In this episode, I’m joined by intimacy coach and dear friend Shauna Stewart to weave together the story, spirit, and sacred purpose behind our upcoming Shed Retreat on Vashon Island.

We explore what it means to shed as a collective act of liberation—how our personal unraveling and release becomes part of the wider transformation happening in the collective consciousness. Each woman who remembers her pleasure and her body becomes a thread in the great weaving of the new world we’re co-creating.

This conversation is about the wisdom of shedding—of dissolving what’s outdated, oppressive, or numbed—and allowing what’s true, alive, and sacred to rise in its place. We talk about how pleasure isn’t just a personal experience, but a collective medicine, a vibration that calls us back to our wholeness and our creative power.

Shauna and I also share how the retreat has been intentionally crafted as a womb space—a place to be witnessed, to soften, and to reconnect with the body’s natural rhythms of release and renewal. We speak about the through-line between pleasure, grief, and rebirth—and how embodying these cycles helps us live as conduits of healing for the greater whole.

In this episode, we explore:

• The collective and personal symbolism of shedding and rebirth
• Pleasure as the through-line that reconnects us to creation and truth
• How emotional alchemy transforms grief and rage into life force
• The role of sacred space and ritual in anchoring healing
• The ripple of liberation that happens when women return to themselves

Retreat Details:

When: November 14–16, 2025

Where: Vashon Island, Washington

• One final shared room remaining (king bed with closed door for privacy)

Join us for Shed—a sacred weekend of embodiment, emotional alchemy, and collective renewal. Together, we’ll release what’s heavy, remember what’s holy, and rise into the full expression of our feminine power.

Click HERE to Learn More! We will see you there!

Guest Resources:

• Shauna Stewart: Linger Boutique
• Listen to our original episode on the SHED Retreat on Shauna's Podcast Life Turned On. I highly recommend listening to all her other episodes this season as well to hear more stories of women shedding what no longer serves them and fully embracing their power and pleasure.
• Instagram

Kayla's Resources:

• Schedule your free 45-minute consultation call to explore 1:1 coaching with me and step into your own sacred reclamation.
• Or start by joining my newsletter, where you’ll receive my FREE Sacred Body Workbook—the perfect place to begin your healing journey before our work together.
• You can email me at kayla@connectedpleasurecoaching.com
• Tips - Leave me a tip if you would like to support the podcast

Welcome to the Connected Pleasure Podcast. I'm Kayla Moore, sacred disruptor and sovereign guide, here to share liberation wisdom for sexual healing and feminine rising.

This is a space to return to your pleasure, your power and your body, while remembering your deep connection to the earth and to each other. Each week we explore what it means to lead with soft power and to weave a world rooted in embodiment, love and connection.

Together, we are holding the frequency of what we want this world to look and feel like as we collectively weave together a new paradigm shift called the Great Turning. Because pleasure is not frivolous, it is foundational and it's time to come home. This podcast is for education and inspiration only.

If you're wanting to explore pleasure more fully for yourself, I invite you to go deeper with me through the offerings linked in the show notes or through the offerings of my guests.

If you're unsure whether one of these containers or a therapeutic approach would best support you, you're welcome to schedule a free 45 minute consultation with me. Together we can explore what path is in your best interest. And if I am not the right fit, I'll be glad to connect you with the resources you need.

Welcome, lovelies, back to the Connect to Pleasure Podcast. I'm Kayla, your host. I use she, her, hers, pronouns and I am here with my colleague Shauna Stewart.

Today we are going to be talking all about our upcoming retreat called Shed that is coming up on November 14th, 15th and 16th, so Friday, Saturday and Sunday on Vashon island. And we are going to be staying at a beautiful lodge. We really want you to know all the ins and outs about it because we have one last spot available.

So we're here to talk more about what our collaboration in this retreat is going to look and feel like. And I'm so excited to welcome Shauna back to my podcast.

