Sacred Elements Retreat: Reconnecting with the Elements in British Columbia

Returning to nature and the elements

Hello everyone,

I am back. The first half of this year has really hit me hard. I lost my passion and my drive. This fell on the back burner because of it. But I am now back with a new travel blog. At the beginning of June I went to Vancouver, British Columbia to attend another retreat through ADzenTURE and I am so excited to talk about it. I did spend two days before the trip exploring the city a little bit. But first let me talk about the retreat.

According to the ADzenTURE website, this retreat is “a journey to balance through fire, water, earth, and air…” The retreat is a place to “reconnect with your inner nature through the sacred elements of fire, water, earth, and air in this 3-day immersive yoga and meditation retreat on the lush, serene grounds of Nectar Yoga on Bowen Island.” This retreat was run by my favorite yoga and meditation teacher Kelly from Yoga For You! I went on her retreat to Scotland last year and couldn’t wait for this one.

Want to know about Scotland? Check out my write up here.

Note: All photos were taken by me

Day 1

The day started out with everyone meeting at the airport and being picked up in a party bus! We drove to Horseshoe Bay (any CW Nancy Drew fans??) to wait for the ferry. We were able to get off the bus and walk over into town to get some coffee and a snack. Once back on the bus we embarked for a 20 minute ferry ride. We got some gorgeous views of Vancouver and the coastline. Once we arrived at Bowen Island, it was just a quick drive to Nectar Yoga. There we entered a beautiful location among the trees.

There were multiple buildings there and the housing was three A-frames (Sunstone, Jasper, and Opal), 3 cottages (Amethyst, Jade, and Quartz), Moonstone Cottage, and three rooms in the Onyx Lodge (Emerald, Amber, and Turquoise). The Onyx Lodge was also where we took all of our meals. I stayed in the Jade Cottage and it was beautiful! So simple, but the details were done so well. There was even a window seat looking out onto the forest. My favorite feature was an outdoor shower, which I did use, and I wish I had one.

After checking in and having some snacks we went to the yoga dome for a slow movement practice and welcoming circle. Kelly and ADzenTURE gave us the lovely gift of an ADzenTURE tote bag, Kelly’s book You Here we did just some slow movements to help loosen the muscles from a long travel day. Then the welcoming circle was a way for us to set an intention for the retreat and to meet everyone officially. We then went on to dinner.

We had a beautiful dinner and dessert. The meals were all vegetarian and/or vegan and were delicious.

To end the night we did a yoga nidra and sound bath (ether). It happened to be raining, so we practiced to the sound of the rain hitting the yoga dome. It was a beautiful practice and a nice way to end the day.

Day 2

We started day two off with a pranayama practice (air) and a yoga (fire) practice. The pranayama practice is where we learned different breathing techniques including: bellows breath, box breathing and bumblebee breath. I loved bumblebee as it was a bit different from what I have learned. We then headed to a delicious breakfast. Our next practice was a walking meditation.

There were a few trails near the retreat center and the one we went on was lovely. It was raining a bit, but I think it enhanced the practice. A walking meditation (earth) is a way to focus on just walking and being. It is slow and methodical. We did ours in the rain in the forest and it was a magical experience. Once our walking meditation was completed we were broken up into groups to enjoy the sites Mist Thermal Sanctuary.

I was in the first group that went just after the walking meditation. There we were given shoes, robes, and towels. They have three private sanctuaries for each group. In each spa there is a room with tea and water, towels, a small changing room, and a place for rest. Once you are ready you can go through the circuit. The way this works is you start with a hot/cold shower with their lovely smelling products. Then you go into the wood burning sauna that has a large window where you can look out into the forest. After the sauna you can take a cold plunge for a short amount of time, then go into the transition tub. After you have completed the plunges, you can go rest down by the fire just below the building. The time you are given allows for about 2-3 circuits. Of course, you can do what feels right for your body and skip aspects if you like. I did skip the cold plunge the first time because my body does not like extreme temperature changes. But my second time around I sat for 30 seconds. I also did not last too long in the sauna, again for the same reasons as the cold plunge. It was a lovely and relaxing time with a couple of the retreat attendees.

After Mist Thermal and lunch, I had some free time. So I walked along the two trails on the property. One was an easy trail by the creek. The other was an uphill trek in the forest. They were both beautiful and a great way to spend some of my time. After my invigorating walk, I found a lovely spot outside to just sit, read, and enjoy the beautiful weather. It had been raining on and off and was in the mid to high 50s, so I wanted to enjoy it before I headed home to hot summer weather. The venue is a perfect place to find yourself and enjoy some much needed time outdoors.

After everyone who wanted to go enjoy Mist Thermal we had a Sun Salutation Workshop. Here, Kelly went through each position/move that makes up a sun salutation. We went through each one and talked about proper position, little hacks to know if you are doing it right, and even worked with another person to make sure we were doing things in a way that would not hurt ourselves. I love doing workshops like this because I feel like I learn so much from it. It makes me conscious when I am doing a sun salutation to make sure I do it right. Though by the end my arms were killing me! After a full day we had another beautiful dinner. We ended the night with a fire ceremony. We gathered around the fire pit and wrote out what we wanted to release once we left the retreat. After writing down what we wanted to let go of, we tossed them into the fire. It was a lovely ceremony and a nice way to end a retreat. We stayed around the fire, chatting and just having a good time with new friends.

Day 3

Our last morning ended with a lovely yoga and meditation (earth and air) and a lovely breakfast. We were picked up by the party bus again and made our way back to Vancouver to head home.

This retreat, while quick and I wish was longer, was a beautiful reset for myself. I made new friends, saw some old ones, and enjoyed being out in nature. I love going on ADzenTURE retreats and can’t wait for my next one. Spoiler: That will be in July when I go to camp!

I cannot recommend ADzenTURE enough for people who want to go on a trip with beautiful people in beautiful locations. The retreats are great for any level of yoga and meditation. If you want to book make sure to check out the retreats for 2027, and more are still being planned!

Thank you for coming on this journey with me!

💚 Jacquelyn

P.S. Want to see more? Check out my Instagram for videos of the trip.