As many of you probably saw, I had the opportunity earlier this month to attend The Immersion with FIGS and Lululemon in Malibu. To give some background, The Immersion is a yoga retreat typically held by just Lululemon–they focus on building human connections, meditation, and of course daily sweat sessions. FIGS is actually the first brand that Lululemon has partnered with on one of their Immersions so it was a pretty big deal! All 50 of us invited where health care professionals (HCPs) consisting of doctors and nurses from all different specialties. As a company, FIGS wanted to give us HCPs a period to rest, recharge, and connect; to focus on ourselves and personal growth since we are always giving to others through our professions. So, when I’ve said that FIGS is a truly amazing company that actually cares about the HCPs that they serve–I mean that!

The Immersion was held at Calamigos Ranch so needless to say it as beautiful. As soon as you walked on the property you felt relaxed. The grounds are breathtaking, the staff was very welcoming, and the rooms were so gorgeous. It really was the perfect place to rest and recharge. We all arrived at various points on Monday afternoon, and after we got settled that evening we had our first yoga session followed with a delicious dinner. That was one thing that was great about this trip–we were never hungry and the food was soooo good! They were always feeding us, so no complaints there! Lol. But essentially the following two days consisted of a yoga session in the morning, breakfast, personal development work, lunch, and then more personal development exercises. We would then have a little free time in the afternoon before dinner that evening.

The personal development exercises definitely went deeper than anything I’ve ever done before. One of you guys asked me if they were career focused at all, and they were not, they were all very individual and personal to who you are at the core vs. what you are doing for work (if that makes sense). For example, these are three of the exercises we had to do:

1.Pretend it’s your 100th birthday and three people who know you super well are giving you a toast. Write down what each of them would say. Keep in mind they are being super generous with their words. Don’t hold back.

Writing a toast like this is hard enough BUT THEN we had to get into groups of 3 and trade toasts. While one person read your toast to you, the other person observed how you received it. This really made all of us get out of our comfort zones!!

2. Get a partner, and sit across from them with both knees touching and just stare into their eyes for 2 minutes.

Guys, this was literally the hardest exercise! We were all like I don’t think I’ve even done this with my spouse, haha! Try and see how long 2 minutes actually is (apparently we ended up doing it for 4 minutes!) and try not to laugh. It’s really hard to do! But we all did it! It was a really calming experience and it just really brings you back to remembering that we are all human. It was very surreal.

3. Write two 10 words that describe you and then narrow it down to your top 3. Then put these 3 words into a sentence that describes you.

My three words ended up being advocate, motivator, and self-assured. I said: I am self-assured with a strong internal compass, I stand up for others who cannot for themselves, and I motivate others and myself to be the best version. This was a really interesting exercise because it really made you think about what you identified with at your core an how it applies to your life and how it impacts others. During this particular exercise, I got nominated to read my sentence. Whenever I got to the advocate part I just started crying. Some of you may have read about this in an IG post I did a while back, but I kept thinking of this boy on a plane I was on that had autism, and how the guy next to me kept making derogatory comment about the boy. I was SO mad during the plane ride that right before we landed I told the guy how rude and disrespectful he was being. I still think of that moment and it still makes my blood boil. When I got up there and shared, I ended up getting really emotional about it. Everyone was seriously though SO supportive and encouraging and thankful that I shared. I felt so overwhelmed by everyone’s kindness and support! Other people shared things that day too that were incredibly brave and vulnerable. It was definitely a bonding experience for all of us with a lot of self-growth and reflection, and a moment that I won’t forget.

We also got to meet Trina Spear and Heather Hasson who are the co-CEOs of FIGS and they were so kind, intelligent, down to earth and humble. I was seriously so inspired by them and impressed with the company they have built and the values they have supporting it. Not to mention their generosity in putting together this event. Honestly the entire teams from FIGS and Lululemon were incredible. They were all so warm and welcoming and made us all feel so special. There are seriously awesome people and I feel blessed to know all of them!

Have you all ever done any kind of personal development retreats before? I didn’t really know what to expect but it was definitely an eye opening and life changing experience! I would love to hear y’alls thoughts if you’ve been to one or if you try any of the exercises above 🙂