Meet the human behind the magic : Bryony

Part 1: My journey into creating meaningful Retreats

It’s hard to reflect back to who i was 6 years ago, when i started being serious about running a business while is the depths of functioning anxiety and not really knowing who i was.

I had just been through therapy, questioning why did that happen to me, what did i do wrong and making myself small so i didn’t hurt anybody.

I was a sponge when it came to advice, i would listen to anyone but myself.

I also told everyone all my creative ideas, how i would do it, how i would make it special and personal.

I was a dreamer without any boundaries.

Somebody told me, “don’t go straight to Bali, try a Retreat in the UK first” while this was good advice, i would later learn that it was also not what i wanted to do at that time, but i did it because i wasn’t sure of myself.

With all my insecurities, trauma feeding my mind and obsessing over proving myself, i managed to run a pretty well organised weekend Retreat in the UK.

Of course it was my first one so it was in no way perfect, but my goal remained the same, to build an inclusive, safe community of people who are either looking for some time away from work and family, or looking to develop skills in mindfulness, movement or deeper practices.

It wasn’t ideal, i messed up a few important things, i wasn’t confident in my leadership or how i approached situations. 

I was learning. Luckily all clients had a lovely time away and there was no negative feedback!

So from this experience, i was confident to take the next step but didn’t know what that was. We were then deep in covid and i couldn’t run any of the experiences i was starting to plan.

It was really interesting looking back, how people reacted when i told them my big dreams, there was so much uncertainty, fear, worry and logistics from other people. They’d say things like ‘people aren’t going to pay that’ ‘nobody will travel after covid’ ‘you don’t have a following’.

I had a really, really kind group of students who stuck by me during covid, a lot of them are still friends now and they repeatedly said they love that i’ve created a community, a safe space for them to come and relax, a place for them to be themselves and step away from the reality of day to day life. 

I am so proud of the community, i didn’t feel like i did anything to create it, i just attracted the right people and said ‘do you fancy going for some food after class?’ …honestly that’s all it took.

Down to earth people, who love Pole for fun, who come for the laughter, who come to feel safe, who come to learn, who come to escape work, who come for their mental wellbeing, who come to move and who come to meet other people like them.

So when it came to naming my Retreats, i didn’t like the word ‘Retreat’ because i knew they were so much more than that.

I wanted people to feel free and not confined to a structure.

The word Retreat felt forced and not magical enough, but i couldn’t think of any other word to describe what i was and am creating.

So the next experience, was in Croatia, i had infact made things incredibly hard for myself, by deciding to run it on Hvar Island, which meant taking a Stage Pole on the boat and having no access to an actual Studio… but i want to create unique experiences, so that comes with taking risks!

I had been living in Bali for 6 months and i felt re-energsied, at that time i didn’t have solid friendships in Bali, i’d spent a lot of time alone, travelling around, doing all the local cultural activities and being a tourist.

So i had that time alone to heal, i enjoyed the solitude of making all my own decisions, listening to my heart, choosing what’s best for me and if you’ve ever travelled solo you’ll get this; getting myself from A-B unharmed and safe, this is a challenge.

After all, getting to Bali was the ultimate dream, travelling solo with my own money was freedom.

I knew i wanted the Croatia Retreat to be transformational and creative.

Some people said it was a much needed break from reality and it was nice to have somebody organise everything and you didn’t have to worry about anything, while learning and having fun.

If i take away all the logistical mistakes i made, i will never forget the moment i heard the most authentic, raw laughter coming from the Pool, no phones in sight, no timings or plans.

It was in that moment, i thought 'this is what it's all about.'

Strip away everything else, humans need connection in the purest form.

So 2 years after my UK Retreat, Croatia gave me the biggest confidence boost and the push to keep learning an growing.

A Bali Retreat was my ultimate dream.

I’ll share how i managed to pull it off in Part 2.

For now, thank you so much for reading and have a great weekend.

Huge love,

Bry xxx