On my list of priorities, self-care often takes a backseat to family care. When the opportunity came up to attend a weekend at a nearby campground for an all women’s wellness retreat led by yoga instructors, I didn’t grab the opportunity. I texted Susan on the final call and signed up just for Saturday and only if I could find a friend to ride with. Then last week when my daughter told me she was taking her kids to the zoo in New Orleans “Surely you don’t want to miss a day with your grandchildren!” I sent another text. “Something has come up with my family. Can you find a replacement?” I was, as they say around here “Crawfishing my way out.”
On Thursday when I stayed home with some vertigo symptoms and took a Covid test convinced I would have a medical excuse to do none of it, I tested negative and my husband urged me to go on the retreat. “You deserve this.”
Here is a photo walk through the woods with 20 women tuning ourselves to the sounds and peace of nature. Mother earth was speaking, “Come home. Come home.”
Rewild Yourself
Inhale
Margaret Simon
Exhale
Tree hold me
balanced
calm
restored
to my
purpose
After a yoga flow session we headed into the forest for a “forest bath”. The instructor Tiffanie encouraged us to find a rainbow in nature. Green was all around. Not to mention poison ivy and signs warning of cottonmouth snakes. I powered through. I chose my colors from fiddle head fern to an unripe red blackberry. My favorite find was the orange heart-shaped leaf which I have pressed into my journal to remind me to love myself.
Nature struggles
Margaret Simon
each day–
a yellow leaf
dies
falls
feeds
the earth
into rebirth.
I find myself
behind all the others
holding on
to this solace
this song.
Our lunch was all vegan with a detox salad, sweet potatoes, and a lentil and rice dish I forgot the name of. Susan had soaked chia seeds in oat milk for a pudding-like dessert. We were all asking for recipes. I relaxed and rested and made new friends. At the end of the day, Susan washed us in a sound bath. I held one of her singing bowls. It felt heavy at first, but as I relaxed and let go, the bowl became lighter and part of me. I realized that burdens may seem heavy for a while, but they eventually become easier to hold and part of the well-loved person we are.
*For information on Susan and her sound bath therapy, go to Bayou Lotus Studio.
Reflections on the Teche 