I have been to yoga retreats in the past but nothing made me journey as deeply inward as my retreats with Nancy Zabaneh. It started in 2018 in Sri Lanka in a humble, but beautiful resort and in 2019 in exceptional Zanzibar where, in both cases, I experienced the true meaning of a retreat. Nancy taught me to slow down, enjoy the environment that surrounded me, while feeding my body with exquisite food and my soul & mind with exceptional spiritual teachings. On every retreat, we start the day with a morning practice that awakens our soul and prepares us for the day; we also practice Sadhana from 5:30am on at least one of the retreat days. The free time in between sessions allows us to pause, observe and process. The afternoon session sheds the light on hidden inner obstacles & emotions. For me, they open me up, allow me to confront my blockages and bring me closer to my true self, my essence. On both retreats, we incorporated at least one community outreach that adds depth to our experience with the locals and helps us to count our blessings with gratitude; this is so rewarding and supports a different perspective to life.