So, Shauna, for the people that don't know you and haven't heard you on my podcast before, can you talk a little bit about who you are, what you do, and why we are collaborating on this together?

Yeah, absolutely. Thanks so much for having me today, Kayla. It's fun to be back on. So I'm a certified sexuality educator and intimacy coach.

I've been in this industry for about five years now. Prior to that, my background was in community leadership and economic development.

So it was a big swing to go from that world into the field of sexuality.

I never want to, like, be rose colored glasses or apple cider vinegar and say it's the only thing you need. But whatever it is you're doing to heal, if pleasure's not a part of that recipe, it's going to be harder to feel better, to get better.

And that was a radical idea for me at the time because I had always thought that pleasure caused pain, especially the sexual pleasure was going to cause unwanted pregnancy, STI or a broken heart, especially when I was younger.

And then as I grew in my career and identified very much so as a high achiever, anything that was pleasurable felt frivolous and distracting to my big goals that I was trying to pursue. And so it was really, like I said, it was a reckoning with the idea and concept of pleasure and the role it plays in our life.

What I had previously believed, the stories and scripts that I had around pleasure and.

Yeah, and then over the last several years, it's just been a lot of digging up all these scripts, turning them over, looking at them, letting go the ones that don't work, replacing them with new ones. And some of them, you know, are helpful still. So I have, I own a boutique called Linger Boutique where we offer online sexual wellness products.

And then I also offer coaching one on one and for couples. Couples. And I love to do these retreat experiences. So I'm excited to dive into that conversation with you today.

Yeah, I'm really excited. This is my first time leading a retreat and I'm really excited to be doing it with you.

So I think we are really going to collectively together create an unforgettable and hopefully a really transformative experience for all the people that are coming to our retreat. Absolutely.

I'm excited.

Yeah. So our retreat is called Shed, and Shannon was the one that came up with this idea for the retreat.

Can you talk a little bit about where that idea came from and kind of the energy behind what Shed means to you?

But what was really standing out to me was this idea that in order to grow, we must let go of things.

And so if you think about the snake and its skin, in order for the snake to physically grow, it's going to get a little bit uncomfortable for a period of time as its skin tightens. And then eventually we have to release that old, those old layers of skin to reveal something more vibrant and beautiful that's underneath.

So I tend to be a little stubborn and I tend to resist things, new ideas or even things that I know to be true. I will, I tend to meet them with resistance initially. But over this past year I really have shed, shed a lot, namely a form of my business model.

So I had a brick and mortar store for a period of time and recently let go of that to focus more with online and then doing these in person activations in the form of retreats and one on one coaching.

And then there's been some personal just stories around value worth, et cetera, that I've had to let go of in order to fully grow in the way that I knew I wanted to and the way I knew I was being called to. So I've seen it personally, I've seen it in a lot of my friends, I've seen it.

I feel like every time I open my Instagram account somebody else is announcing something that is closing or they're releasing or letting go of in their lives. A lot of even just like the relationship ending, relationship endings, business, other business endings, just a lot of endings in.

A lot of way.

But really those endings are there to make room for something new and more beautiful.

So yeah, absolutely.

Well, I'm very into astrology and this is a year, apparently it's a nine year too, which is like the end of the numerology around years and next year is a one year.

So this year is like an ending year and due to all the planets like moving into a lot of the outer planets moving into completely new signs and everything is kind of teetering on the last degree of a sign or the first degree of a new sign. This year is all about endings and beginnings.

And so yeah, I see that everywhere and I myself have gone through a lot of endings and beginnings this year and have shed a lot too. So I think it's cool that we are both experiencing that together.

Absolutely. Yeah.

Yeah. So can we talk a little bit too around like I think you're slightly getting into it but, like, who is this retreat for?

What are we hoping to achieve with this retreat?

And, you know, we already have 10 people signed up, so if you could talk a little bit to the reasons why the people that have already signed up, have signed up and what they are hoping to get out of this experience. Yeah.

