Kim DeMoss
- Jun 15, 2021
- 7 min read

Nature & Nourish Retreat

The Nature and Nourish Retreat this year has quickly risen to be one my all time favorite retreats! On May 20th, this beautiful group of women met in the heart of hill country Texas at Retreat Ranch for a 4-day/3-night retreat designed to nourish our bodies, minds, and souls through yoga, meditation, nourishing food, and community. It was simply magical!

If you've never attended a retreat with me before, here's a little sneak peak into how I run my retreats and all the goodness that comes along with being there with us. I hope this will inspire you to take the leap and take time for you to re-connect with your mind-body wellness because girlfriend, YOU are worth it! (and I would totally love to have you join us next time!)

Let me preface this with the fact that Texas weather is CRAZY unpredictable. It looked like we'd be washed out from start to finish and I worked like crazy to create plans B & C in case the campers got washed out. Then when it came time for me to actually get to Texas, my normal 6 hour trip ended up taking 13 hours because of the flight delays due to the terrible weather the day I was traveling. I was so grateful that I gave myself an extra day on the front end of the retreat because I was able to still get everything prepped and ready after my super crazy long travel day. Then it was time to channel my inner KimPossible and manifest the heck out of some sunshine!

Once I arrived and the weather seemed to be cooperating, I ended up rearranging the whole agenda to fit the good weather days and left space for the indoor workshops on the one rainy day we had. And don't tell me manifesting doesn't work because collectively, every guest who attended was channeling all the good weather vibes and we had 2 of the most beautiful days at the start of our retreat that were supposed to be filled with rain. Thank you universe & the power of positive thinking!

Ok... so here's how the retreat went...

Thursday, May 20, 2021

Guests arrived around 4pm to get checked-in & settled into their space. Some women stayed in the yurts, a couple in the vintage Moondancer Trailer, and others set up their own campsite. One of the women rented a camper van for her stay and whoa, that was pretty awesome!

Then we met at the outdoor yoga deck for our first yoga & meditation practice. We opened with an energy clearing meditation to make space for growth & expansion and to let go of the "stuff" that wasn't serving us with a short movement practice.

After our opening session it was time to head back for our first dinner - taco night! Because who doesn't LOVE tacos?!? But before dinner, we did our champagne toast to kick off not only our time together, but the fact that we were the very first retreat held at Retreat Ranch!

After dinner & champagne is where our schedule changed a bit because I had planned to do our fire pit and fire ceremony towards the end of the retreat, but the weather was acting a little emotional, so we adjusted and rolled with the changes and did our letting go fire ceremony to open the retreat on a day we had beautiful weather!

This actually worked out perfectly! We let go to create space for all the goodness throughout the rest of the weekend!

Friday, May 21, 2021

We started our morning with an energizing yoga and meditation practice followed by breakfast. Our first workshop session we talked about mindfulness, practiced quick mindset shifts, & went for a mindful scavenger hunt.

On the hunt, the ladies found rocks to paint that we would later walk the meditation labyrinth with and then lay in a rock garden at Retreat Ranch for others to enjoy. And by the way... notice those beautiful blue skies!

Then it was off for free time! The women got time for themselves to enjoy anything they desired! They went for hikes, visited downtown Marble Falls, local wineries, a wild flower field, or stayed and enjoyed a quiet afternoon at the ranch. What's so nourishing about free time, is that we as women tend to always busy ourselves with things that need to be done, but here, there was nothing they needed to do but enjoy their own company.

We met back at the ranch later in the afternoon, gathered our painted rocks, and walked over to the meditation labyrinth.

The labyrinth holds a really special place in my heart because a group of us built it out back in October when we worked on the ranch. It was truly a labor of love placing each and every rock exactly where it needed to be for others to walk their journey.

A labyrinth is an ancient symbol that relates to wholeness. Unlike a maze that is a puzzle that needs to be solved, a labyrinth has only one path. The way in is the way out & is a journey to the center of your deepest self and back out into the world.

From the looks of it, it may not seem like much, but once you start walking the path, it becomes spiritual in practice and allows you the time and space to feel your hearts longing.

After our journey through the labyrinth, we laid our painted rocks down and made our way to the yoga deck for a sunset yoga and meditation practice that left us feeling even more grounded and connected in body, mind, and spirit.

Then it was back to the dining hall for dinner! On the menu tonight was a baked potato bar will all the fixings, a quinoa salad, mixed greens salad & then gathered around the fire pit to enjoy s'mores, good company and another beautiful weather day!

"It is unsustainable to live your life in the little spaces left in between everyone else's. You must rend to yourself too. You must fight back against a current that pills your life into the world of afterthought." ~Dr. Jenn Hardy

Saturday, May 22, 2021

We weren't going to let the weather get us down! It had rained overnight and was forecast to rain most of the day, so we rolled with it and were grateful it wasn't heavy rain or thunderstorms!

We headed to the yoga deck to start our morning with a Metta meditation & heart opening yoga practice. We breathed and moved to the sound of rain and it felt like a cleansing of sorts. And goodness, I'm telling you, the way the schedule was rearranged to work with nature, truly set the stage for an incredible retreat experience.

After breakfast, we started with workshop sessions to help us navigate our stress cycles, redefine our mindset, set goals, and create our personal mantras. It was a time for us to learn how our body and mind responds to stress + figure out what works for us to find balance again.

Then it was off for free time again! The weather wasn't stopping anyone and with little pockets of sunshine, the women made the most of their time exploring!

We met up again later that evening for a restorative yin yoga practice + yoga nidra and once again listening to the intermittent rain falling overhead. After our practice, we headed back for chili night (again, what perfect timing on a rainy evening!) and celebrated a very special retreat guest who was celebrating not only her birthday with us, but her college graduation too! How lucky were we to be a part of her celebrations!

“May you be bold enough to use your voice, brave enough to listen to your heart, and strong enough to live the life you’ve always imagined.”

Sunday, May 23, 2021

Ahh, our time together passed too quickly! It was already time to start wrapping up our retreat weekend, but not before sharing the affirmation work on our "I AM..." wall + an incredibly powerful yoga and meditation practice + closing circle ceremony.

Today's yoga and meditation practice was focused on choosing joy and finding the fun and excitement in how we choose to respond and react on our mats and off the mat too.

We closed with a blessing for the journey that lies ahead for each of us and in a circle, shared not what we accomplished over the weekend, but instead how we FELT. This way we could bottle this feeling and take it with us no matter where we headed.

We finished out the morning with a delicious brunch & said "see ya later" to the new friends we made. Each woman leaving a little lighter and brighter than she arrived and for that alone, I'm SO grateful!

It's hard to put into words what the Nature & Nourish Retreat meant to me because the one word that keeps coming back to me is magical. The physical space at Retreat Ranch + the space to let go of labels and just be Kim was exactly what I needed. Beyond that though, getting the opportunity to share my gifts with other women was incredibly uplifting. There is power in finding your passion and your purpose but there is even greater power in living that out. I'll leave you with our final quote reading & hope to see you at a future retreat!

"There is always an open door to reinventing yourself. If we move with the events of life, holding onto our memories but letting go of the past, and plan for the future but meet openly whatever arises, we discover that our life is more vibrant and free than anything we imagined."