Welcome to the Aligned Yogi podcast, the podcast where we explore how to create a life that feels deeply aligned, vibrant, and true to your soul’s purpose.

Hey there friends and yogis, welcome back to the Aligned Yogi Podcast. I’m Autumn Adams, your host for today and the owner of Ambuja Yoga. Today I want to explore some of the more hidden, more nuanced benefits of yoga retreats. After leading retreats for over a decade, I have discovered that there are so many more benefits to attending a yoga retreat that extend beyond what happens on your mat.

So today I want to share some of the unexpected magic of yoga retreats. And how they really can transform your life in ways that you couldn’t have even ever dreamt up yourself. So when you think of a yoga retreat, you probably picture peaceful mornings on the mat or time to relax in a beautiful location.

And yes, that is absolutely part of it. But what [00:01:00] if I told you that a retreat is like stepping into an alternate universe? You might not believe me right now, but hopefully by the end of this episode you will. When you’re on a yoga retreat, it’s like the universe begins to conspire in your favor. And what would feel like coincidences outside of a yoga retreat feel much more connected and intentional.

So in this episode, we are exploring the surprising transformative benefits of yoga retreat. How they connect you with others and yourself, help you build trust in yourself, and even rewire the way you experience time. By the end of this podcast, I hope you’ll see how these moments of magic can lead to breakthroughs in ways you never expected.

So let’s first talk about what happens when you leave your daily routine behind. And you claim some time for yourself and you finally step into a yoga retreat. When you join a yoga retreat, it’s like entering a completely different universe. One where [00:02:00] extraordinary moments don’t just happen. They feel like they were orchestrated just for you.

It’s as if the world around you senses what you need and conspires to bring you magic. And that magic shows up in so many different ways. So take a moment to picture this. You are in the middle of your morning yoga practice, completely present, when a pair of toucans fly by and their vibrant colors remind you of the beauty that you’ve been too busy to notice.

Or imagine the stillness and the calm that settles in after a shared moment of belly laughter with strangers who already feel like family. It’s not just the location or the wildlife, it’s the energy of the retreat that makes you feel like you’re part of something bigger. These moments are the kind of thing we often brush off as coincidence, but when you’re on retreat, you’ve created the space to see more.

And it’s not just about what [00:03:00] you physically see with your eyes or experience, it’s really, it’s about how it feels. The geese flying overhead aren’t just geese. They’re a sign that you’re exactly where you’re supposed to be. And that shift in perspective, it begins to change everything. This alternate universe isn’t just a one time thing.

It’s a reflection of what happens when you slow down, step away from the doing, and open yourself up to the present moment, right? When we lift our head up from our phones or step away from our computers. It’s like the world The universe, God’s source, wakes up with you, showing you how connected and alive everything really is.

I can remember one year I was hosting a retreat in Nicaragua and I had promised our guests, or nearly promised, that they would see howler monkeys during our retreat. And it wasn’t until the very last morning, at probably, I don’t know, maybe 4am, that [00:04:00] I mean huge, massive troop of howler monkeys came down through the forest and settled right on the retreat center.

And if you have ever been around howler monkeys, you know just how loud they can be. They absolutely made their presence known and it felt literally as if they were right on top of our retreat center. cabin. There was no way that any of us could sleep through it. So instead, we all went up to the yoga platform, brewed coffee, hung out with the howler monkeys.

And when the sun began to rise, we did our morning practice and the howler monkeys stayed with us. Through that entire practice, it was absolutely incredible. It’s moments like those that really open you up to the magic, to the awe, to the wonder that is going on around us all the time. I love how moments like these help us see that we are exactly where we are meant to be.

There’s that feeling [00:05:00] that settles in when you realize you are where you’re meant to be, what you’re doing, what you’re meant to be doing. It’s that sense of calm, that sense of lightness, that sense of knowing connection. This alternate universe isn’t about escaping your life. It’s about experiencing it in its rawest, truest, most beautiful form.

It’s what happens when you finally press pause on the hustle. On the noise, on the doing, and allow yourself to simply be, to be open, aware, present. And that’s where the magic lives. These moments aren’t just memories you’ll take home with you. They are reminders of what’s possible. They’re proof that the magic isn’t gone.

It’s just been waiting for you to see it. Attending a yoga retreat isn’t about discovering a new version of yourself. It’s about reconnecting with the part of you that already knows how to be [00:06:00] still. That already knows how to wonder. and how to see the beauty in the world again. I think of it as like seeing the world through a child’s eyes, right?

So exciting to see the toucan and the trees. So exciting to see the school of fish swimming beneath the pier. It’s incorporating more of that into your daily life. Another benefit to attending a yoga retreat, which maybe it’s a little bit more obvious, is the idea of connection. Because the connection that happens on a yoga retreat is on a much deeper level than what we experience with say like our co workers and even some of our friends and with ourselves as well.

So let’s talk about that connection because it’s the type of connection that can be truly transformative. Yoga retreats have this way to opening the door To that deeper connection not just with others, but with yourself and it’s the kind of [00:07:00] connection that makes you feel seen and understood and So deeply alive and once you experience it you realize how much you’ve been craving it I love to share this story from Jolie who’s attended a couple of our retreats in Oregon And on the last retreat, many of the women were sharing that they were so happy to be experiencing community, sisterhood with other women without the cattiness and the other stuff that can come along with that.

And Jolie, when we were chatting at the end of the retreat, she was like, yeah, I didn’t really crave that. that wasn’t a reason for me to come on a retreat. That wasn’t something I was seeking. By the end of the retreat, she felt so connected to the other women that were there that she had the realization that she didn’t even know that that was missing.

So retreats have this way of giving you the medicine that you need [00:08:00] when you walk into a retreat. You’re most likely stepping into a room full of strangers. That you’re going to spend the next three, or five, or seven, eight days with. But they’re all on the same journey. They’re all there for the same reasons you are.

To deepen their yoga practice. To grow. To heal. To figure out something about themselves. There’s the unspoken understanding right from the start that you don’t have to be anyone but yourself on retreat. Nobody has any preconceived notions about you. They don’t know anything about your past, aside from what you share on the retreat.

So you can show up. just as you are. There’s no need to meet anybody else’s expectations, or I should say maybe there’s less desire to meet the expectations of others. And in that opening circle, You can literally feel the [00:09:00] tension and the relief leaving everyone’s bodies, leaving the room, as everybody realizes that they get to show up just as they are.

And it’s wild what happens when we show up just as we are, how quickly strangers can become friends. One moment, you’re meeting for the first time and sharing your name and where you’re from. And the next, you’re sharing the kind of vulnerable stories you don’t even tell the people back home. There’s something about the retreat space, the retreat container, that makes it feel safe and sacred.

You’re finally allowed to drop the mask and just be real. Just be you. And I think that is where the magic of connection begins. I’ve watched this happen so many times over the years. Someone shares a struggle. Something that they have been carrying alone. And someone else in the group says, yeah, me too.

I’ve experienced [00:10:00] something similar. That’s when you see the shift. The shoulders, they drop. Their guard comes down and they realize that they’re not alone in their pain and that realization is everything. To know that you have an ally, a support system, someone on your team that you can share it all with, or as much as you want to share with.

And I could keep talking about the connections you will build with others, but it’s also about reconnecting with yourself, your true wants, your desires, your values. Really it’s about accessing your inner voice. And there’s something about the quiet moments at a retreat. Whether that’s during meditation, or journaling, or watching the sun rise, or even lounging by the pool next to your new friend.

That lets you hear yourself again. And what you hear, that’s the clarity seeping in. How often do [00:11:00] we ask ourselves, what do I want? What do I need? In my world, we ask this question a lot. But that may not be the case for you. Most of us don’t even realize that we’ve been ignoring these questions until we’re finally in a space where we can listen for the answers.

And that’s what retreats do. They give you back to yourself. When you finally take the time to slow down and listen, you can make some pretty powerful discoveries about yourself. What makes you tick? What brings you joy? What feeds your soul? Where have you given away your power? The answers to these questions come forward more easily.

And then the rise of this internet and social media world, I feel like it’s harder than ever and perhaps easier than ever to find real connection. And connection is what makes us human. On a retreat, it’s Amplified in the most beautiful way because we are [00:12:00] all put together in this sacred space, this container.

Yoga is what brings us together, but we soon realize that we’re all on a similar path. And you realize that the people around you, the other women attending the retreat, these once strangers who’ve quickly become family, are holding up a mirror. They remind you of your strength and your vulnerability, your humanity, and it’s through these connections.

These little moments that you start to see yourself more clearly too. So whether it’s finding community or finding your own Inner voice, that relationship with yourself, the connection you experience on a retreat stays with you, and it’s what makes you realize that you’re not alone, that you are enough, and that you have everything you need to keep growing, to live the life that you want, that you desire for yourself.

Another benefit of attending a yoga retreat that you may not have considered is [00:13:00] that it. can rewire your relationship with time. If I bring up the concept of time, Where does your mind immediately go? Probably to something along the lines of there’s not enough, there’s not enough time. So many of us live our days rushing.

Rushing from A to B. Constantly trying to fit more in. You’re even probably listening to this podcast on a walk or driving your car. And we’re constantly telling ourselves that if we just manage it better, if we become more efficient, we’ll finally feel like we’re in control. But that mindset just keeps us stuck in the never ending loop of rushing, trying to do more, trying to fit it all in.

And on a yoga retreat, you get the chance to flip that script, to flip that relationship with time. There’s this magical thing that happens on retreat.

But there’s this magical thing. Again, that happens when you go on retreat. As you arrive, there’s a sense [00:14:00] of time slowing down. Even as soon as you beginning to unpack your bag, time slows down, becomes more spacious, and you realize, huh, I have way more time than I thought between trekking and opening circle.

And this experience of time slowing down continues for a couple of days. Depending on the length of the retreat. And then you experience a sense of time standing still, like this, I don’t know, liminal space or like a slack tide that happens usually right around the middle of the retreat, maybe just past halfway, where you finally settled in.

Your nervous system has regulated, and then during the last couple days, usually time starts to. pick back up again. As you realize that there’s all the things you want to do before you head home, right? You want to pick up some souvenirs. You want to go to that elephant sanctuary in Thailand [00:15:00] or go do that waterfall hike.

And even as you decide to go do these things, you’re still carrying with you that sense of ease and Again, as if time has slowed down. So even though time’s picked up, you’re starting to do a little bit more. There’s a flow to it. I think for a lot of us that when we think about our daily life, we spend a lot of time thinking about the doing, getting things done, checking things off the list.

We spend quite a lot of energy. Simply making decisions, deciding things, what to eat, where to go, what’s next on the endless to do list, what gets priority, who’s picking up who, and it’s exhausting. And half the time we don’t even realize that. That decision fatigue is weighing us down until it’s gone.

When you’re on a retreat, someone else is holding that space for you, right? That decision making for you. So you don’t have to worry about it. The meals are planned. The schedule is [00:16:00] set. All you have to do is sit down. Show up and there’s freedom in that. It’s like a breath of fresh air It gives your mind the space to stop thinking about the small stuff and start focusing on the bigger questions.

What do I want? Where am I going? What’s next for me? But it’s not just that freedom from decision making. It’s the slower pace of the retreat itself. There’s no rushing from one thing to the next. We’re not like hurry up and rush to yoga and rush to lunch and there’s no need to keep checking the clock.

