After two AMAZING days at the Harmony with the Elements Yoga Retreat in the Dominican Republic, it was time for Day 3! Somehow it was possible for even more awesomeness ahead. We had a meditation at a historical lighthouse, an impromptu mini adventure exploring a “secret beach cove”, and more!
Morning Coffee + Yoga
I can’t emphasize enough how worried I was that my less-than-optimal sleep habits were going to cause me to miss out on some key yoga retreat experiences.
Night owls, you feel me, right?
But I’m SO proud of myself for being super disciplined with my plan to abandon my workaholic tendencies, avoid my phone, and do my best to go to bed early. It worked because I went to bed about 3 hours earlier than normal, got a pretty good amount of sleep, and woke up in time for some leisurely coffee. Of course I also made morning yoga, which was just such a lovely way to start the day!
I really should do morning yoga more often!
All the wonderful new experiences and results were really encouraging me to make some big changes with my habits and sleep hygiene when I got back home.
Lauren led us through another wonderful yoga session. We went a little more gently today. Lauren is very intuitive, and I think she knew it was the perfect type of yoga for our group after all the horseback riding fun the day before.
Morning yoga helped re-charge me – mind, body, and soul – with positive energy. Soooo nice!
Breakfast at the Villa
I was really starting to get used to these yummy villa buffet breakfasts.
In case I didn’t mention it already, Liz and Lauren made sure to ask about food allergies and needs prior to the retreat. And then they coordinated with the villa team to ensure that everyone had something to eat.
As someone who can’t eat eggs right now due to food sensitivities, I super appreciated this. Sometimes when you can’t eat eggs, there’s almost nothing left to eat. Or at least, not enough filling foods as someone who eats intuitively. But I had plenty on this yoga retreat!
Thank you Liz, Lauren, and awesome villa team!
And after breakfast, our shuttle was waiting to take us to our next outing!
Meditation at the Lighthouse (Exploring Cabo Francés Viejo National Park) 10am
We started with a mini hike / nature walk through Cabo Francés Viejo National Park to the historical lighthouses.
We got to pause at a couple lookouts along the way.
Our group loved seeing this “secret beach cove”, and we hoped we’d have time to see it after our next morning session.
Here’s one of three historical lighthouses in the park.
Liz shared a heart-felt introduction for her friend and our meditation teacher, Annette.
Annette led us through a couple breathing techniques (I love these!), some light yoga flow, and of course meditation.
I’ve been meditating since 2016, so I was very excited for this experience. It was so calming and peaceful. The location was so special. If you see the drone footage that Whitney and Josh captured for this part of the retreat, it looks unreal, it’s so cool!
You can find Annette at solyoga.rd on Instagram. More on Annette tomorrow btw! 😉
We opened our eyes to a couple gifts on our mats – a beautiful flower and a handmade “Harmony” essential oil roller bottle that Lauren made for us. So sweet!
Playing at Playa El Bretón (Secret Beach Cove?)
After our meditation, we DID have time to explore the “secret beach cove”, which is actually not a secret. It just felt like a special, little known spot to me. Maybe because there was hardly anyone else there?
The beach is Playa El Bretón.
We took a walk down a long set of large, rocky steps down to the beach.
And then it was time to PLAY!
We seriously need to make more time for play in our adult lives. I’ve been exploring with *play* as a healing modality, and it has truly helped change my life and create more joy and ease in my everyday, human experience. It’s also great for inner child healing.
I channeled one of my favorite childhood movies and asked Lauren to help me recreate one of the iconic Little Mermaid scenes. She directed me to do the perfect pose and captured some awesome photos.
The rock I was on was actually surprisingly sharp. I really thought I was going to cut or at least scratch my hands, but I made it unscathed!
Do it for the gram! lol!
I felt in awe wandering around this beautiful beach. I kept thinking about Elizabeth Gilbert’s quote from Eat, Pray, Love:
I used to have this appetite for food, for my life, and it is just gone! I want to go someplace where I can marvel at something. Language. Gelato. Spaghetti. Something!
~ Elizabeth Gilbert
We need more marveling in our lives too. She was spot on with her inner calling to explore and overall reclaim her life.
Whilst it would have been a wonderful experience to explore this on my own, it was extra special getting to explore this stunning beach with our retreat sisters.
We wrapped up our playtime and headed up the huge steps to the shuttle where we had sparkling water waiting for us. Such a refreshing treat!
Lunch at De Norte A Norte
After our beach adventure, we had a next-level food adventure planned at local, farm-to-table restaurant De Norte A Norte, which is actually close to this beach and park.
This place deserved its own blog post, so you can click here to get photos and read about my amazing time at De Norte A Norte.
Free Time: More Beach QT + Outdoor Massage
Even though we did have one beach experience already, I was really enjoying my solo trips to the beach behind the villa. So when we had some free time after lunch, I headed straight there.
Can you really have too much beach time?
For this land-locked girl, the answer is NO! haha
I got to do more journaling followed by a luxurious outdoor massage. And just before dinner we had a Divination & Soul Tools session where we got another special gift from our retreat hosts, Liz and Lauren.
It was a Pocket Animal Spirit card deck. And since I’d been getting so many animal signs, especially on day 2, I was SUPER pumped to have my very own copy!
We also got to see how Lauren and Liz each do their card pulls.
Side note: If you were curious about how I do mine, I actually made a blog post and video about it back in 2019! You can get my blog post and video about how to pull affirmation cards here.
Dinner at the Villa
Of course dinner at the villa was another smash hit! I really loved how they always had lots of fresh veggies, bread, and both a meat and seafood protein option.
I wore this flowy dress (top left photo) for dinner, which was buffet style as all the villa meals were. Babe was always with us bringing more positive energy. She was such a sweet presence.
Dessert was a lovely chocolate ice cream with chocolate pieces on top.
We had more free time after dinner, and I stayed with my plan of doing easy, sleep-conducive activities. Whilst also avoiding the ones that might block me from going to bed early.
It was a bit of a challenge for my night owl self but definitely easier with the change of environment with the tropical retreat vibes.
And with that, that’s a wrap on my experience at the Harmony with the Elements Day 3!
More DR Yoga Retreat 2025 Posts
Here are the other days from the Harmony with the Elements 2025 Yoga Retreat:
- Day 0: Traveling to the Dominican Republic
- Day 1: Water Day: Beach Yoga + Playa Grande
- Day 2: Earth Day: Horse Healing Adventure + Sound Bath
- Day 3: Air Day – this post – see above!
- Day 3: De Norte A Norte Farm-to-Table Restaurant Experience
- Day 4: Coming soon!
Thanks so much for stopping by and checking out my blog post about Air Day: Lighthouse Meditation, Hidden Gem Beach Cove, and More (Harmony with the Elements Yoga Retreat Day 3)!