I think the big theme that I've noticed is that the women who are signing up for this retreat are done. They're like. They're needing a transition. Transition. They're maybe in a transition phase.

They know that they might be done or need to release something. They might not even know what they're moving towards yet. And that's a. Okay. But I think that there's just.

There's a lot of weight right now in the world, globally, nationally, personally. And I think it's. There's just. I'm seeing a desire to release some of that weight. And also not.

And not in a. I don't want to say that in like a bypassy way or like, I don't want to deal with this way, but more in a. Like, what can we find and create that can be more beautiful, impactful, more helpful, more pure?

How could I show up in the world as more of me and less of all the stuff that has been put on me?

Yeah.

So we can make it more beautiful. So we can make it a healthy and dynamic and sustainable world that we want it to be in terms of some of the themes.

So in our registration form, I like to ask what people are looking forward to the most or what's drawing them to the experience.

And several people, interestingly, and this is not how we marketed it, but there's a small handful of people who have either recently been divorced or. Or are perhaps considering divorce. And whether that. That's the right move for them.

Yeah.

And then we just have a lot of folks who are recognizing the indoctrination they've been living with and the weight of these stories and scripts and how it's standing in the way of not only intimacy with their partners and relationships, if they have them, but also with themselves. And so I think that those are the two big things is just like just kind of being done with.

Done with something, whether that's a relationship, whether it's a script, whether it's a phase of life, even maybe it's a job that, you know, this is a career that I'm no longer interested in and I need to move into something else. But I think in these transition phases, it's really an. We don't have a lot of rites of passage in our culture anymore.

Right.

And so it's nice, when we are in these transition phases, to be able to take a step back and to reflect and to process and to honor that phase of life, like what has been as we make way for what's coming, rather than just kind of onto the next. Onto the next, as we tend to do in our culture pretty easily.

So, yeah, yeah. So a lot of transitions, a lot of wanting to, like we are saying, shed the old to give birth to the new.

And, you know, we specifically bring the element of pleasure and specifically sexual pleasure into the mix of that.

And, you know, both you and I would say that sexual pleasure is a gateway to pleasure in all aspects of your life and being able to come back to a place of feeling like I have sovereignty again in myself, that I can lead from a place of alignment and power within instead of looking for power outside of myself.

So can you speak a little bit more to, like, how we are going to be diving into sexual pleasure, but how that can, like, ripple out into all the other aspects of life as well?

Yes.

So this is actually one of my favorite things that I've been discovering as a result of coaching one on one and then doing retreats is even as we focus and center sexual pleasure, what clients and people are coming back and saying is, like, these things that I'm learning, these things that I'm experiencing, unpacking and moving through in the field of sexuality, because that. That's where it's, like, most taboo, most vulnerable, most can feel most excruciating and has the biggest payoff right in that. In that little area.

But sex isn't siloed. It's connected to everything in our lives, or our sexuality is connected to everything in our lives.

So what I'm finding is that people, when they learn how to communicate in the bedroom, they can better communicate in the boardroom.

And they're taking those skills that are far exceed anything that leadership development platforms or curriculum is going to teach you and applying it to their leadership in the real world and having a much deeper and more profound response because they're able to connect with more authenticity, more curiosity, even more purity. And I use that a little bit cautiously because I know we struggle with purity culture. I don't mean it in, like, a chaste way.

I mean it in just a more true, real way where we can be so clear on what our desires are, what our hopes, dreams, wants are, and so clear on what our limits are that we can also honor the limits of somebody Else and honor and explore their wants, dreams.

And so we can co create in every aspect of our world so much deeper and more effectively because we're able to bring creative energy, which is the same as sexual energy. We're able to bring curiosity, which is essential for delightful, delicious pleasure.

And a lot of, like, just a lot of those skills are so transferable, and when we turn them on in our sex lives, every other aspect of our life gets turned on as well.

