Tag: Womens Retreat

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Mindfulness Self Care Women empowerment Self-Care • Womens Retreat February 6, 2024 By AMANDA FLUDD 1 Comment

Reclaiming Stillness: How Black and Brown Women Can Rediscover Themselves

It’s easy to lose sight of our goals and values when we’re busy on the move chasing our list of expectations and responsibilities. Most of us can do it with our eyes closed on autopilot.

Autopilot is the opposite of awareness.

Autopilot is where we go when we are tired of how hard it is to be successful in this country. It’s where the familiar is dialed up, but our minds are practically on mute, not engaged with driving to work, leading teams, cleaning the house, ubering the kids to their activities, or binging shows on the couch at 1:58 am. For black and brown women, it can be our haven from power struggles and being “the only” in the room, but it’s also where we lose ourselves.

Something about it feels good, but something also feels so far from the self you want to be. So how do we find her again? How do we come back into awareness and reconnect to something that gives us life? This is where the importance of self-care for Black and Brown women becomes a necessity.

Switching Off Autopilot: The Journey Back to Self

Learn how to do nothing.

It is a scary concept to embrace when we’ve established that success only comes by hard work. We are constantly in motion, in what feels like a never-ending loop where achievement is idolized, and being busy is flaunted as a mark of distinction. Instead, I wan’t to offer the profound strength found in the practice of retreating to a place of pause.

You should try something: picture yourself stepping into a quiet space, away from all the noise, where you can deepen your thought process and listen to your heart. Instituting periods of pause isn’t about running away; it’s about running toward a deeper understanding of your aspirations and dreams. Feeling connected and powerful again lies in asking ourselves if we’re living in alignment with our true selves—and having the courage to adjust our sails if we’re not.

From Historical Figures to Us: The Essential Retreat

Historical and spiritual narratives remind us of the importance of this practice. Take Jesus, for example. Amid his teachings and miracles, he found it essential to retreat to the Garden of Gethsemane. This wasn’t a timeout but a deliberate choice to reconnect, reassess, and recharge. If such a moment was crucial for him, why wouldn’t it be for us? It’s a compelling reminder that taking time to realign and refill is beneficial and necessary.

Filling Your Cup

So, when was the last time you allowed yourself this kind of retreat? When did you last recognize the signs of burnout or disconnect and decide to do something about it? We’re talking about stepping back to fill your cup, to rediscover yourself, to ensure you are not just moving but moving in the right direction with your tank full and spirits high.

Remembering who you are, or intentionally trying to discover that, is a radical act of care. The premise is what led us to create the Renew Connect Restore Annual Retreat, especially for Black and Brown women. We know firsthand the transformative impact of retreats. Retreats are not escapes but vital experiences for growth, deep reflection, and the joy of rediscovery, surrounded by similar women pouring into you. With workshops on leadership, health, entrepreneurship, identity, mental well-being, and finding one’s purpose, we offer a safe emotional space to release the responsibilities and rest, find inspiration, and enjoy whatever location we retreat to. This year, its Bali.

Intentionally building quiet moments into our lives allows us to stop, think, and connect with what we genuinely want. This habit helps us sift through the chaos, identifying what genuinely matters to us versus what keeps us busy.

Practicing A Retreat to Pause to Rediscover Self

Here are a few journal prompts to guide you:

What’s been taking up most of my headspace, and how can stepping back help me see clearer?
Where am I out of alignment with my core values when considering my personal and professional life?
What does ‘filling my cup’ look like, and who or what can help me achieve that?
Reflect on your current commitments and tasks. Which tasks need my immediate attention, and which ones can I let go of or don’t need to worry about at all? I’ll think about the power and freedom in simply saying no. What can I delegate or cut out of my schedule to make space for the things that truly matter to me? How will clearing this clutter help me zero in on the projects and goals aligning with my deeper purpose?
What can I commit to in the next three months, this month, and even today that can help me discover what fuels my joy?

These exercises is an opportunity to connect you back to living a present, bold, and audacious life. It’s your reminder to navigate what is in your control and wake up to this experience called your life.

An Invitation to Nurture Yourself

Ready to carve out that much-needed space for yourself? We’re extending an open invitation to you. Join our community and stay informed about our retreats, workshops, and other experiences designed with your growth and restoration in mind. Subscribe to our mailing list, and let’s continue this growth journey together.

