(#79) Creating Magic Within - Morning Routines And Retreats With Emma Walkinshaw

Do you think 21 minutes is a long time to start your day with some movement, meditation and journaling? Does it feel like a long time when you break each section down to 7 mins each?

And more to the point, do you have a morning routine that sets you up for the day? Is it one that gives you clarity, groundedness, focus, energy and self love?

I interviewed the delightful Emma Walkinshaw as to why 21 minutes of morning magic can easily set you up for your day ahead. Emma knew she would one day write a book, but never knew what about, until she followed her intuitive guidance to write the book "365 Days of Morning Magic," a guide to living with clarity and purpose to complement the Morning Magic routine that she passionately and lovingly guides her students through online.

We also talk about Emma’s love for holding retreats and why she is now leading & guiding  women through a powerful  personal development process on retreat in India!


Emma Walkinshaw is a Transformational Coach, Accredited Yoga Instructor, and dynamic entrepreneur dedicated to empowering women. She founded the "21 Minutes of Morning Magic," the "Embody Me Program," and the hosted "Body Love Revolution Online Summit," and hosts the "Wholehearted Retreat." With a decade of ICF-certified coaching experience and over 1,000 hours of yoga teaching, she helps women elevate their self-awareness, challenge toxic diet culture, and embrace their authentic selves.

I loved recording this episode with Emma! I honestly can’t wait to get my hands on her book (in the mail at the time of recording) and I am sure you will be keen to start the 21 mins of morning magic too!

Thank you for selecting this episode and now let’s begin!

