Retreat To Be
I’ve been wanting to host a retreat since I attended my 200-YTT (Yoga Teacher Training) in Costa Rica when I was 18. It was so magical and I thought the women facilitating the retreat were just the most blessed. Now that I’ve gotten over the hump of starting my own YouTube channel and am fueled by the passion to turn my love - yoga - into my life, I’ve been thinking it’s about the right time to launch my very first retreat this year - 2024.
Doing it all by myself as the star of the show sounds a little daunting and honestly, I don’t think I have a loyal enough following yet - what with my 82 YouTube subscribers (as I write this) and since I’m not currently teaching any in-person studio classes - to successfully sell out an entire retreat. And maybe I could, since I see people who don’t have a very large following sell out theirs, but nonetheless I thought it’d be a lovely idea to co-host with one of my favorite yoga teachers from Cleveland - Geoff Knox.
Dude has a most devoted and intense practice; it’s not for everyone, but it is for me. He’s one of the only teachers I’ve found that truly challenges me. I’ve come to find that lots of teachers just run through the basics because their own practice is quite average (and it’s still good because yoga is awesome no matter what), but it’s not always what I’m looking for; I more down for the insane classes, which Geoff’s usually are.
They’re a clear representation of how serious he takes his own practice and how committed he is to self-improve. He’s also a well-practiced vegan of many years, which only adds to the authenticity of the yogi lifestyle and is something I’m personally still working on, since I’ve strayed away from vegetarianism years ago and now currently eat…all of the above.
Anyway, those are a couple of reasons I chose to ask him if he’d like to co-host a retreat together. And after taking one of his CRAZIEST classes yesterday (like literally an insane practice that had my legs shaking in multiple poses🔥), we grabbed coffee after to vibe check on the whole retreat idea, to which he was incredibly receptive; both exciting and scary because now it’s time to do the actual work!!
A couple things that impacted me the most during our conversation was that he expressed some insecurities of people maybe not wanting to pay for the retreat or not being able to find enough people to fully sell out. This was funny to me because his following is extremely loyal and I think they would absolutely love that he’s offering an experience like this for them. Another thing I thought was humbling was that no one else has ever asked if he wanted co-host before, which is crazy to me because when I say that Geoff’s classes are unique, like they are wildly different from every other teacher's class I’ve taken before -
It isn’t just yoga, it’s a lifestyle.
And I couldn’t be more honored to be the first person to confront him about co-hosting something as magical as a yoga retreat together. It’s going to be the most lit!
But something sales has taught me this year is: to stay even keel. Right now, the vibes are high and exciting, but it’s also the time to grind, come up with where we want to host it, what activities we want to include, what the intention will be, how we’re all going to fulfill our roles, what our roles are, how we’re going to market it and get people to sign up, and hella back end stuff, etc, etc.
We got a lot on our plates now and something punny that goes along with full plates is that one of my best friends, who’s currently the Head Chef for the Cleveland Guardians MLB team, has agreed to be the Private Chef for the retreat! Like WTH?!
MY DREAMS COMING TRUE - and it’s the most exciting thing EVER.
You just gotta do the fucking thing. You just gotta put your foot out there and start becoming the person you said you wanted to be instead of waiting for someone else to make you that person or believing that you’ll get there by not doing the work.
I’m starting to feel ALIVE again.
Yoga becoming my life again has been like a breath of fresh air. I’m having such a fun time building out this online business, and it wouldn’t be possible without my job full-time sales job in selling forklifts. This position has been instrumental in teaching me the tactics of how to be successful in business and has given me the financial stability to forge the foundation for this path. Thank you thank you for my current position, it’s exactly where I need to be, even if it doesn’t always feel like it.
In total, I hope you sign up for the retreat when I get a landing page setup lol. I’m very fuckin’ excited about it and am going to pour my entire heart and soul into making it absolutely amazing, but also, I wanted to leave you with this incredible meditation song from this intuitive beauty and her companions. Chantress Seba and her partner playing the handpan drum are on another dimension and make the most wonderful healing music -Journey To Peace (1hr) - Sacred Sound Healing - Third Eye Activation - Meditation For Vision States
See you next week!
Namaste,
~Sam
