More Than a Getaway: What I Witnessed At This Retreat

 What happens when women are given space to slow down… let their guard down… and simply be? 

In this episode, I’m taking you inside a recent getaway that turned into something so much more than a weekend away. 

From the very first dinner around the table to the quiet moments of connection, laughter, and honest conversation—this experience was a reminder of what we’re all truly craving. 

Not more noise.
 Not more pressure.
 But real connection. 

You’ll hear what made this space different, what shifted for the women who attended, and why these kinds of environments create breakthroughs that can’t be forced. 

If you’ve been feeling the pull toward something deeper… this episode is for you. 

Email: Kristi@kristifalanycoaching.com

Thanks for listening. Follow me in Facebook and Instagram. 

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:01

Hi, I am Christy Ballard Filaney. I am a certified life coach who found herself at 42, freshly divorced, kids off to college, and having never dated in my adult life. I was starting in the middle. If you haven't yet hit start on your middle time in life, let's do it together. Let the journey begin. Hello, my friend, and welcome back to the podcast. My name is Christy Filaney, your host of Start in the Middle. If this is your first time listening to the podcast, you are in for an amazing treat because I am fresh off of my Marble Falls spring getaway, where I had 13 amazing women meet me in Marble Falls at an extraordinary home for some rest, relaxation, and some connection. So I hope that you don't mind if I share with you a little bit about our time together this last weekend. If you've been following along for some time and you were thinking, hmm, I'm not sure if that is for me, or I'm not sure if that's a space that I can feel comfortable in. I totally get that. And my hope that is if I share with you these moments of amazing connection that we had this last week, that it's gonna be a no-brainer for you for the next retreat because I absolutely love getting women together in one space, quiet conversations, being themselves. And I know that these are the types of connections that you want as well. So I want to share with you just a couple of things about how the weekend went and also what I have coming up next for you to join along with. So one thing in particular that keeps coming back to my mind, it happened on our first night together. Here we are all sitting around this huge table sharing an incredible meal that was prepared just for us because we had some amazing chefs come along with us on this weekend and just to look out around this table and be able to hear all of the conversations that were happening. You guys, these conversations were so relaxed, so natural, like no one was trying to impress anyone, no one was trying to be anything other than who they were. And I remember just sitting there looking around the table, thinking this is it. This is what so many women are craving and don't even have the words for it. And to be able to offer this space to these women, for them to go out and tell their friends about this amazing experience that they had to bring more women into a space like this. This is exactly what I have been dreaming of. So, what made this retreat so different from other retreats that I've done myself or even retreats that I have heard of is that one of the things that felt really, really important to me as well as to my co-hosts was that I wanted every single woman to feel seen. I wanted every single woman to feel loved in this space. And one of my co-hosts did such an amazing job of this the entire time. In fact, she met most of these women at the door and helped them bring in their luggage, made sure that she showed each one of them to their room. And I am confident in saying that no one was ever overlooked. Not one person felt like they had to earn their space there. They were so loved and so well taken care of throughout this entire weekend. And both my co-host and myself, we were really intentional about creating moments of connection. It could be something very simple, but meaningful activities that help break down the walls that some of these women may have been holding up and to help build that trust within this space to help them understand that this was a safe space. And what was really interesting was that even the people outside of our group were noticing our connection and were noticing our camaraderie. In fact, on one of the outings that we went on, there was a couple who were commenting on how well we had taken care of each other. And y'all, I just think that that speaks volumes. It says so much about the space that we created. It wasn't forced, it was definitely genuine, it was definitely true camaraderie and making sure that everyone was well taken care of. Now, all that to say that throughout the weekend, you could actually feel something shifting. Like those walls of do I fit in? Those walls of is this a safe space for me had started to come down. There was this realization that we are all so much more alike than we are different. And in those meaningful conversations, like those in those quiet moments, there were breakthroughs happening. Those old stories that we tend to tell ourselves were starting to crack and crumble. They were stories of not being enough. There were stories of, am I worthy? Or does what I desire really matter? And it was so awesome to be able to start to see those stories loosen and those stories shift. And that kind of shift doesn't come from being taught something. It comes from being in a space where you feel safe enough to be honest. Because this retreat was not about work shopping, it was not about deep thinking, it was about connecting with other women, about relaxing, feeling like you were rejuvenated at the end of the weekend, being unplugged. And so having that space to really go inward versus being taught something gave them the opportunity to break through those old stories and those old negative thoughts. So at the end of the weekend, I did a little reflection time, and it was so interesting to think about the women before versus the women after. Because when everyone first arrived, some of them were complete strangers. Some of them were unsure about what did I sign myself up for, wondering if they would fit into this space. And I promise you, by the time they left, they were not strangers anymore. They had shared too many stories, too many laughs. They were now friends, they created these real connections throughout the weekend. They created these real bonds. And I really feel proud of myself for the environment that I specifically chose with this in mind. We had lots of space to sit down and have one-on-one conversations because you guys, space truly does matter. The environment that you're in when you are in a retreat type container, the space truly matters. And the home itself was just beautiful. It was modern, it was comfortable, it was sectioned in different areas. So if you wanted to spend time with a good book, you could do that. If you wanted to have a one-on-one conversation with someone, you could do that. If you wanted to be out in nature, you could do that. And that is what really made this space special. Everything around it, I'm telling you, the views from the back porch. We could see steers and we could see horses. Like there were times where we were in the kitchen and you'd look out the window and you could just see horses playing with each other. It made me feel so connected. It made me feel like I was connected to definitely something bigger. It was an opportunity to just naturally slow down. In fact, the entire weekend, there was no rushing. There was no packed schedule. There was space and time, space for us to talk, space for us to think, space for us to just be. And I think that is where so much of the magic happened. So for me personally, what stood out the most is the women who needed to be there were the women that were there. It was such a heart-centered group. These were women who genuinely wanted connection, who wanted to be in a space with other like-minded women. And honestly, it just made my heart so full to be able to facilitate something like that, which is exactly what I had planned, what I had in mind from the get-go. And I am so very proud that it came off the way that it did. And so I want to invite you into an opportunity to continue to follow along on this journey. This will not be the last retreat that we take. I have already got so many ideas in mind of where we will be going next and the experiences that we will be having next in the form of a retreat. And I would love for you to be in that space. But while you are waiting for that to unfold, I would love to be able to offer you an opportunity to have this sort of experience on a smaller scale. So what I am bringing to you next is a guided book journey. So if you've been following along for some time, if you've been watching this journey of mine from the outside, wondering if something like this, this type of connection, this type of reflection, this type of growth is for you. I just want to gently say this. Inside this journey, we are not just reading a book, but we are actually walking through it together. We are creating the same type of space that we had on the retreat into this container, this container of connection, this container of reflection and real transformation. So if your heart is pulling you in that direction, I would love for you to join us. So inside the show notes, I am going to drop a link to a webpage that will take you exactly to the books that we are going to be journeying through together. And if you have questions about what this journey might look like, I encourage you to reach out to me by email, which I will drop inside the show notes as well. So lots of exciting things happening, lots of opportunities for you to get connected with other like-minded women, for you to continue to grow and transform on your own path. And I hope to go along on this journey with you as well. You guys have an amazing day, and I'll talk to you soon. Do you need a life coach? Wouldn't it be amazing to have a listening ear who understands where you're coming from? We could work on challenges, goals, relationships, and so much more. Email me at KB Filaini. That's K B F A L A N Y at gmail.com. I have created an online coaching business to help you ignite that passionate, enthusiastic woman who may have been tucked away for some time.