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Transcript

0:01

Hello, hello, and welcome to Alchemy Mindset. I'm your host, Anna Hasty, business mindset coach for women and a sound healer. If you are ready to become the most aligned, magnetic, and confident business woman you are worthy and deserving of being, visit Then this show is for you. This is where I share everything from mindset energy and spirituality And how to embody your future self in business and life Sprinkle that with deeply relaxing sound healings and meditations And you have the alchemy mindset podcast Hit subscribe so you always get the latest episode. Now let's begin. Hello, hello. Welcome. Welcome, dear listener, to another episode of Alchemy Mindset. I am your host, Anna Hasty, and I love that you have clicked play on this episode today. I want to ask, do you think 21 minutes is a long time to start your day with some movement, meditation, and journaling? And does it feel like a long time when you break each section down to seven minutes each? I can probably guess that you think, oh, seven minutes of movement and seven minutes of meditation and then seven minutes of journaling. Yeah, that seems pretty easy. Doesn't seem like it would take up much time. And more to the point, do you have a morning routine that sets you up for the day? One that gives you a sense of clarity, groundedness, focus, energy, or you feel like you've filled your cup up with a bit of self love? In today's episode of Alchemy Mindset, I interviewed the delightful Emma Walkinshaw as to why 21 minutes of morning magic can easily set you up for your day ahead. Emma knew she would one day write a book, but never knew what it would be about, until she followed her intuitive guidance to write the book, 365 Days of Morning Magic, a guide to living with clarity and purpose, to complement the morning magic routine that she passionately and lovingly guides her students through online. We talk about Emma's love for holding retreats and why she is now leading and guiding women through a powerful personal development process on retreat in India. So cool. Emma is a transformational coach, accredited yoga instructor, and a dynamic entrepreneur dedicated to empowering women. She founded Not only the 21 minutes of morning magic, but also the embody me program and hosted the body love revolution online summit and hosts the whole hearted retreat. She has a decade of ICF certified coaching experience and over a thousand hours of yoga teaching. And she helps women elevate their self awareness, challenge toxic diet culture, and embrace their authentic selves. I really did love recording this episode with Emma, and I honestly cannot wait to get my hands on her book, which at the time of recording is in the mail. And I'm sure just like me, you will also be keen to start the 21 minutes of Morning Magic 2. So thank you for selecting this episode, hitting play, and now let's begin. Hello, hello, hello, dear Emma, welcome to Alchemy Mindset. I am so pleased to have you on the show. Welcome. Welcome, welcome. Thanks Anna. Such an honor to be here and I'd love that we connected recently and here we are again having another wholesome chat. So thanks for having me, my darling. Oh, you're welcome. Um, you know, I absolutely loved chatting to you recently on your podcast. And I just was like, I know the conversation is just going to be with so much magic today when you're on Alchemy Mindset. So welcome, let's just start with your journey into coming to where you are right now, Emma. Who do you support and what do you do? And all those fabulous things. I'm going to try and keep it short. I know, right? We all have amazing stories that we're like, you want me to keep this short and in, in a nutshell? Yeah, short in a nutshell. I will say that I am a yoga teacher and that's the love we both share is a beautiful practice of yoga and all beautiful things. sit around that. So I had a yoga studio. So most recently, if I kind of fast forward the last five years, cause it feels like a lifetime before that, but became a yoga teacher in 2018. And then in 2019 opened a yoga studio and reformer Pilates studio here on the Gold Coast. And I had that for around four years. So that took me to the beautiful, is that 2023? Isn't it funny how you have to like, remember. date. So 2023, and then decided that after a four year journey in a yoga studio, which I absolutely loved and love what I built, I decided to sell it. So I had been, of course, like all of us had been through the whole COVID experience. However, I feel like in Queensland, we were, we were relatively untouched in many ways, as opposed to, we know that other States and other countries that had, you know, a horrific time. We were relatively untouched though the yoga studio, even though there was a couple of shutdowns, but it was mostly business as usual. But during that time, I realized that the thing that I love to do was run retreats for women and that wouldn't happen. Cause I'd always ran them locally, just in Byron Bay. So when you can't do something, I feel like it really births in you what you really want to do. You kind of think, well. If things were different, what would I do? It's that, you know, if I were to create a life that I really want and experiences I want, what would it be? And that was to take group of women to India. I had been myself in 2016. I remember thinking if I'm going to go to India, I am going to take a group of women with me. So that was kind of, yeah, where it was born. So the last few years, what I do and how I help women is I'm online. I have an online business now since selling the yoga studio. So I still run retreats to India. I just. Delivered this year in March and then one next year in March and Byron Bay still run them there, but primarily online running a course called Embody Me, which is all about body acceptance as well as personal development tools. I have another beautiful program, Morning Magic, which is free. And Anna, your book is on the way. I know. So excited for it. I've written a book as well, which accompanies a morning magic practice, which is about helping women really have a morning practice that only takes 21 minutes. Because in this world where we live in a very fast pace, we know that the desire to have a yoga practice and a morning practice sometimes feels huge. And we cannot fit it in, particularly if you have a family and