14 Apr 2026
What a Retreat Can Do That a Vacation Never Will
There’s a version of me from 2022 that I think about a lot. Three kids at home. Thirty people on payroll. Two months out from my second miscarriage I hadn’t had a single hour to grieve because I was always moving from one thing to the next, always overscheduled, always the person holding everything together. And then I saw an announcement for a retreat in Tulum from a person I’d been following for years, and something inside of me just said yes before I could think my way out of it.
I showed up puffy. That’s the only word for it. Burnt out in my body in a way that was visible on my face.
That weekend I did breathwork for the first time and felt something crack open. I did a sound bath and learned how to actually meditate. I did something called gateless writing—I’d been a writer my whole life but I’d never written from that place before. I went into a Temazcal with a shaman and sweated my ass off and then swam naked in the ocean at sunset.
And the grief I’d been carrying finally moved. I came home, recharged, connected to myself and was clear about what my life needed to look like.
And some of the women from that retreat are still some of the closest people in my life. They’ve been guests on this show. We still cheer each other on.
What made all of this possible was the retreat container. A shared experience under a shared set of values, where a skilled facilitator sets clear expectations.
Since then, retreats and weekend workshops have become non-negotiable for me. I have a high appetite for learning and growth and connecting with people who are living differently than I am. And I’ve learned that we have a tendency to get insular—to forget how much is out there, how many people there are who can add color and texture to our lives if we say yes to being in the room with them.
Which brings me to why I recorded this episode: I’m hosting two retreats this year and I am so excited about both of them.
The first is The Restore Retreat, September 25–27 in Potosi, Wisconsin. It’s located in a stunning mansion on 175 acres overlooking the Mississippi River—old-growth forest, hiking trails, a pond, an indoor pool with a jacuzzi. Incredible food prepared for you. Breathwork and sound bath. Real free time. And a whole range of accommodations from private suites with balconies and jacuzzi tubs down to bunk rooms, so there’s a way in at different price points. It’s about three hours from Chicago. Think of it as a girls’ weekend where you don’t have to make a single decision—you just get to be there.
Learn more about the Restore Retreat here. (https://www.ashleydlogan.com/restore-retreat-2026)
The second is Ignite, January 28–February 1 in Sayulita, Mexico. This retreat is all-in—private bungalow with a balcony, airport transportation, a chef for every meal, horseback riding on the beach, salsa dancing, restorative yoga and breathwork, and real unstructured time that belongs to you. You fly into Puerto Vallarta and from that moment, you don’t have to think about a single detail.
Learn more about the Ignite Retreat here. (https://www.ashleydlogan.com/sayulita-2027)
In This Episode We Explore:
* What a retreat container actually is, and why the structure makes it feel so safe to finally let your guard down
* The difference between a vacation and a retreat, and why one restores you while the other just exhausts you somewhere new
* My first retreat experience in Tulum—the grief I carried in, the clarity I came home with, and the women I’m still close with today
* Why getting outside your insular bubble is one of the most underrated things you can do for your growth
* What happens when you give yourself permission to set down your load for a few days—to your body, your nervous system, and yes, apparently, sometimes your fertility
If not these retreats, I hope this episode inspires you to say yes to something for you this year. That solo trip, that class, that weekend that scares you just a little. You can trust yourself.
The people in your life will survive without you for a few days. They might even be better for it. And so will you.
Connect with me, Ashley Logan:Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ashleydlogan (https://www.instagram.com/ashleydlogan)Website: https://ashleydlogan.com (https://ashleydlogan.com)Substack: https://substack.com/@ashleydlogan (https://substack.com/@ashleydlogan)
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