October 21, 2024 • 30 mins
Today, we are sharing the magic and details of our 'Connect & Create' Rise Retreat we ran in collaboration with Yogable.
This was such a moving retreat, with 20 women who all brought a willingness to be vulnerable, to hold space for each other and to give themselves the gift of time. We had so many special connections, and in this episode I'll share incredible stories from some of the wonderful women who came along, plus our takeaways.
It honestly felt like a super fun and restorative school camp - but with much better food!
We can't wait to do another Rise retreat! So make sure you join the Rise app to be the first to find out when the next one is happening (hopefully early 2025) 🙌🏼
Georgie's Recommendation: Psycho-Cybernetics Audiobook by Maxwell Maltz
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
I would like to acknowledge the traditional owners of the
land on which this episode is being recorded, the Combomb
Merry people. They've been having conversations and telling stories on
this land for thousands of years, and we show our
gratitude and respect for their contribution to our environment and culture.
(00:25):
This is Rise and Conquer, the podcast where we strive
to become the highest version of ourselves through curious conversations,
healthy mindsets, laughter, connection, and a deep desire to evolve.
I'm your host, Georgie Stevenson. Join me as we explore parenthood, business, manifestation,
(00:51):
and so much more. It's positive, it's practical, and it's
about putting you in the driver's seat of your own life.
Are you ready? Hello, my loves, and welcome back to
the podcast. Today. We have a bit of a different
episode to you, and it is the Rise Retreat recap
(01:13):
tongue twister there. Basically, we just wanted to do a
debrief on the Rise Retreat, which was called Connect and
Create because it was such an incredible experience. I really
forgot how powerful in person connection is, and I think
I do talk about in the episode of for a
(01:35):
couple of years, like before COVID we did a podcast event,
and then I kind of was really not liking in
person events, Like I just I felt like it took
so much energy from me, and I kind of stepped
away from that, and then COVID hit and then you know,
we've been getting back into in person connection and I've
(01:55):
been loving our Rise and Conquer events. Like being with
like mine community for three nights was so powerful. It
was so cup feeling. I did not feel, you know, drained,
Like I came away from the retreat feeling so good.
If you are craving that in person connection, you're going
(02:16):
to love this episode because we really get into like
what we went through, a lot of like interesting personal
stories from people who attended the event. Really powerful. So
I hope you like this episode, and we definitely will
be running another Rise retreat, probably early next year, maybe
like Feb or March. You do need to be a
(02:36):
RISE member. That's where we always post it first, and
that did sell out before we posted it to the public,
So if you're in our Facebook group or if you're
in Rise, you're always the first ones to know. Also,
I just wanted to give you guys a little weekly recommendation.
So I have been listening to an audio book called
The Psycho Cybernetics by Maxwell Maltz. It's all about self
(03:02):
image and it's really really interesting if you love, you know, manifesting.
I feel like it really gives like a science background
to manifesting. But it's talking about self image, so what
you think about yourself and what you believe about yourself.
I am only halfway through, but I am loving it,
so I wanted to recommend it to you guys. All right,
(03:23):
let's get into the episode. So the Rise Retreat, we
actually called it Connect and Create, and why we did
this was, you know, clearly the connection aspect of having
around twenty incredible women all in one spot who are
(03:46):
on the same wavelength, who are interested in the same things,
who want to know about more of the same things,
but who don't know each other, and then create because
we did do our retreat in last weekend of August,
so we were just about to go into spring, so
(04:06):
we were creating a new vision for the next twelve months.
So in this episode, we just wanted to chat a
little bit of like what went on in the retreat,
our greatest takeaways and so let's just start with the itinery.
So First of all, we arrived on Thursday and we
got there about ten thirty. We set up all the
(04:28):
beds and we laid out some beautiful goodies. We had
some goodies from Summer Skin Naked Harvest, say, like a
beautiful magnesium bath salt thing and a gorgeous jade roller
as well. Yes, so the galies got those goodies when
they arrived. And then everyone got here around twelve thirty,
(04:50):
and then we went straight into meditation and yoga. We
really wanted everyone to just drop in relax. We had
a lot of people flying from like Sydney, Cans, a
lot of different places, so we knew that they might
feel a bit rushed, a bit frishled. So yeah, straight
into meditation and yoga, and then we had a delicious lunch. Guys,
(05:14):
the food there was so good, Oh my god, eleven
out of ten hey tt. The retreat overall was amazing,
and I honestly would probably happily go just for the food.
That's how good the food was. So there's two beautiful chefs.
They're like a husband and wife, older couple, and she
(05:35):
doesn't use recipes and she just like does her thing
and he just like helps out and he was really funny.
He was so funny. And guys, the food is just
like so wholesome, so many veggies. It was mostly vegetarian,
but we did have meat. I think the last night, Yeah,
we had fish. We had fish, and it's so good.
(05:57):
And there's always veggies and saucers and pastors. And one
night was like tie. There was like a South Asian Yeah,
just lots of taste happening. It was incredible. So sorry.
Going back to Thursday, we had lunch and then that
afternoon we just wanted to do a really like get
to know each other exercise and so of course we
(06:19):
brought our connection cards and we got the girls into
groups of about five and they went through question each
and it was so beautiful because I saw quite a
few people getting quite emotional, sharing some very vulnerable things,
and I just feel like that was such a great
icebreak card to be like, this is a safe place.