Mm, absolutely. Absolutely. And I like that you are bringing it into the creation energy space.

And I think that that's a really important, like, bridge to make between sexual energy and how we are creating and co creating in that space that it is creation energy.

And I think that's a good segue into the fact that in order to have creation energy, in order to have pleasure, we also have to be in a place in our bodies that is in, if we look at, like scientific terms, rest and digest that. We have to be in a place of calm and ease and safety in order for us to access that.

Otherwise we're in the fight, flight or freeze, like, trauma response.

And so our goal with this retreat is to you and I have been talking about, like, kind of creating like a womb space or like a little cocoon for everybody coming on the retreat to really be held in a really, like, intentional and loving way so that your bodies can exhale, you can like, take a step away from your everyday life and really lean into this creation energy and feel what it feels like to again, let go of these barriers that we have to accessing it and then really feel into what does it feel like for me to feel this way.

So can you also talk more to, like, how we are creating that space and what it's gonna look and feel like to be in that, like, womb energy or cocoon energy.

Yeah. So I love this, this analogy of the womb and the cocoon, but it's gonna feel cozy.

Like, we want people to come as they are, wear their cozy clothes, leave the performance at the door.

Like we have to perform in so many aspects of our life, and this is just not gonna be one of those areas that we're gonna do that we're gonna come as we are.

I think that you and I are pretty laid back people, you know, and we can hold a very intentional energy, but it's really about softness and slowness and creating that place where we can get curious and feel safe to get curious.

And then I think the other element of that is we do have a number of embodiment exercises and practices that we will be guiding participants through that not only will be super impactful for the weekend of the retreat, but these practices can be replicated in your own homes.

Like one of the practices we'll do, like, an emotional alchemy practice on Saturday afternoon where we're going to really tap into some of our emotions because, again, we're not bypassing.

We want to be able to accept and honor where we are now, but tap into the grief of what our lives have experienced and the rage and move that eventually move that energy into pleasure, but not without fully honoring those other emotions first. And this is a practice that, Kayla, I know you've learned recently. I've been doing it for quite a while now.

And it is one that, like, whenever I start feeling off kilter spirally in my head, because that's where I love to go, is just to overthink and second guess.

And doubt is turning on the music and working through this process either at a micro level with, like, one song or @ a full, more like, ceremonial dose level that we'll do at the retreat. And it works. So you'll. You'll not.

The people who are coming, they're not only doing something in the retreat, in this bubble, but they'll also get to take these tools, these practices into their everyday life and be able to tap into that energy when they need it as well. Does that answer your question?

Yeah, for sure, for sure.

And I will just speak to the fact that, again, in so many of the ways that I have sat with people and give them tools to use, so many of these tools are so simple, but they're really impactful and powerful. And yeah, like, I think a lot of people be like, how am I gonna move so much emotional energy just by, like, listening to a song and dancing to it?

But I think the thing that I really learned in learning this modality is, you know, we're not pushing these emotions away. So many of us think in kind of a dichotomy around emotions of, like, positive emotions and negative emotions.

And we tend to not want to feel negative emotions. And I try to say there's no, like, positive or negative. There's just easier to feel emotions and harder to feel emotions.

And the harder to feel emotions are hard because we don't tend to give room and space to feel them.

And so these practices, it can feel scary to, like, lean into our emotions instead of just trying to push them away, but it's giving them the space to really be full out in what they need to Express and kind of let them go through the cycle of. Just, like, I need to be really sad right now. I need to be really mad right now.

I need to feel the grief and allowing it to just move through you and then out of you so that we can then get to a place of, okay, now I can be in a space of creation, and I get to find, like, the pleasure in having these emotions and then creating something new from them. And that's what alchemy is. It's like taking one form of something and turning it into something else. So I just.

I think it's a really powerful experience to have. And anyone that's feeling like, oh, I don't know how to do that, or I. I'm afraid to do that, especially in front of other people.