You just flow from one thing to the next. You enjoy your downtime. You flow through your day with intention and you start to notice the things that you’ve been too busy to see. Like the light filtering through the trees or the sound of your steady breath or the crunch of the path beneath your feet.

I recently had a participant tell me that she didn’t even realize how much she needed it. a [00:17:00] retreat until she arrived and finally stopped rushing, stopped trying to fill her schedule. During the retreat, she shared that she has a tendency to fill her schedule from sunup to sundown. Every moment planned, every moment scheduled.

But what she came to realize is that she had tied her worth, her self worth, to her schedule. all of that doing. And during the retreat, when she had a chance to stop some of that doing, she was able to discover and reframe that belief. I realized that her worth has nothing to do with how much she achieves, how much she plans into each day.

And when you slow down like that, you start to notice how much of your life you’ve just been rushing through. Rushing from A to B. Head down. Blinders on. And on a retreat, that slower rhythm becomes your new normal. Even if it’s just for a few days, that new rhythm is something that you can take with [00:18:00] you.

And you realize that it’s not about managing your time better. It’s about experiencing time differently. Because when you can let go of some of that need or desire to rush to fill the space, you create space for what really matters. For what’s really important to you, for what really feeds your soul, what really lights you up.

And you give yourself permission to rest. We all need rest on such an immense level right now. You give yourself the time and the space to dream and to create and live. A life of intention. And that is the shift that you are going to carry with you long after the retreat ends. Alright, now I’d like to share another benefit.

And that is the deep healing that comes through play and joy. So when you think about healing, what comes to mind? [00:19:00] Likely it’s Sitting in meditation deep reflection, and journaling, finding stillness, getting therapy. And these are really powerful tools. When we spend all of our time kind of stirring the pot, digging up the muck, which don’t get me wrong, I love to do that.

But when we do that all the time, life can feel really heavy. Healing doesn’t always come in those quiet moments. Or in those moments of stirring the pot, of digging up the muck. Sometimes it looks like dancing wildly under the moon, or laughing so hard your stomach and your cheeks hurt, or jumping off a boat.

into the water with no fear. On retreats, joy can become the doorway to your transformation. Transformation happens in so many different ways. Somebody tells you that the only way you are going to transform your life is by journaling and doing the reflection. Run. Don’t listen to them. Because joy is one of the most beautiful surprises of attending a [00:20:00] retreat and a huge catalyst.

For the transformation that you want, we are all motivated by joy and by our desire by living a life that It feels fulfilling and fun and the thing about joy is that many of us are kind of missing it in our day to day lives, right? We wake up, we’ve got the kids ready for school, we go to work, work our nine to five, maybe we hit the gym or a yoga class afterward, go home, make dinner, maybe play with the kids for five minutes, put them to bed, do our chores.

We aren’t making the time for joy, and we don’t realize just how much we’re missing it until we get that taste. I feel like on retreats, it doesn’t just show up slyly sneaking in the door. It just bursts through the door sometime. There’s that invitation to play. On so many occasions, I’ve watched women who were a bit more hesitant, a bit more reserved, or guarded on day one.

[00:21:00] Join a spontaneous dance party by day three. Laughing and moving like they haven’t moved in years, maybe even decades. And when we experience joy like that, you can literally see the layers of tension peeling away. The stress that they didn’t even know that they were carrying. Elise, you see their face soften.

I can remember a time At the Back to Nature retreat in Oregon, which we’ve actually done this a few times now, but where after our final evening ceremony, we’ve guided a spontaneous howl at the moon. And it’s not about the howling, I mean, whatever, right? But it’s about the letting go. It’s about giving yourself permission to be silly and to be wild and free in a way that we just don’t do in our everyday lives, right?

How often do you howl at the moon? But when we give ourselves that freedom to play, to be silly, to do something out of the ordinary, there’s freedom [00:22:00] in that. There’s healing in that. There’s like deep cellular healing. Because joy isn’t just an emotion.

It’s medicine. Feeds your soul. And play reminds us of what it feels like to be alive. It reminds us of who we are beneath the surface. All the roles that we play, the stress and the responsibilities, there is a version of you that exists before the world told you to be serious, to have it all together.

And at a retreat you get to meet that version of yourself again. And on a retreat you get to meet that version of yourself again so often, maybe even more so as women, we feel like we need permission to let ourselves have fun. Permission to stop taking everything so seriously. But here’s what I want you to hear.

Joy is your birthright. Play is your birthright. And when you allow yourself to embrace it, you’ll open yourself up to healing [00:23:00] in ways that you never thought possible. It’ll improve not only your relationship with yourself, but it’ll also improve your relationships with others. I can recall back to one of the retreats in Greece and we were out on our boat trip and we had just pulled into, the first cove of the trip.

One of the women was like, can we jump off the boat? Do we have to take the ladder? It’s like, of course you can jump off the boat. It’s the best way to get in, right? You get that cold shock over. Real quick. Turned into just about everybody jumping off the boat, doing cannonballs, diving in, belly flopping in.

So much fun. The laughter. The cheering. Which helped everybody let down their guard. Really elevated the moment, the experience, the felt sense. But I want you to remember that joy is more than just a fleeting feeling. It’s a way back to yourself. An honorary treat is not just something that you [00:24:00] experience.

It’s something you reclaim. I want you to think about that. You reclaim your joy. So whether it is through dancing or laughing or jumping off of the boat or just letting yourself play to share stories, to share dad jokes, whatever it is, you’re reminded of what it feels like to be fully alive. And in that aliveness, you find your healing, your vibrancy.

When you give yourself permission to feel joy, you’re also giving yourself permission to. To let go. To heal and to grow. To let go of the seriousness. To let go of the pain. Some of the masks and the guarding and you open yourself up to that sense of lightness Acceptance and play so there’s a benefit.

That’s maybe a little Unexpected when it comes to attending yoga retreats because it doesn’t necessarily have to do anything with yoga But it’s that yoga retreats have the potential to unlock your creativity I think we get stuck in this idea that [00:25:00] Creativity is like a mystical gift bestowed on a chosen few That it’s not for everybody, but creativity is your birthright.

It is the wild and untamed energy that lives inside every single one of us. Just waiting, always waiting to be invited out to play. Most of us have been taught to believe that we are not creative, right? I can’t draw. I’m not artistic. I don’t have rhythm. I don’t have a musical bone in my body, or I don’t have a creative Bone in my body.

We tell ourself things like I’m just not a creative person this might sound really familiar to you but these are stories stories that we’ve learned from our parents and from Society and like all stories they can be rewritten for many of us from a young age We’re taught to fit inside a box At school, art [00:26:00] creativity is limited to the art class, if you’re lucky enough to have art class.

It is limited to the music class, if you’re lucky enough to have music class. But we aren’t encouraged to be creative, to express ourselves freely. Instead, we’re molded and shaped to fit in a box, and I want you to start to think of creativity as much more than simply producing art.

It’s a way of moving through the world. It’s how you solve problems, how you dream, how you connect. It’s the spark of innovation that lives in your yoga practice, in your relationships, in the way you approach your most mundane daily tasks and the really challenging parts of life. It’s that way of looking at the world and seeing the possibility of seeing what is possible for you.

I have watched women rediscover parts of themselves that [00:27:00] they thought were long lost, and that’s not through painting or writing, because I don’t necessarily teach either of those during our retreats, but it’s through the way that they begin to see themselves and the world around them. Creativity is about your perspective, about being willing to see things differently.

I was working one on one with a corporate executive. She is the CEO of a pretty large company.

But what we discovered was that she hadn’t picked up a creative pursuit since childhood. Her focus had solely been on achieving, building. She was really good at that.

But it was during one of our sessions, that something just cracked open within her and she started painting, not to create a masterpiece, [00:28:00] but simply to express, to get a little messy, to do something differently. And it was in that that she was able to reconnect with parts of herself that she’d completely abandoned ages ago.

I can remember. A few years ago, while guiding an intuitive dance, one of the ladies expressed that prior to that experience, that dance experience, that to her creativity was about making something perfect. It wasn’t about the pure expression, the pure joy of expression. And she realized that through that creative, free flowing, intuitive movement, that creativity wasn’t perfect. Just a skill to be mastered. It was a state of [00:29:00] being. A way of approaching life with curiosity, with openness, with wonder, with abandon.

In yoga philosophy, creativity is sacred. It’s the manifestation of Shakti, the divine feminine energy of creation. When you tap into your creative flow, you’re not just making something, you are participating in the fundamental energy of the universe. A retreat creates the conditions for this to happen, unplugged from constant demands.

Where suddenly creativity doesn’t feel like another task to check off the list. It feels like breathing. It feels natural.

So how do you keep this creative spark alive? It’s in the daily micro moment of presence. It’s trying something new. Even if you’re going to be [00:30:00] terrible at it, it’s embracing imperfection as the birthplace of innovation. One of my teachers always says, imperfect action is perfect action, right?

It’s taking the action. It’s moving. It’s doing the thing. Listen to your whispers of curiosity, flip your perspective treat creativity as a practice, not a performance. It’s not something that you need to find. It’s something you need to allow.

Creativity is about believing in the wisdom that lives inside you. It’s about saying yes to the unknown, yes to possibility, yes to yourself, and knowing that your creative expression is worthy of being out in the world.

So how are you going to tap into your creativity this week? How are you going to bring it front and center?

All right, friends, I think I’m going to share just [00:31:00] one more hidden benefit of attending a yoga retreat.

And this benefit, I think, is probably the most powerful benefit. The most important benefit of attending a yoga retreat. And that is cultivating self trust. So I want to talk about self trust, but not in the way you might expect. This isn’t about perfection or never feeling scared. It’s about something a bit more radical, and it’s learning to trust yourself exactly as you are with all your beautiful, messy humanity.

I’m sure like many of you, when I first started my yoga journey, I was the queen of second guessing myself. Every decision felt like walking a tightrope without a safety net. I’d spend hours overthinking, paralyzed by the fear of making the wrong choice. This even came up with [00:32:00] me creating this podcast.

So if any of this sounds familiar, know that most of us are carrying around this invisible weight of self doubt, and we don’t even realize how heavy it’s become.

Yoga retreats aren’t just about finding peace on your mat. They’re about finding peace within yourself. They’re about trusting yourself.

So here’s a truth that took me years to understand, and in some ways, I feel like I am still Learning the lesson, but it’s that self trust as a practice. It’s not a destination. It’s built in every single moment. Moment by moment, breath by breath, situation by situation. Every time you show up on your mat, when your mind is telling you a thousand reasons why you can’t, you’re building that trust. Every time you breathe through a challenging pose, You’re saying [00:33:00] to yourself, I can handle this. This is the same wisdom we can carry off of our mat. A story that I hear just about every single retreat is that these women are completely disconnected from themselves. They’ve spent years living according to everyone else’s expectations, their own desires buried so deep that they’ve completely forgotten that they existed. They haven’t given them any time or breath or air. And almost always by the end of the week, there’s a little shift, sometimes a big shift. It’s not about the yoga or the location. It’s about creating a container where these women can hear their own voice again.

And that’s the magic of a retreat. It’s not about escaping your life. It’s about remembering who you are when the noise [00:34:00] falls away. When you’re not juggling a thousand responsibilities, when you’re not constantly performing or proving something you get to just be.

Self trust isn’t about guaranteeing perfect outcomes. None of us can do that. It’s about knowing that no matter what happens, you have the resilience to navigate it.