(06:40):
We're here to get deep and to get vulnerable. So
the girls loved that. And then we had dinner and
then we did a letting go ceremony. So basically what
we explained to the group was, you know, the next
couple of days we're going to be creating a clear
vision for what you want to call in for the
(07:01):
next twelve months. And so we want you guys to
really let go of what is no longer serving you,
what's kind of like in your field that you just
want to, yeah, let go of. And so we wrote
down on a piece of paper and then we either
said it or we didn't have to say it, and
then we burned it in a fire and like a
(07:23):
beautiful fire ceremony. Hatt this one was one of my
favorite parts of the retreat because it was like nighttime.
The stars were beautiful that night as well, and we
were all outside with the fire, and everyone was so
vulnerable and open to sharing, and even some people that
didn't like you could just see what an effect doing
(07:44):
this exercise had on them and just like letting go
of whatever they felt was holding them back or restricting them.
And it was so powerful and I highly recommend you
do something like this if you haven't ever tried. I
know we all got quite emotional, didn't we. I think
it's again it's these sorts of things we tend to
(08:04):
just push them down and suppress them, and so actually
writing them down, speaking them it is it's super emotional. Yeah,
it was beautiful. Okay, So then we go straight into Friday.
(08:25):
Every single morning we had a sunrise meditation and breath
work and journaling. When I say sunrise, is that seven am?
It's not actually sunrise, but basically we would wake up
about six. The property is so beautiful, it's like it's
in Monvilla, so it's like beautiful acreage. So we did
(08:45):
a little walk around the property most mornings, and then
we went straight to yeah, journaling. Brooklyn, who owns Yoga Ball,
would take the class and do intentions. And I loved
the journaling because it really built on the last day
and you were kind of answering the same questions, but
(09:07):
you could really see the difference day to day. And
then yeah, we did yoga and meditation, and then we
had breakfast, and then we got into our first workshop
of the retreat, and I ran everyone through a manifesting
workshop where we really worked on their vision for the
(09:28):
next twelve months, getting clarity and then also creating the
self concept to execute that vision. And this was such
a fun exercise. I took them through a meditation first
of all, just to like really get them in the vibe.
I think I might even do that meditation for the
rise app you should did you like it? I loved it.
(09:49):
I obviously made it up and I felt I had
a lot of great feedback from that. So we went
through a meditation and then basically I just got them
to write in all the different areas of their life,
like what they actually want, but not from us because
everyone else has it from like this beautiful, grounded heart,
scentered space and just in the next twelve months, so
(10:12):
like not over complicating it with like, you know, big,
big goals. That workshop ran for a good three to
four hours and then we had lunch, and then every
afternoon we had free time, which was we would do
ice bar sauna, lay by the pool, read our books
(10:32):
and just relax. And that was so nice. Me and
a tear We're saying the free time aspect was really
weird to us at the start. It's so weird because
we were like, let's do, let's do. I was like,
should I run a limiting belief? And Brooklyn, the owner
of Yoga bul was like, you know, like these women,
it's so good to have the yoga and the practices
(10:55):
and the workshops, but also they are coming here to
shut down and shut off and they actually need this
space to do that, And that was probably we'll get
into reflection soon. But like one of my biggest reflections
is I don't have a lot of time for myself.
Even if I say, oh, but I'm doing all the things,
I don't actually have just like space. And it felt
(11:18):
so weird. It felt so odd like I remember looking
at and you guys might find yourself thinking this, so
just like keep this in the back of your mind.
When I read the itinery, I was like, gosh, there's
a lot of free time on here. Do we need
that much time to do nothing? But yeah, when we
start talking about the reflections and stuff, I think it'll
make a lot more sense why that's there. So then
(11:39):
we had dinner and then we had a just we
did yoga every night before bed, which was honestly amazing.
If I didn't have a husband and baby, I would
do yoga before bed every night, like go to a class. Yeah,
I just I loved the intentionality of it, the fact
(12:00):
we had to be off our phones. We went to
this yoga meditation and then you just like roll into bed.
And then Saturday was much the same as Friday, but
the workshop we did a vision board workshop, which was
so much fun. Guys. Everyone just got so into it
and it was really cool because obviously, like Friday, we're
(12:21):
like letting go and then Saturday we're getting clear. But
the Saturday workshop still felt quite heavy because it was
like really like what do I want? How do I
want to feel? And then I feel like the Saturday workshop.
The third workshop was just like beautiful because it felt
so high vibe and everyone felt so excited. And then yeah,
(12:42):
we did you know, free time, lunch, dinner, restorative yoga,
and we did a Cocow ceremony. I'm loving thinking about
after the Coco ceremony, so like we do this Cocow ceremony,
We're all so relaxed, so relaxed, and then everyone was
just like giggling. It's got some interesting things in it. Yeah, anyway,
(13:05):
so we go back to the room and then at
this point Jamie had actually gone because she was going
to Bali on her holiday, so she left that morning
and so it was just me, a Tia, and Georgina
in our room and a Tea starts talking about like, OK,
what was gonna blame me? I did start the conversation
(13:26):
talking about Egypt. Yeah, and I was saying, how my
friend's going to Egypt and blah blah blah, and then
you brought in the conspiracy theories, which they were so good,
they were so much so we won't get into them. No,
we'll probably be canceled at this point. And then it's
so funny. I I actually did start to like get
(13:46):
creeped out myself and just like a bit freaked out.
But I like said to Georgina, can this door lock?
And she's like no, and she's like no, why, why
why you say that? You freaking me out? And I
was like, Georgina, we're in the middle of nowhere in
this house with people we don't know. And I was
(14:10):
absolutely taking the piss because everyone there was so nice. Yeah,
like it was not like that at all, and I
was absolutely taking the piss, but I was freaking Georgina out.
And then I just I'm so mean. I just kind
of got funny and I just kept going yeah, and
then she like needed to go to the toilet and
she was like, you have to come with me. It
(14:32):
was so so it's giving very like it was sleepover vibes.
