From heartbreak to a successful retreat to shadow work...the full spectrum

friend,

Wow it has been a wild month (2 months actually)…and I mean it.

In this email, I will share some reflections, some deeply personal that I haven’t shared publicly yet, and some professional learnings from my retreat and a new tool I’m excited to use.

Enjoy the deep dive…this is a loooong email.

Let’s start with the fun (professional) stuff:

I hosted my second Vivacious retreat in freakin Greece! The place I’ve called a homebase for about 2-ish years now.

When I didn’t think I could top off the luxurious details and transformation that happened at my Mexico retreat, I blew it out of the water with Greece….it was truly NEXT LEVEL SHIT.

I’m proud of myself and I rarely get to celebrate what I do (fully) because I tend to move from one big thing to the next without realizing how much it took from me to execute at this level and to put myself in such a grand leadership (read: responsibility) position like I did with these two retreats.

This retreat confirmed something for me that I landed on after hosting my Mexico retreat back in Feb…

women (successful business woman and high acheiver) need less tinkering in front of their laptops trying to crack the next best strategy for their brand and more time being in their body, connected to their senses, co-regulating with community and romanticizing their live. PERIODTTT.

This is exactly what my experiences offer + plus all the powerful strategies, because I also run brand workshops at these retreats, but my workshops are meant to be integrated with the body and soul aspect of the retreat…it’s truly a holistic merge and a reigniting of your inner fire!

I loved seeing this post from our Greece attendee, Gabby, recapping her time with reflections from the retreat 👉🏽 read it here.

I continue to be in awe that this is what I get to do because I stopped getting in my own damn way and playing small.

These retreats are a testament to the work I do and have been preaching to you about for the last 5 years…I’m always committed to walking the talk so that you can trust I can do the same for you.

If that tickles your soul and you want to make bigger moves by the end of this year, I invite you to join me in Egypt in December.

P.S. My early bird offer expires July 19th. So Apply soon and book a time to chat with me.

Now the scary not so fun part where I get raw and personal with you…

I did something a little wild (what’s new, right?) after hosting my Greece retreat

but I will give you the backstory first, so it all makes sense, okay?

Back in April, I came back to Europe with my partner, and something had shifted in our dynamic. We felt more disconnected. More arguments. More misalignment in terms of how we wanted to live.

It shook me because everything that I thought we were aligned on slowly started to shift in front of my eyes. At this point, I started to look at myself and my own patterns that could be playing out because I know that this man was everything I wanted and asked for…so why the F is it now feeling good anymore?

This is when I stumbled on the shadow, defined as “the unconscious aspects of the personality that the conscious ego does not identify with or represses.”

This opened a rabbit hole for me. As someone with a stellium in the 8th house in Scorpio, I get hella turned on (obsessed) with things where I get to dive deep and uncover what is truly beneath the surface (I’m kind of a depth junkie lol)

Okay so a few days later, of course, the universe (or the algorithm) delivers me a post titled “Advanced Shadow Work Retreat for Facilitators, Coaches and Therapists.” I click on it and instantly know I’m meant to dive deeper into this work and bring it into my coaching and experiences.

And guess where it was held?

The Netherlands (where my partner is from)

Fast forward to early May, things still are rocky between us, we take a few days apart and he decides to end our relationship, saying that he needs to go back to his homeland and figure things out for himself.

I WAS SHATTERED. DEVASTED. HEARTBROKEN.

This happened less than 3 weeks before my Greece retreat. While we were both in Crete. I had no community there. I couldn’t work or continue planning the retreat. I didn’t know if I will actually be able to host and lead it.

Eventually…I had no choice but to accept things as they are, sit with my aching heart, and respect his choice. I knew that all I need to do was to do my part day by day.

I was still fascinated by the patterns that played out between us and deeply looking at myself and where I contributed (again, this is shadow work)

Then I got accepted into that Advanced Shadow Work retreat in the Netherlands I found back in April, and decided to commit to it. Even though it felt painful to go to my ex’s homeland without him, as we planned to go together…

On top of that, it was happening literally 2 days after my Greece retreat ends!

I was scared shitless. But that’s how I know I need to do this work. It’s my compass now.

I went.

I spent 10 days in the Dutch countryside with 20 others, all there to dive into their shadow and liberate it. From shame circles to full-on theatrical play-outs of the darkest parts of our selves, I saw in front of the full range of our humanity. I started to think about how this work is so deeply needed in the business world.

I felt my capacity EXPAND being able to hold and witness so much.

There is so much shadow in business and in the coaching space that is usually left unexplored and labeled as mindset work…it’s not all mindset work. If you don’t look at the shadow and integrate it, it will continue to play out time and time again in your life (in business and relationships)

Now this work isn’t easy. It takes courage (I celebrate myself for doing this right after hosting a 6 day retreat and a breakup) and radical honesty.

I’m excited to bring this into my Egypt Retreat and merge it with the visibility work I help my clients do.

Okay love, I think this is enough for now, I will share a few more reflections as they come through this week.

If you have questions about my Egypt retreat happening in December or Shadow Work or anything else, please reply back to this email and I will answer you 😚 


Reminder:
Our retreats fill up quick because we only have 6 spots. Apply here before the early bird expires on July 19th.

P.S. I created a free info session for the Vivacious Retreats where you can come hang with me, ask any retreat/business questions, and get all the deets live on my next retreat »»» Join one of my upcoming info session here (two dates available july 11th and 17th)

Stay Vivacious,
Marina Girgis
CEO of Livin Vivaciously INC, World Traveler, and Brand Doula