I just want to reassure you that, like, we are both very skilled at holding you in this and making sure that you get to have whatever experience is right for you. There's no right or wrong way to do it, and there's no judgment in these spaces.

We really want to make this a loving and accepting and just, again, like, we want to hold you in whatever place you're at so that just, like, we both have learned, too, whatever is. Is the portal. Like, you get to just come and show up just as you are. You don't have to be anything that you're not.

And if stuff is coming through for you, great. Then we get to hold you in that. So I'm really excited for that part of the retreat myself.

Yeah, I think it'll be good.

One of the gals who came on a previous retreat that I did in Tuscany, she said that it was, like, the first time that she felt like she was really able to move through something, because we can tend to get stuck in, like, if we're venting with our friends, like, there's definite benefits to that. There's definite benefits to talk therapy. And it keeps us in this very, like, cerebral space.

And so being able to process it through movement, through our body. And when we say, like, dance, I want to be careful that it's like, because I am not a dancer, I love to move my body to music.

But, like, to call anything that I do dance would be. Be generous. And. And so it really, like. Like I said at the very beginning, it's not about performance.

It is just about, like, learning how to listen to whatever your body is feeling and how it needs to move to. To express and feel whatever needs to be felt in that moment. And I would say again, like, I'm one of those people who.

Oh, I think I prefer to do my emotional processing and my physical movement and all that, and the privacy of my own home. I actually do a lot of it in my primary closet because it's the most private, darkest, like, cocoony place.

And I've done this work in a room of, like, a hundred other people.

And.

And I've done it online with video cameras on, and I've done it in groups, like, smaller groups, like what we'll have of 10 to 15 people. And there is a lot of power in sharing the energy with somebody else, like witnessing and being witnessed.

Even if we're not looking at each other, you're aware of other people. And I think that all that energy feeds on each other.

And then it also tells the story of, like, what the collective energy is like, is what our collective grief feels like, what our collective rage feels like, and then ultimately what our collective joy feels like. And that's all amplified when we're in a room with other people. And you can keep your eye.

Like, I often will keep my eyes closed so I don't get distracted by and, you know, performance of others or myself. So Michaela said, there we're will help you figure out what the right path is for you, whatever that level is.

But, yeah, there's a lot of power in doing it in a group.

Yeah, yeah, yeah. I'm just so excited. I'm excited to see what the energy is like and see what the dynamics are like in the group setting.

So with that, too, I don't want to go, like, too much into talking about all the details, but we do have a few more details than we did on Shawna's podcast. So can you talk a little bit about, like, the flow of the weekend and also the fact that we will have some downtime?

This isn't like a fully booked, you are running from one thing to another type retreat. We intentionally are planning some space and time for integration as well as connection with each other. So can you talk a little bit about.

Yeah, just, like, the flow of the weekend and what that will look like for solo time, as well as integrating with others, if that's something that you choose to do.

Yeah, absolutely. So the retreat experience will begin Friday evening, and you'll probably spend a good part of your day.

It's not a terribly long trip, depending on where you're coming from, but a good part of your day traveling to Vashon island, which includes a ferry ride.

And I think that that's just part of the magic of the retreat experience is this very physical, like cutting of the cord from the rest of everyday life and floating across the sound to this island, debarking from the ferry and driving to the lodges. It's such a peaceful drive and it just feels like an exhale. So your retreat will already begin before you're even at the lodges. We'll do.

You can begin checking in as early as 4:00 clock to the lodges, but also encourage people to like, get there early and take advantage of exploring the town and grab some coffee or a dinner. We will be starting at 6 o' clock and we will serve charcuterie and wine that night and we will do a little housekeeping.

Kayla will lead us through a beautiful ceremony.

Oh, and going back to the housekeeping, I should say, during the housekeeping is where we'll really outline kind of the agreements and set the container in the space so we all can know how to honor and respect each other throughout the retreat experience and then afterwards as well. Confidentiality is a big part of it. Consent, where you get opt in and opt out as you feel is necessary. So we'll set up that space very intentionally.

