Personally, after hitting burnout and needing to make some massive changes, it was officially time for a reset. Peru called me before I even began searching for it in itself, people would ask me where I was headed next, and I would say Peru, it was a heart and soul-led answer without much afterthought. After about a handful of people kept asking and my answer never shifted.

I began having dreams and would look at pictures of Peru in my time off. But nothing quite felt right. Until… I saw Pacha Munay Wellness. Have you ever had your whole body light up and tingle, or even get a full body of shivers out of nowhere? Well, that’s exactly what happened to me when I found their page and without hesitation, I booked.

This Sacred Location

One thing I noticed about Peru is that almost every retreat space had hallucinogenics or plant medicine. Personally, that was just not what I was looking for. I had faith that the answers and what I needed would come naturally. So, I was relieved and thankful that Pacha Munay Wellness offered a more holistic and natural approach.

Little did I know, The Sacred Valley pulls emotions to the surface effortlessly, all of them. The good, the difficult, and the emotions that I didn’t even know that I had. Although not an obtrusive way, but an intentional way. It’s almost as if everything just makes sense when it comes out as if there’s such a purpose.

Later I found out that The Sacred Valley receives strong energy, creating a vortex, from Machu Picchu. Which of course made me smile and realize that out of all the places I could have chosen, of course, I was chosen to be in another energy vortex. There’s something deeper that I’m being guided to do and to experience. Chances are, if you’re reading this and looking at Pacha Munay Wellness, then you are too.

Wellness, Detox, Self Love Retreat Transformations

As someone who’s found it nearly impossible to feel table when going through massive transformations on my own, I was incredibly thankful that the facilitator, Roberto, was onsite and able to offer nothing but support.

#1. Detoxed, reset, and refreshed digestive system

First, let me start this off by saying, don’t do what I did for this one, in the beginning. I was stubborn, immediately, shunned away from the detox fiber shakes, and didn’t even ask about the colon cleanses. The facilitator, Roberto, kept suggesting it and I just ‘thought’ that it was going to be gross. I shut myself off from it before even giving it a chance, until the last 3 days of the week. Well, I should have read his article, this one!

Although I was all gung-ho for the freshly pressed juices, I really didn’t realize what I was missing until I tried it. However, I will be honest in saying that it’s not great tasting, but it’s also not bad tasting. Thankfully, those detox fiber shakes didn't have much of a flavor.

After releasing my ‘thinking mind’ and surrendering to what the wellness, detox, and self love retreat had to fully offer is when I began actually feeling a difference. When I began trying the detox fiber shakes; I noticed my energy shift, my stool changed form, weight shed faster, sugar/carb cravings subsided, and I felt full while eating less. Who knew that another layer of surrender could feel that good?

#2. Weight loss and better eating habits

Within just a short few days, I lost around five to eight pounds. I was shocked at how good I was feeling, especially in the practice of eating less. As my cravings got kicked, my eating habits also sharpened and the meal’s flavor even began to burst. It’s so amazing witnessing my numbed junk food taste buds shift and re-crave healthy foods again.

Plus, pushing out all that stagnant and heavy junk made my body feel lighter, making it a more motivating eating habit reset.

Not to mention all the food is organic, clean, fresh, and can be made vegan. Which was absolutely perfect for me! As someone who’s a bit of a health nut and a long-time vegan, I can appreciate when a space or person is accommodating. It can be harder to find, especially in other countries. But Peru is something a bit different, the climate is spectacular and Pacha Munay Wellness really makes the most of it. They freshly picked many ingredients straight from their garden, I even had the pleasure of doing some harvesting too. Now, that’s the new fast food, straight from the garden!

#3. A deeper level of vulnerability and heart-opening

Let’s be honest, I ‘think’ that I’ve been one of Roberto’s most difficult attendees, in the sense that my wall was so big when I came it was practically a moving wall that pushed him out whenever possible. I think one of the things that I think about regularly is wow, I’m so grateful for that man’s patience and persistence.

