Spring Break Retreat '16: A Welcome

What happens when you bring together 10 teen girls who are complete strangers, load them into packed cars early in the morning and ferry them to a small island off the coast of BC?

MAGIC. LOVE. VULNERABILITY. HOPE. HONESTY.

This Is Day One Of The Girlvana Spring Break Retreat At Bodega Ridge On Galiano Island.

We spent yesterday getting settled into our new space, our cabins and our bodies. We foraged the land around the lodge for flowers, branches and pinecones to decorate the yoga room and dining area.

We came together for yoga, ready for the first class of the retreat. Ally Maz led us through a sweet, fluid flow, reminding us to not judge our bodies or our thoughts. We gave ourselves the space to simply be. 

We ate dinner around a long table, sharing a family style meal of fresh salad, roasted potatoes, finishing with freshly baked, gooey chocolate chip cookies. As we settled into our beds, a striking silence (minus the frogs) washed over the retreat. A peaceful quiet, knowing that we are in a place where we are safe, heard, valued and loved.

The magic that unravels when you give girls the space to be themselves is incredible. Walls begin to fall, stories get shared and tears get shed over hot cups of tea.

This is Girlvana.

HUGE thank you to our friends at Lululemon Athletica and Lush Cosmetics - gifts of yoga mats and bath bombs for all the girls attending.Crystals are a big love of ours in grounding the yoga room.

Bringing the outdoors indoors to set our space.

Personal intentions strung up in the room to remind us why we're here.

Girlvana Yoga founder Ally Maz making the room feel light and fresh with flowers from the garden.

Family style dinner is the best way to connect with one another after a long day of travel, movement and more.

Here's to seeing where Day 2 takes us.

XO.