#199 The Seven Year Cycle
Closing the Chapter on the Sober Girls Yoga Adventure to India
We are coming to the end of the 2026 Sober Women’s Yoga Adventure to India.
Unlike previous trips here, where I wrote a lot during the retreat, this year I wrote very little. There has been so much I’ve been privately reflecting on over the past months that I didn’t feel the need to share everything in real time. I’ve also had very little downtime. Anyone who has done this program with me before knows how full the schedule is.
It is a 12-day journey (ten full days, plus check in day and check out day) where we visit four cities in that time. We begin in Delhi and spend two nights exploring Old Delhi. Then we drive about four hours to Agra, home of the Taj Mahal. We spend the afternoon resting, practicing rooftop yin yoga, and then wake very early the next morning to visit the Taj Mahal at sunrise. From there we travel to Jaipur, the Pink City, where we visit Amber Fort, the Hawa Mahal, and experience the Pink City Rickshaw Tour. Finally, we arrive in Goa at about the halfway mark, where we stay for five nights and settle into a slower rhythm.
I first came up with this concept in 2023, when I was about four years sober. The first India trip took place in 2024, the second in 2025, and this year marks the third time we have run it. It will also be the final time I offer the retreat in this format. I will absolutely continue to host programs in India, but the four-cities-in-twelve-days adventure will be evolving into something a little quieter. We will check into one resort or retreat center and stay there for an entire week or ten day period, focusing on our studies of yoga and meditation.
Looking back, I can see how much this retreat reflected the stage of life I was in when I created it. In the early years of sobriety, I had a lot of energy and momentum. Over the past several years my work expanded quickly, and I’ve had the opportunity to host retreats and trainings and teach at events in many places around the world: India, Bali, Abu Dhabi, England, Canada, Mexico, and Arizona. It has been an incredible adventure.
This India trip itinerary that I developed in 2023 was very much a reflection of that spirit of exploration.
Each year of running this retreat has also been a marker of personal growth for me as a leader. The first year came with many unexpected challenges, which taught me a tremendous amount. The second year felt smoother in many ways, and also deepened my understanding of what it takes to hold space for groups in such dynamic environments.
This third year I felt both excited and reflective going into the trip. Over the past year especially, I have changed a lot as a person and as a teacher. I’ve become clearer in my boundaries and more grounded in my leadership.
There was a guest on the trip last year who shared a phrase with me that stayed in my mind: “When it’s odd, it’s God.” What she meant was that when things feel unusual, unexpected, or challenging, there is often something meaningful unfolding beneath the surface. This supported me in reframing a lot of the challenges I’d faced.
Before this trip began she texted me:
“Wishing you a good trip to India…I hope everything that happens is for the highest good of all.”
That phrase stayed with me throughout the journey. For the highest good of all.
This retreat often feels like a movement from activity into stillness. The first part of the trip moves quickly through Delhi, Agra, and Jaipur. There are early mornings, travel days, and a lot of new experiences. By the time we arrive in Goa, the rhythm softens. The body relaxes, the nervous system settles, and we begin to integrate everything we’ve experienced.
In many ways, that arc mirrors the sober journey itself. We move from the intensity and chaos of our past lives toward something calmer, steadier, and more grounded.
This trip has always been a powerful mirror for me, and this year was no different. I found myself feeling more confident than ever in my leadership, my boundaries, and in simply being authentic with the group. There were moments where I shared parts of my story naturally, without overthinking it, and that’s how I know something has shifted. Integration feels quieter and more natural than it once did.
Something I wrote about on Instagram earlier this week is a deep fear I’ve held for a long time, about stepping into my authenticity and people running away. On this particular retreat, out of twelve students, eleven of them had already done a retreat or course with me before (which was wild!) One of my students this week came up to me and mentioned how wild she thought it was that I didn’t even have a harmonium 16 months ago when she did her YTT with me in Bali, and now she couldn’t imagine me without it. She added,
“You’ve changed so much so quickly. And we all still love you. And we’re all just following along wherever you go.”
My heart melted at this point. The more I step into my truth, people are not running away - they are meeting me there.
Next month I will celebrate seven years of sobriety, which feels incredible to reflect on. The fact that I’m having this massive realignment and new chapter of my identity that lines up at seven years of sobriety is not lost on me.
The idea of seven-year cycles appears in many psychological, spiritual, and philosophical traditions. These teachings suggest that human life unfolds in phases of growth and transformation roughly every seven years. Early cycles focus on foundational development—learning trust, identity, and independence—while later cycles often bring deeper realignment with purpose and values. While the exact timing varies for everyone, the framework reflects the broader truth that we are always evolving, periodically shedding old identities and stepping into new versions of ourselves as life unfolds.
As I step into this next chapter, I feel ready to let go of the idea of adventure-style retreats and move more deeply into the practices that feel most meaningful to me now: meditation, chanting, philosophy, and the teachings of yoga.
I truly believe that when the student is ready, the teacher appears - but perhaps the opposite is also true. When the teacher is ready, the students appear as well. And that’s what I’ve found. Choosing to teach more authentically and from the heart has not limited who comes on my retreats, as I once thought.
I am so grateful that I chose to run this retreat one final time. The third year truly felt like a completion of the journey. I know I showed up with my full heart and did my best for this group, just as I have every year. And I trust that everything that unfolded was for the highest good of all.
Somewhere along the way on this trip I lost my old Sober Girls Yoga sweater, which felt strangely symbolic. It was like a quiet sign that a chapter was closing.
Plans are already forming for returning to India next year, but the experience will look different. I’m envisioning something quieter and more devotional. I’m thinking of hosting a Bhakti and kirtan training leading into Kirtan Fest. There may also be another sober retreat here in the future. Time will reveal what is meant to unfold.
As we close this retreat tonight, my heart is full of gratitude. I truly believe the universe brings people together at the exact moments they are meant to meet, for the awareness and growth that each person is ready for.
So I’ll end with the same prayer I began this journey with:
Universe,
Put me in the places you want me to be in,
With the people you want me to be with,
Doing the things you want me to do.
Thank you for the joys and the challenges of my life.
Amen.
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What an incredible experience this has been! A year ago I picked up Substack and I’ve now spent six weeks of 2026 with you, learning and sharing. Thank you for a wonderful retreat of inspiration, renewal and resetting 🙏