What Holding Yoga Retreats Has Taught Me About Women, Rest, and Healing
I hosted my first Bali yoga retreat in 2019. I’d been living in Albany for a few years and was finding the month of August haaaaard — cold, wet, and heavy. I was craving warmth, light, and something to look forward to.
Then, like the universe heard my lament, a schoolmate posted about her villas in Bali. Something sparked: What if I held a yoga retreat there?
By then, I’d already run a few day retreats and felt ready for a new challenge. So, with a curious mind and a brave heart, I organised my first overseas retreat. It turned out to be a little bit magic — deep rest, deep connection, and a kind of soft transformation I hadn’t seen before.
Now I’ve hosted five Bali retreats, one in Denmark, and countless day retreats. Each one is different. But this most recent one — the one I led with a torn ligament in my knee — might have taught me more than any of them about what women truly need when they pause.
Here are five things I’ve learned from leading retreats — even when I’m limping.
1. Holding space doesn’t require perfection — it requires presence.
I was extremely nervous about hosting a retreat while injured. Travelling to Bali, navigating busy streets, managing pain and fatigue — it was all new. And uncomfortable.
But it gave me an opportunity to embody what yoga truly is: meeting yourself where you’re at, without judgement.
My guests didn’t need me to demo every pose. They weren’t there to be impressed — they were there to rest. To feel safe. To gently transform.
And really? My retreats aren’t about me at all. They’re about creating space — and showing up with presence, not perfection.
2. Rest feels different for everyone — and that’s okay.
Some women nap daily. Some journal. Some cry. Some laugh. One guest this year skipped the spa entirely and spent every spare moment with a novel and her crochet.
And I loved that. Because rest isn’t one-size-fits-all.
Yoga teaches us to still the mind — and for some, that happens best in a massage. For others, it’s a long walk, a quiet cuppa, or no socialising after dinner. All of it is welcome.
When women are given permission to rest in their own way, the magic happens.
3. Most of us don’t realise how exhausted we are until we stop.
As women, we carry so much invisible labour — emotional, mental, domestic. We hold things together, often without even realising how heavy they’ve become.
And when we finally pause, the emotion rushes in.
That happened for me too. I may not have kids or a partner, but I’d been holding space for others, navigating physical pain, and processing something bigger — the grief of coming home to a world without my dear friend and retreat debrief buddy, Sara.
I’m still resting, even now, days later — a “retreat” of my own in my bedroom. And honestly? It’s shown me again why I care so deeply about offering these sacred pauses. Because we all need them.
4. Physical limitations can deepen your spiritual practice.
Teaching with a knee injury forced me to slow down, to ask for help, to be still. And in that stillness, I found something profound.
I tuned into my breath more deeply. I paid attention to the air on my skin, the rustle of leaves, the sound of the water features at the villas. It sharpened my awareness and softened my self-talk.
I wasn’t doing every pose — but I was living the practice.
And my guests saw it too: that healing doesn’t require a perfect body. It requires presence, and kindness.
5. Transformation doesn’t always look dramatic — sometimes it’s quiet.
Not everyone leaves a retreat with a 10-point life plan. Sometimes the change is a new bedtime ritual. A gentler inner voice. A deeper exhale.
One of my guests this year has been coming to my classes for nearly a decade. We talked about how the tiniest consistent practices — breathing before reacting, resting before burning out — can create profound change over time.
Emma in 2012 couldn’t have imagined hosting a retreat in Bali.
Emma in 2019 wouldn’t have dreamed of doing it with an injury.
But here we are.
Leading retreats continues to be one of my greatest teachers. Each one shows me something new about what women really need.
And it’s not more hustle. Not more goals. Not more pressure to “get it right.”
It’s space.
It’s kindness.
It’s rest.
🌿 Ready to Pause?
My next day retreat — Pause — is happening Sunday, June 22 at King River Hall. It’s for women who are tired of powering through. Who long to exhale. Who need a real rest — without needing to explain why.
🪷 You’ll get nourishing movement, guided rest, beautiful food, quiet journaling, and time to just be.
👉 Click here to book your spot or learn more — only a few spaces left.
And if your body is whispering yes…. I hope I’ll see you there.