It was it kind of felt like we're at camp
or something literally like school camp. Like I was like,
why is this the best thing ever? So much fun?
And like I think just being with a whole bunch
of women, it's just so fun, you know, conversations that
you're not going to have unless you're with people that
you feel really safe with. And yeah, so sorry, getting
(14:54):
back to it. And then Sunday morning we did our
usual yoga, journaling intentions, meditations, and then we had breakfast
and then we packed up and we left. Yeah, and
it was the best time ever. I missed already. I know,
everyone there was just so beautiful. They really were vulnerable.
(15:15):
They really stepped into that space where they were like
I'm going to show up, I'm going to be here,
I'm going to be present. And it filled up my
cup so much. Even as someone who was there, you know,
somewhat hosting, I left feeling so charged. Me too, did you, Yeah,
(15:36):
one hundred percent. Like I felt like I'd been on
a three week holiday but it was a four week retreat. Yeah,
it was so like restorative. It was actually perfect because
everything felt closed, like you didn't feel like it was
ending too early. People weren't at the point where they're
like getting grumpy because they need to go home. Like
it was just a perfectly undafed amount of time that
(15:57):
we needed and just like the layout and the itinerary,
we're just like literally perfect. I also just I want
to say a couple stories from the community members. Obviously
you won't name names. Yeah, we had a beautiful woman
who she was a little bit older, and she was
going through a huge career change, and she really felt
(16:22):
lost and she really was struggling with slowing down, tapping
into herself like she did the journaling workshop where we
get clear on what we want, and we had a
beautiful private discussion where she was so emotional because she
was like, I don't know what I want, Like I
don't know who I am. I've never done this work.
(16:44):
It was just so beautiful to have someone who, yeah,
has never really done self development, has never really done
anything like that is connecting back with themselves, and then
to see her progress over a very short time getting
into the journaling, getting into the yoga and meditation, asking questions.
(17:05):
We had a beautiful private conversation. She came to me
at the start and she just said, look, I don't
really do this. She was there for her sister she's like,
can we have like just a bit of a one
on one because I would love to connect to myself more.
And so we did that and it very much was
you know, in her job. She had a very like
(17:26):
high pressure, high, very intense career and she was leaving that,
and she had so much identity in her career that
she almost felt like, well, who am I now and
what am I good for? And I very much noticed
this like self worth of like, well, she didn't have
her career, she didn't feel worthy. And so we really
(17:48):
worked through that. She had daughters, and I was talking
a lot to her about her not needing to have
it all figured out because she's like, oh, but I
don't want to talk to anyone about these problems because
I don't want to put anything on my daughters. And
her daughters were like adult daughters. And I was like,
trust me from someone who has had a mom who
didn't show me a lot of her perfections. Her showing
(18:11):
me her perfections just made us closer. It made me
feel like I don't have to be perfect. It like
it really connected us. And so we had this beautiful
conversation and she came away from the retreat and it
was just like night and day, like she had changed
so much, and she was, Oh my god, thank you
(18:31):
for opening me up to this work. I got our
own to the Rise app. Because she'd never done like
a meditation. She always felt like so much chatter in
her head. She always felt like she wasn't worthy unless
she was like doing like not only in her career,
but just like cleaning, helping with the kids, helping with
her husband, like all those sorts of things. So she
(18:52):
had such an incredible transformation in literally a couple of days,
and I just felt so because I was like, oh
my god, this is what it's about. And I loved
in her reflection she said to the group like she
was like, I'm so proud of all you guys being
here and doing this work so young, because I was
(19:13):
never illuminated to it, Like I never was shown this work,
and I really wish I was, So I loved. I
loved that takeaway. Yeah, that was so beautiful. And there
was this beautiful woman who she was lesbian, and she
had come from a country where it's really not accepted
to be lesbian or gay, and she was saying how
(19:36):
she had this incredible journey of coming to Australia. You know,
her parents disowning her. She came to Australia with her
partner and she deals with a lot of internal conflict,
a lot of anxiety, a lot of shame, guilt, everything
around that situation. And she was like, I listened to
(19:59):
your Time meditations every single she made a joke. She's like,
Georgie doesn't know this, but I listen. I have her
in bed with me every night. She was so funny. Guys,
I love her so much, but she was so beautiful
and she just said, look like, you know, the Rise
hap has really got me through some like tough times
(20:20):
and just listening to the podcast, she's like, you've honestly
got me through so much. And for her to like,
I explain to the women on the retreat like it's
I get beautiful messages and beautiful reviews, and you know
in our dms a here like we get amazing feedback.
But it's a different experience when someone is looking you
(20:42):
in the eye and saying what they've been through and
how the podcast or the rise app has helped them
so deeply in something that I can't even like comprehend
or begin to understand what it feels like and oh
my god, I'm getting like emotional me too. It really
put things in perspective for me, and it really was
(21:05):
this is why we do what we do, and I
will never stop doing this work because hearing stories like that,
I know, and being around people like that, it was
just the most special, special thing ever. Yeah, it was
just wild. It was so beautiful. The people there, I
just I can't, I just yeah, I literally miss them. Yeah,
(21:26):
can we have another sleep Bob. Well, it's so funny
because we're definitely gonna do another retreat and they're like,
tell us first because we all get first tips. I'm like,
it's just going to be the same people every year.
It's a reunion. Yeah. We won't even be able to
like market it or anything. So key takeaways t T.