It’s understanding that your worth isn’t determined by your productivity or your ability to meet external expectations. In our yoga practice, we learn this constantly. Some days your balance is perfect. Some days you fall out of every single pose. Some days the mind is calm. Other days it’s like it’s had 26 cups of coffee.

But the practice teaches us that neither defines you. What defines you is your willingness to keep showing up, to keep breathing, to keep witnessing yourself with compassion. A retreat creates this Extraordinary opportunity, a [00:35:00] pause button in a world that’s always demanding you move faster, do more, be more. Here you learn that you are enough precisely as you are. You are capable of making the decisions you need to live a life of fulfillment.

Retreats have a way of stirring the pot. And another thing that tends to come up is fear of the unknown.

Most people arrive on retreat with fear A cocktail of excitement, fear, anxiety, curiosity, it’s a perfect starting point for transformation and the magic that happens on retreat.

I think solo travel on any level, but especially on a retreat, it’s like a masterclass in self trust. When you step out of your familiar environment, away from your support systems, your routine, your comfort zone, maybe the language you speak, even you’re forced to rely on yourself in ways you [00:36:00] never have before. It’s not just about navigating a new location. It’s about navigating your inner landscape and doing the bold thing. I’ve watched so many participants arrive on retreat feeling small or a little uncertain, almost apologetic about taking up space, like not wanting to share too much. Let somebody else share because they don’t want to take up too much space, too much time. Then there’s something remarkable that happens a couple days in. They start to realize just how capable they truly are. They feel comfortable making decisions for themselves. They honor and recognize that they were able to solve unexpected challenges. They recognize their ability to choose their own adventure.

There’s a profound difference between knowing you can do [00:37:00] something and actually proving it to yourself. Right? It’s that knowing it in your head versus knowing it in your body. Solo travel does that. Miss a connection? You figure it out. Need to communicate in a place where you don’t speak the language? You find a way, right? Use Google Translate. You ask for help. You find somebody that speaks your language. If you’re feeling uncomfortable in a new situation, you learn to sit with that discomfort and move through it. One of my favorite yoga retreat attendees. Shared that her solo journey to our retreat was the very first time she’d ever traveled alone. She was terrified of everything, getting lost, looking stupid, not knowing what to do being taken advantage of. But by the end of the trip, she was Navigating foreign airports with confidence, striking up conversations with strangers, making spontaneous choices that surprised [00:38:00] even herself, booking little side trips. So cool. And this is the real gift of solo travel during a retreat. Because you get these moments of being pushed outside your comfort zone by yourself, knowing that you have this safe container that you’ll be landing in.

What I love about solo travel during a retreat is that it’s not about the destination. The destination could be anywhere, but it’s about discovering your own resilience, your own capacity, your own voice. Every small victory from reading a map to trying a new food to navigating a new subway system to making a connection with a stranger is a love letter to yourself. It’s a declaration that you’ve got your own back and that you are fully capable.

Alright, so you might be thinking, well that’s great Autumn, how do I cultivate self trust outside of a retreat? Well, my advice is to start small. Listen to the [00:39:00] That quiet voice within you that gets drowned out by all the external noise. And begin by making one decision each day based on what you truly want, not what others expect.

Just doing that can help you cultivate, grow, and build your self trust. And then offer yourself radical, self compassion. Speak to yourself the way you’d speak to your best friend. And then remember that every time you honor your own intuition, you are building a muscle of self trust. And over time it gets easier and easier.

Self trust isn’t about being fearless. It’s about being afraid and showing up anyway, doing it anyway. It’s about trusting that you have everything you need inside you right now. All right, friends, that brings us to the end of this podcast. We’ve [00:40:00] journeyed through some pretty incredible benefits of yoga retreats. And hopefully this podcast has inspired you to do something for yourself and take the leap. Because these trips, they’re not just trips, not justifications. They’re portals to an alternate universe of extraordinary moments, a universe where you can step beyond the boundaries of your everyday life, experience awe and wonder in each moment where you can connect with others and yourself on a level so deep, it feels sacred. Where you can heal through the pure uninhibited joy of play, dancing under the stars, swimming in the sea, laughing until your belly hurts. Where you can unlock creativity you didn’t even know lived [00:41:00] inside you and where you rebuild trust in yourself, breath by breath, moment by moment.

Each of these hidden benefits is a doorway, a gateway, to a version of yourself that’s been waiting quietly, patiently, to be rediscovered.

If this episode spoke to you on a deeper level, maybe you heard that quiet whisper of possibility. I want to support your journey. So I’ve created a free guide For you. It’s called the perfect yoga retreat checklist, which will help you navigate your first retreat experience.

Think of it as a compass for your inner adventure. And the link is waiting for you in the show notes.

And I want you to remember that extraordinary isn’t somewhere else. It’s not waiting for you in some distant location. The extraordinary is already within you. It’s vibrant. It’s powerful. It’s simply waiting to be [00:42:00] acknowledged. A retreat doesn’t create magic.

They are magical, but it simply turns on the light so you can see the magic that’s been there all along. And I cannot wait to hear how this journey unfolds for you

so again, you can download your free guide, the perfect yoga retreat checklist at autumnadamsyoga. com. Check out the podcast and you’ll see it there in the show notes.

If you’d like to check out my retreat schedule, visit ambujayoga. com.

I can’t wait until we meet again. Bye for now. [00:43:00]

Hi there, friends and yogis. Welcome to the Align Yogi podcast. I’m Autumn, founder of Ambuja Yoga and your host today.
I’m so excited to take you on a little journey. If you have ever wondered what it takes to create the space for transformation, community, and healing through yoga retreats, or if you’ve dreamed of joining one, this podcast is for you. Today I’m going to share how this whole journey started.

It’s a story of bold moves, big dreams, and a lot of learning along the way. Over the years, I’ve discovered that my path to becoming a retreat leader is a little bit abnormal, but I wouldn’t trade it for anything. I think you’ll find it inspiring, especially if you’ve ever felt called to make a leap in your own life.

I’d love to go ahead and kind of set the stage, give you a little bit of background. My husband and I had just gotten married and went on a six-month honeymoon traveling all around Southeast Asia. We trekked, we danced under the full moon, we swam in the sea, we snorkeled, we scuba dived, we climbed up crazy mountain peaks, went on some really amazing adventures, and we also got to practice yoga in some incredible locations.

People often ask me, is this the most beautiful place you’ve ever done yoga? I never know how to answer that question because I’ve been so fortunate to practice yoga and teach yoga in so many beautiful locations, but it was during this trip that I feel like I really embraced yoga as something more than just the physical poses. When we got back from our honeymoon back to Portland, Oregon, Steve and I were both on the same page that we were ready to do something different, to mix things up, shake it up a little bit. We packed up and moved to Bend, Oregon, a place where I had grown up visiting as a child with my family, but Steven had never really been there.

It was during that first or maybe second weekend in Bend that I met a lady named Jeannie who owned a yoga studio downtown Bend. She had a yoga teacher training that was starting in two weeks, so I had an opportunity to chat with her, connect with her, take a yoga class from her. Before you know it, I was signed up for a yoga teacher training.

I didn’t even really think twice about it. I didn’t have anything else going on at the time. I wasn’t working yet because we had just moved and something inside me was just saying, yes, do it.

Now is the time because I had looked at yoga teacher trainings in the past, but the universe was definitely giving me that nudge that I needed. It was perfect timing. It was that divine timing.

It was about halfway through this training where I had a deep undeniable feeling that there was something more, that I was meant to teach yoga, but not just any yoga. I didn’t necessarily want to just teach at yoga studios and gyms. I wanted to lead yoga retreats.
I wanted to create spaces where people could step away from the busyness of life and reconnect with themselves in beautiful, inspiring settings like I had had the opportunity to do during my honeymoon. And so it wasn’t too long after I kind of had that self- realization that I decided to launch my business. So I launched Ambuja Yoga, still in my yoga teacher training.

And a few months after training, I led my first retreat in Oregon. I think I had six women sign up. One of them was my mother.
Another was my aunt and I had a friend sign up and a couple of women from the internet, but I did it. I just leapt right in headfirst, dove in.

And then a few months later, I led another retreat in Nicaragua. I maybe had like 10 or 11 people. I can’t really remember the numbers. It was a long time ago. That following summer, I hosted another retreat in Oregon and I had 17 women. So it was growing. Something I was doing was right.

And then in the next year, my third year, I had 36 women sign up for the Back to Nature retreat in Oregon. And that was the year that I had to add a second session. I think I had 16 or 17 or so sign up for that second session.

It was also the first year that I realized that I couldn’t do it all myself and I needed to bring on an assistant. So I brought on Tony and she has been with me ever since. She’s absolutely incredible.

And it was around that third or fourth year when I discovered that the women that were joining the retreats, they weren’t just seeking yoga. Yes, yoga was like the common denominator that was bringing us together, but they were seeking more than that.

They were seeking connection with themselves and with other women.
They were seeking empowerment and healing. They were seeking an opportunity to rest and recharge, but also to be seen, to be witnessed, to be accepted. And that was exactly the space that I was creating.

It’s been really amazing over the years because I get these sweet emails from students
from previous years and they’ll be like, hey Autumn, remember, remember during that ceremony when I said I wanted to call in dah, dah, dah, dah, dah. It’s happened. It’s come true.

And that is the biggest blessing as a yoga retreat facilitator, seeing these women realize their dreams. I’ve had students open the boutiques that they’ve wanted to open, open the yoga studios they’ve wanted to open by the land that they saw in their vision. Absolutely incredible.

But it’s more than even just about the women that attend these retreats. It’s about the ripple effect that comes from these women realizing their power, realizing their strength and their gifts and going out into their communities, living a life that feels so aligned and abundant and joyful and connected to their truth. They are going back to their communities and inspiring other women to take charge of their lives, to love abundantly, to be willing to take the big leaps.

They are teaching their children to be confident and compassionate and strong. And it’s moments like these that make me realize just how much impact these retreats can have. Empowered women empower others.

They ripple confidence, strength, and growth into their families, their communities, and the world. And now it’s 2024 and I’ve led more retreats than I can count. And I’m not going to lie.

It hasn’t always been easy. It hasn’t always been sunshine and rainbows. And I wouldn’t change a thing over the years.
I feel like I have had every curve ball just about thrown my way while hosting retreats. From torrential downpours to scorpions falling on people’s yoga mats during class. We led retreats all through COVID.
I led retreats while pregnant with Atlas. After I had Atlas, I brought him along on retreat. I’m not impervious to the challenges that other retreat facilitators are facing.

I just see those challenges as opportunities for growth, opportunities for possibility for trying something new. That I think is where my success has come from. The willingness to do the hard things, the willingness to pivot, to get outside of my comfort zone.

This journey hasn’t been without challenges, without doubt. Logistics, learning, but the joy of facilitating transformation keeps me going. So let’s go ahead and fast forward 10 plus years over a decade later and Ambusha Yoga is thriving.

I’m leading over 10 retreats in 2025 and getting ready to travel the world while doing work that truly lights me up. I am living the dream I envisioned all those years ago and it still feels surreal sometimes. That is exactly what I want for each of my students.

I feel so fortunate and so blessed that I get to travel regularly. I get to bring my son along on these adventures. I get to bring my husband along sometimes.

I get to be in community with beautiful, empowered women. I get to show them what is possible. Whenever I share that I launched a yoga retreat business fresh out of yoga teacher training, I always get like wild eyes, big smiles and like, oh what? That’s crazy or that’s amazing from the people that hear that story.

