I've been thinking... a little bragging here...but yes, I do think once in a while.

I think most of us are quietly searching for the same thing. Our tribe. we want to find our context, people who love what we love, see what we see — and make us feel like we don't have to explain ourselves.

I didn't know it at the time, but in hindsight I think that's exactly what I was doing. I just showed up to my first retreat — curious, a little nervous — not realizing I was actually looking for the place I belonged.

My first yoga retreat experience

My first experience with yoga retreats was a half-day retreat at Jordan Lake over 15 years ago. I was a bit hesitant. Was I good enough? What if everyone else knew each other and I was the odd one out? How should I behave? What was I expected to do?

But, as you might guess, I loved it. That half-day created a feeling in me that stayed with me for many days. I cannot pinpoint exactly what it was, but I wanted more. More time for myself, more being outdoors in nature, more meeting people who felt like me, like my tribe. More moving my body in a non-judgmental way, but still with opportunities to grow, to see myself evolve and improve.

More thoughtful discussions. More deep reflections. More living.

So after that half-day retreat, I tried a local weekend retreat, then a week-long international retreat, and another. And before I knew it, I found myself signing up for yoga instructor training.

But that first retreat set something in motion. Because for a long time, my life had looked very different.

From spreadsheets to yoga retreats

For a long time, my life looked very structured and predictable. For over 25 years, I worked behind a desk: tax returns, insurance policies, payrolls, proposals, invoices, reconciliation, more tax returns.

I knew that world inside and out. I was capable at it, reliable in it… and I was so done with it, so tired of it.

A turning point in Bali

And then life gave me an opportunity to do something different, and I took it.

At the beginning of 2025, I spent six weeks in Bali completing my advanced yoga teacher training, 500 hours. We woke up at 5 each morning and ended at 8 at night, and somehow I went to bed with a smile every night. I could have stayed at that school forever. People from over 20 countries, ages 17 to 75. It was challenging, amazing, and I learned so much and grew as a person.

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Look back at May 10th retreat

Why I now teach retreats

So I decided to offer what speaks to me to other people. Because sometimes it only takes that one special experience to change the whole course of your life.

Over the past six months, I have hosted three-day retreats, two evening retreats, 10+ special events, and many outdoor yoga classes in the park. And I am only getting started.

Thinking about the May 10 retreat still warms my heart.
(pics here)

Why a single day matters

A single day can change more than you expect.

A single day retreat can create lasting transformation.

Because sometimes we finally experience:
• a moment of clarity
• a new perspective
• real connection
• a realization we cannot unsee

Sometimes one day is enough to:
• interrupt autopilot
• hear yourself again
• create momentum for change

A lot of people can trace major life shifts back to:
• one conversation
• one inspiration
• one aha moment
• one moment where they finally slowed down enough to feel something real

“I want to live differently.”

That feeling can stay with you for years.

Join the waitlist

If this speaks to you, join the waitlist for upcoming Raleigh day retreats + future NC mountain retreats.

Photos from the May 10 day retreat at Sky Pond.

Join the waitlist for upcoming retreats

Yours truly,

Tina

Yoga Explorer

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