Since we cannot meet safely in person due to Covid spikes and wildfire air quality, we have pivoted entirely virtual for this weekend’s Glowing Goddess Getaway.
The GGG, for those who aren’t familiar, is a women’s self care cannabis retreat. We use cannabis as a medical and spiritual connective tool. In October 2018 I attended my first retreat as a Goddess Guide, teaching my Cannacize aerobics class. (Fat Kid Dance Party aerobics with slower more repetitive choreography to accompany an optional cannabis experience.)
Within the first 24 hours I was hooked. I knew this was the multi-generational sisterhood I had been craving since the one I poured fourteen years into had dismantled in 2015.
The GGG operates by five high standards: Self Love, Empathy, Inclusivity, Good Fun and Mindfulness. I knew from Deidra sharing about them at the opening session that these were my people.
2019 was the worst year of my life. To say that I survived from Getaway to Getaway is not hyperbole. When I had suicidal thoughts (frequently) I would tell myself just make it to the next Getaway. These women were a light for me in a very dark time. I was so privileged to serve at multiple getaways both as a Goddess Guide teaching classes and getting to run shifts at the glow bar. I could see the divinity in me and how I was unfolding in the reflection of how these women connected with me. The glow up from a Getaway is very real and very revealing. (In good and sometimes hard but worth it ways.)
In 2020 I was so excited for our big tour, but sadly it was canceled because of the global pandemic. We kept connected as a sisterhood through daily Instagram Live sister seshes and did a mini retreat on facebook live. But as cannabis is still a stignmatized plant it is an uphill battle to get us really connecting in those Zuckerberg owned places.
Beginning June 2021 we started virtual retreats! They have been the balm I’ve needed in this wacky time! I’m on Week 74 of a pretty serious quarantine. I still wear masks and socially distance around other vaccinated people. I have a lot of privilege to work from home and I’m grateful.
Getting to have my cannasisterhood in my computer one weekend a month has been such a soul healing!
I have learned a lot from teaching at and attending the virtual retreats these past two months and I wanted to share how I am preparing for it so I can get the most out of what is offered. Do what works for you so that you can get the most out of your virtual retreat experience!
Our retreats are recorded but there’s nothing like being in the room when it happens! (And it takes awhile for the recordings to become available.) But maybe you have a different weekend with availability and you want to use a past recorded virtual retreat as your guide. I think these tips are helpful regardless if you’re watching live or a recording.
- Time blocking! I live by my calendar and I’m incredible accountable to what I say I’ll do if I have it in the calendar. I know our time slots together are (Pacific time) Friday 2-5PM and 7-8:30PM; Saturday 10AM-12, 2-5PM and 7-8:30PM; Sunday 10AM-12. It’s in my calendar and I’m ready to go. I also teach my weekly Zoom FKDP aerobics class so I have it scheduled during one of our breaks. Everything else I need to do I’m accounting for and putting it in the breaks. If you’re setting yourself up for a future virtual retreat and you need childcare, arrange it! These virtual retreats work really well to glow up if you can give it your focus and not be doing laundry or a bunch of other things. I am also planning each day to go on my daily nature walk and time set aside for the behaviors I need to support my ongoing mental health.
- Care for self and others! During the July virtual retreat I had a mountain of dishes I didn’t finish. I forget why but mostly just not organized enough to get it done ahead of time. Regrets! It made it more chaotic for me in my house and thus not as able to be centered and focused on attending. This time I’ve made sure I’m caught up on dishes and disciplined to get them done once a day, I’m going to vacuum and straighten up before it starts. I decided laundry can get done next week and made sure I had what I needed clean. I also learned from previous couple of virtual retreats that committing to anything else during a virtual retreat means I miss time with my cannasisters and I really value the time together and don’t want to do that again.
- Food! This is really the same as caring for myself and making sure I have what I need to have the best experience. I didn’t get snacks before the June getaway and I regretted it. This time I’m meal planning and grabbing what will delight me and be easy to prepare so I don’t need to spend a bunch of time to make it happen. Food is one of the biggest things I miss about our in person getaways–Sailene is one of the best hostesses I’ve ever met and I’ve never gone hungry, she always has the dietary needs handled. So I think about the food joy from the in person getaway and replicate that in an easy for me manner at home.
- Cannabis! Obviously we use this as a tool to connect. I love having a variety on hand and recently ran out entirely! I made sure I went to the dispensary and am set up for what I want to be ready for this weekend. Also thinking through if there’s a smoking implement I want to use that needs to be cleaned. Cleaning pieces is part of the ritual of cannabis use and as much as I fantasize about a weed fairy coming through and cleaning and prepping everything for me, in these pandemic times I am my own weed fairy. I don’t want to miss a session because I couldn’t focus because I needed to clean my bong, you know?
- Outfits! Probably not a high priority for some but I like wearing cute things and being a visual delight. My favorite part of Festival culture is about the self expression of an outfit parade! It occurred to me that prepping for this virtual I could go into my storage and pull out some of my fun stuff and keep it interesting. On one of our recent 4:20PM sister seshes on the GGG Discord, I was hanging out with Funisha & Jenelle while I was sorting through my outfit storage. I love having a productive hang out!
- People! Do you have a local cannasister you want to get together with? Do you want to invite someone you wanna quarantine pod with together and watch the virtual together? I have always imagined our virtual events being attended by pods, and making a plan for that is something to consider! Mindie had her friend staying with her for the July retreat and it was really fun! This time around I’m solo but considering it for the future.
- Craft supplies! I’ve done the worst at this so far but prepping what I need for the follow along crafts is helpful! Whenever I don’t have paint and canvas I end up working on a puzzle while listening to the soothing voice of Mindie teaching painting! I’m very excited to plan well enough to have supplies. The easiest way to do this is to subscribe to our getaway in a box level on Patreon and then everything is sent to you!
Hopefully these help someone out there! I love to connect in these virtual retreats, and especially love getting to learn new things about myself and others. What’s true about both the in-person retreats and the virtuals is that I learn something new about myself or my purpose in the universe every time. I also make new friends and deepen established friendships.
I love serving this cannasisterhood and I cannot wait to see what the next 10 years is going to look like for us especially as we’re rooting ourselves into the digital part of our connections right now.
If you’re curious what a getaway is like, we have a free retreat available on the GGG Facebook! I’ll put up a follow up post so you have a program and more guidance to follow along. But the best way to connect is to join the GGG Patreon to join our Discord community. We have different levels of participation including for $42 a month a “getaway in a box” which is so packed with value it’s worth more than $42.
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