But here’s the thing, we are all capable of taking big leaps just like that to step into our truth and I want you to know that I see that for you. I see that that is possible for you. So I want to know what big leap are you going to take this year? In the next episode I will be diving into the hidden benefits of yoga retreats beyond the yoga itself.

We’ll talk about why these experiences are so much more than a getaway and how they can truly transform your life. You’re not going to want to miss it. Until then, have a beautiful day and week and I’ll see you next time.

Bye for now. If you’re inspired by today’s story, I’d love for you to join my email community for the behind-the-scenes insights, retreat news and exclusive content. .

[00:00:00] Hello, yogis and friends. This is Autumn, your host of the Aligned Yogi podcast. It’s been a while since I have had an opportunity to record. We’ve been dealing with some family stuff, which I might share in a future episode. But today we are diving into how to make that dream yoga retreat a reality without breaking the bank. So this episode is all about helping you find ways to get creative, to maybe save money on that yoga retreat, or make the whole overall experience a bit more affordable without you having to give up too much of your money, your precious time.

I’ll be sharing the same travel hacks that I use when I am planning out my own travel, my own retreat experiences.

So if you have been dreaming of attending a retreat, but you felt like it’s just too expensive. You can’t quite make it work Today’s [00:01:00] episode is all about you prioritizing your self care without stressing about finances. What I have found is that investing in yourself is absolutely essential and cost shouldn’t be a barrier.

The great thing about money is you can always make more of it, you just have to sometimes get a little creative. In a brief nutshell, we’re going to talk about the benefits of booking early, how to maybe get some referral discounts or bonuses, room options, off season deals, and creative ways to fund your retreat in addition to a few of those travel hacks that I mentioned before.

So as many of you know, I am a yoga retreat facilitator. I host retreats all around the world and I’ve been doing this for about 10 years. So I have tons of experience working with students to get creative, to make their retreat a reality. [00:02:00] And I have tons of experience traveling the world making the retreats or the travel experiences I want a reality.

I want to help you do the same for yourself.

The first part of this episode is all about planning and booking smartly. And that starts with booking early. If you can book early, most hosts offer some type of early bird discount. If they don’t offer a discount, usually that’s also when they have the best bonuses.

So for example, the women that booked the early bird spot for my Patagonia trip that’s coming up in 2026. we’re able to save up to 800 on the rate rate. That is crazy. If a host isn’t offering a discounted rate, oftentimes those bonuses could be something like [00:03:00] a free workshop or a private coaching lesson or private yoga class. Sometimes those bonuses include your airport transfer, which is awesome, right?

If you have been eyeing a retreat destination or eyeing a specific retreat, I encourage you to get on that retreat host email list and follow them on Instagram. That’s where you’re going to catch those early deals. For me personally, email list gets the first pass of early bird spots, and then, Once they’ve had their opportunity, I open it up to Instagram and from there I might also run a Google ad or a Facebook ad.

So it starts with those people that are in the nearest circle, and then I expand from there.

One of the benefits of booking early is that you also are able to track flights. One thing that I have found is that booking your flights about [00:04:00] 2 to 3 months in advance can save hundreds of dollars. There are also certain days of travel that tend to be cheaper as well.

I typically find like Tuesday, Wednesday. Thursday are cheap days to travel, and then sometimes Saturdays as well. Oftentimes most retreats start on Saturdays, so that might not be an option. But that’s something to think about too. So maybe you fly on a Thursday, you get that Friday to land, get over jet lag, and then Saturday you start the retreat.

Perfect. Right.

I actually want to share the travel apps that I use when I’m looking for tickets.

Google Flights, obviously, is a great one to use. I also use one called Skyscanner . I love Skyscanner and I feel like it’s so underrated. But Skyscanner is great for setting up price alerts and also finding really great cheap flights that you might not find [00:05:00] elsewhere.

If you are looking to travel, you can set your Skyscanner search to search from where you live and search out to the destination that you’re wanting to go. And you can include different airports, things like that. You can look on the map.

If you are somebody that is not very risk adverse and you like to save a larger amount of money I have actually used skip lag in the past to book my Tickets. Skip lag, what it does is it will pair up different tickets from different airlines. So you’re actually booking multiple tickets, but sometimes by doing that, you actually end up getting a cheaper flight deal. This is a little bit riskier, of course, so if your first flight was delayed, you’d end up forfeiting your next flight.

However, if you have good travel insurance, You’ll be fine. Obviously read your travel insurance [00:06:00] details. I get cancel for any reason travel insurance. So that’s what I use. I just find that is that makes me feel the safest. And you can even get an annual plan if you do a lot of traveling.

And then I also want you to consider. Using your travel points or your credit card rewards for flights and accommodations. You might not even know this, but a lot of credit cards offer points and discounts at certain hotels.

You can also sign up for a credit card that earns you points for flights. This can be really awesome if you are somebody that can be really consistent with paying off your balance every month. You can build up a lot of points by putting your bills, by putting your groceries, your rent, if you pay rent, all on a credit card.

And then you can build up those points and apply those to a flight and save some [00:07:00] money that way.

And the third thing I want to talk about in this plan and book smart section is consider traveling in the off season or shoulder season. I personally typically host retreats in high season or just barely in that shoulder season because I’m picky about weather and things like that. But, retreats themselves are often cheaper during those off peak months, and a good host is going to take into consideration what off season means in that destination. So if you’re, say, in, we’ll use Nicaragua or Costa Rica, for example, during the rainy season, oftentimes it’s not rain all day, typically rain in the Later afternoon. So perhaps that means that in the morning, you’re going to go out and go for a hike, [00:08:00] right?

You’re going to go on an adventure or go to the beach when the weather is beautiful and the sun is out. And then in the afternoon, maybe you’ll have a workshop and your yoga class when the weather is most likely to rain. So a good host is going to take in those types of considerations.

Another thing is, like, the summers in Bali are beautiful and magical. Travel in Bali in May is also wonderful. September, wonderful. October, it gets a little iffy. And November, you’re likely getting rain every day. I do find that in Bali, it rains most of the time during the rainy season. They get a lot of rain.

It’s not necessarily just those tropical showers, but multiple showers a day. So for example, I wouldn’t host a yoga retreat in Bali during the rainy season. I might consider hosting a yoga teacher training during a rainy season, when you’re most likely indoors doing your yoga practice [00:09:00] and studying and whatnot. And that would lower the cost for those yoga teacher training students.

For me personally, I consider myself a possibilitarian, right? I tend to live in this land of possibility, like, what is possible? And how do I make things that maybe seem hard, possible? I guess maybe I grew up with the message of when there’s a will there’s a way and that absolutely applies here in this next section which is going to require maybe a little bit more work on your behalf but there are some really great ways to get discounts on retreats other than just an early bird discount. In this section, I’m going to share some fun and different ways to fund your yoga retreat or potentially get additional discounts or [00:10:00] benefits.

One option to explore to make those yoga retreats more affordable is a referral program. Some teachers have a referral program and some retreat facilitators, businesses have a referral program that you websites.

Some offer it to just their VIPs. Or people that have been on retreats in the past. So how a referral program works is you refer a friend to a yoga retreat, they book, and then you get a discount or a commission for bringing that friend or inviting that friend and having them book.

Some retreat facilitators will offer a per person, a discount or bonus, or maybe you have to refer five people or something like that, but it’s definitely something to explore. So you can always [00:11:00] reach out to a facilitator and just ask, right?

Most facilitators would love help filling their retreats because it means less work on their plate. And also, most retreat facilitators, or at least they should, have some part of their budget. set aside for client acquisition. So that client acquisition budget is going to typically be applied to maybe, booking commissions on say like book yoga retreats or bookretreats. com. Or it’s going to go to a Google or Facebook ad. Or it’s going to go to a referral program. Or discount. Um, So that is something to think about as well.

Another option to explore, and this again is something that you would have to pitch [00:12:00] to the facilitator, and this one works well if you are comfortable in front of the camera, you maybe already are used to creating reels.

And this is user generated content. So you would essentially create social media content for the retreat. So that could be again, reels, testimonials, photography, blog posts, anything along those lines that the retreat hosts could use in the future for marketing and selling the retreat. Maybe they’re open to a social media takeover for the week.

That could be a really fun thing to do as well. And some hosts might offer, a partial Or a full retreat discount for really valuable content or be willing to pay you per contribution, like [00:13:00] per reel or something like that.

And then another really fun way to fund your retreat is to get contributions for your birthday, for holidays, for special occasions. I work with a company called WeTravel, that’s what I use for my booking platform. And I love them, I think they’re a wonderful company, I think their rates are really fair, and they are so innovative.

But anyway, they have made it possible for retreat guests to accept contributions towards their experience. This works only for the facilitators that are paying for their pro level. So this may or may not be available on their site for your retreat that you are attending, but it could be. So something to look into. Anyway, how it works with WeTravel is that you book a retreat, and then you’re given an option [00:14:00] to accept contributions, and you can create like a little page. Very easy. It doesn’t require any coding or anything. You can create a page and then you can accept contributions to your retreat, which I absolutely love. I don’t think people take advantage of this benefit enough.

You could also consider some other type of small fundraiser as well. Maybe you offer a special class or workshop to your friends, your students, whatever kind of world you’re in, and those proceeds go to funding your retreat. So you get creative here.

So some other ways that you can save on your retreat experience are to cut your costs on accommodation and extras.

For example, we all know that private rooms are lovely, but sharing a room can cut your costs dramatically.

[00:15:00] And to be honest, you don’t typically spend that much time in your room. It’s basically a place for you to shower, change. Maybe take a nap occasionally, and sleep overnight. You’re not spending a whole lot of time in your room, you’ll be in your yoga classes, or on excursions, or doing fun things, hanging out outside, going for a hike. So if you want to stick to a tighter budget, then consider sharing a room, or Booking into a dorm style room. Those shared rooms, sometimes it’s a double room and they have two beds or maybe it’s a triple or a quad or a larger dorm style situation. So know that there are so many options.

If the retreat that you are booking does not include transportation from the nearest airport [00:16:00] to your retreat destination, which is actually pretty common, I would say most retreats don’t include that transportation. And if that’s the case for the one that you are booking, then I would use the retreat group, whether it’s a Facebook group or WhatsApp group or whatever your way is to connect with other retreat attendees and then you can, ride share.

And that will save you some money there by splitting that taxi fare or Uber fare.

You could also, depending on your skill set, trade a skill for a discount. I do often get approached for skill trades, and I typically don’t take this option. I’d rather just pay you your worth, but other teachers may be more open to this. Photographer, a social media manager, a wellness coach, a breath work facilitator [00:17:00] or cacao facilitator, you can see if you can exchange some type of service for a discount. And that could be a really fun way for you to get yourself in front of another audience as well as bring a lot of value to a retreat.

Some retreats might need help with logistics or guest support. So that could be another potential way and that would probably work best if you know the retreat facilitator really well. For me personally, I wouldn’t just hand over retreat logistics or guest support to just anybody. But if it was somebody in my community, I might consider something like that.

I would highly encourage you that if you have a retreat on your heart that you want to attend that you create a retreat savings fund and set aside a small amount each month or each paycheck. That is earmarked for that specific retreat because 50 bucks here, 50 bucks there, 20 here, [00:18:00] 20 there, it all adds up over time. You can use apps like Digit or Capital . You can round up all of your transactions on your debit card and that roundup money goes into a special account.