Allow me to give a bit of background here, I’ve come from trauma. Especially, with those closest to me growing up and dating men. So, experiencing a vulnerability with a man, whom I was not dating, and instead was trying to help heal me. Let’s just say that’s a foreign concept that I had not EVER known was even a possibility. THANK YOU vortex, Roberto, and Pacha Munay Wellness. There were some walls over this heart that just needed to be gently removed.

In the beginning, I cried… A LOT…so don’t be surprised if you do too. But it’ll feel like you’re taking a ton of bricks off of you. Remember, it’s a wall?!

Each and every single time I cried, a layer of bricks came off; I felt another layer of love, care, and acceptance rush through my body. However, I want to note that when I’ve been at home or even other places and had emotional breakthroughs, it didn’t quite feel as effortless as it does here. It’s also amazing that the recovery of all this is also easeful. After a while, I began to feel my heart center open and get a bit sore, almost like a muscle that was being used again for the very first time. It’s almost as if I relearned and felt for the first time how to reach a new level of vulnerability and heart-opening. It’s truly something that you deserve to feel, too.

#4. Trauma awareness and release

I’m someone who makes it known on my website, I’m the girl who’s gone “From PTSD to World Traveler and Courageous Leader.” Which sounds amazing on paper, but there’s a lot of work that’s come from it and still layers that need to be healed. It’s a bit of a ‘one step at a time’ kind of journey.

Pacha Munay Wellness, happened to be that next step. One of the tricky things about trauma is, that it makes it’s appearance in the most unsuspecting times. Whether it be when Roberto tries to offer a light shoulder-touching embrace or even as we talk about deep emotions and I shelter myself with a blanket. My trauma specifically sits in my subconscious until I’m in a safe space where I’m able to reflect on other people reacting to my behavior or even mirroring it back to me. Whether they realize it or not.

Since emotions come to the surface more easily in the Valley, so do traumas. But there’s such a strong intention set for Pacha Munay Wellness, that it becomes that safe space to release, especially you. No matter, the trauma, or pain.

#5. Better relationships & love

Let’s dive into when I mentioned the heart opening, vulnerability, and trauma earlier. Do you ever think about the young love that you’d experienced, as well as how effortless and pure it felt? Me too!

Well, I’ve grown older, with each heartbreak and hurt I’d gone through, those walls got built. But as I began to break down those walls, I became vulnerable, and in turn I let in relationships like I was a kid again. Full of hope, excitement, vigor, and an unapologetic desire for the next step.

Funny enough, I think after day three or four, I was in my private room talking on the phone with someone I decided to rekindle things with. Realizing I pushed them away because of those many walls and lack of vulnerability. It was as if I had a rush of that ‘young and vulnerable’ love feeling again. Woo-hoo, what a rush!

On top of that, I began to reach out to old friends, family members, and old coworkers. It’s almost as if I had so much more love to share, from the love that had been poured into me.

#6. Burnout recovery

As someone who hit burnout HARD in December 2022; I spent three months right after in shambles. I was just crying, sleeping, eating, and taking long hot baths. I’d been traveling non-stop, running an online business all by myself, working online part-time, emptying my bank accounts, going into debt, and forgetting to care for myself.

I began following what I remembered that I enjoyed in the realms of self-care, still pained and emotionally defeated. So, month by month, I picked myself up little by little and gained the assistance of others. But there was still this lingering layer of shame, and I knew this needed to be shed.

I knew a retreat was needed, but I didn’t know where, when, or how. Then I stumbled upon Pacha Munay Wellness. Truly allowing and receiving care, was a whole other level of burnout recovery that I just couldn’t achieve on my own. When we care for ourselves, we’re still doing a bit of work, and surrendering to being cared for helps us release and recover further.

