Dear Rose # 8 - The Hardest “No”

Rose is an amalgam of us - women in their 40s, 50s, 60s and beyond who are looking for somewhere they are seen, heard and listened to.

Dear Rose,

I cancelled the May retreat in Bali today.

It never feels good to cancel something that people have booked in for, but organising these things is really complex. To be completely honest, I didn’t have enough bookings to make it financially viable, and I had to give the vendor enough notice so they could try and rebook the accommodation.

I had thought about changing it to a five-night retreat (let me know if that sounds more appealing to you), but that would have also required a lot of work to edit and market the changes.

The truth of the matter is, my doctor has asked me to minimise my stress for the next two to three weeks. Doing all those changes would have fallen right in that window. When I looked at the numbers and then looked at my health, I realised I had to put myself first.

Let me tell you: as much as I recommend that people do this, it’s actually really hard.

For so many of us, service to others ranks high on our values list, so it feels difficult to let people down. We also live in a capitalist world that expects growth and expansion—businesses getting bigger every year—and it feels bad to "fail."

But as my client said when I told her about the cancellation: “Glad you can prioritise your own self, as it isn’t very aligned with Yoga if you can’t.” I’m lucky this person is also a friend. As I’ve said before, my health is the most important thing, and as hard as this was, I know it’s right.

I hope you’re putting yourself first today, too.

Love,

Em xx

P.S. If you were looking forward to Bali, please know that my August retreat is still going ahead and has a few spots left. You can find all the details here. I’d love to see you then, when I’m back to my full strength.