(21:51):
I think one thing we'd all we had all spoken
about in the car on the way home was how
much the slow morning helped us waking up, being present,
taking the time to journal, meditate, and dow yoga. For me,
I guess I always had a bit of a limiting
belief that that would take too long and I don't
have the time in my day to facilitate that. But
(22:14):
we realized it took us an hour. Yeah, Like it
wasn't that long, and it honestly, I'm not even exaggerating,
like it felt like this two to three hour long
morning routine, but when you look at the time, it
was only an hour. I could get up an hour
earlier before Jym to do this to start my day
like this, I haven't yet. Yeah, No, I've started with
(22:37):
like a meditation, like I wake up and I meditate.
That was such a key takeaway for me, and that
like the things you want aren't actually that far away
from you, and sometimes your head of it takes too
long or it won't fit in my life gets in
the way, and like all that noise stops you from
actually being able to implement beautiful things like that into
your life. So true, Yeah, I think again. I felt
(23:02):
like the first day I felt almost a bit uncomfortable.
I was like, oh my god, there's way too much
free time. I almost also was like projecting onto the
group two of like, oh, I don't want them to
be like bored or not feel like they're getting, you know,
what they need. But Brooklyn was so good of like
really reassuring us and being like trust us, they need
to drop in. They need to slow down, and so
(23:25):
do you. I think also a key takeaway for me
was the connection. Again, I think I get quite stuck
in my ways because I work with, you know, a
group of incredible women and we're all in the office together,
and I have so much of those connection points during
(23:47):
the week and in my work. I don't really seek
too much outside of work. I think I usually have
like a walk with a girlfriend every single week, not
like the same girlfriend, like very yes, and that's wrote
a roster. I honestly have a roster of hot girl
walks with girlfriends. You know who you are. But I
(24:09):
did think, oh, I think I do want to have
a bit more connection, whether it's retreats, whether it's events
or just like an event for the day. I am
very much seeking that. And it was very much the
vibe of sisterhood, Like that's a word that kept popping
up for me, or I am craving this sisterhood, Like
(24:32):
I'm craving the circle of women who we can absolutely
be ourselves and it's like this very vulnerable, deep work.
I so agree, Like it felt so magical being able
to be that vulnerable, that open with every single person
there and when you think about it, twenty people is
a lot of people. Yeah, and most people came on
(24:55):
their own. There were a few people that came with
a friend or their sister, but everyone was there pretty
much on their own talking toever. No one had to
try and get a seat next to someone at lunch
because everyone was so comfortable talking to anyone and everyone.
And I think there's so much power in that that
everybody there was able to hold space for each other
(25:17):
and have these deep, vulnerable conversations where you unpack things together. Like, yeah,
we had free time, but it was a mix of
just like lounging around by the pool, but also having
these amazing, expensive conversations with each other going through what
we'd learned or journaled on or what we were grateful for.
That filled me up so much, and it also shows
(25:40):
you the standard of what is possible if you're someone
who has struggled to make female friendships and have people
really hold you in your bigness. One of the women
were talking about how they had been on only fans
and we just like there was the best response everyone
in the group. There was no judgment. Everyone was like,
(26:03):
oh my god, tell us more. I would love to know,
like tell us how it works. I've never really understood,
and so much empowerment. There was zero judgment, there was
zero bitchiness, and obviously it's because we very much set
the container at the start of the retreat and that
you know, that is the vibe and obviously it's the
rise and conquer community. So that turn out of ten, yeah,
(26:25):
like they're pretty good. They are ten out of ten. Again,
just showing you what is possible for your friendships, especially
your female friendships. I felt like that was such a
huge illumination. Also for me, it was so opening of like,
oh my gosh, that's just amazing people everywhere. Yes, like
there isn't a bunch of evidence of amazing humans that
(26:47):
I haven't even met and connected with yet. If you
are having troubles in your friendships where maybe they're just
not quite right or there's something that's feeling a little
bit off, you shouldn't be scared to let it go
because I guarantee you they will be someone waiting that's
like the most beautiful, expansive, amazing human being that's just
around the corner for you. And I loved because like
(27:10):
the range of people at the retreat from I think
like twenty to almost sixty years old, like such a
range of ages, of backgrounds, of jobs, of careers like
stay at home moms, Like everyone could hold a conversation.
I sat next to someone different at every single breakfast, lunch,
(27:30):
and dinner and we just had the best chats and
they asked me some really beautiful questions too. That's what
I would say, guys, is like, how you can be
someone who people want to spend time with you is
like ask good questions. Yeah, that's such a big thing.
It is such a big thing. You know. What I
have taken away from it was definitely the space. And
(27:53):
I actually booked myself a two night retreat at like
a local place by myself. Ah, completely solo, which I've
never done. So proud of you. So I'm so excut
of that. But any last takeaways or anything to finish
tt I do have one. So something that really came
(28:15):
through for me in the free time was I was like,
I still try to make my free time productive and
that's a problem. Oh yeah. We had the whole conversoy
tation about this. Yeah. My free time, I would say,
is going to get a massage or going and doing
this thing, and it's like you need to have free
time that has no productive outcome whatsoever, like literally just
(28:38):
laying by the pool. You don't even need to read
a book, like literally just lie by the pool. Anyway,
my loves, we just wanted to give you a bit
of an insight. We definitely will be running another Rise retreat,
so obviously you have to come and join us in
the Rise app because it always goes out to our
Rise members first. We are thinking it will be in
(29:00):
feb something a bit crazy like that, so if you
are listening. Also, our Facebook group, the Rise and Conquer
Facebook group, always knows everything first too, so we'll pop
all the links in the show notes for that amazing.
