09/18/2026
I'm getting ready to leave for Bali for the Joy Becomes Us Retreat and so naturally I've been thinking a lot about joy and I wanted to share my thoughts with you.
In this post you'll also find a free guided meditation, sign ups for the Rooted Retreat in November, and waitlist sign ups for the Eat, Play, Move Tuscany Retreat 2027.
"We need joy as we need air. We need love as we need water. We need each other as we need the earth we share."
-Maya Angelou
When we think of joy, we often think about happiness. Almost a naïve, childlike happiness that becomes increasingly difficult to access as we experience the world and all the hard things that come with it.
But I think joy is deeper than that and much more resilient.
Joy is not the feeling that comes from the absence of pain or suffering, but rather it is the conscious choice to see and rejoice in the hope and love and wonder of the world amidst everything else.
It's not always easy to do this. It takes courage and vulnerability and heart.
So what if we didn't wait for joy to happen to us? What if we could create a home where joy felt welcome? Where joy had a standing invitation?
Because your joy is there. It's just waiting to come home.
And as the autumn equinox approaches, we are also invited to reflect on balance, which I think any deep experience, like joy, requires.
Balance doesn't mean that everything is always equal or that everything feels good. It means making room for all of it. The joy and the grief, the movement and the stillness, the letting go and the beginning again.
I've created a free guided meditation for you to help you pause and reflect as we move into this new season.
🍂 And if you're local, join me in November for the Rooted Retreat in Redmond, WA. A mini movement and meditation retreat to help you reconnect with your body and anchor you to presence, so that you can be well resourced as we head into fall and winter.
🇮🇹And thinking ahead to next year, we're going to Tuscany for the Eat, Play, Move Retreat! A week in Italy full of all the things that give you life. Community, incredible food, movement, and plenty of fun!
Sign ups open in October exclusively for people on the waitlist with special waitlist-only pricing.
If you're just the least bit curious, get yourself on the waitlist! And please email me with your questions since I don't have a landing page made yet with all the details!
And don't worry, joining the waitlist is in no way an obligation to sign up. It just means you'll be the first to know when registration opens and will have access to the special pricing.
Now, I'm off to Bali!! Wish me luck! And if you want to follow along, I'll be sure to post things to my Instagram stories.
With joy and gratitude,
Rachel
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