St. Croix Yoga & Barre Retreat

Come to St. Croix with us January 2017!

It feels a little silly to even attempt to write about the experience of our first-ever yoga retreat to St. Croix in the U.S. Virgin Islands last month. It totally exceeded my expectations and filled my heart up with love of nature and community, and a feeling of gratitude, ease and playfulness.

St. Croix beaches

 I'll let the photos do most of the talking. Here are a few of my favorite memories:

Chartering a private plane with our new-found friend Renee after missing our connecting flight.

yoga retreat

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Freedom City Beach - St. Croix

yoga retreat in St. Croix

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hooping at above the cliff

Feeding cans of non-alcoholic beer to pigs. (?!)A long lazy day at the beach, full of paddle boarding, swimming in the ocean, beanbag toss, fish tacos, frozen mango drinks and Jack Johnson on the speakers.Dogs, everywhere we went. Especially Angel.Hula hooping on the dance floor of a clifftop bar to the sounds of a live band.

band

yoga on the beach

Teaching yoga and meditation on the beach. Amy's mom's headstand. Using palm trees as barres in our "Coconut Barre" classes.

barre class on the beach

Team-teaching with Amy and Lindsey in the beautiful open-air studio of the Courtyard. The rain starting to pour during Lindsey's barre class and gently splashing in through the windows and over the porch railing. Buddha bowls after class.

yoga and barre retreat

yoga and barre retreat

Courtyard View

Courtyard Menu - St. Croix

lunch in St. Croix

Zoe and Maggie 2

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sailing in St. Croix

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yoga on the beach

St. Croix

sunset sailing

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walking the labyrinth

fire dancers

yoga retreat fun

Telling ice breaker stories, sharing fun facts, and bonding with our amazing group, which included 3 pairs of mothers and daughters.Being hosted by a fire-dancing troupe named Kiki and the Flaming Gypsies.Heart to heart talks in the cabin of the sailboat on the way to beautiful Buck Island.Elise never leaving my side. Being surprised at how nicely my kids got alongWalking as a group on the buttery sand of Buck island and being immersed in the warmest, most gorgeous turquoise ocean water I've ever seen.Gliding across the water at sunset on the sailboat.Playing "Yes yes yes yes yes," being served delicious food, and sharing things we love about each other at Villa Del Mar. Taking a mindfulness walk in the Labyrinth.Fire dance party on the beach.Jumping off the pier together as a group.

Watching the sunset.

yoga retreat in St. Croix

swimming in St. Croix

Realizing that this is what I get to do at work (?!) and feeling so, so, so grateful.And SO MANY more beautiful moments not listed here!

Check out the video below, made by our fabulous hula-hoop teacher Julia to see even more of this amazing adventure, including some incredible fire dancing. And don't forget YOU can join us when we return to St. Croix!

The next Barre & Soul St. Croix Yoga & Barre Retreat is April 13-26 and you can pre-register now.

They Called Her 'Ugly.' We Can All Learn Something From Her Response.

When this 'before' and 'after' photo of Stephanie Lange showed up in my Instagram feed, I remember thinking, "How cool is that -- a REAL-looking 'before' photo!"

I loved it immediately, and was not the least bit surprised.  It seemed consistent with this makeup artist's friendly, open, and down-to-earth persona.

I had begun following her after stumbling across her YouTube channel, which is full of great makeup tutorials.  I loved the content of her videos, but what made them really great was her personality; she seemed to have a vulnerable, unguarded way of being.

Unfortunately, sometimes people just act like total A-Holes.

As it turns out, this photo was met with quite a few abusive comments on Instagram.  It seems that having the veil pulled back on the carefully constructed images of beauty we are so used to seeing was threatening for many viewers, who bombarded her with nasty comments in reference to her 'before' image.

Shortly afterward, she posted the following message on her YouTube Channel, along with a video response:

I wanted to address this notion that people are 'ugly' without their makeup. As i said in the video, i get a lot of comments on photos that i post on my Instagram (@stephanielangemakeup) such as:

'This is Why Men Have Trust Issues' 'This is Why You Should Always Take a Girl To The Beach on a First Date' 'OMFG!!!' 'EEEWWWW!!!' 'She's So Ugly Without Makeup!!'

.... and that i basically paint a new face on and 'trick' people into thinking i'm pretty - when i'm not.

This frustrates me, as I don't want anyone to feel ashamed or embarrassed of their bare, makeup-free face. It's comments like these that make girls AND boys who wear makeup, feel ugly when they're not wearing it.

-Stephanie Lange

Here's what I love about her video:

• She stands her ground not just on her own behalf, but on behalf of people everywhere who'd rather not be shamed for SIMPLY SHOWING THEIR FACE. Standing up for yourself and others takes Boldness.
• She stays positive, never stooping to their level or being nasty in return.  Taking the high road takes Integrity.
• She ACTUALLY TRIES TO EDUCATE PEOPLE about why their comments were harmful. Teaching someone instead of telling them to f*ck off takes Compassion.

Boldness, Integrity, Compassion...  In my opinion, this may just be the formula for sustainable feminism -- a strong, assertive, kind approach that is inclusive rather than alienating, even when others' behavior is SO damn frustrating.  It is important to remember that even when people ACT horrible, it doesn't mean they ARE horrible.  Let's not give up on changing the world!  Just my two cents.

You can watch the full "rant" post below, and I HIGHLY recommend watching it because SHE IS AMAZING.

No, I will not edit my 'before' photo like I know a lot of other people do, because I don't care about making an illusion of what I do or don't look like without makeup -- that's just my face.

-Stephanie Lange

Question!  Are you comfortable being photographed without makeup?

I must admit, I'm not!  Since I don't like to be scared of anything, here's a photo of me having a fantastic breakout.  Hey, that's just my face.