Is a Wellness Retreat Worth It?

My Experience With Soulful Sage Wellness Retreat in August of 2022

I have a feeling based on my experience that there will be a time when people will not believe there was less than 20 on a retreat with Joanne Fetchko of Breath of Being Readings and Tannis Gautheier of Sharing the Light Reiki and Wellness. If asked why, I would say it is because these two women put together a retreat on Savory Island that I attended for three nights in August. Upon meeting these women, I would have thought that they have been working together for at least a decade as they are connected and in synch with each other on level which can be felt instantly. Hosting an event on Savory Island must come with a plethora of potential trouble as getting there takes two ferries, a water taxi, and hours of driving. You must also bring on and take off everything you require while on Savory. This includes all garbage. That said, it was worth taking the time as it is a beautiful, mystical island. The location itself was restorative as it is known for its white sand beaches, beautiful swimming waters and sandy cliffs. If that does not astound you, the dune meadows and ancient forests will.

I was not sure exactly what a Wellness Retreat was all about so when my friend mentioned it, I surprised myself how quickly I said I was interested in going. It was as if something inside of me made the decision without my attention to it. For me, it was the mystery of not knowing that made it even more alluring. I decided to not ask any questions and just go for it.

 Joanne is a Psychic Medium and Tannis is a Reiki Karuna Master and Psychic Medium. As a team, they are Soulful Sage Wellness Team. They specialize in retreats and workshops that guide you to unleash your Soul’s Purpose, awakening the most authentic you, igniting your light so you can shine.

The Savory Island retreat included lovely food for breakfast, lunch, and dinner, made with love and mindfulness and wonderful selection. My friend and I shared a cabin (there were four cabins). Guests could also stay in the main house which had suites available where the two hosts also slept. Although I would not say it was fancy, it was certainly comfortable at The Savory Island Resort. From the beginning I felt the sense of community. Guests included Reiki Practitioners, Psychics, and other women who, like me, wanted to experience the retreat without expectation. I felt a sense of community and comradery the whole time. Never did I feel intimidated or awkward amongst these lovely women that made up our group of nine. We did morning yoga and meditations. We experienced as a group beautiful, guided meditation walks through the forest as well as at the beach. There was sound healing and readings that were so beautiful. I do not want to go into detail as I respect the process so much after receiving such beautiful gifts of calm and clarity from the ladies, I feel it best not to “dish” too much about the details of it all, even though it was positive. I have always loved rituals and found much peace and contentment in them all. It was so exciting to go to the beach having no idea what we would be doing. Going into the ancient forests would often lead to a feeling of being in a trance of sorts. At times, I can be excruciatingly shy, so to find such comfort and confidence to complete tasks including painting, dancing, sharing with strangers was one of the biggest surprises for me personally. I had lovely experiences by the campfire. Our Cacao Ceremony was amazing. Never have I experienced the feeling of love, healing, and power by so many intentions all at once. These rituals and experiences will stay with me forever. I have an enthusiastic respect and admiration for both Joanne and Tannis, as well as the other women who graciously gave their energy so openly. Weather it was by the campfire, during meditations or at the beach, slowly but surely it became clear to me that I was surrounded by women who were unleashing such powerful messages. I felt empowered just being in the same space as them. It was truly an honour.

So, what now? I am home, the retreat is over, in fact, it has been weeks and I am still thinking about my experiences and gaining insight by them. We all received sweet little workbooks by Soulful Sage Wellness Retreats that include great ways to remain in touch with what we practiced. I feel I can relate more than ever to my own intuition and clarity since the retreat. I will continue on my path and while doing so, take reiki classes with Tannis which feels like the right thing for me to do. The quote in my workbook by Democritus speaks to me best by saying:

“Happiness resides not in possessions, and not in gold; happiness dwells in the soul.”

The retreat opened my soul in a way, awakening a stillness that I will continue to nurture. Clearly, the answer to the question is: “Yes”

Thinking about growing out your grey hair?

The pandemic is not the ONLY reason to grow your natural hair colour out if it is grey.  It can be many reasons including the commitment of time, the constant planning to ensure the demarcation line is not making an appearance during times you want to look and feel your best and over all wanting to embrace yourself in a more natural way.  This should, in my opinion, not be looked at as someone “Letting themselves go”!  When I hear clients, friends or family suggesting it is, I wonder if it once again societies way of creeping into the heads of both men and women suggesting that it is aging which of course is a curse these days for many.  There are a few ways of growing the grey out from subtle to extreme, just as it showed up to begin with.  Some started seeing grey from an early age (I have seen teenagers with up to 25% before the age of 19).  If one starts covering it up so young, even twenty or thirty years later, they become so accustom to colouring that they often simply cannot imagine life without haircolouring or should I say life with grey hair. 

Based on how long you have been covering the grey, I would like to suggest this:

If you are youthful, enjoy playing with your hairstyles and consider yourself to be a trendsetter: Try some fun highlights, why not? Life is short! It has become so acceptable to have fun colours in the workplace and is not considered unprofessional or “over the top” at all.  These colours could include some of my personal favorites such as: lilacs, pinks, purples, platinum’s, maybe some blue, orange, or green.  If your hair that is not grey is dark, try the latter, if your hair is lighter, try the first ones.  The grey hair will pick up these fun colours without the use of bleaching or pre lightening and gives a non-comital look that can be changed up as often as you feel like without any damage or dryness. Many people would like to play with these creative colours but choose not to because of the expense of the double process as well as the integrity of the hair afterwards.  All the sudden your grey is really working for you!

If you are a bit conservative and would like to “ease into it”, wait until your hair grows about an inch and a half of root and get some fine blended highlights that are light enough to tone with a combination of silver and grey tones.  The reason I suggest more than one tone of grey is because it will help to ease into it when you see the light and dark shades of grey.  There are so many beautiful shades Professional Hair Colourist’s having to work with, maybe not 50% of the entire head, but enough to break up the demarcation and give a slight taste of what would look best while pairing the highlights with the rest of the hair.  If seeing the demarcation will drive you nuts, a semi-permanent colour can simply “blend” them, disappearing over about 10-15 washes.

Start slowly around the hairline and parting.  Get use to seeing the light around your face and in the parting. This does not have to overwhelm your look; it is merely a preview of what you could work off moving forward.

If you are comfortable with a “shock value” or do not mind the opinions of others, because let us face it, our family, friends, and co-workers love to provide feedback or opinions when we do something dramatic (typically the ones to judge are the ones who do not have the nerve to do the dramatic things themselves; remember this). Have a complete removal of the artificial hair dye in your hair and replace it with toners with all shades of grey and maybe a bit of blonde, brown or black depending on what percentage of grey you have in the natural.  Once the hair dye is removed, the new shades can be replaced with bold streaks or fine ones, depending on how bold YOU feel.  Either way when your own starts to grow in it will blend.

None of my recommendations are to discourage anyone from having your hair coloured (always by a Pro of course!).  I have been classified as a Professional Hair colourist and am a Master of my trade for many years and many reasons, all based on experience and expertise.  I will always have a way of freshening up my client’s hair, leaving them feeling amazing and confident.  Everyone desires a change sooner or later and everyone deserves a Hair colourist who will have the right recommendation for them.  What I would like to achieve by giving these suggestions is to lose the idea that one must “cover” the grey for anyone or anything but themselves or feel that natural grey hair says that one is “letting themselves go”.  Going to the salon is fun, fashionable and can give you the change that makes you feel like a million bucks when you look in the mirror and smile at yourself with confidence.    Next time your roots are coming in, ask yourself if it is time for a change.  If it is, give me a call and I would be happy to consult with you on which route to take!