathing exercise from the retreat will be used DAILY for sure!! I'm glad I decided to take the first step by attending. Now I have to continue to pour into myself.”
Kendra Tillman
“My soul needed this retreat!”
Khalilah Elliott
"This retreat was right on time for me. I was both physically and emotionally exhausted and spending the day with La'Vista and all of the lovely women involved helped re-energize and rejuvenate my spirit. I'm so glad I was able to attend and can't wait for the next event!"
Keiona Eady
“The S.P.A Method is the TRUTH!”
Isha Cogborn
“The retreat was a wonderfully restorative experience! I love that it’s something that I can now do on my own every weekend if I choose without taking up too much time or energy. Thank you, La'Vista!!!”