Thank you so much for listening to this episode of
the Rise and Conquer podcast. If you enjoyed it and
(29:22):
want more, connect with us via Instagram or continue the
conversation on our beautiful Facebook community page. All the details
are in the show notes, and I'd love to hear
more about your journey. Also, we're an independent podcast with
a small but mighty team, so we really do appreciate
your support. If you have a spare moment, please click
(29:43):
the follow or subscribe button to the podcast, and if
you leave a review, you'll help other people find our content,
and we would be so grateful.
I would like to acknowledge the traditional owners of the
land on which this episode is being recorded, the Combomb
Merry people. They've been having conversations and telling stories on
this land for thousands of years, and we show our
gratitude and respect for their contribution to our environment and culture.
(00:25):
This is Rise and Conquer, the podcast where we strive
to become the highest version of ourselves through curious conversations,
healthy mindsets, laughter, connection, and a deep desire to evolve.
I'm your host, Georgie Stevenson. Join me as we explore parenthood, business, manifestation,
(00:51):
and so much more. It's positive, it's practical, and it's
about putting you in the driver's seat of your own life.
Are you ready? Hello, my loves, and welcome back to
the podcast. Today. We have a bit of a different
episode to you, and it is the Rise Retreat recap
(01:13):
tongue twister there. Basically, we just wanted to do a
debrief on the Rise Retreat, which was called Connect and
Create because it was such an incredible experience. I really
forgot how powerful in person connection is, and I think
I do talk about in the episode of for a
(01:35):
couple of years, like before COVID we did a podcast event,
and then I kind of was really not liking in
person events, Like I just I felt like it took
so much energy from me, and I kind of stepped
away from that, and then COVID hit and then you know,
we've been getting back into in person connection and I've
(01:55):
been loving our Rise and Conquer events. Like being with
like mine community for three nights was so powerful. It
was so cup feeling. I did not feel, you know, drained,
Like I came away from the retreat feeling so good.
If you are craving that in person connection, you're going
(02:16):
to love this episode because we really get into like
what we went through, a lot of like interesting personal
stories from people who attended the event. Really powerful. So
I hope you like this episode, and we definitely will
be running another Rise retreat, probably early next year, maybe
like Feb or March. You do need to be a
(02:36):
RISE member. That's where we always post it first, and
that did sell out before we posted it to the public,
So if you're in our Facebook group or if you're
in Rise, you're always the first ones to know. Also,
I just wanted to give you guys a little weekly recommendation.
So I have been listening to an audio book called
The Psycho Cybernetics by Maxwell Maltz. It's all about self
(03:02):
image and it's really really interesting if you love, you know, manifesting.
I feel like it really gives like a science background
to manifesting. But it's talking about self image, so what
you think about yourself and what you believe about yourself.
I am only halfway through, but I am loving it,
so I wanted to recommend it to you guys. All right,
(03:23):
let's get into the episode. So the Rise Retreat, we
actually called it Connect and Create, and why we did
this was, you know, clearly the connection aspect of having
around twenty incredible women all in one spot who are
(03:46):
on the same wavelength, who are interested in the same things,
who want to know about more of the same things,
but who don't know each other, and then create because
we did do our retreat in last weekend of August,
so we were just about to go into spring, so
(04:06):
we were creating a new vision for the next twelve months.
So in this episode, we just wanted to chat a
little bit of like what went on in the retreat,
our greatest takeaways and so let's just start with the itinery.
So First of all, we arrived on Thursday and we
got there about ten thirty. We set up all the
(04:28):
beds and we laid out some beautiful goodies. We had
some goodies from Summer Skin Naked Harvest, say, like a
beautiful magnesium bath salt thing and a gorgeous jade roller
as well. Yes, so the galies got those goodies when
they arrived. And then everyone got here around twelve thirty,
(04:50):
and then we went straight into meditation and yoga. We
really wanted everyone to just drop in relax. We had
a lot of people flying from like Sydney, Cans, a
lot of different places, so we knew that they might
feel a bit rushed, a bit frishled. So yeah, straight
into meditation and yoga, and then we had a delicious lunch. Guys,
(05:14):
the food there was so good, Oh my god, eleven
out of ten hey tt. The retreat overall was amazing,
and I honestly would probably happily go just for the food.
That's how good the food was. So there's two beautiful chefs.
They're like a husband and wife, older couple, and she
(05:35):
doesn't use recipes and she just like does her thing
and he just like helps out and he was really funny.
He was so funny. And guys, the food is just
like so wholesome, so many veggies. It was mostly vegetarian,
but we did have meat. I think the last night, Yeah,
we had fish. We had fish, and it's so good.
(05:57):
And there's always veggies and saucers and pastors. And one
night was like tie. There was like a South Asian Yeah,
just lots of taste happening. It was incredible. So sorry.
Going back to Thursday, we had lunch and then that
afternoon we just wanted to do a really like get
to know each other exercise and so of course we
(06:19):
brought our connection cards and we got the girls into
groups of about five and they went through question each
and it was so beautiful because I saw quite a
few people getting quite emotional, sharing some very vulnerable things,
and I just feel like that was such a great
icebreak card to be like, this is a safe place.
(06:40):
We're here to get deep and to get vulnerable. So
the girls loved that. And then we had dinner and
then we did a letting go ceremony. So basically what
we explained to the group was, you know, the next
couple of days we're going to be creating a clear
vision for what you want to call in for the
(07:01):
next twelve months. And so we want you guys to
really let go of what is no longer serving you,
what's kind of like in your field that you just
want to, yeah, let go of. And so we wrote
down on a piece of paper and then we either
said it or we didn't have to say it, and
then we burned it in a fire and like a
(07:23):
beautiful fire ceremony. Hatt this one was one of my
favorite parts of the retreat because it was like nighttime.