You can also look for retreats that offer payment plans, installment plans, which make budgeting easier. So instead of paying like 2, 000 up front, you might pay 500 every four months.

Sometimes retreat facilitators do offer a lower rate if you pay in full versus going with the payment plan. When you’re looking at that retreat, look at your payment options, right? Do you you have the opportunity to make monthly payments or quarterly payments. You have an opportunity to save a little bit by paying in full.

Make the payment plan work for you. I’ve had experiences where I’ve paid in full up front for the whole experience [00:19:00] and there have been times where I have wanted to have that monthly payment because that’s just easier for me to budget.

And then I want you to budget for extras in advance because it’s not fun to go on a retreat and then be stressed about money, right? So I personally include a ton of stuff on my retreats. I personally try to build a lot of value into my retreats and make it so my students don’t have. to plan for a lot of extras, right? So their extras are going to be like buying souvenirs or if they want to go on an extra excursion or something like that.

But you’re going to want to factor things in like your airport transfers if that’s not included. Any extra meals. Some retreats don’t include all your meals. So you’ll need to look. Are you on your own for lunch every day? Or are you on your own for a couple dinners while you’re there?

These are definitely things that you’re going to want to consider and [00:20:00] plan for. Are there additional excursions you want to go on? So for example, like my, upcoming retreat in Thailand, we have a boat charter that is planned and that is included as part of the retreat experience. But if my retreat guest wanted to hire a long tail boat and go to a couple of other different islands on their own, they could totally do that.

I have an excursion to the night market, an excursion to the national park that’s nearby, a guided walk to local temples. These are all things that are included, but at that night market, I guarantee you these ladies are going to want to shop and eat.

So that is something that they would want to budget for. They’d want to budget food and shopping money.

When we walk to the temple. They’re probably not going to have any additional expenses there unless they want to buy something from the [00:21:00] temple. Oftentimes the temples do have some tables or booths available to buy things like incense and other things.

But in these retreats there’s also built in downtime, time for adventures. If during one of their free afternoons they want to go visit a waterfall, they’ll want a budget for their transportation to get to that waterfall, whether that is taking a taxi or renting a scooter and then paying for the entrance to the waterfall. So a lot of the waterfalls do have a very small entrance fee.

So just something to think about. You don’t want to be surprised or, and you probably don’t want to feel like you’re missing out either.

Some retreats include wine with dinner. Some retreats are alcohol free. If you want. Alcohol, often that’s an additional expense. So that would be something else that you would want to think about. Like for my Thailand retreat, we don’t include any alcohol. There’s actually no alcohol allowed on the premise.

But they do have a [00:22:00] beautiful juice bar where you can get like a fresh coconut or a beautiful juice after your yoga class. And that is not included in the meal plan, but it is available. So that might be something that. that you would want to plan for and budget for.

Alright, and another way that you can save money on your flights is to fly from or to a major hub airport. Like for example, for me, I’m currently living in Wilmington, North Carolina, and we have an airport and it’s great. It is small, so it often means that A flight from here to somewhere else to a hub airport and then continuing on my journey.

So sometimes I will book a flight from Raleigh if it’s significantly cheaper, especially if the whole family is going. We can save like over a thousand dollars or a couple thousand dollars just by flying out of Raleigh depending on [00:23:00] that destination.

You can consider driving, or depending on where you live, you might have a bus or train option to a major hub airport. I’ve definitely done that. I can remember one year when I lived in Portland, taking the train all the way up to Vancouver, BC, because the flight from Vancouver, BC to it may have been Thailand or Bali. I can’t remember where we were flying to. But anyway, it was like 400 and something dollars. Like crazy cheap, but from Portlandian, it was like a normal flight price. Like, 1, 300 or something. I don’t remember what it was, but it was so significantly cheaper.

It was worth it to me to take the train ride and just enjoy a beautiful train up the coast and do it that way. So that’s definitely something else that you can consider. Um, I can give you another example of this. So my retreats that are in Greece on the island of Lefkada, which is on the Ionian side, so the west side of Greece.

You [00:24:00] could fly to Athens and then book another flight from Athens to the nearest airport, Actaeon, Preveza. However, that flight is often not direct, and often it includes a flight to another destination and then to Provence. So it’s not a direct route, and it’s not necessarily a cheap flight either, like you would expect it to be, because it’s not far driving wise, it’s five hours driving.

So like I just said, you could drive it, and I’ve done that drive many, many times. I’ve rented a car and done that drive. It’s easy. It’s all on a toll road. It’s just zoom. You can get there quickly. Or you could take a bus. That would be super cheap, and it is super cheap to take the bus. or what I do now is I fly to London Gatwick from the US, and then from Gatwick, I take a regional plane.

I don’t remember. I think EasyJet. I can’t remember who I’ve flown. Um, one of the [00:25:00] regional European carriers. I’ll take that directly to Proveza. And it’s so much cheaper, and so much faster, and I can skip Athens because I’ve done Athens multiple times. I don’t necessarily feel like I need to spend time in Athens.

So I can just skip that. And it makes my travel time shorter. Which means less time in airports, less money spent on food, my flight is cheaper as well. So explore these different options.

Sometimes even like doing your big flight like your flight across the Pacific or across the Atlantic with a major carrier and then switching to a regional carrier like Ryanair, EasyJet, or AirAsia saves a decent amount of money as well. Even for this upcoming Thailand trip, we are flying to Bangkok on Qatar Air and then we are flying to Champon a couple days later, [00:26:00] which is a teeny tiny airport, and then from there we’re taking a ferry to Koh Tao for a few days before we go to Koh Samui for my retreat.

So my husband can get some scuba diving in. So that’s like another way that we, you could do it. Like we could have also flown directly to Koh Samui, which would be fine. And then taking the ferry from there over to, um, Koh Tao and then back. So we were flying to Bangkok to Chumphon, doing our, doing Koh Tao, heading to Koh Samui.

And then we fly directly from Koh Samui back to Bangkok and then Bangkok home. So know that you can get super creative with all of these flight options.

So you can get really creative with those regional carriers. I will say if you’re booking on something like EasyJet or Ryanair, be really mindful of the weight requirements, size requirements, bag requirements, check bag requirements, just so you’re not surprised with any additional fees. A lot [00:27:00] of times you have to pay for your luggage in advance or they charge you more at the airport so that’s something else to consider as well.

I typically travel relatively light, sometimes for retreats. My bags do get a little heavier and bigger than I would like but um, it’s part of being a business owner. As a retreat attendee, you could probably get away with just your carry on roller bag for a week of yoga clothes and swim clothes.

Another thing to consider is that you don’t have to go abroad. You don’t have to go on a big international trip to have a beautiful retreat experience almost in your own backyard. Consider the domestic retreats as well. What’s near you? What’s within a couple hours drive of you? Um, the Back to Nature retreats I host in Oregon are just outside of Eugene and just a couple hours from Portland and a couple hours [00:28:00] from Bend, so they’re driving distance to these hub cities.

So look for things like that as well. Oftentimes, these more local retreats are also shorter, so that brings the cost down as well. And you can still have an incredible and transformational retreat packed into a shorter amount of time. If you are in a season of life where it is harder to get away, you know, maybe you have little kids at home, or, again, Finances are a little bit tighter. I think for most of us, our expenses and our budgets are just a little bit tighter. We don’t have maybe as much fun money as we used to have.

So booking that local retreat. That retreat that’s within driving distance can save you a lot of money and time, right? You don’t have the expense and time commitment of flying. You don’t have to deal with visas if there’s a visa involved. You don’t have the long haul [00:29:00] travel costs that in addition to the flight, right?

You don’t have all the airport layovers and all of that stuff as well.

I know that I’ve covered a lot during this podcast. So I want to take a moment to just briefly recap the ways that I have shared for you to save some money on those retreats because you deserve to go on retreat. You deserve. To be able to prioritize your self care without stressing about your finances.

I know sometimes that is easier said than done, but taking care of yourself is so important for your mental health, for your emotional health, for your physical health.

Because when we as women take care of ourselves We can show up in the world as our best selves. We are more resilient. We [00:30:00] are more loving. We are more joyful. Less stressed. We’re able to show up and be better parents and better partners. We show up in ways that even feel more creative and more aligned. And that is why I decided to create this podcast episode. Because I want you to be able to go on retreat. I want you to be able to take that time for yourself. And I’m so passionate about this. So let’s take a second just to recap everything that I have shared. Because I’ve shared a lot already.

So let’s dig into it. So first off, you’ll want to plan and book smartly. So that may include finding those early bird discounts and bonuses. Get on the host email list, follow them on Instagram, and keep your eyes open for those discounts and bonuses.

Dial in those airplane travel hacks. [00:31:00] So book your flights two to three months in advance. Use, use the tools available to you. Google Flights, Hopper, Skyscanner, Skiplad. And consider using travel points or credit card rewards for those flights and pre and post retreat accommodation.

Consider a retreat that is in the off season or the shoulder season. That will save money on accommodation. Any tours that might save money on the actual retreat costs as well. And it will save money on your travel, your flight expenses. Because flights tend to go up during those high travel seasons.

You’ll want to get creative with your funding. And perhaps your discounts. Think outside of the box. Inquire about referral programs. User generated content. If you are comfortable in front of the camera, creating reels, or even blog posts, then you don’t even have to [00:32:00] be comfortable in front of the camera.

But if you are an excellent writer, or maybe you love photography, Reach out to the host and see if they would love some help. Like for me personally, I love user generated content. It’s fun for me to see the retreat from the attendees perspective, right? Because I only see it from my own perspective.

Of course, I can imagine what it’s like to be an attendee, but to see it from their eyes is such a beautiful treat.

And then get creative with your funding of your retreat. You can ask for contributions for your birthday instead of getting another candle, you know what I mean? Or ask for a contribution to your retreat instead of those Christmas pajamas that you never wear.

If you’re booking on WeTravel, ask, reach out to the facilitator and see if they accept contributions. And then set up your contributions page. You can also sell things that you’re not using anymore on Marketplace.

That could be another way to fund your retreat. [00:33:00] Get creative. You’re not stuck just paying for the retreat from your paycheck.

You can also cut costs by sharing your room, booking into dorm style, double, triple, or quad accommodation. You can share on your transportation costs, if that transportation isn’t included, by coordinating with other retreat guests. So you can share the expense of the taxi or the Uber driver.

Then create a plan to make your retreat a reality. Create that retreat savings fund. Look for payment plans. And then budget for your extras in advance so you can have fun and relax and get that full retreat experience and you’re not caught off guard by any surprises.

I really hope that these tips help you feel empowered to book that retreat you’ve been dreaming of. Because prioritizing yourself doesn’t have to mean overspending or living beyond your means. It is within [00:34:00] reach. If you ever need help brainstorming ideas, you can always reach out to me.

If you want to join me on a retreat, a lot of my retreats are already filling up for this year. But I have a couple spots available in Sedona in May, Oregon in July, and North Carolina in October. Patagonia next January, and I have a few additional retreats that I haven’t announced yet because I’m working on buttoning up a couple of details so you can follow me on Instagram and get in on those early bird discounts like I mentioned before.

Or join the email list, even better, because then you get first dibs, which means you also get first dibs on the best rooms, all that fun stuff too.