How are you going to work on rediscovering yourself?

Amanda Fludd, therapist, speaker, mindset coach

Other great reads: Actionable Steps to Overcome Anxiety

The Self Love Journal For Women

Amanda Fludd, LCSW-R is a Licensed Psychotherapist, speaker, and Mindset Coach for high-achieving women in business. Her joy is addressing mental health on multiple levels, from the boardroom to stages with dynamic keynote speeches to therapy on the couch. Her workshops target self-care for black and brown women who lead.

Amanda Fludd

LCSW-R

Business Self Care Women empowerment Business Retreat • Womens Retreat August 2, 2022 By AMANDA FLUDD 1 Comment

The Powerful Lessons I Learned at the Business Retreat

A blog around the key learnings after attending the Retreat

I recently returned from my first curated Retreat for minority women in business in Mexico: Renew, Connect, Restore, Retreat. It was more than I could’ve expected. I wanted to pause and share five things I learned from sharing space with 12 exceptional women.

What Was The Business Retreat About?

The Renew, Connect, Restore Retreat was birthed out of the Mindset and Motivation Community for Women Entrepreneurs of Color. It has been such an uplifting virtual space that it naturally made sense to transition it to a live experience. As women, we often struggle to set aside time for ourselves because we are busy supporting everyone else’s life, with little energy left to create, ask for help, or continue to stretch ourselves. When we attempt to work on ourselves, we are so wrapped up in our heads that things like procrastination, worry, and overthinking rob us of our potential.

The community is an intentional space to refuel, encourage, teach, and share. Along the way, we foster skills to grow your business and voice. What’s unique about the group is you don’t even need to have a business! Just good intentions and a true understanding of sisterhood. Those values are what I took and curated in Mexico.

black women retreat, women in business retreat. Mental health, business development and wellness. Mindset and Motivation for Women Entrepreneurs of Color

The Retreat was four days of connection, workshops on purpose, profits, and self-care, all facilitated by women from the community. One of the facilitators was my good friend from UCONN Tasha Smith, MSW, MBA from Peach Valley Co (an inclusive Real Estate and Tech Company) who happened to be in Mexico and volunteered to do a workshop.

Here are five of the most powerful business lessons I learned from attending the Renew, Connect, Restore Retreat for minority women in business:

1. The importance of building a solid and supportive tribe. I was reminded that I don’t need to rely on others outside my circle to help deliver an experience. Instead, I can ask within my tribe for support.

2. It’s very encouraging to share space with like-minded women. These women did not know each other, but you would swear we were best of friends. Being around other black and brown women striving for similar goals and willing to serve as mirrors to listen, be honest, and help identify issues that maybe you didn’t want to see on your own created such a safe and healing environment.

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3. The Retreat was an opportunity for personal growth and development. The speakers learned as much about themselves as the participants did. I had the chance to coach some of them on expressing their gifts in creative and tangible ways, which led to dynamic and effective handouts for the group.

4. Leveraging your skills and experience to create new business opportunities is possible. There is a huge need for us to learn how to think outside our well-constructed professional box. I challenged the idea of “an expert,” had them identify tangible skills, and walked them through how to use that to create a product. The women were challenged to think outside the box and use their professional skills to create new opportunities.

5. I am capable of so much more than I realize. Challenging yourself with new and complex tasks or concepts that seem outside your reach will only push you to develop those tangible skill sets that can open doors. Pouring out in this capacity also has a counter effect of filling you with things like joy, confidence, and contentment. This experience showed me that I haven’t even reached my potential as an entrepreneur.

The experience solidified my purpose and strengthened the value of community and how far we can go together. If you are a minority woman in need of a tribe, we extend an invitation to you and hope you will join us.

And yes, by request, we’ll be hosting the Retreat again. We are thinking of a tropical place like Antigua. What’s your favorite island?

Let me know in the comments. If you don’t want to miss an invite follow me at Ig@amanda.fludd if you aren’t in the community already.

If you need help defining and implementing a digital strategy as you start to build your business, let us know if we can assist you.

Amanda Fludd, LCSW-R is a Licensed Psychotherapist, Speaker, and Mindset Coach for high-achieving women and professionals venturing into business. Her joy is tackling mental health on multiple platforms and she is available for speaking engagements and training.