Retreat to Restore

Hello all you fab souls,

I hope that the start of 2025 has been kind to you and that you are finding the moments that matter for you.

I am just back from running my retreat with 8 truly amazing humans from around the world and from every different industry. I wanted to share what I learnt about the power of retreat and community.

Laughter is key to connection

From the moment everyone arrived there was laughter, then there was a lot more laughter - to such an extent often tears were flowing from laughing so much. You all know that I value laughing so much - it is always my intent to create laughs (not only in my comedy shows) but also when I am working with groups. This group of magical women embraced their own laughter, their own comic sides (we all have that) and part of the success of the week was through laughing we created relationships that will last so much longer than a week in the sun.

Timing matters

All of us (me included!) were grateful to see the sun, to get some Vit D into our bodies - hosting a retreat at the end of Jan was a gift for all of us - something to look forward in the longest month of grey in UK! It was also the right timing for all the fab souls to come and commit to themselves - all were ready and open for change and new ideas to spark and emerge.

Deep and Light

One of the things I think about the most is how we experience different shades of light (and I am not just talking the sunset here!!) - in all my work, be it shows, my writing, talks or group work I always am conscious about the power of moving through different levels and truly experiencing them. Laughing matter (see point one!) but if all we did was laugh there would not have been the shifts in us all. Getting the mixture between playful exercises and deep self reflection and the difference between whole group work, pair work all paid a massive part in the success of the retreat.

Details matter

I am not a detail person however I am conscious that small details can really matter - for example everyone having their own bathroom matter, that they all had their own gifts in their rooms when they arrived matters - having a chef who catered for all with care and attention matters. What music I played and when matters - was it all perfect? No! Lets just say I have learnt where to book taxis from now... (what happens on retreat stays on retreat!!)

Women need space

I was asked if I was going to run another of these and if I would invite men to it - I LOVE working with men and brilliant male leaders, however at the moment for this work having all women feels right for me and how I can be of service - so next year in Jan 26 I will again offer 8 women the chance to change their lives. Year after... who knows! Creating a space for a lot of women who in their sectors have often be the only senior woman was magical and it enabled them to share their stories and be heard by others who understood their challenges.

Working with those I trust

This retreat I got to work with one of the most magical people I know. She happens to be a great friend to - she held sessions for all of the 8 people, so their work could be deeper and held in an individual space - this only helped everyone - me included - I love this work and it requires energy, care and attention - having someone share that with me and notice people and where they were at made their experience even better.

So yes a truly amazing week was had by us all, and I am so grateful that I got to have this experience with these brilliant souls. This week for me now is my creative week so I am mainly in show mode (planning the tour), thinking about my book, podcast.. you get the idea - of course the retreat did its work for me too..

I know a lot of you were curious about coming on retreat with me - I am going to run this again next year - this time it will be four days.. more space for magic! If you are interested then join my waitlist.. so I can keep you up to date!!

https://em-b8fmmwsa.scoreapp.com

Have a fab joyful Feb all you brilliant people.

Hugs

Em