Kayla will lead us through a opening ceremony and then I will introduce a idea, a metaphor, what that I call the pleasure purse, where I use like the purse and the items within a purse to describe the different elements of pleasure that impact our ability to experience it.

And it just helps us kind of frame and make something that feels, can feel very intangible, a little bit more tangible, and we can grasp what is really required to be able to full experience our full capacity of pleasure. So we'll talk through that and then just have some nice relaxing time.

Saturday and Sunday mornings will offer walk and talks, and these will be optional, but sometimes people like to move their bodies and walking and talking can be a very bonding experience. There's a lot of brain science that supports that and just getting fresh air before you know, there's a lot of.

There's movement throughout the day, but also a lot of sitting. So getting out and moving our bodies might feel good. Breakfast, lunch and dinner will be provided on Saturday. Breakfast will be provided on Sunday.

On Saturday morning, Kayla is going to lead us through some workshop and conversations. We'll have some downtime lunch. I'll do the emotional alchemy in the afternoon. And then that evening we're going to do a like a pajama party.

So we'll get in our pajamas and then you guys like the attendees will have the opportunity to ask to sex coaches anything you want to ask and we can have some fun conversations about that. And then it's like, basically, like, I would say like a happy hour, but with actual experts. So I think is the vibe.

And then Sunday morning, Kayla's going to lead us through a voice or sound voice ceremony, and then we'll do some closing reflections and depart around 11. I. I know I'll probably stick around a little longer on the island to enjoy some lunch there, so if anyone wants to join for that.

But yeah, we'll wrap up around 11, and as Kayla said, we will certainly be integrating some pauses, some downtime, and making sure that you have time to connect with one another.

I think one of the things we were talking about before the podcast was just the idea that while we will be processing a lot in a larger group, some of that digesting and integration often happens in smaller, either two on one or one on one group conversations that happen very organically during meal time or in between sessions or just in downtime. People kind of pair up and. And like to talk about it. So I think that's the flow.

Absolutely. Yeah. And I don't know if you have a answer for this, but I do want to just say that the last spot that we have is in a shared room.

Most of the rooms that we have are shared room combos where there's two people to a room. And so far, it's worked out beautifully.

We've not had any issue with that, and people were happy to, like, sign up for whichever option felt right for them.

But I'm just wondering, have you gotten any feedback from people around, like, sharing a room with somebody or if that was something that you've experienced in your previous retreat that you did? Like, how. How do people typically feel about sharing a room with somebody? And, you know, that being part of your experience.

Yeah. So that's a good question. I have not gotten any pushback on shared lodges. So I will describe the lodges for anybody who's interested.

So they're like, little. Each unit is like a small. Little, like a tiny house or a small cabin. It's a standalone cabin. It has one king bedroom with a door. So if.

And I think that's the last room that's left is the king bedroom with a door. So you would have your own private space, but you would be in a shared lodge with one other person.

So it would be sharing a kitchenette, a common area, and then the other person's bed would be a twin bed that's kind of on the opposite side of the cabin in a Little nook. So that nook doesn't necessarily have a door, but it has kind of privacy walls. It feels like it's set aside and it's its own space.

So it's not like you're sharing a hotel room with somebody. You're sharing a small lodge or cabin. And yeah, like I said, that king bed is private.

And I think one of the nice things I've been on excursions and experiences where I've shared space, even hotel rooms with other people. And what's nice is you kind of have an instant friend, like showing up to an event and it's all strangers.

And it can just feel good to have a buddy who you can check in with. And whether or not they become your best friend is relatively inconsequential.

But it's nice to have just, like, that person who it feels like you're being looked after and you can look after somebody else as well. And just kind of forms a little bit of a bond for the weekend and sometimes beyond.

And what I'll say, too, is, like, this retreat I hosted in Italy, I'm hosting a. A reunion in a couple of weeks for those women because they just bonded so closely with each other. And I think.