you work full time and all the things. So I do that as well. So to wrap that in a nutshell, what I do is I run retreats for women here in Australia and internationally. I have an online course called Embody Me. I do one on one coaching, and then I have my free group, Morning Magic, that has a book with it as well, which is. Three mornings a week, we gather online at 6am and practice for 21 minutes, which is seven minutes of yoga, seven minutes of meditation and seven minutes of journaling. So that's what I do. I hope I answered that not in a very succinct way, Anna. But no, that was perfect. I love it. And I'm actually so. Glad that you touched on that little moment about COVID because I was about to ask you, like, how did your yoga business fare during the COVID? But, um, hearing you say, and I think WA was very much the same. We were kind of like, we had the ice wall up. If you think of Game of Thrones, we had our ironclad state. border wall, uh, that sort of really kept us safe here. So it was a lot of business as usual. So it was kind of interesting to hear that for you as well, during that time that you didn't have, you're relatively unscathed. Yeah, I feel like, and then it really just, as we know, everything shifted and a lot of things went online and I'd already been running workshops for women. Through the yoga studio and I had done some zoom stuff, but then it really did open up to moving more online, which has been wonderful because I can reach more women, however, retreats and connecting together is still one of my favorite things and most women, I feel like we can do a lot of things online, but then there's a point where we. Love to actually physically be in the same room as someone and connect. I feel like we've shifted and we can do a little bit of both now. We can definitely be online, but there's got to be a point in time where you actually gather. Hence I run around two to three retreats a year. And it's usually women who have done my embody me program or have, you know, joined me for 21 minutes of morning magic. And then say, Oh my goodness, I would love to come to India, or I would love to come to Byron Bay. And join you for a retreat. So for that more intensive experience of being with you and receiving your teachings, right? Yeah. And gathering with other like minded women. Absolutely. Often I say the magic's usually in the group. It's not, it's not just me. Yes, of course I'm leading and I have a program and I have some great tools that I share. But the magic is in the wisdom, the collective wisdom. Yep. Absolutely. So I really want to ask you like around how you started running retreats, like your experience around that, as well as your journey into writing 365 Days of Morning Magic as well, your book. But I do want to ask just a sneaky question here. With 21 minutes of your morning routine, and I love that it's like this compacted small amount of time. Why seven minutes of each thing, like of stretching, meditation, and journaling, what's the seven minutes symbolizing there? So how it all came about is. I felt 21 minutes, so the 7 7 7 just broke up into those three components. I looked at my own morning practice and I knew that because I ran the yoga studio at the time that I gave birth to this idea, I knew that I couldn't always afford myself an hour practice because of course, when you're teaching yoga and when you're practicing yoga, it's two different things. Even though I was teaching yoga most mornings, when you're teaching it, you're not receiving, you're giving. I don't know. I don't know. So, and you are receiving in that, but it's not like you're actually attending a class. So I thought to myself when I was leaving, I need to have a morning practice because I know that that works really well for me. If I can't afford myself 21 minutes, there's something wrong with me. Also the study, also the studies have shown around meditation that time has got nothing to do with it. So we've all heard, Oh, you know, you should be working out too. So you can meditate for an hour. The truth is that if you were to get one minute of meditation in, it's beneficial. If you were to get two, three minutes of meditation, it's beneficial. There is no magic number. How I come up with a seven, because I know that when you land on the mat in the morning, so the idea is with this process, you wake in the morning and we meet on the mat together at 6am. If you roll out of bed straight away and Start to meditate. Often we're still quite sleepy. So we might go off again. So the first part of our practice, seven minutes of yoga is purely just to move the energy and wake up your spine, open your hips, relax your shoulders, a little stretch of your neck. If you've had a little bit of a crooked sleep and then you're ready to sit in meditation and anyone can do seven minutes of meditation. I always give a mantra with it too. So I'll give just like a really simple mantra, I am love. It might be, whatever the theme of the day is, I will give the mantra. So if the mind wanted to come back to that mantra for seven minutes, and then the third seven minutes is the, I call it flowetry because I'm a bit of a romantic, but it's flowing out your words, which is journaling. And I always give a journal prompt, but I also give a free write choice too. You can free write because usually in the morning, your voice of wisdom or your intuition is usually ready to speak to you. You've moved your body, you've moved a little bit of energy just for seven minutes. You have then quietened your mind and meditated before your itty bitty shitty committees waken up or had its morning coffee, you are able to tune in to your voice of wisdom. And that's where she has some pearls of wisdom for you. So when you put pen to paper, sometimes it's just emptying out the trash that's in your head. Sometimes it's an answer to a question. And sometimes you can have a week where you just feel like you're writing gobbly gook, but then all of a sudden something, you know, I've surprised myself. I've been doing this practice for over two years and I would have never said that I could write poetry. I've written poems. I've read a poem for my mum, I've read a poem, like it is so interesting when you get your voice of judgment out of the way or don't let it step into the driver's seat first thing in the morning. You stay in that beautiful place where your. Voice of wisdom. You're like in