Hawaii Naturopathic Retreat testimonial

Testimonial: Stepping Outside Myself and Hitting the Reset Button

TRANSCRIPTION OF AUDIO FOLLOWS:

I wasn’t feeling great, I think I had a lot of stress built up and I had some extra weight. I didn’t feel good and was looking to hit the reset button.

I had heard about you from Brian Buffini who has attended the retreat and then I met you at the conference we put on in San Diego and you’re awesome, so that was an easy decision. I just hear so many great things and saw the impact it had on Brian’s life. So it was very easy, deciding to go was not a problem.

I didn’t know what to expect, it was very new for me, but I love new experiences so I was open for all of the occurrences, a lot of very interesting stuff and the methods, the therapy, the processes that you took your patients through – pretty amazing. Some of the most amazing experiences I’ve ever had in my life was during the ten days that I was at your retreat. The water therapy was incredible, the exercises in the morning, the whole sense of it.

It was hard to leave there, it was such a beautiful setting. Waking up in the morning, coming out and having a juice handed to you, the birds are going crazy, there are animals in the jungle all around you, you can hear the sounds everywhere, there is a warm breeze blowing. The day began with a sense of peace and healthiness, the fact that you’re going to do something about it just seemed like a natural next progression.

I think I have become disconnected from myself, and I was very surprised at that. I didn’t realize how fast a pace I was moving at. I thought I knew, but for the first time in a really long time, I stepped outside of myself and I wrote every single night. I don’t think you can be there and not write, you certainly are thinking all the time, so writing is a help to get that stuff out of your head, maybe into a more usable form or to make sense of it on paper. That sense of knowing myself, more self-awareness and slowing down… just smelling the roses a bit.

I think I have become disconnected from myself, and I was very surprised at that. I didn’t realize how fast a pace I was moving at. I thought I knew, but for the first time in a really long time, I stepped outside of myself and I wrote every single night.

It was the catalyst of change for me, going on retreat, so yes, I suppose it did change my life. I’ve changed in that I’m doing physical activity almost every day. I’ve changed my eating pattern. I’m probably not eating that much differently, but I’ve slowed down in how I eat and just a lot more self-awareness around all the triggers for stress, the things where taking on more instead of pushing it off – doing less, doing it more thoughtfully, with more presence.

If you are thinking of going to the retreat, I wish I could send everyone I know to the retreat. It was an incredible experience, absolutely incredible. And when I was there, and since I’ve come back often through the day I think of people, friends and family who I think can benefit so much from going. So, if you’re thinking of going, I wouldn’t hesitate.

It is something completely different, the way you run the retreat is like an art form. It’s boot camp, but it’s like health detox boot camp and there’s no time to think during the day, to hesitate, because the next thing is ready for you.

The one day I had an IV of some healthy nutrients that you were pumping into my arm or whatever concoction it was, truth serum :). The nurse would remove the catheter from the IV and two minutes later I’m on a bike going 2 or 3 miles down this gorgeous road and the sun and therapy in the water…it’s a constant surprise, it’s an incredible place, the setting is ridiculously gorgeous. Yes, I don’t know. I’m saving for the next trip.

David
Age 44
February 2016