Memories from our retreats in Cantabria, Spain
Memories from our retreats in Cantabria, Spain
Despite the pandemic, we were lucky to be hosting two beautiful retreats in the North of Spain this year. After all the lockdowns and restrictions, we couldn’t be happier to be enjoying nature and its beauty again in a safe open space with our amazing Serendipities. Naturally, many of our girls came from different parts of Spain this time, but we also had guests who came all the way from Germany and the Netherlands. Both of our retreats took place in San Vicente, Cantabria, a stunning part of Northern Spain with the most incredible landscape.
I’m not exaggerating when saying this place blew our minds away, it really did. Picture a glorious everlasting coastline with perfect waves rolling into shore, then lifting your gaze up slightly to discover the tall, majestic Los Picos mountains in the distance. And it doesn’t stop there… In between the wide blue sea and misty mountains, you find green fields with grazing cows and horses. It just doesn’t get better than that, does it? Watching this scenery daily definitely fuelled our souls and made us happier during our stay here.
You don’t even have to be outdoors to get this feeling, just visualizing nature brings a sense of calm and quiet. It’s something indescribably serene and encourages a deep sigh and instant relaxation. It helps us forget about all our stresses and worries for a while and brings our mind to peace.
If you live in a city, or somewhere else where these scenic views seem far away, all you need to do is close your eyes and suddenly you are there. I always count my blessings in memories, and after all, when we are old and won’t be able to hike in the mountains anymore or go surfing like we used to, so we need to create memories to look back on. In the end that’s what matters, right? To look back at a happy, fun and beautiful life while saying to yourself “yep, I nailed it” with a huge smile on your face!
Being in Cantabria with all our lovely girls was truly the best place to be and we were so lucky to call this our home. Our two retreats took place in two different houses and we loved them equally. We had a huge garden and outside area where we could practice yoga and mindfulness, sunbathe, rest, hang out and dine together. Doing our morning yoga practice outside, surrounded by meadows and rolling hills far away from the hustle and bustle of city life was a beautiful way of starting each day. Sometimes we had curious cows keeping an eye on us and sometimes a cute duck joined in the lesson as well. Feeling the gentle morning breeze on our skin and watching the sunrise while moving and stretching our bodies is an incredible feeling – and even better, knowing that a tasty, healthy breakfast was waiting for us just after the class just made everything just a little bit better.
The San Vicente beaches are just unbelievable stunning. The place we took the girls surfing had white, smooth sand that went on as far as our eyes could see. The waves here are perfect for beginners as well as intermediates and it didn’t take the girls long before they were all up and riding. We had both fun party waves and amazing single rides. Just girls who were dedicated to the sport from the first minute, it was amazing to see the huge progress they made and the effort they put into it.
For us, surfing is all about having fun, and we totally achieved that with our positive girl squad during these two retreats. Watching photos and videos in our surf-video analysis was both fun and educational at the same time. We shared so much laughter in and out of the water and learned so much all in just a week! It’s so inspirational to have groups of girls here that have taken that step and given themselves time off to recharge, nourish and share this journey with other inspiring, like-minded women. Women who have trusted themselves and stepped out of their comfort zone by trying something completely new and exciting through surfing, yoga and mindfulness. This is truly how you gain new life-long friendships – by sharing, learning and experiencing something different together. We got to meet so many great people and seeing how fast they all become friends was amazing to see! We just had a good time from the first minute!
Every day after surfing we treated the girls with yin yoga and meditation, which was much needed after this crazy year. It’s also, the perfect way to reset after a fun and active day. Yin yoga is like a soothing balm, a technique used to heal and nourish. With hours of having an amazing time surfing and paddling, arching your lower back and repetitive take offs on the waves, your body grows overworked and tired. The combination of surfing with yin yoga gives us the balance our bodies need and reminds us to take time off in the day to be still and silent, to relax and rejuvenate. It’s so nice to have someone to remind you that it’s ok to slow down and bringing your awareness inwards, away from the busy outside world for a little while. We all need that. And we have time, we just need to distribute our time differently. That’s a big focus at our retreat and a good reminder for us, as well as for our guests.
Feeling good after our new active and healthy routine, we also got to explore the area a little, even though surfing and yoga took up most of our days (how lucky are we?) We went to some amazing cliffs to see the sunset and some gorgeous hidden beaches, we got to see the El Soplao caves (which look like a cross between winter wonderland and the inside of a whale) Just incredible. We walked around the old historical town of Comillas, paddle the beautiful Ría in San Vicente by SUP, had sunset drinks with mountain views, enjoyed dinners out and relaxed at the beach together. Our Chef also gave us a little cooking class which was very enjoyable and we even had live music with our amazingly talented Lilly, who sings and plays the guitar (in a way that can’t be explained). Dancing till the late-night hours was definitely something we will remember forever as well as all the colorful rainbows that magically appeared wherever we went. To sum up, it has been two incredible weeks!
