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.

Living the Dream. Weeping into a Mop Bucket like Cinderella. Same Thing, Right?

Well, it's been exactly one month since the last time I posted, in the final days leading up to the opening of Barre & Soul Harvard Square.  Those next days were a blur of dirty hands, takeout food, and little sleep, as we hustled to get the studio open. It would NOT have been possible without the generosity and hard work of some amazing people I'm lucky to have in my life, including my friends, kids, partner, the Barre & Soul staff, their parents (I'm not kidding) and more.  THANK YOU to everyone who helped make this happen!

Fortunately, everything went perfectly and I also looked really good the whole time.

JUST KIDDING!  At 1AM the night before we opened, I was leaning over a mop in the middle of the yoga studio LITERALLY SOBBING LIKE A CHILD.  

We did manage to open, and the studio looks stunning. I especially love how it looks at night.

There's still a lot of decorating I want to do, like in the lobby (below),  but the details are coming together.

Classes are in full swing, and I'm working on the finishing touches.

(How crazy is that magnetic conveyor belt that lowers your cart down to the parking lot at IKEA?)

Update: this piano still needs to happen. Anyone have a lead on a used one in or near Cambridge?

I've managed to sneak away for a few days here and there over the past month to visit my hometown of Ogunquit, Maine. I love it here. So so much.

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I also got to stop into the beautiful Portsmouth studio, which is lovely and I don't visit enough.  Its 1 year anniversary is TODAY!

Speaking of birthdays, Elise turned 9!  She's been doing gymnastics camp, had a friend visit from out-of-town for a week, sprained her ankle, made lots of messes, (cleaned up a small percentage of them), has been keeping me busy, and is generally a very sweet and adorable child...  We went shopping and found a few great back-to-school items I hope to share soon.  Now she and Roman are both on vacation and Jason and I are without kids for the next week or so... I'm hoping we might make a little getaway, at least for a few days!

(A photo of my good side, obviously.)

Something I've really been wanting to share... I took a fantastic weekend yoga immersion with Goldie Graham the weekend after the Harvard Square studio opened.  The topic was sequencing and hands-on assists, and if you're a yoga teacher, I would highly recommend it.  Goldie has a very genuine, plain-spoken way about her and a true passion for yoga that really comes through and that I found inspiring.

On the one hand, signing up for a weekend of anything was probably a crazy idea at such a busy time, but then again it was probably the only thing that could have gotten me to slow down.  On both Saturday and Sunday of that weekend, we practiced for about 90 minutes, which gave me the opportunity to hear what the wise little voice inside of me had to say.

First and foremost, I realized that I have worked hard, accomplished much, and need to chill the f*ck out and appreciate it!

I was also reminded of how important it is for a yoga teacher to maintain her own practice -- Goldie mentioned that she practices 5-6 days a week! -- and how little I've been doing that for myself.

I know, but had maybe forgotten, that I can do ANYTHING, but I can't do EVERYTHING.

Ironically, the workshop that I took to keep my teaching inspired, ended up inspiring me to cut back on teaching for a while.

I am choosing to take some time to do the things I am MOST excited about right now, the things that nourish me creatively and make me feel self-expressed.  Right now, that's writing my blog and creating the most beautiful yoga and barre communities ever through Barre & Soul -- planning amazing programming and events, continuing to build and foster the dream team and to beautify our spaces.

I'm grateful that weekend gave me the pause to notice what I need and to get more of it!  I'm happy to be back to the blog and grateful to you for reading!

Till next time!

Andrea