And I wasn’t planning on doing this, but now that I’m thinking about it, I am going to create a free retreat [00:35:00] budgeting guide for you and a savings checklist,

I would love to hear your favorite money saving travel hacks. Maybe there’s something I’m missing. So go ahead and DM me. On Instagram, I’m on Instagram at, um, Ambuja Yoga. That’s a MB uja A Yoga, and you can download your, you can download your free retreat budgeting guide and savings checklistautumnadamsyoga.com.

Check out the podcast and you’ll see it linked in this episode’s show notes. I’ll also probably link it up on my Ambuja yoga site as well, because I think it’ll be really helpful. Once again, thank you for being here. I am so grateful for you. Give this podcast episode a like, review, and subscribe. Until next time, bye for now.

Welcome to the Align Yoga Podcast, where the ancient teachings of yoga meet the
modern principles of mindset, manifestation, and business growth. I’m your host,
Autumn Adams, yoga teacher, retreat leader, and business mentor, with over a decade
of experience leading retreats and helping yogis transform their lives. Each episode
brings you powerful insights, practical tools, and stories from industry experts to help
you create a thriving heart-centered life alongside a yoga career that feels authentic and
deeply aligned with your purpose.

Hello, yogis and friends. Welcome back to the podcast. Today, we’re diving into
something that can completely transform your life, going all in.

I’m talking about bold choices, the kind that change the trajectory of who you are and
who you become. I know that if you’re tuning in, something in you is already calling for a
change, and today, we’re going to explore how you can answer that call. So, let’s talk
about why bold choices are the fast track to inner alignment and authenticity and why
they’re worth making.

When we choose boldly, we give ourselves permission to align with our true desires,
values, and our potential. Too often, we build lives that reflect only part of what we want,
influenced by others’ expectations, outdated stories and beliefs, and our own comfort
zones, but bold choices dissolve these layers, revealing who we really are. Imagine living
a life where you don’t have to wear a mask, where every choice feels true to you.

Maybe that’s pursuing a new passion, changing your surroundings, or taking on
something that scares you a little. By going all in, you are creating a life that is truly,
fully yours, and it is your birthright. I want to share a story from one of my own retreats,
and it was a memorable moment that retreat attendees still talk about to this day.

It’s what I call my burning the boats moment. Have you heard the expression burn the
boats? When you burn the boats, there’s no turning back, no easy way out. There isn’t
any room for excuses either

There’s no option to go back, so you’ve got to go all in on going forward. During our
retreats, we often have a final ceremony to release what holds us back from living our
best, most aligned lives, and during that ceremony, I released playing small and the fear
of being seen. For my call-in, I called in to burn the fucking boats, and I declared it with
every fiber of my being.

It was so powerful. We all had a little laugh because I was swearing during a yoga retreat
and in a ceremony, no less, but my release and call-in struck a chord with every single
woman in that circle. It reminded them that we all have our struggles, and my struggles
are similar to theirs, but even more importantly, I was able to model what stepping fully
into your power looks like on a visceral and energetic level.

Literally, in that moment, I was sick of my own shit. I was sick of wavering, and I was sick
of allowing the expectations from others to guide my decisions. At that moment, I wasn’t
just making a choice.

I was stepping into a new version of myself, a version that felt unstoppable. I am
fortunate now because I get to see students and clients make bold moves like this all the
time, quitting jobs that are out of alignment, buying their dream property, opening the
boutique or the yoga studio they never thought they’d be able to, embracing new
beginnings, or committing to a more intentional lifestyle, and I know firsthand that these
choices are scary, but the payoff, it’s immeasurable. So you might be wondering, why
does this next level commitment matter so much? Why go all in on something that feels
so big that it feels as if your stomach is going to jump up into your throat? It’s more than
just doing the big scary thing.

It’s about seeing what’s possible for you. It’s about living larger and more confidently. It’s
about knowing your worth, your resilience, your capability.

Studies have shown that making a strong commitment doesn’t just align us with our
values. It has the power to transform our focus, our perseverance, and our self-esteem.

So let’s take, for example, the research on grit by psychologist Angela Duckworth.
She describes grit as passion and perseverance for long-term goals, and her studies
reveal that committing fully to a purpose helps us stay the course, even when things get
tough. It’s that remembering our why. It’s not just about following through.
It’s about building resilience. Every time we commit deeply, we develop this kind of inner
strength that allows us to push forward and stay focused on what matters most. When
we make a bold commitment, we’re also telling ourselves, I am worthy of living my truth,
and that message is incredibly powerful.

Research using the Rosenberg self-esteem scale shows that people who commit to their
values and goals experience a boost in self-worth. They start seeing themselves as
capable and valuable, seeing their own identity in a new and empowered light. Now
imagine making a decision and sticking with it, not because it’s easy, but because it
aligns with who you truly are, because it gets your gifts out into the world who need
them most.

This kind of commitment becomes an act of self-love. It’s like telling yourself, I deserve a
life that reflects my deepest values. I deserve a life that is happy and true and aligned
and abundant.

Now I know commitment can bring up a lot of fears, fear of failure, fear of judgment, fear
of being seen, or maybe the worry that we’re just not enough. But here’s where growth
mindset comes in. You can listen to episode two if you need help overcoming limiting
beliefs.

I want to share again Dr. Carol Dweck’s research because it shows us that a growth
mindset thrives on challenge. When we commit fully, we’re saying, I’m here to learn, to
grow, to push my own limits. We move past the fear of failure, viewing it instead as a
stepping stone to becoming stronger, more resilient, and more connected to our
purpose.

I want you to take a moment to bring into your mind’s eye something you’ve been
hesitant to commit to. What if going all in on that goal isn’t just about achieving
something, it’s about honoring yourself. It’s a reminder that you are worthy of living in
alignment with your values, with the confidence and focus to keep going.

No matter what, this kind of commitment has the power to change how you see yourself,
how you face challenges, and how fully you show up in every part of your life. If fear is
blocking you, remember that fear can be a sign of growth. Growth isn’t comfortable.

Growth is constantly learning, adapting, retrying, evolving, starting over, asking for help.
It’s not easy. But research tells us that when we face discomfort, it actually rewires our
brain to build resilience.

So the next time fear shows up, what if instead of avoiding it, you leaned into it? What if
that fear is pointing to something worth pursuing? One practice I love for facing fear is
mindfulness. It’s easy to overcomplicate things, but simple grounding exercises like
mindfulness or deep breathing can bring us back to the present. And when we’re
present, that fear can loosen its grip as we sit with it.

And that fear can transform from a barrier into a signal to keep moving forward. The
next time fear shows up for you, try grounding yourself with deep breaths. Notice if that
fear has something to tell you.

It might just be pointing you toward a choice that’s waiting to take you to the next level.
I would be doing you a great disservice if I didn’t share a practice with you right now. So
let’s slow down together for a moment.

If you’re in a safe place, go ahead and close down your eyes. Begin to notice your
breath. No need to change it.

Let’s all just take a moment to witness the breath. We can practice witnessing the breath
so that we learn how to also witness our thoughts.

There’s no judgment.
There’s no expectation. Just allow the breath to flow.

Now I invite you to take a deep,
steady breath in, letting it fill you up completely and gently release.

Take another deep breath in, feeling the air expand within you. And as you exhale, you
might even allow an audible exhale to flow from your mouth as you feel a sense of calm
wash over your body, settling you into this moment. Begin to shift your awareness to
your third eye center.

This is a space right between your eyebrows, and it is your center of seeing inner and
outer seeing. It’s your sixth chakra, otherwise known as Ajna. In this space, picture a
bold choice you’ve been drawn to, but haven’t yet committed to.

See yourself fully embracing this decision. Imagine the confidence, the freedom, the
relief of finally going all in on this choice. Visualize each step and feel yourself moving
closer to it with ease.

Notice how it feels. Notice how you feel. Sit in that knowing, allowing that knowing to fill
every cell of your being.

And when you are complete, you can open your eyes and rejoin us. There has been
research done on confidence, and it shows us that visualization practices like this one
that I just shared, not only strengthen our beliefs, but also increase our readiness to act.

By participating in that visualization, you’ve just taken a powerful step towards making
that vision real.

Top tier athletes, Olympic athletes, and some of the most powerful entrepreneurs use
this same technique to achieve their goals and create new neural pathways that bring
these goals to fruition. Bold choices become easier when we break them down. This
week, I encourage you to take one small tangible action towards your goal.

Maybe say no to something misaligned or reach out to a friend who can support your
journey. And for those ready to map out this commitment, I have a downloadable
worksheet for you linked in the show notes. You can also find it linked at
autumnadamsyoga.com slash bold hyphen action, or at ambujayoga.com slash bold
hyphen action.

The worksheet is designed to help you clarify your goals, address your fears, and outline
actionable steps. I encourage you to share the bold action. Write it down.

Not only do you deserve it, it’s your birthright, and the universe wants you to say yes to
living boldly and being all in on your dream. I know this isn’t easy work, but remember,
bold choices are what create the life we truly want. So I challenge each of you to take
one step toward your bold choice this week, and I’d love for you to share it.

Use the hashtags alignedyogibold and ambujayoga and let’s inspire one another. There’s
so much strength in community, and we are all in this together. If you want to dive
deeper into this, deeper into taking bold inspired action, don’t forget to download the
worksheet I mentioned, but you can also join us on retreat.

I offer multiple retreats a year, and this is the type of work and action I love seeing the
women who come on my retreats take. If you are on Instagram, follow me at
ambujayoga and keep an eye out for an Instagram live that’s coming soon where I’ll be
sharing more on making bold choices. Thank you again for being here, for showing up,
and for daring to go all in.

I’ll see you in the next episode. Bye for now.

Welcome to the Align Yogi podcast, where the ancient teachings of yoga meet the modern principles of mindset, manifestation, and business growth. I’m your host, Autumn Adams, yoga teacher, retreat leader, and business mentor with over a decade of experience leading retreats and helping yogis transform their lives. Each episode brings you powerful insights, practical tools, and stories from industry experts to help you create a thriving heart-centered life alongside a yoga career that feels authentic and deeply aligned with your purpose.

Welcome back to the podcast, friends. Today, we’re diving deep into something that affects all of us at some point, our limiting beliefs, those sneaky little thoughts that whisper, I’m not good enough, or it’s too late for me to start. They can be quiet, but they can also be incredibly powerful, shaping the way we live, the opportunities we take, and the joy we experience.

Here’s the thing. Those beliefs, they’re not true. Today, we’re going to talk about how to release them so you can step into the life you truly deserve.

Limiting beliefs aren’t just random thoughts. They’re deeply rooted stories, many of which we didn’t even choose for ourselves. These are those little thoughts that seem to pop up out of nowhere.

Again, they often sound like, I’m not smart enough. I need more training before I can do X, Y, Z. I don’t deserve happiness or wealth, or it’s hard to make money, or if I try, I’ll probably fail. Here’s the tricky part.

They don’t always show up as obvious doubts. Sometimes they’re more subtle, like the hesitation you feel before speaking up in a meeting, or they’re that nagging discomfort when someone compliments you. They’re made up of experiences and things we’ve heard or were taught and societal expectations that we accepted as facts along the way.

They’re stories from our lineage, our parents, and their parents, and their parents. They’re beliefs we accepted as truths before we were able to know any better, before we had the tools to look deeper. And they’re sneaky because they’re familiar, and they often run so quietly in the background that we barely even notice them, but they’re powerful.

And they shape the way we show up in life, how we love, how we pursue dreams, and even how we see ourselves. When you become aware of these subconscious patterns in your life and you commit to awareness, you can’t unsee them. And you’ll notice the same belief influencing different behaviors across different areas of your life.

