Chelsea's Yoga Retreats: Moab, Utah
If I ever met a retreat with more moments of brave yeses, this would be it! It all started with me looking down a 200ft rock wall and saying, “Sure, I’ll go down that.”
I always arrive the day before a retreat to settle in and get a bit more acclimated to where we will all be staying. Kevin and I flew into Salt Lake City, Utah in September of 2019. We rented a jeep and drove the nearly four-hour beautiful drive into Moab. I had never seen backdrops like it. The red rocks alone were jaw-droppingly beautiful but then the quaintness of the town with the striking blue of the river… this place was unreal!
Our camp was way off the beaten path and the views were crazy! We were perched above a massive canyon and could see The Windows (of Arches National Park) from our tents. We had eight tents, a giant community tent for nightly hangs and fires, and running water for showers and toilets.
We met up with @campwanderlost’s hosts, Kyle and Jodie that asked if we were up for a surprise. It was nearing sunset but my hand always shoots up for new things. He lifted a blanket covering some weirdly shaped objects from the table and under we saw climbing rope, harnesses, helmets, and carabiners. “Wanna do some repelling in the dark?” My squeal of excitement was a validating yes!
We hopped in his truck and headed for the edge of the cliff. We were going to repel down a 200ft rock face. 2-0-0 feet down into a canyon. A HUGE first for me and I couldn’t have been more pee-in-my-pants excited and slightly terrified! We tied off on his truck, Tristan (climber buddy) headed down first, and I got my quick “Here’s what you will do” chat while they got me in my harness and gloves. I clicked my out-of-the-box, brand new headlamp on and walked to the edge, and looked over. I could only see Tristan’s headlamp about 170ft down. I smiled through the adrenaline and nerves and leaned into that slow trust fall over the edge. Mind you this was nearing 8 pm and was completely black out and I had 200 ft to work my way down. Once I felt my feet leave that wall (and complete trust in three men I had never met) the euphoric high took over. It. Was. Unbelievable. I had never felt so alive trying something so out of my comfort zone. I knew then that this retreat was going to be out of this world.
Day 1
We slept in these beautiful white glamping tents on queen size beds and had charging ports for all of the gear. They even had running water at the camp! Hot showers + toilets = huge win! The entire trip was catered and the family meals were so above and beyond and anytime we packed up for a hike or paddle we had energy bars, electrolytes to add to our reusable water bottles, and loads of fresh fruit.
Students arrived late morning on the first day. We had a few shuttles that grabbed everyone from the airport, gave them time to get settled and check the place out, and then we hiked down to have our first class on the red rocks. It was 80º and deep in the canyon it had very little breeze..basically perfect conditions (paired with a little red sand on our mats). We finished the night with dinner and drinks around a campfire under this massive community tents where we often all hung out together. Such a chill cool start to this epic weekend.
Day 2
We woke up early for some 7 am sunrise yoga on the cliffs at camp followed by the best French press coffee. I think coffee tastes 9 trillion times better when camping! This was the day that we were to paddle the Colorado River! We had two large rafts and three “duckies” (small inflatable two-person kayaks). What should have taken us a few hours ended up taking us all day! The wind was unlike anything our guides had seen in about 20 years and our paddling abilities left us making zero ground on the river. Imagine looking at the shore while paddling with all your might and making zero headway.
Hours later we made it to our stop off for lunch and we were all famished but so dang happy. It was comical how crazy our conditions were. There’s something so rad when things don’t always go as planned - it makes for such special shared memories (and in this case, one of the best arm workouts of my life)!
We practiced yoga on shore, in our swimsuits, under the hot sun, while lunch was made. We refueled and set out on the arduous task of paddling to our final destination. Once the paddling was over… cough cough… 7 hrs later… we hit the vans to head home and I’m pretty sure most of us slept on the drive back. We had an evening meditation on the rocks at camp followed by a movie under the stars with desserts and drinks. We slept well that night!
Day 3
Today we hiked through Moab and canyoneered through water-carved canyons! This day was so fun! Hiking, climbing, shimmying, scrambling, and repelling through red rocks and wading through waist-high water. I think we all pushed through some fears that day! We had lunch on the trail and that night got to experience sunset for the show-stopping hike into Arches National Park. I truly have never taken great advantage of all the US National Parks have to offer. Note to self, see more of the US. We hiked out in the dark (which is always so so cool) and headed back to camp for more group hangs around the fire.
Day 4
We woke early for another sunrise meditation and early yoga class which we photographed and filmed! All of the students were gifted outfits to wear from a yoga company and we rolled out our mats to flow. We even had a drone flying overhead to get some amazing shots of us above the canyon.
As with any retreat, we shared phone numbers and IG handles so we could all stay in touch (and many of us still do). There were many moments where we all tested ourselves in the new and uncomfortable experiences. There were so many firsts. There is no growth in the known. And if 2019 and teaching my first series of retreats has taught me anything, it’s that saying yes to the new and stirring things up is the only way I’ve found a way to the best, most real version of myself. And this trip, and all of its new adventures, revealed another layer of me. More of this, please. Cheers to saying, “Yes!”
Check out my upcoming retreats here! I also wrote about what to expect in general from my retreats here if you want more info!
