By: Marie Smith, M.Ed., CHWC, CLC, CPT
There was always something about retreats that stayed with me.
Not just the location or the schedule, but the feeling. Time slowed down. The constant noise of everyday life softened. I felt present in a way that’s hard to access in the middle of a busy week.
I would usually arrive knowing one or two people and leave feeling deeply connected to many more. Conversations felt easier. Laughter came quicker. And there was a sense of being taken care of that, as a busy mom, I felt both unfamiliar and incredibly needed.
When I came home, that feeling didn’t disappear right away. It lingered.
Sometimes I could reconnect to it through a memory or a simple practice I had learned during the retreat. But eventually, life would pick back up. The pace would return. And I found myself waiting for the next time I could feel that way again.
At some point, I started asking a different question: What if I didn’t have to wait?
From Experience to Intention
During my coaching certification, something clicked. I realized that what I loved most about retreats wasn’t just the environment. It was the experience of being supported, of having space, of reconnecting with myself without distraction or pressure.
I knew I wanted to bring that same feeling into the way I worked with women.
Through my company, Golden Hour Coaching, I now help high-achieving women reclaim their time, identity, and energy using the very tools I wish I’d had during my own years of burnout.
My background in fitness, education, and coaching all inform this work, but it’s really the lived experience that shaped it.
Over time, that work evolved into the Golden Flow Framework™, a simple, sustainable approach built around nourishment, movement, rest, and repetition. It’s designed to help women move out of depletion and into clarity, calm, and consistent energy.
Creating the Feeling of Retreat
That same approach carries into the way I design retreats and experiences.
When I host a retreat, my intention is clear. I want the women who come to feel taken care of from the moment they arrive. I think through the details so they don’t have to. They pack, they show up, and they step into a space where they can finally exhale.
As a certified instructor of the CIJ Clarity Catalyst program, rooted in Stanford University’s Creativity in Business course, I integrate something many women don’t expect: play. It’s also something I intentionally design into every retreat experience.
Each retreat is built around a theme or a season, with a mix of transformational sessions and plenty of unstructured time. There’s space for reflection, but also space for fun, because that balance matters.
It’s often in those in-between moments, during a walk, over a shared meal, that the most meaningful shifts happen.
Beyond Destination Retreats
One of the biggest misconceptions about retreats is that they have to be far away or extravagant.
While I do host destination retreats, including an upcoming experience in Spain, I’ve found that the feeling of retreat doesn’t depend on geography. It can happen an hour outside your city, or even over the course of a single day. What matters is the intention behind it and the space that’s created.
Over time, this has opened the door to something I didn’t initially plan for. Women began asking me to create retreats for their own circles. Groups of friends wanting to reconnect. Small communities looking for something more meaningful than a typical gathering, even teams interested in stepping out of their usual environment to build deeper connections.
Sometimes I step in to facilitate the experience itself, focusing on the agenda and the transformational work. Other times, I collaborate with the group to custom-curate a retreat based on what they need most, including a space to reset.
Living the Retreat, Not Escaping to It
What I’ve come to realize is that retreat isn’t just something we go to. It’s something we can begin to integrate. The practices, the pace, and the presence don’t have to disappear when we return home.
They can become part of how we move through daily life. That doesn’t mean every day feels like a retreat. But it does mean we can create moments that reflect that same sense of clarity, connection, and care.
Because most women don’t need more to do. They need space to be.
What Comes Next
Today, that philosophy carries across all of my work, from one-to-one coaching to the retreats and group experiences I lead. Helping women reconnect with themselves, restore their energy, and move forward without guilt is at the heart of what I do.
For women ready to experience that shift for themselves, I’m facilitating Refilling the Well, a three-day wellness retreat in Nashville this August. This retreat is for women who feel stretched thin, overextended, and quietly longing for space to breathe again. It’s designed to help women slow down, reconnect with themselves, and restore the inner capacity that daily life often depletes.
I’m also co-hosting The Rise Retreat in New Mexico this October with Jennifer Grace, an immersive wellness experience that blends deep personal reset with adventure, connection, and exploration in one of the most visually stunning and spirit-stirring corners of the Southwest.
Because sometimes the most powerful transformation doesn’t come from doing more. It comes from finally giving yourself permission to pause.
More about my coaching practice can be found at Golden Hour Coaching’s main site, with details on current and upcoming retreats listed there as well.