This is where the transformation begins. Psychologist Dr. Carol Dweck, an author of the

book Mindset, shares that we have the power to shift these patterns. Her research on growth mindset proves that our abilities, our self-worth, and our potential are not fixed.

They are just as malleable as our beliefs. But we first have to see those beliefs for what they are. Illusions.

Illusions that we’ve accepted as reality. For me, one of the biggest limiting beliefs I used to carry around was I’m not good enough or qualified enough to share my message. I always felt like I needed to have one more training.

If I did this training, I would be a better teacher. Even in the creation of this podcast, every time I thought about starting this podcast, I’d freeze. I’d worry, what if people think I’m not good enough? What if they think I’m a fraud? What if they don’t like my voice? What if I make a mistake? And you know what happened? I avoided it for years.

I let fear and self-doubt take the wheel. And that doubt was like an invisible wall, keeping me playing small. But then I realized that voice, it wasn’t my own.

It was a recording, a story on repeat that I could change. And this is not uncommon. It’s not a story that’s unique to me.

According to research published in a journal of personality and social psychology, when we don’t believe in ourselves, we unconsciously create obstacles. Psychologists call this self-handicapping, where we make excuses or avoid situations to maintain a sense of self-control and a sense of self-worth. We do it to protect our self-esteem.

Self-handicapping often involves behaviors or thought patterns that may seem counterintuitive, but feel safer because they keep us from risking our self-worth. But in reality, it’s our limiting beliefs that are the real obstacles. I feel like I could do an entire episode on self-handicapping.

It blew my mind when I started digging into the research. If you are a millennial, you’ll definitely recognize this author’s name from the story I’m going to share with you. This story is about J.K. Rowling, the author of the Harry Potter series, because her fortitude and commitment to showing up and not allowing life or excuses to get in the way is inspiring and empowering.

You may not know this, but Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone, her first book, was rejected by 12 publishers before the 13th finally said yes. 12 publishers. She was a struggling single mom just trying to make ends meet.

She wrote that book in what she refers to as her rock bottom, her dark night of the soul. But she chose to persist, rewriting her story with each rejection. Today, she’s one of the most successful authors of all time.

Despite facing multiple rejections, Rowling continued submitting Harry Potter to publishers again and again. Rather than stopping or downplaying her efforts, her persistence paid off. She demonstrated how sticking to our goals and releasing self- limiting beliefs about talent or value can lead to success.

So what happens when we let these stories run unchecked? They shape everything. Our choices, our relationships, our happiness. They create self-sabotage.

They keep us in cycles that don’t serve us and lead us to put our dreams on the back burner. These beliefs can manifest as us not speaking up, avoiding opportunities, or settling for less in relationships and careers because deep down we don’t believe we deserve more. It’s like being in a cage we didn’t even realize we walked ourselves into.

And this isn’t just theory or yoga woo. Dr. Carol Dweck’s research on neuroplasticity and mindset shows that when we shift from a fixed mindset where we believe our abilities are static, unchangeable, to a growth mindset, we open to new possibilities. Our brains are wired to change, but we have to start with challenging those old stories.

We can’t allow them to run the show. Think about how often you’ve stopped yourself from going after what you really want because of fear, self-doubt, or that nagging voice whispering that you’re not enough. Maybe it’s that project you’ve wanted to start, that business you’ve wanted to launch, that dream career you’re putting off, or even is just taking time for yourself to heal, recharge, and reset.

There was research published in Social Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience that shows that when we hold on to beliefs that tell us we’re not enough, it activates the same areas of the brain as physical pain. So these beliefs don’t just affect our thoughts, they affect your entire being. I remember one of my retreat participants who has actually been on retreat with me now a handful of times, but every time she came to the retreat she carried this quiet anxiety.

She questioned whether she deserved to be there, whether she was worthy of this time and space for herself. She was a busy mom leaving her kids at home to take this time away. But the more she challenged those thoughts, the more she realized that her fears were just illusions.

I love that she shared that by the end she saw that she didn’t need anyone’s permission to take up space. She left feeling lighter, empowered, and ready to show up for herself and her daughters in ways she’d never thought possible. And that’s the thing.

These stories we tell ourselves, they’re just stories, and we get to write new ones. All right, so let’s talk about shifting those beliefs. This process isn’t magic, but it is deeply transformational and it’s within your reach.

So if you are ready, go ahead and grab a journal or just take a deep breath and follow

along. I use a three-step process to work with releasing and overcoming limiting beliefs. The first step being to identify the The second step is to challenge its validity.

And the third is to replace it with a new empowering belief. I love combining this type of work with yoga nidra because yoga nidra really gives us that access point to the subconscious mind where we can kind of implant those new empowering beliefs. But let’s go ahead and dig into those three steps.

The first step is identifying the belief. This is the practice of inquiry. What’s one story you tell yourself that keeps you from moving forward? Maybe it’s like me.

Maybe your belief is, I don’t have enough experience. Or people won’t take me seriously. My opinion doesn’t matter.

Name it. Because awareness is the first step to change. And if there’s more than one that comes up, go ahead and write them all down.

Step two is to challenge its validity. So I want you to ask yourself, is this belief absolutely true? What evidence do I have to support it? And more importantly, what evidence do I have that contradicts it? For example, if you think I am not good enough, ask yourself, is that really true? What about the times you’ve shown up and done great things? Where did this belief come from? Get really clear about where this belief came from. Is it based on one moment of doubt? A comment someone made? Or maybe just a story you picked up along the way? Studies show that our minds are wired to seek evidence for whatever we believe, whether it’s true or not.

So when you start questioning these beliefs, you’ll often realize that they’re based on old stories, not reality. Tony Robbins once said, beliefs have the power to create and the power to destroy. When we challenge these beliefs, we shift our reality.

It’s all about seeing the bigger picture and realizing that we can shape our experiences by changing our internal dialogue. This is why manifestation works, because we begin to shift our reality by shifting our thoughts. So step three is replacing it, replacing that thought, that belief with a new empowering belief.

You’ll replace that old story with something new, something that feels true to who you’re becoming. For example, instead of saying I’m not enough, try I am enough and I’m ready for what’s next or something along those lines. There has even been scientific study on the power of affirmations, and they found that affirmations and positive self-talk actually activate the reward centers in our brain.

This shows that when we start speaking to ourselves differently, we’re not just changing thoughts, we’re rewiring our brain and shifting the way we experience our lives. We become more resilient and open to positive changes. You have the power to change your story.

You are not defined by your past, your mistakes, or what you’ve been told. You are not defined by your roles, by your You are so much more than that, and this is your chance to reclaim your truth, to stand in your power, and to open the door to what’s waiting for you. Before we wrap up, I want to challenge you.

Identify one limiting belief you are ready to let go of. Write it down, and use the steps we talked about today to challenge and replace it. Remember awareness and intention are the keys to creating change, and if you want more support, I’ve created a free resource for you.

It’s a PDF guide with prompts for releasing limiting beliefs and some affirmations to help you reinforce your new empowered mindset. You can download it for free in the show notes. I’m also going to include a link to a yoga nidra practice.

Yoga nidra is yogic sleep. It’s a guided deep relaxation where you actually access the subconscious mind, and it’s in that space of the subconscious mind where you can insert your new beliefs so you can begin to rewire your mind. It’s an incredibly powerful practice to have.

If you’ve never done it before, I encourage you to give it a try. All you have to do is receive. Both of these resources are available to you for free in the show notes.

If this episode resonated with you, screenshot it, share it on social media, tag me. Let’s build this community of growth together. Remember you have the power to shape your reality, and it all starts in your mind.

I’ll see you next time for another powerful episode on living in alignment with who you truly are. Bye for now.

Welcome to the Aligned Yogi Podcast, the podcast where we explore how to create a life that feels deeply aligned, vibrant, and true to your soul’s purpose. I’m your host, Autumn Adams, and today we’re diving into the concept of alignment, what it means, why it matters, and how you can start bringing more of it into your life. First of all, thank you so much for joining me on this very first episode of the Aligned Yogi Podcast.

This podcast had been on my heart for years. I decided to create the Aligned Yogi Podcast because I work with women who are maybe feeling a little out of alignment, right? They’re disconnected from their truth. They’re disconnected from their joy.
They focus all of their energy on others, their family, their work, their partners, and they tend to put themselves last. And it’s time that they and each of you reclaim your power, reclaim your worth, and live in a way that feels like it feeds your soul. So I wanna kick us off with a personal story from a time when I felt completely out of alignment.

I had been living in Bali, focusing on my own yoga practice, filling my cups, so to speak, and my time abroad was coming to an end and I was heading home. I needed to pick up some classes. I was coming back to a pretty full schedule, fortunately, but I still needed a few more so I could pay my bills and yada, yada, you know the drill.

So I was reaching out to my friends in the yoga community, trying to figure out which studios we’re hiring, and one of my dear friends, who I’m sure you’ll meet on this podcast, was teaching at a studio and they had a couple spots available and I was like, great, I’ll take that. I went, met the studio owner, and she was one of the most beautiful humans I’ve probably ever met. Kind, gentle, inviting.

And she had created this beautiful studio, which was really much more than a studio. It was a temple. And in my naivety at that time, I had no idea what it meant to teach at a temple.

The studio was for spiritual seekers and at that time, I wasn’t necessarily concerned with the spiritual path, what that would mean, what that could mean for my life or my students’ lives, but I needed a class. She ended up inviting me to teach at the studio a few days a week and of course, I said yes. I had bills to pay and I started teaching, but I had said yes when in my body, I knew and felt that it was a no or at least there was some hesitancy that I needed to do a little reflection on, but I said yes anyway.

I started teaching, but my classes, they weren’t taking off. They were small. I would get two or three people in my classes and that was it.

I was floundering, but I’m a problem solver. If you are familiar with human design, I’m a 5/1 projector and I like to solve problems. So what I do, I dove in deeper. I dove in harder. I was like, I can solve this. I started offering workshops at the studio. I started posting on social media all the time. I was doing everything I could think of to fill those classes and they still weren’t filling. It didn’t mean that I was a bad yoga teacher.

I was just in a place where my teaching wasn’t resonating with the students at that time, in that place, in that space. It really did me in because I was so used to having full classes. My confidence started wavering.

Self-doubt crept in and imposter syndrome took hold. Eventually, that yoga studio ended up closing and I was released and I got my time back and it was really beautiful. I had that few extra hours a week where I could focus on what I wanted to do next, what I wanted to create next, and what that was at that time was create a yoga teacher training.

So with that very same friend that got me the teaching job at that studio, we decided that we were going to launch a yoga teacher training together and we did and it was successful and it was beautiful. I felt like it was just the thing I needed to bring me back into a place of alignment. Looking back at that season of life when I was teaching at that yoga studio, I wish that I would have honored myself and the studio sooner and let those classes go.

I wish I had had that heart-to-heart conversation with the studio owner to really ultimately reclaim my power and reclaim my time because that commitment, that commitment of me teaching at that yoga studio was keeping me from living out what I was supposed to be doing. And I know this will resonate with you because we’ve all had jobs that haven’t served us and sometimes even when it’s a beautiful job, something about it just isn’t aligned as it could be. I know that we can all relate to this.

So whether you’ve been in a similar position and you haven’t wanted to rock the boat or give up the money or have that difficult conversation, know that you’re totally normal. Your mind simply wants to keep you safe and what is familiar is what is safe. Hindsight is always 20-20.

