Stacy is an Associate Director at a major consulting firm and is based out of Nashville. Like Julie, Stacy has been on three (soon to be four) yoga retreats with me! What keeps her coming on on retreat, and why is she coming back to France with me in May 2027? Read our Q&A to understand what makes our yoga retreats and the community we’ve built around them, truly special.
You’re coming back to France with me next May, after also having gone on retreat to France with me in 2025. What brings you back?
Your Turkey and Morocco retreat we moved around to multiple cities and did a lot of site seeing. But your France retreat was different – it was a true retreat.
I had no responsibilities, could truly unplug and find comfort in the silences and stillness, which can feel impossible in today’s world where productivity is everything.
I was not only able to reconnect with myself, but also connect with others and create new friendships.
I’m coming back to France with you because I’m curious what it will be like to repeat a retreat location with you, and see how you have changed it and made it better since 2025. I’m also looking forward to seeing my friends, Wendy (our host and villa proprietor), and Rob (our private chef).
I tell a lot of people about this retreat – how amazing it was to unplug, connect, and about staying in a French villa in the middle of the countryside, which feels like something out of a movie.
Tell me about your three retreat experiences with me:
In Morocco (2022): You brought together 10 women from different parts of the country with different backgrounds. We all had a shared background of yoga, movement, and travel. Even with just those basic things in common, the connection, the vulnerability, and the strength we were able to find in each other, that was intoxicating.
France (2025) was about finding stillness.
Your Turkey retreat (2026) was all about surrendering and opening yourself up to the mystical.
Every retreat feels different and has different people, but you always cultivate that space where we can connect and be vulnerable. It’s invigorating.
What draws you to retreat generally? You could go on any trip any time, why retreat?
Honestly? It’s really nice to not have to plan things.
When I come on retreat I am surrendering to you. I trust you to curate a well-balanced itinerary and to take me to safe places. I don’t think about how to get there and when to leave. I get to have the travel experience without the stress of planning things. I know you have it all figured out.
Going on retreat with you makes me more willing to add extra travel before or after retreat because I know a bulk of my trip is already planned for me. Before your Morocco retreat, I took my mom to Portugal. Before your 2025 France retreat, Julie and I went to Ireland. And before your 2027 France retreat I’ll visit my friend, Heather, in Spain.
I also love that, on retreat, I get to meet people who have similar interests and stay connected with them. These are people I potentially would have never met and I get to create real relationships with them over the course of retreat.
Why did you come on my first ever retreat to Morocco back in 2022?
I didn’t put much thought into it before I said yes, honestly.
It’s not hard to get me to say yes to going on a trip. “Do you want to see this cool part of the world?” Yes!
I joined your first retreat in 2022 because you outlined such a nice program. Morocco was a place I’d never go on my own and I had never even considered going. I took the chance because I wanted to do more travel across the pond and you had lived there so I trusted you.
Mom came with me to Morocco, too. It was cool to see her immerse herself in different cultures. It was her first time in Europe and Africa and my first time in Africa.
What should people know about retreat they might not be thinking about?
Some people might get intimidated by ‘yoga retreat’ because they’re not a person who practices yoga. That’s okay. I don’t practice yoga on the regular. And it’s fine. Sarah’s retreats are yoga retreats, but they’re less about just yoga and more about the connection with self, others, and the culture of the place.
If the ‘yoga’ part is what’s giving you pause, don’t worry. If you add all the hours together, it’s a small percentage of yoga time vs. all the other time we’re together on retreat
It’s about so much more.
For someone on the fence, what pushed you over the edge to come to France with me in 2027?
Truly? FOMO. My friends, Julie and Kim, were already going. I didn’t want to miss out on the fun!
As soon as you announced France 2027, I knew I’d add Spain and visit my friend Heather, as long as the dates worked.
I get to pair a new place I haven’t been before – Spain – with a place I get to return to – France. Plus, I get to see friends and meet the other retreat participants. It’s a win-win!
Sarah’s retreats aren’t a small amount of money, but they are an investment in yourself, plus they are worth it!
If I’d over analyzed Morocco, I would maybe have second guessed it and I may have missed out on all the experiences and connections I’ve made since saying that first ‘yes’. Now, I want to go on every one of Sarah’s retreats I possibly can and often pester her about planning the next one.
Why should people come on retreat with me?
Sarah is a great yoga teacher. She approaches and cultivates everything in such an intentional way. I wouldn’t say yes to just anyone. I appreciate her approach to travel. And she does such a nice job balancing yoga, connection, culture, and food, all the things I love about travel.
I haven’t looked into any other yoga retreats, and I don’t plan to.
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