I'll let you into my deep harboured dreams + Video: Let's be mermaids 💌 💦

the Digest 💌 Logged August 2017 and remembering dreams

Aug 21, 2021

This one's for those who are driven to go for their dreams, but aren’t seeing the fruits of their labour yet. Who know they want to create something, but they’re not quite sure of how to get there. Who feel it and can vision it, yet the hurdles to make it real feel scary and overwhelming. I really want to share this story with you, in the hope that it will encourage you to go for that crazy thing that scares you, but calls you anyway.

*...Hope you read that in a Jordan Knight voice*

Storytime: How did i end up here?

I knew pretty early on that i wanted to create experiences for people. Like retreats for example. It made sense in terms of every project i was trying to do. Creating an environment that felt safe, nourishing, potent with possibility and transformational! It was before my first yoga teacher training. The olden days(!)

In 2010 I was living in Norway and was gagging for an opportunity to create these spaces. I was working a number of jobs (that i didn’t love tbh) and also teaching around 10-12 yoga classes all over the city (which i loved) The people who came to classes really kept me going. And these classes only increased my yearning to create and share longer and deeper immersions. But struggles with money meant that i could barely afford to eat, let alone rent out a place in advance to house my retreat vision - 4 pounds for a loaf of bread, hello?!. Access to retreat locations was a struggle for someone with no money or no guarantor--- no shade, but who has a heap of cash to simply jet off somewhere for five days on a rekkie?

I was hungry. Broke.Tired. Wet. Life was hard. And i was so lonely. Yet fuelled by a drive to keep going. To strive to create the things i wanted to see in the world that didn’t exist yet. Even though some folks thought i was crazy. Or too much. Or that i should just do things the way they had always been done.

Yet I felt so clear on what i wanted to create, it enabled me to keep driving forwards and endure the other more challenging stuff.

Quietly.

Because I didn’t want to seem “above my station”. I was scared in these times to speak about my bigger dreams. Especially when i was reminded repeatedly about Jante Law. That’s a whole other storytime tbh….. But there came a point when i surrendered to the shame that wasn’t mine to carry. The vision was bigger than me.
And so i started to open up.

Opening to possibility

As it happened, putting my dreams out there created a cascade of opportunity. The universe made way for them, if you like *insert Will Smith/Jim Carrey anecdote with cinematic crescendo soundtrack here!*

Suddenly a location opened up in Norway that was accessible to hold space for a retreat- albeit in the middle of nowhere on an island in the middle of winter and despite the fact they hadn't had any kind of yoga retreat happening there which meant "building" our own studio space- but it was perfect. And others seemed to agree.

We sold out 22 spaces real fast-so fast that we put on an extra retreat the following week with 22 more people. All of this happened within a couple of months - from putting it out there to hosting the events.

Crazy.

Practicing trust despite the wild unknown

The practice of trusting my guts and manifesting my intentions reassured me to take another deep plunge into the unknown.

I knew i wanted to share my Brighton with good people as a retreat experience. I've had a few lives in this city, been day-tripper as kid, a student, worked some random jobs, some amazing ones, met some wonderful people and eaten a lot of good food and i guess, really “grown up” here.

There's the outer layer of Brighton. The one tourists usually see when they arrive. It’s a lovely layer - but there’s so much beneath and beyond in this special place. I wanted to offer an alternative space for a retreat in this city.

So once again, i tried it. Stepping out of my comfort zone to put it out there and trust it would connect with the right people. And once again, we made it happen. The response was incredible and it seemed to resonate- places sold out super fast and we had an amazing time with utterly inspiring people. So grateful.

Being intentional

Creating spaces that feel good, have value and are luxurious is really important to me. Making them “more than just yoga” but at the same time very much about yoga - or at least the idea of yoga’s literal translation: “yoke, to bind”, is at the heart of my intention.

Telling people what to do has never pinged my pants. Holding space for people to feel empowered to do what they feel is much more my style. So a lot of careful thought goes into choosing locations. The programme (although optional), is always given a lot of consideration. And also, adding enough space for the magic to happen.

The intention for people to have a journey and a potent, memorable experience that they can take back and implement into their “real life” was and really is at the heart of why i still run retreats. The flame in my guts still burns bright!

So now, seven years later, here we are. Dozens of retreat experiences i've been honoured to share, both in the UK and Norway. And last week, we welcomed guests to our 6th Brighton Summer Retreat with more amazing people who joined us for the ride. I’m so grateful.

What makes me smile is that every retreat always has repeat guests as well as new people joining us for the adventure. Of course i could be an arsehole and say it’s about us, but i don’t think it is. I believe it’s a big cake mixture of stuff. The location. The potential for transformation. The opportunity to go deep. The food (hopefully a lot of people return because of that…!). The programme - which i might add isn’t only about what we plan, but rather what happens in the sessions when plans meet people...i must say, there’s been many times i’ve paused mid workshop just to say to myself, “wow, this is simply magic.”