And I think that that's a factor of just everyone coming with big, open hearts and so just really encouraging that is, like, come with your biggest openness. That's not a word. Most open heart. And there's no pressure to become best friends with everybody. That's not.

I don't.

I don't want to promise that or expect that.

And also, I think the magic of what, like, the depth, the intimacy, the embodiment, the conversation, all of it works together to really create some lasting, meaningful bonds.

And you really feel like you get to know people at a pretty deep level, at a level that you don't get to know, like, just in the office by the water cooler, or at business networking events where everything's very shallow and superficial. Like, we are getting to the core.

So I think, too, like, a lot of introverts tend to like these experiences because we tend to go deeper in conversation, and it's very meaningful and deep. Even though you're surrounded by people, it's a smaller, more intimate group that feels manageable to be able to connect with. And.

Yeah, so I think that. I think the connection element is always really fun to watch unfold.

For sure. For sure. And I have been on a big retreat that was like 150 people, and I'm actually really excited to be in a smaller Retreat.

I think if you are somebody that really wants to go deep and connect to most, if not all the people that are there, again, no pressure to be friends, but to have like more intimate conversations in a more intimate setting where you do get to know all the people there, this is the retreat for you. And that it definitely feels more aligned for what I would want out of a retreat because I am more of an introverted person. But I want to go deep.

Like I'm somebody that I don't want to just have, you know, conversations about the weather and that's it.

Or have like a five minute conversation with somebody and then I don't see them again for the rest of the retreat, that this is really an intimate space that we are going to go through this journey all together from start to finish with still time for you to like, have your own time if you want to. And I do like the fact that this shared lodging, it does have its own space.

It's like all the shared stuff is in the middle and then the two rooms are on either side of that. So also feel free to set boundaries for yourself.

Like if you need some alone time and you need to just go kind of do your own thing, I don't think anybody is going to push back on that. Like, we really want to honor whatever is right for you.

Yeah. And yeah. I think there's one more thing I was gonna say about this friendship. Oh.

One of the things that I think is nice too about the retreat setting is that as far as I know, nobody knows each other that's coming.

Yeah.

And so. And that gives a lot of freedom because nobody has any expectations of you.

You don't have to be in your mom role or your friend role or your work role role. You don't have to wear any of these hats that people expect you to wear in everyday life. You get to just come as you are, come as you.

And I think that that was one of the things that really was the best thing to hear about the last retreat I hosted was that every single person said that they felt like they could be themselves. And it was the first time in a very long time that they felt that that was the case. And so it's important.

Like, I mean, two, if you think about that, like, that means that a lot of us are masking in a lot of different areas of life every day. And we may not even feel the weight of that until we're not carrying it anymore.

And so just to be able to have a sense of being able to experience like Oh, I can just say when I want to say.

And I don't have to process or think how other people are going to because they're all strangers, you know, and so there is this intimacy, but there's also an anonymity that makes the intimacy so sweet as well.

Yeah, yeah.

It's an interesting dynamic, for sure.

Well, and I think it's interesting to look at that too, from. You know, this is the first time we're putting on this retreat.

It's the first time any people are coming on the retreat or all the people that are coming are. They will be there for the first time. And so, like, we are kind of co creating this together and that's a really fun space to be.

And, you know, again, on, like, the bigger retreat that I went on, there were definitely groups of people that came together that had done previous retreats or like workshops together. And so sometimes that can feel a little clicky, even if they're not trying to be that way.

But when we kind of come with a buddy and we only want to stay with that buddy, sometimes other people feel a little excluded from that.

And so I think it's, you know, as scary as it can be sometimes to come into a new space with people that you don't know, again, we're really going to try to hold all of you in the way that you need to be held. And I think it's, like you said, Shauna, a great starting point to create a bond throughout this entire process.

