In 2018, I started an extended round of traveling in an effort to heal. It was not the first time I had taken more than a week off to travel. Since 2011, I have traveled to over 30 countries — most without an intent to do anything spiritual. I am definitely a reluctant spiritualist but I always loved traveling and have learned a lot about myself in those times.
I’ve also learned that the spiritual community can be a blessing or a hot mess. Learning to use discernment and your intuition is necessary when choosing a retreat.
My friend Tamara and I went on a retreat outside of Panama City, Panama. To make a long story short, the retreat was run by a man who claimed to be an expert in Kundalini yoga but had only half-built retreat center. When we arrived, he was unloading mattresses outside of his pickup truck and we realized that the photos of the center had been photoshopped. To make matters worse, there. was also a stripper pole in the living room and we were pretty sure the center had a former life as a nightclub.
We were strangers when we met each other but the sheer weirdness and awkwardness of the initial encounter shut us up pretty quickly. The people who ran the retreat and had rented the center were also confused as to what was happening.
You can get through anything in the first 12 hours. It wasn’t until my friend Tamara got a lecture from the yoga instructor about the healing power of wiggling that we realized we had made a hugely comical mistake — but it was also a life lesson. You have to trust your intuition when you start hearing strange things coming from the healing community. I promise you “wiggling” is not a legit form of…anything!
It is not easy finding reputable healing retreats. I think most of us have had multiple fails in the past. Some of these fails are hilarious stories that you share with your friends over a glass of wine at a later point in time while others can end up being dangerous, bewildering and challenging moments.
If you have been on a comical retreat, please share your story. We all need to have more fun as we re-emerge from our COVID cocoons.
Much love,
Jennie
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Previously Published on Medium
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