We had another AMAZING day ahead of us for the Harmony with the Elements Yoga Retreat Day 2. The element of the day was Earth, and we had a couple special activities planned to celebrate the Earth element. Keep reading to see what we did!
Morning Success Continues
I was on a roll with my morning wake-ups and was up a little earlier so I had more time for my morning routine. This gave me time for a little journaling.
Side note: One of the reasons I generally want to wake up earlier in 2025 is so I have more time in the morning. I’m seriously so over rushing around. I spent way too many years doing that for my 9to5 and hectic lifestyle.
After journaling + coffee, I got changed for yoga.
Just before heading to morning yoga, I took a visit to this collection of sunscreen and bug spray at the villa pool area. And I almost grabbed this cute leaf bug since it was on the SPF I had been planning to use. Whoa!
Morning Yoga + Animal Signs (8 am)
Streaming Sun + Spirals
Morning yoga was still ocean-side. But this time we got to do it perched on top of this cliff with a stunning view of the water and surrounding greenery.
I love how the sun is streaming through the clouds in the background. What a magical place to do a morning yoga session, right?
Lauren led us through a lovely set that felt so nice on my body. I love how yoga helps you reset your body. We also did some spirals in true Lauren fashion. It’s one of my favorite features of a Lauren class. 🥰
Something cool happened during savasana…
Spider Magic
I felt something on my stomach. At first I tried to dismiss it as the breeze. But it was definitely a creature of sorts. I was afraid to look but knew I needed to see what it was.
Imagine my surprise to see the tiniest little spider meandering around on my belly. It was literally so itty bitty and cute that it didn’t even scare me.
I took a nearby leaf and gently moved it onto the plants to my right, next to a wooded area where I thought it would be safe.
And I made a mental note that I needed to see what a spider might mean symbolically.
Was it a sign from the Universe? I’d find out later.
Breakfast Buffet (9 am)
For breakfast I got some bacon, a root veggie + peppers, fresh fruit, and made a little mini avocado toast. Plus more coffee!
It was a great way to fuel up for our morning activity.
Horse Healing Adventure with Equino Ranch (10 am)
Our shuttle left at 10am to head over to Equino Ranch for a Horse Healing Adventure. The plan – enjoy horseback riding through the hills. We’d even overlook the beach area we visited on Day 1!
We learned about the healing power of horses, which was super cool.
The day was perfect for horseback riding. Sunny and warm but not too hot. We arrived to see all of the horses ready for us.
The team assigned each of us a horse. They helped me get saddled up on a beautiful horse named Maria.
And then we were off!
We meandered over the hills, going through different scenes of nature – from tree-lined paths to high-up views over the ocean.
We had a couple stops along the way, including this overlook. It almost looks like I was photoshopped onto this background, but I promise it’s real!
Lauren found some local Dominican Republic apples for us to try. They were very different than the apples I’m used to from the US. They almost looked like pears in shape.
These apples were slightly sweet and had a texture that was more lofty.
It was so fun to try these on our Horse Healing Adventure.
I shared my apple with my horse, Maria, because I thought she was hungry.
She was so funny and kept stopping during the whole trip. Over and over again she kept finding patches of grass to eat. I asked one of the team members if she was always this hungry. He said, “She’s not hungry, she just loves food!”
Just like me, I thought. We were meant to be!
Our amazing yoga retreat hosts: Lauren and Liz!
If I’m being honest, I was a little scared to go on this horseback riding outing. I think I was worried about getting hurt or something. But I pushed through my fears and went. And I’m so glad I did!
Horseback riding is one of my favorite memories from the yoga retreat!
The healing power of horses is so real. It was so cool getting to spend a couple hours with Maria and share energy with each other.
Thank you, Equino Ranch and team, for creating such a special adventure for us!
Side note: When I got home after the retreat and reviewed my 2025 Goal Workbook, I even noticed that I had “ride a horse” on my bucket list. I don’t even remember writing that down, but I guess I manifested it. Woop woop!
Fresh Coconut Water + Lunch
After a morning in the sun, I was looking forward to a hydrating treat back at the villa. A freshly opened coconut for some super fresh coconut water.
It hit the spot!
We had a full lunch buffet with large and small soft tortillas, plus hard taco shells as base options. I made two soft tacos with pulled chicken and other fillings / toppings. They were so good!
Daily Beach QT
My body has been craving the beach in recent years. But my home is about 4 hours by car to the closest beach.
So I decided to try to make a daily trip to the beach while I was here to maximize my beach QT while it was right behind the villa.
And it was definitely the right decision.
I really think all the beach QT helped charge me up with positive energy and also make space in my brain for more clarity and peace.
I took my journal to help process my thoughts and capture any downloads from the Universe. And I just saw right in the beach sand (sans towel) for extra grounding.
Sound Healing with Victoria + Heart-Opening Cacao (4:30 pm)
In the afternoon, we had a Sound Healing session with local sound healer, Victoria. You can find her on Instagram at @vidabyv or her website vidabyv.com.
