Unintentionally Alone in Mexico

It’s a very soul-affirming feeling to travel and rely completely on oneself. For the first time in a long time I was responsible for me and had only me to answer to.

I was planning to go to a yoga health retreat with a dear girlfriend. I’ve never really been the kind of intrepid spirit to travel completely alone and have hardly traveled without my husband in the past 20 years so this was going to be a real adventure for me in stepping out of my comfort zone and into the great unknown.  

Shortly before we were due to leave, extenuating circumstances prevented my friend from going with me and I was actually all alone. I hesitated for a moment as to whether I should cancel and salvage the rest of my fee but I knew in my heart that this was exactly how things were meant to be. I had to trust that this was in fact meant to be part of the experience.
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It took three planes and a 40 min taxi ride to get to a little known but magnificently beautiful retreat centre on the banks of Lake Chapala, Mexico called La Vita Bella. But with each leg of the trip deeper into the unknown, I was filled with a sense of traveling deeper within my own soul.  

It’s a very soul-affirming feeling to travel and rely completely on oneself. For the first time in a long time I was responsible for me and had only me to answer to.  

My vacation was a perfect balance of decadence and discipline. I arrived with an open mind and open heart to the magical experience and my intention was to deepen and clarify my spiritual practice through discipline to my rituals and to surrender and allow the spirit to illumine my path. The combination of healing experiences through the power of water and nature as well as the gentle guidance of my hostess to keep returning back to my higher knowing was everything I needed to crack me open and allow all of the darkest parts of me see the light.

I came to understand that It was a privilege to be alone with myself and to get to know me better. I had the chance to rekindle the relationship to myself; the most important relationship of my sovereign life.

But life shouldn't all be discipline. There’s also deep healing found in decadence!! PLAYTIME and PLEASURE! Creativity, relaxation and celebrating the joy of embodiment are essential. I gave myself permission to indulge. I found myself laughing more, relaxing, sleeping, and eating for and with pleasure. Even breathing with consciousness felt like a delicious gift. Gratitude for life is the foundation on which my travel experience was built. It was a celebration meditation!

I left the retreat floating. No longer on the healing waters of La Vita Bella, but on the knowledge that I am forever expanded and elevated by this experience. I am deeply in love with myself and this magical life.

Author - Natalie Reimer

Natalie Reimer Anderson  is a  Self-Love Coach based in  Winnipeg,  Canada. She can be reached at  [email protected].