My American friend Michelle invited me to a yoga retreat in Costa Brava, Spain. It was organized by her and her partner Courtney through their Yoga Retreat Company Into The Wild Spaces. I was pretty excited since I have wanted to see this part of Spain because so many friends told me how beautiful it was.

I met Michelle two years ago when I first visited Barcelona. She had already been living there for a few years. We met at a yoga class I found online and we bonded immediately. BTW…. Michelle is also the owner of another incredible business Baby Says More – she teaches parents how to teach their babies how to talk with sign language! She’s very ambitious, my kind of gal! 😀

So… not only was I going to see a beautiful area in Spain, I was going to see my good friend and have an amazing yoga retreat!

Generally I try not to have any expectations, but this time it was a bit difficult. I had heard a lot about this place. My expectations were high and they didn’t disappoint. The costal towns and beaches were stunning –  a photographers dream, photo opts everywhere.

I had some fun surprises at this event. I got to see Courtney again, an Australian woman I had met over a year ago on my 2^nd trip to Barcelona. She was our gourmet vegan chef for the entire retreat and a wealth of information for cooking vegan. Every meal was an event; great conversation with amazing, powerful, insightful women and beautiful and delicious gourmet food.

Our Thai Massage expert, Kate from the UK, was another fun surprise. I met her two years ago as well, in the same yoga class I met Michelle,  she was the yoga instructor. Kate has her own business as well offering yoga and Thai massage called Happy Lotus Barcelona.
I didn’t know either woman (Courtney or Kate) was going to be there. It was a delight to spend time with both of them again.

Rafa is the stunning Brazilian woman who was our yoga teacher. She was absolutely born for to be a yogi; knowledgeable, spiritual, intelligent, beautiful, etc.. she reminded me of my favorite yoga instructor, Gretchen Mills, back in Key West, Florida. You could easily see she lived yogi life style and philosophy, she had it in her heart and soul. Every class was different and interesting.

The remaining new friends I met were also incredible. They were all very ambitious and intelligent. It was really exciting for me to be with a group of thirty something ,strong, fearless, independent beautiful women who all were living their dreams, traveling, using their talents and enjoying life. Half of them were successful entrepreneurs.

And yet another surprise bonus – a photo shoot! Laura, another American and owner of MIKA Yoga Wear, a women’s  clothing line for yoga and swimwear, was one of the yogis. She brought quite a few pieces from her beautiful collection for us to wear for our own photo shoot! She had beautiful models, clothes and magical scenic views to work with and was going to use the pictures for her business promotion and we had a talent photographer with a new collection of photos for each of us. Todos Ganamos! 😀

Brenda was another yogi I met. I lovely woman with a beautiful soul from Holland, living in Spain. We bonded over talking about family and loss of loved ones. And she was another talented photographer!

Elli was a young woman from the UK, living in Spain enjoying life and there was a Spanish woman who practiced my Spanish with me.

We shared stories and food, laughed, meditated, hiked and strolled through a medieval town called Pals. They had a plan to practice yoga on the beach, but we got there a little late and couldn’t find a spot. Michelle scoped out a beautiful home with a terrace overlooking the Mediterranean. She went to the door to ask if we could use this area for our class but no one was home. So….. we went down to the terrace and set up for class….. total Shout-Law move (family joke).  Best view I ever had for a yoga class. 😊

The last night we had a fire ceremony where we burned the intentions we choose the first day and shared how the retreat was special to us. It was a beautiful end to an incredible experience. I look forward to where their next retreat will be. Highly recommended!