And I see so many gifts and lessons from when I was teaching at that studio. I grew so much in ways I never expected to grow. I learned about what it means to be a trauma- informed teacher.

I got certified in Reiki. But most importantly, I learned how to recognize the signs of being out of alignment and to trust that inner wisdom. But today, I’m here to tell you that living in alignment is exactly what you need to live a more vibrant, authentic life.
So what does alignment mean? I’m going to give you one of the definitions from the Oxford Dictionary. Alignment means a position of agreement or alliance. So when you think about alignment, what is the alliance that you are creating? Who is your alliance with? Is it with you, your job, your partner? Are you in alliance with some cultural ideal that doesn’t serve you? Are you in alliance with someone or something that serves you or doesn’t serve you? Who and what are you aligning with? Are you aligning with your truth? So what does living in alignment really mean? What does that translate to? As yogis, when we think of alignment, we think of it in our physical postures, right? Which is great.

When we’re aligning in a pose, we’re setting up our pose in a way that will serve our body best. But alignment in your life is about much more than the physical body. The great thing about our yoga practice is that we can practice coming into alignment again and again and again.

It gets easier and easier every time. And eventually, we’re able to transfer that ability and that knowledge off of the mat. Alignment off the mat is about creating congruency in all areas of your life.

It’s when your actions, your thoughts, and your feelings all line up with your core values and the life you wanna create. It is living in integrity. Think of it as living in harmony with yourself, your truest self, not the self that somebody else has put on you, not the masks that you wear, not how society has told you to live your life.

On the mat, alignment is about positioning your body with intention. But off the mat, it’s about intentionally making decisions that feel authentic and aligned with who you really are. It’s about cultivating satya, or truthfulness, and honoring your higher self.

Living in alignment, it’s not just a nice idea, a nice to have. It is essential for living a fulfilling life. Alignment impacts everything.

Your decisions, your relationships, your health, and ultimately, it affects your happiness. So the truth is, when you’re aligned, you naturally make choices that support your growth and wellbeing. But when you’re out of alignment, it shows up as feeling constantly exhausted, overwhelmed, or even unmotivated.

Maybe for you, it feels like you’re stuck or you’re living someone else’s dream. I feel awful just saying that, right? Stuck living someone else’s dream. Are you stuck living someone else’s dream or are you living your dream? Maybe it shows up as needing to do more, do more, do more, do more to solve the problem, like what happened for me.

When you’re out of alignment, you might start to feel like you’re just going through the motions instead of living with purpose. For me personally, sometimes when I am out of alignment, it shows up as me becoming paralyzed and incapable of making decisions.

Like when I was teaching at that yoga studio, I was paralyzed.

I felt like I couldn’t leave the studio because I had that obligation, right? I had the obligation to my friend and to the studio itself. I was incapable of making a decision that would move me forward, that would move me toward growth. And ultimately, I did end up growing from that experience.

But it was after much reflection. So when I am in that place of being paralyzed, when I am in stuck in fear or indecision, oftentimes it’s like every cell in my body is saying no, it’s saying no, pay attention. Have you ever experienced this? And do you ignore it? Do you listen? Because I am completely guilty of both.

So if this resonates, it’s a sign that something in your life is misaligned. And it’s probably time to take a closer look. Our brains are actually wired to keep us safe by sticking to familiar patterns.

I’m sure if you’re here, you’ve also probably heard of Joe Dispenza, Dr. Joe Dispenza, and maybe even read his books. He has a book called Breaking the Habit of Being Yourself. And in that book, he shares that our brain’s default mode is to stay within what’s predictable, even if it’s not good for us, because it’s trying to protect us from perceived threats.

And our brain perceives things that aren’t actually a threat and that can actually move us closer into alignment as risks. So whether we are responding to a student’s email, switching class times, investing in a mentor, choosing a different restaurant, joining a new mom’s group, trying out a new yoga studio, it perceives these as threats. It perceives them as if we’re actually being chased by the dang tiger.

The amygdala is often called the brain’s fear center. And it kicks in when we consider making changes that challenge our comfort zone. Anytime we want to make a change, our brain sees them as risks rather than opportunities.
And this is how we end up staying stuck in misaligned routines, habits, jobs, or environments simply because they feel familiar and safe. The good thing is, is it is possible to train your brain. And we have to retrain the brain to open to possibility and not be afraid of possibility.

We have to get comfortable with the uncomfortable so we can discover what is on the other side of that door. So here’s the thing. These familiar patterns may feel really safe right now, but they’re not always serving us in the long run.
I’m sure you’ve all probably heard of Brene Brown. If you haven’t, look her up. Her work is amazing.

She shows us that living authentically and embracing our vulnerability are both essential
components of living in alignment. It requires us to step out of our comfort zone and change these old patterns. If we don’t, we end up disconnected from our true selves and the life we’re meant to live. We lose sight of who we are at our core and we start masking to fit in.

There was another study, the Harvard-Grant study. It was a 75-year study, I think it was 75 years, and probably the longest, if not one of the longest running studies on human happiness.

And they found that having a sense of purpose and living in alignment with that purpose is a key predictor of long-term fulfillment. So in other words, when you live in alignment with who you truly are, everything shifts. You not only feel more connected to your work, your relationships, and yourself, but you also experience a deeper level of joy, clarity, energy, and happiness.

There’s no time to wait. You don’t wait until you’re ready. You don’t wait until the time is right because misalignment will creep into every corner of your life if you don’t address it.

If you’ve been feeling disconnected, overwhelmed, or stuck, it’s a sign that your body, your mind, and your spirit are all calling for realignment. The longer we ignore these signals, the more disconnected we become from our true selves and the life we’re meant to live. So if you’re feeling that nudge from the universe, don’t wait.

Start asking yourself, where am I out of alignment? What small steps can I take to make the shifts? This is the moment to choose yourself and the life you want because waiting for the perfect time only delays your happiness. And I want you to be happy. And I know you want to be happy as well.

So now you might be asking, how do I begin the process of realigning without blowing up my frickin’ life, right? Sometimes it feels that way. My advice, start small. It doesn’t have to be complicated.

In fact, it’s often the simplest practices that create the biggest shifts. Some of them you might already be doing. You just need to redirect them.

So I’m going to share a few easy ways that you can get started. First of all, set a daily intention. Each morning, ask yourself, what do I want to feel today? What do I want to align with? Maybe even ask yourself, what alliance am I creating? This sets the tone for your day and keeps you focused on what’s important.

It’s the same practice you do in a yoga class, right? In a yoga class, your teacher will often offer an intention for the practice or they’ll ask you to set an intention for your own practice. Often they’ll use a prompt like what brought you to your mat today? Or what do you want to cultivate? It’s the same idea. Set an intention for your day right at the beginning and write it down.

Write it down somewhere that you will see it again and again. Put it on Post-it notes, put it on the bathroom mirror, your desk, your water bottle. You are way more likely to achieve your goals, your intention in this case, if you write it down.

And you’re even more so likely to achieve your goals or your intentions if you share it with somebody. So maybe you find an accountability buddy that also wants to work on realigning and reconnecting with their truth. Share it.

Share your intention. Share your intention with anybody that will listen. Share it with the coffee shop barista if you want.

Share it with your yoga students or your yoga teacher. Share it with your coworkers. Inspire them to do the same.

Second, get out your journal. Dust that thing off because journaling is a powerful tool for checking in with yourself. It’s a tool for self-inquiry, self-study.

We call it svadhyaya in Sanskrit in yoga. Each night before you go to bed, try writing out where you feel most aligned in your life and in your day. Note where you felt most disconnected.

Prompts like, where do I feel tension in my body? Or what’s one thing I’m saying yes to that I don’t actually want to be saying yes to? Journaling can open you up to receive a lot of insights and help you access your intuition. If you aren’t into journaling, I totally get it. I encourage you to go for a tech-free walk

So no phones, no headphones, none of that. Just go for a walk and use that as an opportunity to reflect. You can ask yourself the same questions, the same types of questions.

Where do I feel tension in my body today? Did I notice where this tension crept in? Was it during a phone call, a tough conversation with my boss or a coworker or spouse? Was it picking up my kids from school? What did I say yes to when I meant to say no? Use it as an opportunity to check in and meet yourself with compassion and grace. Know that you are doing the best you can with the tools you have, and it’s only going to get better from here as you become more tooled, more resourced. And finally, take time to breathe each and every day.

Find a quiet spot, or maybe it’s a not-so-quiet spot because sometimes life isn’t quiet. I have a three-year-old at home. Finding quiet is not always possible, but I can model sitting in silence and breathing mindfully for my three-year-old.

He is fully capable of sitting and breathing for a minute at least. And so I am sure you can do that too. So just take a moment each and every day, close your eyes, take a deep breath in, and ask yourself, how do I feel about my work, my relationships, my health?

And let your breath be your guide as you explore these areas.

Notice any tightness or discomfort in your physical body because these are clues that may point to misalignment. And I want you to use your exhale to cultivate more awareness, to explore, to get really curious. And from that place of awareness and that place of self-compassion, I want you to soften and give yourself grace as you release a little of that discomfort, a little of that belief, a little of that physical tightness, wherever that misalignment is residing in your being.

And finally, I want you to celebrate where you are in alignment because I know there are parts of your life where you are in alignment and you’re like, eff yes, I’ve got this. Those are the parts of your life that feel so freaking good. And I want you to do more of that.

Do more of what feels right. Do more of what nourishes your soul. All right, yogis.

Before we wrap up, let’s do a quick alignment check-in together. Sit tall. Close your eyes if it’s safe to do so.

Obviously, if you’re driving, don’t do that. And take a deep breath. And ask yourself, where in my life do I feel out of alignment?

Be open.
Be the witness. Simply ask, where in my life do I feel out of alignment? Notice what comes up. Maybe it’s work.

Maybe it’s a relationship. Maybe it’s how you’re taking care of your body or your mental health. Whatever it is, acknowledge it without judgment.

Awareness is the first step toward realigning. Keeping those eyes closed another moment longer. Check in once more.

Notice where you are in alignment. What parts of your life feed your soul, bring you the most joy? Where you know with every cell in your being that you are in integrity, that you are in your gifts. Acknowledge it.

It’s easy to get stuck in thoughts of negativity like not being aligned enough, being too disconnected. I really want you to be in celebration. Because being in celebration is what’s going to raise your vibration and lift you up out of that place.

If you haven’t done so already, go ahead and open your eyes. Before we wrap up this podcast, I want you to choose just one of these practices. Before we wrap up, I want you to choose one of these practices I’ve shared with you to practice each day this week.

Don’t overwhelm yourself. Remember, start small. And we’ll start reframing your mind, your thoughts, and your beliefs.

So whether you are journaling or setting a daily intention or taking a moment to breathe mindfully, experiment and see what shifts for you. And if you are ready to dive deeper, I’ve created a free alignment worksheet for you. It’s a simple guide to help you assess different areas of your life and start taking action one step at a time.

You can download it at ambujayoga.com slash alignment hyphen worksheet. I’ll spell that out for you. Ambujayoga is A-M-B-U-J-A-Y-O-G-A dot com slash alignment hyphen worksheet.

And if you love this episode, be sure to subscribe so you never miss a chance to create the life you were meant to live. Thank you so much for tuning in and I can’t wait to connect with you again next week. Bye for now.