Return to
stillness.

I thought I understood wellness… until I went to Japan

I was 19 when I first went to Japan. Being there for the first time felt electric: the lights were brighter, the city was enormous, and everything looked new. Yet places like Yoyogi Park and Meiji Jingu carried this deep sense of yin, Buddhism, and spirituality. It was mesmerizing.

Japan inspired me to go deeper within myself. It is a feeling I have always wanted to share with my students. When I became a yoga teacher, I knew I needed to return—not just to visit, but to practice, teach, and give something back.

It became this incredible meeting point: extraordinary food, endless adventures, and subcultures that invite you down a rabbit hole of curiosity. Every doorway makes you wonder what is inside.

Something you’ve never experienced

You may have taken class with me. Maybe you meditate, use an app, take weekends away, or have already done a retreat. But if you have not experienced Japan—the stillness, wonder, ritual, and philosophy—you have to be there to understand it. You have to live it. That is what I want to share with you.

It’s not your fault

It would be stranger if you did not feel disconnected right now. Feeling like things are a little crazy is a completely normal reaction to the world around us. We need more connection. Wellness should be one of our highest priorities, yet it keeps becoming harder to access. If you want it, we have found a way—and perhaps this way can work for you.

The hustle culture

As a business owner, I know what it means to grind, hustle, and squeeze every final moment out of the calendar. When the calendar is not full, you can even feel anxious. I know that feeling, and it is crippling. The truth is that you do not need more in your calendar for the sake of being busy. You need experiences that are intentional and that mean something.

No new steps in your wellness routine

If you are thinking, “I do not want to add another thing,” you do not have to. Put this retreat on the calendar, place your deposit, and give yourself something real to look forward to. Just move. Get away. Go somewhere that can change the quality of your attention.

I run a wellness studio. I still need this.

Let me tell you: I need a break, too. We are building a wellness studio and a community, and as beautiful as that is, I continue to feel a pull toward Japan. I practice yoga, sit in the sauna, and work out. It all helps. But one of the clearest peaks of wellness I have felt is sitting in a hot bath, surrounded by nature, after movement, followed by the most incredible food. That is what Nikko can give us.

Ever dressed up as a samurai?

We are not only going to sit in an onsen. We will visit Edo Wonderland, where you can step into another era; walk the Dragon Scale trail through the landscape; and visit Nikko’s World Heritage temples, where centuries of Buddhist and Shinto devotion can still be felt. I am excited—and I hope you come.

Why Japan?

I have a real relationship with this place. I have been asked to host retreats in places I have never visited, and that never felt authentic. I cannot truthfully offer an experience rooted in a place I do not know. Japan is different. I can share this from my own heart and my own lived experience.

What happens to your body in a Japanese hot spring?

I have rarely felt calmer than in onsen water after a long yoga session. The colors of Japan in autumn, the mineral water, the mountains, and the ritual of bathing create a kind of embodied quiet. Public bathing grew into a communal wellness practice: a place for people to slow down, connect, and share the day—much like a yoga studio.

Forest bathing is a Japanese practice associated with lower stress and a quieter overactive mind. The environment begins its work before you ever unroll your mat. Combine that with onsen bathing, nourishing food, yoga, and community, and you have a deeply restorative container.

Why trust us?

We will practice vinyasa each day, with an optional evening practice. Hot-spring bathing supports deep relaxation and down-regulation. After several days in this kind of environment, I return inspired: believing more strongly that trauma-sensitive yoga, inclusive community, and wellness for real people are possible.

250 people want in. There are 8 spots.

We have had extraordinary interest in this retreat, and we intentionally keep the group small. That allows for personal attention, ease, and real connection. If this speaks to you, now is the time to begin the conversation.

What’s included?

Before departure, you will receive an onboarding call, a packing guide, and personal preparation support. The retreat includes five nights of lodging, daily breakfast and dinner, local group transportation for scheduled activities, all yoga and retreat programming, guided excursions, hikes, temples, and local sites—plus the care and attention possible only in a small group.

You can sit back, arrive, and enjoy. You may make lifelong friends and meet people walking a similar path. There is also an optional opportunity to spend additional time in Tokyo with Rex.

So what does it cost?

The early-bird investment is $2,950. The regular retreat price is $3,200. Payment plans are available, including a three-month option without a financing fee and a six-month option with a 6% financing fee.

What I’ll share here, I can’t share anywhere else

I know this is a meaningful investment. I have looked at retreats and training programs and asked myself, “Will I really take anything home?” I can tell you that I will share things during these five days that I simply do not have space to share in a class, a module, or a training program.

Things can stay the same—or you can choose a different rhythm for five days. You can book the retreat, breathe the air of tranquility, and experience Japan within a small, supported community.