And hopefully everyone really feels like they got out of it what they needed to get out of it and didn't feel like there was some dynamic going on throughout that was causing it to be hard to connect with people.

Yeah, I think it'll be good.

Yeah, absolutely. Is there anything else that we want to touch on? I feel like I'm out of questions.

I think I would just reemphasize that. Coming back full circle to the beginning of this idea of shedding is that you might not intellectually know what it is that needs to be shed.

Maybe you do, but it might not be present in your mind yet. But you might just be feeling a weight lately.

Like just feeling heavy and feeling like, you know, that there's something underneath that that's beautiful and vibrant. Maybe you're curious. Curious about it. You just don't know.

Like, come and we can just begin to peel back those layers and something might come up and surprise you as you're there so we don't have to, like, have a very specific bullet point list. Of things we're going to resolve or fix or whatever. We're not here to fix anybody. Just to. Just to be so.

Just, I think, like, paying attention, like, if there's something stirring, if you're curious, but you can't quite justify it because you don't quite have, like, an intellectual reason for why this weight is there, come and explore and you might learn a lot as a result of these activities that we're going to be doing together.

Yeah. Yeah, I love that.

I will also note that both Shauna and I will be providing, like, resources after the retreat if you want to step into any deeper spaces with either one of us that, like, this is not the only space that you get to work with us if you feel like once you go through this transformation, you're ready for something else. So we will both be providing you with next steps if you want to take a next step.

And then, Shauna, can you talk a little bit about, like, the logistics of the last spot that's available, kind of how to go about signing up for that, what the cost looks like right now, and just anything that you feel like they need to know around what. What is coming between now and the actual retreat in the next three weeks? Cause I know we're sending out some emails.

We're making sure everybody kind of knows what you need to pack, what is going to happen. I promise you won't feel like you're being left in the dark.

You will know exactly how to get to where you need to go, what you need to do when you get there, what to pack. So can you just speak to all of those details?

Yeah, absolutely. So I'm sure in the show notes you'll drop the link for the website.

And that again includes your lodging for two nights, all your meals, charcuterie and wine the first night, and then all of the embodiment workshops and exercises, as well as perhaps some little welcome gifts and treats and so forth throughout. And yeah, you can just click save your spot, fill out the form, and we'll take it from there.

If you need flexible payment plans, we can work that out. We just ask that everything's paid in full by the retreat experience. If you.

If breaking up those payments is helpful, we can work with you on that and we'll go from there.

Great. Yeah, absolutely. And like I said, we are sending out emails so that you have all the information that you need leading up to the retreat.

So once you get signed up, you will be put on that email list and get all the information that you could possibly want. And you can always reach out to us and ask any questions that you have as well. I think that that's it.

Is there any last things that you have before we say goodbye?

Nope, I think we covered it. I think that you and I were chatting earlier.

I, I have had a long standing belief that the right people will always show up at the table and just trusting that process.

And if that one spot is meant to be filled with one of your listeners, I hope they, they listen to it and, and show up and enjoy because the group that's coming together is, it's a dynamic group of individuals and humans and they're all like, I haven't met everyone in person. I've met a handful and they're good, good people. So yeah, it's going to be a cool experience and would love to welcome one more.

Yes, absolutely. Absolutely. So if you feel called to be there again, it is Friday, Saturday, Sunday, November 14th, 15th and 16th.

It is not going to interfere with Thanksgiving. It's a good, it's a good week or two before Thanksgiving.

So, you know, give yourself a little bit of break before the holidays and you know, as we're going into the end of the year, this is a great opportunity to again stop and reflect on where at what you want to shed before going into next year. And it's going to be a really special weekend. So I'm really excited for anyone that decides to say yes and come join us.

Thanks, Kayla.

Thank you, Shauna. So I think that's it for today. I really look forward to seeing anyone that joins us and I will be back next week same time with another guest.

So take care all. Thank you for joining me for this episode of the Connected Pleasure Podcast Podcast.

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