The stars were beautiful that night as well, and we
were all outside with the fire, and everyone was so
vulnerable and open to sharing, and even some people that
didn't like you could just see what an effect doing
(07:44):
this exercise had on them and just like letting go
of whatever they felt was holding them back or restricting them.
And it was so powerful and I highly recommend you
do something like this if you haven't ever tried. I
know we all got quite emotional, didn't we. I think
it's again it's these sorts of things we tend to
(08:04):
just push them down and suppress them, and so actually
writing them down, speaking them it is it's super emotional. Yeah,
it was beautiful. Okay, So then we go straight into Friday.
(08:25):
Every single morning we had a sunrise meditation and breath
work and journaling. When I say sunrise, is that seven am?
It's not actually sunrise, but basically we would wake up
about six. The property is so beautiful, it's like it's
in Monvilla, so it's like beautiful acreage. So we did
(08:45):
a little walk around the property most mornings, and then
we went straight to yeah, journaling. Brooklyn, who owns Yoga Ball,
would take the class and do intentions. And I loved
the journaling because it really built on the last day
and you were kind of answering the same questions, but
(09:07):
you could really see the difference day to day. And
then yeah, we did yoga and meditation, and then we
had breakfast, and then we got into our first workshop
of the retreat, and I ran everyone through a manifesting
workshop where we really worked on their vision for the
(09:28):
next twelve months, getting clarity and then also creating the
self concept to execute that vision. And this was such
a fun exercise. I took them through a meditation first
of all, just to like really get them in the vibe.
I think I might even do that meditation for the
rise app you should did you like it? I loved it.
(09:49):
I obviously made it up and I felt I had
a lot of great feedback from that. So we went
through a meditation and then basically I just got them
to write in all the different areas of their life,
like what they actually want, but not from us because
everyone else has it from like this beautiful, grounded heart,
scentered space and just in the next twelve months, so
(10:12):
like not over complicating it with like, you know, big,
big goals. That workshop ran for a good three to
four hours and then we had lunch, and then every
afternoon we had free time, which was we would do
ice bar sauna, lay by the pool, read our books
(10:32):
and just relax. And that was so nice. Me and
a tear We're saying the free time aspect was really
weird to us at the start. It's so weird because
we were like, let's do, let's do. I was like,
should I run a limiting belief? And Brooklyn, the owner
of Yoga bul was like, you know, like these women,
it's so good to have the yoga and the practices
(10:55):
and the workshops, but also they are coming here to
shut down and shut off and they actually need this
space to do that, And that was probably we'll get
into reflection soon. But like one of my biggest reflections
is I don't have a lot of time for myself.
Even if I say, oh, but I'm doing all the things,
I don't actually have just like space. And it felt
(11:18):
so weird. It felt so odd like I remember looking
at and you guys might find yourself thinking this, so
just like keep this in the back of your mind.
When I read the itinery, I was like, gosh, there's
a lot of free time on here. Do we need
that much time to do nothing? But yeah, when we
start talking about the reflections and stuff, I think it'll
make a lot more sense why that's there. So then
(11:39):
we had dinner and then we had a just we
did yoga every night before bed, which was honestly amazing.
If I didn't have a husband and baby, I would
do yoga before bed every night, like go to a class. Yeah,
I just I loved the intentionality of it, the fact
(12:00):
we had to be off our phones. We went to
this yoga meditation and then you just like roll into bed.
And then Saturday was much the same as Friday, but
the workshop we did a vision board workshop, which was
so much fun. Guys. Everyone just got so into it
and it was really cool because obviously, like Friday, we're
(12:21):
like letting go and then Saturday we're getting clear. But
the Saturday workshop still felt quite heavy because it was
like really like what do I want? How do I
want to feel? And then I feel like the Saturday workshop.
The third workshop was just like beautiful because it felt
so high vibe and everyone felt so excited. And then yeah,
(12:42):
we did you know, free time, lunch, dinner, restorative yoga,
and we did a Cocow ceremony. I'm loving thinking about
after the Coco ceremony, so like we do this Cocow ceremony,
We're all so relaxed, so relaxed, and then everyone was
just like giggling. It's got some interesting things in it. Yeah, anyway,
(13:05):
so we go back to the room and then at
this point Jamie had actually gone because she was going
to Bali on her holiday, so she left that morning
and so it was just me, a Tia, and Georgina
in our room and a Tea starts talking about like, OK,
what was gonna blame me? I did start the conversation
(13:26):
talking about Egypt. Yeah, and I was saying, how my
friend's going to Egypt and blah blah blah, and then
you brought in the conspiracy theories, which they were so good,
they were so much so we won't get into them. No,
we'll probably be canceled at this point. And then it's
so funny. I I actually did start to like get
(13:46):
creeped out myself and just like a bit freaked out.
But I like said to Georgina, can this door lock?
And she's like no, and she's like no, why, why
why you say that? You freaking me out? And I
was like, Georgina, we're in the middle of nowhere in
this house with people we don't know. And I was
(14:10):
absolutely taking the piss because everyone there was so nice. Yeah,
like it was not like that at all, and I
was absolutely taking the piss, but I was freaking Georgina out.
And then I just I'm so mean. I just kind
of got funny and I just kept going yeah, and
then she like needed to go to the toilet and
she was like, you have to come with me. It
(14:32):
was so so it's giving very like it was sleepover vibes.
It was it kind of felt like we're at camp
or something literally like school camp. Like I was like,
why is this the best thing ever? So much fun?