#7. Goal & directional clarity

As I sat burned out, it was obvious that what I was doing wasn’t working and a new path needed to be walked. No more working long hours, staying in a career that no longer made me happy, financially splurging, and saying yes to things that don’t align with what I really desire in life.

Although I came to Pacha Munay Wellness with a general idea, I had no clue that my direction would be even further clarified. Truthfully, I don’t think that I could even have had a better way of finding that new direction unless I was at the wellness, detox, and self love retreat.

However, I will share that my directional and goal clarity didn’t officially begin until the end of the first week. But later in the third week of the Just Be Here Retreat, is when I truly began to gain some more clarity.

#8. New-found stillness and peace

Remember when I spoke of Roberto earlier? Well, I think I probably talked his ear off the first few days, but he was patient, kind, and made me feel heard. But there was something he began to remind me of. Sometimes I don’t always have to process, think, act, or even ‘do’.

Instead, I can release everything; the roles, labels, and checklists. I freaked out thinking I’d lose everything that I built, worked for, or ever desired. As someone who’s a bit of a brainiac, I kept trying to make sense of it or conceptualize it.

But, I was shown something even deeper. Which was what I am and what I could be without those things. Although not in a ‘thinking’ sense but more of a feeling.

I’ve felt it before, but barely longer than 30–60 minutes at a time. But every single time I felt it, it was often indescribable, but a true place of peace and stillness. Something, I was only able to achieve in a specific setting. Seriously, I had to have an eye mask, lay flat on my bed, put a blanket on, and put in my headphones. I’d listen to a guided meditation, and speaking of guided meditation; Pacha Munay Wellness offer their very own!

But now, Roberto began to share with me how I could achieve it regularly without having to create a specific space. Whether it be on a bus, after a meeting, before a difficult conversation, etc. I can now find this peaceful and still place no matter where I go and no matter what I’m doing. But one of the simpler tricks to slowly getting to this still place is to also connect to the breath. The funny thing is, I think that I told Roberto four times, “I think I forgot, how do I do it again?” Not the breathing part, but the connection to it and quieting the mind.

The funny thing is that when I read his article on true rest, I can hear his voice telling me some of the tips that he shared with me while I was on the retreat. Can you hear it?

As I noticed myself getting better at it; my anxiety subsided, I felt more grounded, and I didn’t have this insatiable desire to find the next “place” to feel comfortable. My internal space is now that comfort, yours can be too.

#9. Stronger acceptance of self and a more pure self love

As I removed the roles, labels, and my mind’s stories, I was faced with what was left. Which was me and the pure essence of me. What am I if I’m not a travel blogger, author, or marketer? Well, I’ve been through multiple different careers and jobs to know that I’m just me! But here’s something that Roberto asked me on an even deeper level…what am I?

This answer didn’t just pour out of me, it was something I had to really feel. Although, I understood conceptually, that I am a sovereign and divine being. What does that feel like? How could I describe the feeling after I felt it? Well, after days of searching; it feels like a never ending love, pure acceptance, and my own warm embrace.

Now, when emotions flood through, stories begin to circle in my mind, and I’m having a difficult time processing something. I then simply sit back, take a breath, and remember who and what I am.

When emotions or pains come up for me, it’s often because I’m are not feeling heard, accepted, or understood. So, my deepening this self love and self acceptance practice. I’m able to pour that acceptance and love into myself more and into others.

What can Pacha Munay Really Do For You?

There’s this famous quote that’s really stuck with me that you may enjoy, “You cannot restore and heal in the same environment that made you ill.” ― Kelly Markey. This quote is one that riddles my soul with truth, when we stay in the place that hurts or limits us, we cannot restore ourselves.

Pacha Munay Wellness was exactly what I needed, and it just may be the perfect place for you to heal or transform too!

Pacha Munay Wellness in Peru’s Sacred Valley: What A One-Week Wellness, Detox, Self Love Retreat Can Do For You

This Sacred Location

Wellness, Detox, Self Love Retreat Transformations