On the last Saturday of April, my sweet friend Jemma and I saw a dream of ours come true — we hosted a day retreat at a fabulous hotel in Stratford Upon Avon for a group of ladies who wanted to discover more about self care for the real world.
We had been talking about and planning and curating this day for the last 6 months and finally it happened, and what a fantastic day it was!
The day started off at 10am, our lovely ladies wondered into the room full of excitement and we all got to know each other a little over coffee and pastries.
Because my crystals for self care workshop was first I wanted to chat to each of them about what was going on for them in their life right now and choose either an amethyst or rose quartz for them to use and keep that reflected what they needed support with at the moment.
So then the workshop started and I talked all about crystals for self care - how they worked, how to use them and also how to take care of them and then we finished with a little hands on crystal meditation - it was so peaceful and relaxed when we finished, it was the perfect start to our workshop sessions and the ladies had plenty of questions for me afterwards.
Next up, Louise from Studio 44 Pilates took the ladies through a pilates session, she was able to give them all personal attention and helped them to ease into the different exercises. She also answered questions as they went along and I'm sure some of them were falling asleep by the end of the relaxation exercise at the end!
Then it was time for a lunch break, we were had our own dedicated space in the dinning area and a really delicious hot and cold buffet lunch - cute little cous cous and cesar salads, plus fennel coleslaw all in glass mason jars with fresh open sandwiches as well as Falafel and chickpea tangine, and to finish chocolate browns with clotted cream and strawberries or a fresh fruit platter — it was just what we all needed!!
The afternoon continued with an Essential Oils workshop for emotional health present by Louise Wade from Once Upon an Oil Drop. Our ladies listened enthusiastically and learnt all about the various ways the oils can support your wellbeing. They got to use and test out the oils and Louise gifted them all a bottle of Wild Orange to take home.
To finish off the day our final workshop was run by Jemma and was all about Self care and Mindset for the real world. Jemma taught everybody some simple mindset shifts, why self care is important and got the ladies to make a little self care plan of their own. We all got a bit emotional talking about what self care meant for us and it was such a great way to swap ideas and stories.
Before we knew it the day had whizzed by and it was time to say our goodbyes with hugs and thank yous all round, and all the ladies seemed so delighted with their goodie bags too!
Jemma and I then took some time reflect on the day and what we achieved, it was nice to just sit down and talk about how it went, it had been such a massive part of lives leading up to the day, plus both of us running workshops that day too was a big way of pushing our boundaries but we did it!!
We'd both like to say a big thank you to all the women who trusted their time and hard earned money into join us that day and believing in what we wanted to achieve!
Plus a massive thank you to both our Louise's who gave their time to run our other workshops and to Emma Lathwood our photographer for the day who's kindness and generosity enabled us to capture the day in pictures too.
And last of all we want to say thank you to the Crowne Plaza at Stratford Upon Avon for looking after us so well that day.
And because it was such a big hit Jemma and I are already planning and scheming another Mindful Mantra Collective Day Retreat for next year, plus some other exciting things to carry on from this years day retreat in the months to come so watch this space!
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