And like I think just being with a whole bunch
of women, it's just so fun, you know, conversations that
you're not going to have unless you're with people that
you feel really safe with. And yeah, so sorry, getting
(14:54):
back to it. And then Sunday morning we did our
usual yoga, journaling intentions, meditations, and then we had breakfast
and then we packed up and we left. Yeah, and
it was the best time ever. I missed already. I know,
everyone there was just so beautiful. They really were vulnerable.
(15:15):
They really stepped into that space where they were like
I'm going to show up, I'm going to be here,
I'm going to be present. And it filled up my
cup so much. Even as someone who was there, you know,
somewhat hosting, I left feeling so charged. Me too, did you, Yeah,
(15:36):
one hundred percent. Like I felt like I'd been on
a three week holiday but it was a four week retreat. Yeah,
it was so like restorative. It was actually perfect because
everything felt closed, like you didn't feel like it was
ending too early. People weren't at the point where they're
like getting grumpy because they need to go home. Like
it was just a perfectly undafed amount of time that
(15:57):
we needed and just like the layout and the itinerary,
we're just like literally perfect. I also just I want
to say a couple stories from the community members. Obviously
you won't name names. Yeah, we had a beautiful woman
who she was a little bit older, and she was
going through a huge career change, and she really felt
(16:22):
lost and she really was struggling with slowing down, tapping
into herself like she did the journaling workshop where we
get clear on what we want, and we had a
beautiful private discussion where she was so emotional because she
was like, I don't know what I want, Like I
don't know who I am. I've never done this work.
(16:44):
It was just so beautiful to have someone who, yeah,
has never really done self development, has never really done
anything like that is connecting back with themselves, and then
to see her progress over a very short time getting
into the journaling, getting into the yoga and meditation, asking questions.
(17:05):
We had a beautiful private conversation. She came to me
at the start and she just said, look, I don't
really do this. She was there for her sister she's like,
can we have like just a bit of a one
on one because I would love to connect to myself more.
And so we did that and it very much was
you know, in her job. She had a very like
(17:26):
high pressure, high, very intense career and she was leaving that,
and she had so much identity in her career that
she almost felt like, well, who am I now and
what am I good for? And I very much noticed
this like self worth of like, well, she didn't have
her career, she didn't feel worthy. And so we really
(17:48):
worked through that. She had daughters, and I was talking
a lot to her about her not needing to have
it all figured out because she's like, oh, but I
don't want to talk to anyone about these problems because
I don't want to put anything on my daughters. And
her daughters were like adult daughters. And I was like,
trust me from someone who has had a mom who
didn't show me a lot of her perfections. Her showing
(18:11):
me her perfections just made us closer. It made me
feel like I don't have to be perfect. It like
it really connected us. And so we had this beautiful
conversation and she came away from the retreat and it
was just like night and day, like she had changed
so much, and she was, Oh my god, thank you
(18:31):
for opening me up to this work. I got our
own to the Rise app. Because she'd never done like
a meditation. She always felt like so much chatter in
her head. She always felt like she wasn't worthy unless
she was like doing like not only in her career,
but just like cleaning, helping with the kids, helping with
her husband, like all those sorts of things. So she
(18:52):
had such an incredible transformation in literally a couple of days,
and I just felt so because I was like, oh
my god, this is what it's about. And I loved
in her reflection she said to the group like she
was like, I'm so proud of all you guys being
here and doing this work so young, because I was
(19:13):
never illuminated to it, Like I never was shown this work,
and I really wish I was, So I loved. I
loved that takeaway. Yeah, that was so beautiful. And there
was this beautiful woman who she was lesbian, and she
had come from a country where it's really not accepted
to be lesbian or gay, and she was saying how
(19:36):
she had this incredible journey of coming to Australia. You know,
her parents disowning her. She came to Australia with her
partner and she deals with a lot of internal conflict,
a lot of anxiety, a lot of shame, guilt, everything
around that situation. And she was like, I listened to
(19:59):
your Time meditations every single she made a joke. She's like,
Georgie doesn't know this, but I listen. I have her
in bed with me every night. She was so funny. Guys,
I love her so much, but she was so beautiful
and she just said, look like, you know, the Rise
hap has really got me through some like tough times
(20:20):
and just listening to the podcast, she's like, you've honestly
got me through so much. And for her to like,
I explain to the women on the retreat like it's
I get beautiful messages and beautiful reviews, and you know
in our dms a here like we get amazing feedback.
But it's a different experience when someone is looking you
(20:42):
in the eye and saying what they've been through and
how the podcast or the rise app has helped them
so deeply in something that I can't even like comprehend
or begin to understand what it feels like and oh
my god, I'm getting like emotional me too. It really
put things in perspective for me, and it really was
(21:05):
this is why we do what we do, and I
will never stop doing this work because hearing stories like that,
I know, and being around people like that, it was
just the most special, special thing ever. Yeah, it was
just wild. It was so beautiful. The people there, I
just I can't, I just yeah, I literally miss them. Yeah,
(21:26):
can we have another sleep Bob. Well, it's so funny
because we're definitely gonna do another retreat and they're like,
tell us first because we all get first tips. I'm like,
it's just going to be the same people every year.
It's a reunion. Yeah. We won't even be able to
like market it or anything. So key takeaways t T.
(21:51):
I think one thing we'd all we had all spoken
about in the car on the way home was how
much the slow morning helped us waking up, being present,
taking the time to journal, meditate, and dow yoga. For me,
I guess I always had a bit of a limiting
belief that that would take too long and I don't
have the time in my day to facilitate that. But
(22:14):
we realized it took us an hour. Yeah, Like it
wasn't that long, and it honestly, I'm not even exaggerating,
like it felt like this two to three hour long
morning routine, but when you look at the time, it
was only an hour. I could get up an hour
earlier before Jym to do this to start my day
like this, I haven't yet. Yeah, No, I've started with
(22:37):
like a meditation, like I wake up and I meditate.
