An Enso Retreat: A Nourishing Salt Spring Island Getaway
Looking for a way to feel more present in your daily life? Interested in a vacation that’s more fulfilling than a beach getaway? If so, you just might need a retreat.
A retreat is a grounding experience that can offer many benefits, such as the potential to reduce anxiety, release any mental or physical blocks, and connect with others. They help you confront any bottlenecks that life has built up for you—and you can forge long-term friendships along the way.
If you’re looking for a serene locale to attend your retreat, look no further than an enso retreat on Salt Spring Island, a peaceful island escape off the coast of Vancouver. Read on to see why an enso retreat is one you’ll definitely want to attend.
Luxury Accommodation in Beautiful B.C.
Our oceanfront property sits on four acres of lush, rich west coast forest. Our accommodation is unlike any other: a recently renovated 6-bedroom beach house, a Japanese-inspired bathhouse, and a renowned oceanfront treehouse. All who stay here feel relaxed upon arrival, and you will too.
As you enter the property, you drive down the long, winding driveway to the beach house. Despite its bigger-than-average size, the house has an intimate feel to it. It offers a cozy fireplace, expansive natural light with its floor-to-ceiling windows, and breathtaking views of the Pacific ocean.
Walking along the lawn, you pass a trickling pond to reach the Japanese-inspired bathhouse. The bathhouse is a 10x10 space built by Salt Spring Island’s finest carpenters. It features luxury touches like a stone sink and a bidet, all with a Japanese twist.
Next is the treehouse. Perched among arbutus trees and recently featured in renowned B.C. magazines like Curiocity, this breathtaking accommodation is an experience all on its own. You have to see it to believe it and can learn more about it here.
Walking down the steps is our private beach. With seals playfully grinning at you and eagles flying overhead, here, you will undoubtedly find solace. But wherever you are on the property, you’ll experience its undeniable magic. Retreat attendees can sit back, relax, and revel in all that B.C. has to offer in luxurious, calming accommodations.
Experienced Retreat Facilitators
Experienced hosts and facilitators lead our retreats. Dori Howard, retreat host and founder of enso, lives onsite and organizes, runs, and leads every one of our retreats. After working in healthcare for 30 years and experiencing a nurse’s burnout firsthand, Dori wanted to share her caring and compassionate nature with others. She moved to Salt Spring Island in 2016 to help others in a rejuvenating setting.
A natural host, Dori is known for her ability to create a Michelin-quality charcuterie board at a moment’s notice. Mi casa es su casa is her unofficial motto—anyone who enters the home is welcome to any drink or food they wish, and you will enjoy this too.
Beyond her caring nature and hosting talents, Dori brings a deep passion for yoga and meditation to her retreats. She’s a certified yoga teacher specializing in Kundalini yoga, and leads yoga and meditation sessions at every retreat.
Dori partners with subject matter experts for each retreat to share their expertise. For our writer’s retreats, she works with renowned writers to help you move through writer’s block. For A Shade More… Liberated, our body positivity retreat, experts to help you tackle body shame and anxiety. Every retreat is run by an expert with Dori right by their side.
A Focus on Health
To help you lead a healthy lifestyle, our retreats comprise four main pillars of health: nutritional harmony, mindset elevation, heart and soul alignment, and synergy with nature.
Nutritional harmony means creating a healthy relationship with food from Salt Spring Island. You’ll eat fresh produce from farmstands, cheese from the cheesery, and goodies and treats from small bakers, chefs, and artisans alike. Meals are prepared by a private chef based on seasonality and availability.
Mindset elevation means that you will leave feeling more present. Each morning, Dori leads you through a 30-minute morning meditation session. If you are new to meditation, don’t worry—this practice is available to everyone, no expertise required.
Heart and soul alignment means tapping into what your heart is yearning for. If you feel stuck in a career or relationships you need to let go of, this pillar could help you. Dori guides you through grounding activities to help you connect deeper with yourself and others, inching your way closer to a values-aligned life.
Synergy with nature means connecting with the land. Whether that’s a hike up Mount Erskine, forest baths, or strolls along the pebble-stone beach, you will undoubtedly feel a stronger, richer appreciation for mother nature herself.
Takeaways
If you haven’t booked your spot yet, do so soon—you won’t regret it. With luxury accommodation, experienced hosts, and pillars of health that we all too often cast aside, you will undoubtedly leave an enso retreat feeling nurtured and nourished.
If you’re interested in retreats abroad, too, Dori is expanding her retreat offerings beyond beautiful B.C., hosting a retreat in Todos Santos, Mexico, in February 2023. Sign up for her newsletter to stay up-to-date on where she might host one next.