I’m excited to write this post today, as knowing whether a retreat or a pilgrimage is the right choice comes up frequently in conversations with students, friends, and family when I describe what I’ve been creating lately. I think both of these experiences have profound value; they simply differ in intention and execution.
As I am still feeling the afterglow of last month’s Chakras in Chacala Mexico retreat, I can say without a doubt that retreats offer us a chance to reset our nervous system and reduce our stress. I watched these 18 women arrive physically, and then, three days later, they actually arrived. This is when their energy finally settled, and there was a sense of greater ease for the whole group. It took three days to relax into our space and anchor in our bodies. I learned so much about how much rest we truly need to recover from the demands of everyday life. I’ll tell you this: the savasanas were long and the yoga nidra (“yogic sleep”) was plentiful.
Typically, when you go on a yoga retreat the teacher, the place, and the group set the tone. Your activities and daily flow are planned, a buffet is provided for three meals a day, and there is as much time as you like for rest and relaxation. Yoga practice helps the body, mind, and spirit tune out the noise and distraction of daily life so you can simply escape for a while. All your needs are met, and you can simply be.
Retreats invite rest, reflection, and integration through yoga, community, and place-based wisdom.
Pilgrimages are rejuvenating as well, but the renewal happens in a different way. Where retreats help us rest and restore, pilgrimages ask us to engage, seek, and discover. The rejuvenation is one of soul-connection, rather than a nervous system downshift (though hopefully that happens too!).
On a pilgrimage, the journey and the place are the containers for your experience. The teacher or facilitator is there to guide and walk alongside, but the place you’re visiting holds the key. You and the locale have a contract, and you’re there to fulfill your part.
The decision to go on a pilgrimage often begins with a sense of being called, or the feeling of being pulled by the heart to go there. Often, it isn’t even clear to the pilgrim why they feel compelled to go. They just want to go! There is a group dynamic for sure, but the experience is more personal. There are plans and offered experiences, but the decision to participate is wholly individual.
Pilgrimages often call to us at certain times in our lives. Transitions, new situations, and chapter endings each have qualities that might call you to seek deeper meaning and ponder life’s bigger questions. In fact, pilgrimages are often compared to quests, and every quest begins with a question. Every step of the way, from the initial question and call to the decision to go, the journey itself, and the return home, becomes material for awakening. Challenges arise and metaphors emerge to help the pilgrim find the treasure they seek. The sacred place is there to hold the journey, and allow the pilgrim to be transformed from the inside out.
Pilgrimage is a practice of leaving what is familiar and allowing ourselves to be changed by the journey.
I think these differences and similarities are why I want to offer both experiences. Sometimes you just want to get away. Sometimes you yearn for something deeper or unknown. And no one can tell you which journey is right for you. But I’d be willing to bet that you know what you need. Now you just have to decide to do it!
I have two invitations for you for these extended experiences: a yoga retreat on Paros Island, Greece, and a pilgrimage to Chartres Cathedral in France. My intention is to provide a path for whichever longing is calling you. These are the kinds of experiences that stay with you long after you’ve returned home.
Both are forms of sacred travel. Both will fill your cup to overflowing. Both will leave you changed. Both are on my Go page for you to consider.
So if not now, when?
Leave a comment and share which one speaks to you!
May you listen to the whispers of your heart, asking for reconnection, and may you follow that desire all the way to the adventure of a lifetime.
Much love,
Jessica
The pilgrimage to Chartres Cathedral is the heart of this work. Rooted in history, symbol, and embodied practice, Hidden Things: Pilgrimage to Chartres Cathedral is a sacred journey of yoga, labyrinth, and revelation. Towering over the medieval town of Chartes, France, this iconic, historic, and architectural marvel invites pilgrims from all over the world to explore the interior cathedral of one’s own heart. This profound and thoughtfully curated experience will take you on a journey through Chartres, Paris, and into your own soul, seeking and finding the hidden treasures of purpose, inspiration, and divine connection.
→ Learn more about the Chartres pilgrimage at JessGoulding.com
Save $200 off double and triple rooms through June 15!
Escape to the tranquil beauty of Paros, Greece, where turquoise waters meet sun-washed villages, winding footpaths, and the timeless energy of myth and sea.
Join Jessica Goulding for a deeply restorative women’s retreat designed to help you unplug from the noise of everyday life and reconnect with yourself through yoga, nature, reflection, and rest.
Inspired by the landscapes and mythology of Greece, this retreat invites you into your own Heroine’s Journey, a chance to step away from striving, responsibilities, and constant motion, and remember what it feels like to simply be.
Imagine waking slowly to the sounds of the sea, practicing yoga in the warm Mediterranean air, swimming in crystal blue waters, wandering whitewashed villages, sharing nourishing meals, and resting without guilt. Here, time softens. Your nervous system settles. You begin to hear yourself again.
Together, we’ll explore practices that support deep restoration, reflection, and meaningful transformation through yoga, meditation, journaling, contemplative experiences, and time in nature. We’ll also create and walk a labyrinth on the beach, allowing the rhythm of walking meditation and the beauty of the island to guide us inward.
Paros offers a quieter, more spacious experience than many of Greece’s busier islands, making it the perfect setting to step away from routine and reconnect with what matters most.
No prior yoga experience is necessary, only curiosity, openness, and a desire to reconnect with yourself in a supportive circle of women.
Come to Paros to unwind, restore, and return home feeling grounded, nourished, and more fully yourself.
Accommodations, full itinerary, and registration available at One Yoga Global —>
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