That was such a key takeaway for me, and that
like the things you want aren't actually that far away
from you, and sometimes your head of it takes too
long or it won't fit in my life gets in
the way, and like all that noise stops you from
actually being able to implement beautiful things like that into
your life. So true, Yeah, I think again. I felt
(23:02):
like the first day I felt almost a bit uncomfortable.
I was like, oh my god, there's way too much
free time. I almost also was like projecting onto the
group two of like, oh, I don't want them to
be like bored or not feel like they're getting, you know,
what they need. But Brooklyn was so good of like
really reassuring us and being like trust us, they need
to drop in. They need to slow down, and so
(23:25):
do you. I think also a key takeaway for me
was the connection. Again, I think I get quite stuck
in my ways because I work with, you know, a
group of incredible women and we're all in the office together,
and I have so much of those connection points during
(23:47):
the week and in my work. I don't really seek
too much outside of work. I think I usually have
like a walk with a girlfriend every single week, not
like the same girlfriend, like very yes, and that's wrote
a roster. I honestly have a roster of hot girl
walks with girlfriends. You know who you are. But I
(24:09):
did think, oh, I think I do want to have
a bit more connection, whether it's retreats, whether it's events
or just like an event for the day. I am
very much seeking that. And it was very much the
vibe of sisterhood, Like that's a word that kept popping
up for me, or I am craving this sisterhood, Like
(24:32):
I'm craving the circle of women who we can absolutely
be ourselves and it's like this very vulnerable, deep work.
I so agree, Like it felt so magical being able
to be that vulnerable, that open with every single person
there and when you think about it, twenty people is
a lot of people. Yeah, and most people came on
(24:55):
their own. There were a few people that came with
a friend or their sister, but everyone was there pretty
much on their own talking toever. No one had to
try and get a seat next to someone at lunch
because everyone was so comfortable talking to anyone and everyone.
And I think there's so much power in that that
everybody there was able to hold space for each other
(25:17):
and have these deep, vulnerable conversations where you unpack things together. Like, yeah,
we had free time, but it was a mix of
just like lounging around by the pool, but also having
these amazing, expensive conversations with each other going through what
we'd learned or journaled on or what we were grateful for.
That filled me up so much, and it also shows
(25:40):
you the standard of what is possible if you're someone
who has struggled to make female friendships and have people
really hold you in your bigness. One of the women
were talking about how they had been on only fans
and we just like there was the best response everyone
in the group. There was no judgment. Everyone was like,
(26:03):
oh my god, tell us more. I would love to know,
like tell us how it works. I've never really understood,
and so much empowerment. There was zero judgment, there was
zero bitchiness, and obviously it's because we very much set
the container at the start of the retreat and that
you know, that is the vibe and obviously it's the
rise and conquer community. So that turn out of ten, yeah,
(26:25):
like they're pretty good. They are ten out of ten. Again,
just showing you what is possible for your friendships, especially
your female friendships. I felt like that was such a
huge illumination. Also for me, it was so opening of like,
oh my gosh, that's just amazing people everywhere. Yes, like
there isn't a bunch of evidence of amazing humans that
(26:47):
I haven't even met and connected with yet. If you
are having troubles in your friendships where maybe they're just
not quite right or there's something that's feeling a little
bit off, you shouldn't be scared to let it go
because I guarantee you they will be someone waiting that's
like the most beautiful, expansive, amazing human being that's just
around the corner for you. And I loved because like
(27:10):
the range of people at the retreat from I think
like twenty to almost sixty years old, like such a
range of ages, of backgrounds, of jobs, of careers like
stay at home moms, Like everyone could hold a conversation.
I sat next to someone different at every single breakfast, lunch,
(27:30):
and dinner and we just had the best chats and
they asked me some really beautiful questions too. That's what
I would say, guys, is like, how you can be
someone who people want to spend time with you is
like ask good questions. Yeah, that's such a big thing.
It is such a big thing. You know. What I
have taken away from it was definitely the space. And
(27:53):
I actually booked myself a two night retreat at like
a local place by myself. Ah, completely solo, which I've
never done. So proud of you. So I'm so excut
of that. But any last takeaways or anything to finish
tt I do have one. So something that really came
(28:15):
through for me in the free time was I was like,
I still try to make my free time productive and
that's a problem. Oh yeah. We had the whole conversoy
tation about this. Yeah. My free time, I would say,
is going to get a massage or going and doing
this thing, and it's like you need to have free
time that has no productive outcome whatsoever, like literally just
(28:38):
laying by the pool. You don't even need to read
a book, like literally just lie by the pool. Anyway,
my loves, we just wanted to give you a bit
of an insight. We definitely will be running another Rise retreat,
so obviously you have to come and join us in
the Rise app because it always goes out to our
Rise members first. We are thinking it will be in
(29:00):
feb something a bit crazy like that, so if you
are listening. Also, our Facebook group, the Rise and Conquer
Facebook group, always knows everything first too, so we'll pop
all the links in the show notes for that amazing.
Thank you so much for listening to this episode of
the Rise and Conquer podcast. If you enjoyed it and
(29:22):
want more, connect with us via Instagram or continue the
conversation on our beautiful Facebook community page. All the details
are in the show notes, and I'd love to hear
more about your journey. Also, we're an independent podcast with
a small but mighty team, so we really do appreciate
your support. If you have a spare moment, please click
(29:43):
the follow or subscribe button to the podcast, and if
you leave a review, you'll help other people find our content,
and we would be so grateful.
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