So it’s not about me. It’s much bigger than that. Yeah i’m getting soppy. But it’s real and true. And i hope that everyone who has expressed an interest in joining us from many parts of the world is one day a part of creating something special together.

I’ll let you into my deep harboured dreams:

It’s my goal to find more spaces in different parts of the world to create these offerings in.

I want to hold retreats that are focussed on self care for example and continuing to combine them with creative practices. That includes body, mind, creativity, rituals, encyclopaedias of pleasure, and practical tools like making potions and lotions to use in real life, and so on.

I want to continue to explore seasonal offerings with tools to support people through transitions. A deeper version of my Norway workshops. And would love to host retreats for entrepreneurs (whether full time or side hustling) focussed on giving people time, tools and support to work on a project, plus resources and opportunities to collaborate on fun things together, as well as offering on spacemaking creative activities, (always) excellent food and of course, some yoga and movement and meditation practices to help folks feel tuned up---"turn up", if you like! ("turn down for what?!")

There’s so many ideas of places to go, and id love to share some magical parts of the world that i’ve lived in, or spent a lot of time in for example, i'd love to go back to some of my fave places in Greece, to return to the Caribbean, some of the beautiful parts of Spain, Italy, France, and of course, Mexico and Nola are on my mind! But to be honest, I'm open.

It’s my goal too, to make these retreats sustainable enough to keep the prices low but still high quality, as well as offering spaces for lower income folks to join.

Because access is important. And i am passionate about people getting time to live their best lives. I know, Oprah says it, but it's true!

Fear is only holding us back

It's funny. This dream has been so close to my heart for so long that at times i’ve almost been frightened of sharing it. In case i tempt fate or destroy it with good intention or something ridiculous.

But weirdly, after class a few weeks ago, an amazing human reached out to tell me about her plans for creating a space in the world that is now coming together. And you know what? She wanted me to be a part of it - and basically, every word she uttered was like a mirror back of that same intention i'd clung tightly to inside, yet felt unsure of how the hell i could make it happen. She got it!

And it reminded me of something that i really hope you take from this storytime moment:

✨✨✨ put it out there, just because.✨✨✨

Don't feel scared that you might look stupid or weird.

Or that the “wrong people” would judge you or rip you off or steal your ideas and swipe all the opportunities whilst you remain hungry and broke. Sidenote: i’ve been there too and really and truly, don’t let that ever hold you back from putting yourself out there.

I know i talk about doing your dreams - that thing you’re scared of (and you can listen to it here too if you prefer), but really, on this planet, who is going to bring those ideas to life?

It’s you bbz!

And will they thrive whilst hidden at the bottom of your pile of priorities?

Or lurking in your deep gut desires without a helping hand to tease them out and make them real?

Baby, it’s you. (sangs in Jojo)

You don’t need to be scared, or protective, or even have it super clear with your route map set in stone. You just need to hold space to invite that stuff to be real. Get out of your routine. Do something different. Or simply, write down and say aloud what it is you want. Even if it's “i don’t know what i want yet but it’s something! Something amazing”.

2017 Dionne is grateful that 2010 Dionne stayed close to her dreams despite also wondering how the hell it could ever happen.

(And if you’re curious about 2000 Dionne, well, there’s a very fashionable post and podcast on that here!)

So what say you?

Shall we dream this up together? Got some ideas for a retreat or know of a location and/or venue? Or just interested in me making it happen and you simply turning up to enjoy it?

Let’s talk!

💞 BRIGHTON SUMMER RETREAT 2017 💞

✨Thank you for joining us for the Brighton Summer Retreat 2017!
What a wondrous bunch! We were so honoured to host you all!

Full picture and video report coming soon!

Love and gratitude!

Are you into morning routines?

I shared my Summer Self Care Morning Routine and Rituals which i hope is useful or at least interesting to someone. Expect to see the gory details of what i get up to every morning, plus lots of my tips and recommendations for creating the stuff in your life that helps you to feel tip top.

You can find it HERE.

As always, i love to hear from you. Thank you so much for your amazing response to the summer morning rituals from the last digest. Mega appreciative.

Love always.

Dionne x

Extra goodies!

️✨✨✨ Bergen, Oslo and Stockholm peeps!!!
Looking forward to seeing you soon!
Exciting announcements coming your way shortly! Promise! ✨✨✨

Until, as always, you can always access resources here:

🐬 Free yoga (i make weekly vids for you over here) Subscribe for updates!

🎵 Free music - playlists for yoga and for life + my radio show FEELINGS can be found here

🙋🏽‍♀️ Or in person (at my weekly Brighton community class every Tuesday here).