As a sound healer myself, I was SUPER excited for this! I obviously geek out on sound healing.
We started with some heart-opening cacao made with love by Lauren. This was actually my first time experiencing cacao, and it was lovely and so comforting.
I loved Victoria’s sound healing. It was the perfect way to round out our Earth day activities.
Sound baths have a unique way of helping turn my overactive mind off so I can really be present and get into a meditative state with ease.
Victoria led our sound healing so beautifully. She had a soothing voice and gently guided us into a calm and peaceful state.
And I felt SO relaxed after the sound healing! Thank you, Victoria!
I had a chance to chat with Lauren after the session and shared some of the things that came up for me as well as my moment with the spider during savasana earlier in the day.
She encouraged me to read about the Spider in the Animal Speak book at our retreat altar. See a snippet above.
It was SO meaningful and spot on with the intention I’d shared at the opening ceremony. My crystals on the altar were all about creativity, and the FIRST word on the Spider description was “creativity”.
And there were even more aligned messages on the other pages too!
Another thing Lauren encouraged me to do was re-write my stories from a place of empowerment. I’ve definitely done a lot of story re-writing exercises over the years and have found it so helpful. So it was a powerful reminder to get back into this practice.
Dinner at the Villa
I went casual for dinner with a loose tank and some patterned pajama pants.
Dinner was another hit, especially the nicely charred pork. My mom would have loved it! Maybe the charred meat is an island thing?
Also, this might have been my favorite dessert of the trip – a gluten free chocolate chip cookie + ice cream.
The sunset views were so pretty. We definitely got cotton candy clouds this night.
Oracle Card Pulling
An Accidental Three-Card Pull
McKenzie and I got into a beautifully deep conversation after dinner and decided to pull some cards from Liz’s Mystic Art Medicine deck.
I had intended to pull only one card. But as I was shuffling, one card just didn’t want to go back into the deck. So I took that as a sign and set it aside. I tend to do that with “jumping cards” haha.
Then I continued with my normal card pull process and pulled the Discernment card.
When I went to check my “jumper card”, it turns out it was actually two cards stuck together.
So I took this as a sign that all three cards were going to be meaningful to me for one reason or another.
Hey, sometimes you need one card, and sometimes you need more!
Signs via Cards
I absolutely LOVE getting signs from the Universe via card pulls. This greatly helped me when my life was in upheaval in my years being in NYC, especially around my separation and divorce.
It’s something I’ve been meaning to re-connect to more closely in recent months, so I loved getting a chance to do this during the retreat. And to experience new cards and messaging via Lauren and Liz’s favorite tools, like this deck Liz shared.
You can read more about each card above. I found the art and descriptions so meaningful, but I’ll just share some snippets for now.
What stood out to me with each of these cards is:
- Discernment: The poem at the start of the card description talked about letting go of your stories, which is something I had spoken with Lauren about earlier! I love the synchronicity here.
- Nurture: This card was about making sure you have space in your life to rest and reconnect with nature to connect with spirit, among other benefits. The idea of “NO MORE overworking” came up in my 2024 recap and was a big factor for not only my reason for going to this retreat but also for choosing the my top 5 2025 goals. This was a good reminder that I’m on the right track with that intention and that I definitely need to follow through on my goal of having more rest and downtime in my life in 2025 with this retreat being a great start.
- Shadow: The shadow card also talked about transformation of the self as it relates to your shadow side. This also reminded me of my homework from Lauren to re-write my stories.
So I took away that I’m on the right path and still have work to do! I’ll take it!
I was having so much fun with the cards that I stayed up a little later than I had the previous nights. As I walked alone back to my villa, the walkway seemed to have more spiders on it than I had seen the previous nights. Not too many more. Or maybe they just stood out to me more.
At first, I felt instantly scared seeing them.
But then I remembered reading about them in the book and how they’re a sign of creativity.
And I kept telling myself, “Spiders are good!” *insert slightly scared but optimistic laugh*
As I turned towards the steps that led to my villa room, suddenly there was a HUGE spider on the support wall of the steps. With its legs, it must have been 6 or more inches in diameter.
But I had to go past it to get to my room.
I told the spider I was there in peace and only wanted to pass. And mentally asked it to please please please not jump on me. And did my best to quickly move past it.
Success!
The spider stayed still, and I got to my room safely. Phew!
And with that, it was time for bed and a closure of a wonderful day 2 of this amazing retreat.
Read More about the Harmony with the Elements Yoga Retreat
- Day 0: Traveling to the Dominican Republic (Harmony with the Elements Yoga Retreat Day 0)
- Day 1: Water Day: Beach Yoga + Playa Grande (Harmony with the Elements Yoga Retreat Day 1)
Click here for my other Travel blog posts
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Thanks for stopping by and checking out my blog post about Earth Day: Horseback Riding, Sound Bath, and More (Harmony with the Elements Yoga Retreat Day 2)!