that sunrise moment, right? That's what I'm like. I'm tuning in and seeing like you're in that sunrise moment and the sunrise as it comes up is just glorious. It's all fresh and it's new and it's full of magic and that's the energy that you're channeling in there. The other thing, talking about the sunrise. It's watching the sunrise three mornings a week, or I do most mornings, but when we're in practice and you're one of the women said to me, who's been doing it with me for one year. So she said to me, Oh my goodness, going through a full year of different scene, watching the sunrise, you know, in summer here in Queensland, you know, the sun rises around five 35, 48. This morning, the sun rose at six 28, you know, so you're seeing the sun and the sky and the seasons. And that in itself, like you say, is glorious. It is magnificent. And all of the other benefits that happen when, you know, we, I just said before we got on to, before you hit record, Anna, simply when you see the sunrise in the morning, what you're doing for your hormones and your biorhythms of your. body is incredible because we know that once sunlight hits our eyes in the morning, 14 hours later, our, another hormone is released that says it's time to sleep. So you're really starting to get your body into this beautiful rhythm. And when we're Exposing ourself to a beautiful sunlight. We've got a gorgeous morning practice. We don't start our morning on social media, reading news, stressing ourself out the minute we get up. Giving ourself just 21 minutes, just 21 minutes. And even in terms of movement, I feel like we've all had a bit of a hang up. You know, beauty standards, diet culture has done a number on us where we think that unless we're pounding the footpath, flogging ourselves, that it doesn't count where the truth is seven minutes of yoga. And then maybe you get a walk in that day or whatever you do is enough because you are enough. You've done enough, but we have this thing that we have to meditate for an hour or we have to, there's this drill sergeant approach that just simply isn't true. If you can get in 21 minutes for your soul first thing in the morning. It's the gift that keeps on giving all day. Wow. Yeah. Thank you for sharing that, Emma. That's such beautiful wisdom. And you offer this through a Facebook community, don't you? I do. So if you want to put the link in the show notes and everybody is welcome to join me. So I know that because you're in WA and I'm in Queensland, I do have it early. How about you just watch the replay, like when you wake up, cause it just sits in the group. So, and I have lots of women do the replay. I've got quite a few women in WA and they just do when they get up or if someone's flow is a little bit different too, great to see sunlight in the morning. But if the mornings for you are really, you know, you've got obligation and children to move about and work to get to. Make it your evening practice. Maybe you see sunset. Maybe it's not the sunrise. You know, whatever that might be for you. But again, taking that pressure off here. Great. I've created it for the morning, but again, there's no hard and fast rules around that. You could do that at 10 o'clock in the morning if you wanted, but as long as you're carving out 21 minutes for you. Amazing. I love that. I think that's a really good practice. Something quite easy that everybody could get on board with and adopt and give a go. So yes, to the listeners, I highly recommend that you join Emma's program, Emma's group. And that's great that you can do the replay for those who may not be on the same time zone and let Emma know, like, how have you found doing this practice? Give it a good, you know, red hot crack for a few months, and then you'll Let her know. Let her know through the socials, on her Facebook page, in the group, what you have noticed about yourself. I think that's great. I really love that. Just seven minutes of each thing is like you said, I feel like that could be so nourishing hearing you talk about that. It just feels so nourishing all in itself. So yeah, I will definitely be getting on board with that one. Seven minutes. Love it. I will. And then the book came off the back of that. So after I had. Yes. So let's. So after I, you know, it's a funny thing. I don't ever remember thinking or feeling that I had a book in me, even though a lot of people do, I don't ever remember thinking much about that. However, I started to do was. With morning magic, I have a theme. I have a theme for the month. So for instance, the theme this month for June is abundance and prosperity. So each morning we're doing a morning practice with an abundance and prosperity theme. So there'll be, so when we get online, I just do like a little theme for the day, which ties in with our mantra and our flowetry prompt. So that's kind of how the little formula, I guess you could say with, you know, which goes with the yoga poses. So I started creating a theme each day. So then when I would wake up in the morning for the group, I would have a theme. So after a few months though, I had all of these themes and dates, like, so I thought, Oh, maybe I could kind of put this together and make like a week for My community or maybe a month and I went, I think I can do 365 days. So that was how it happened. And I had compiled quite a bit of it. And then I, my husband and I took a beautiful trip to Europe for a month. So while I was in Europe, I mean, it sounds so romantic, doesn't it? And it was very, it was incredible. So I finished the rest of the book just while we were in, cause we're in Italy and I felt really inspired. We're in Paris and you know, I was doing morning magic with the women with the Eiffel tower behind me. And then I was doing it in like a little place in, in a castle in Scotland. And then I, so it was, it was very gorgeous. And it just tied in with that. And I said, Oh my God, this is such an incredible experience. I want to capture this because this is wonderful. So that was where my themes came from. And then when I got home from Europe, I thought, well, I've got now. 365 days. And then I said, okay, well, let's journey into this. How do you even create a book? Where do I even start? So I have a couple of dear friends who've already written books and I've self published. So really quite simple, gone ahead, got it formatted because it had to be, you know, to a certain spec and then have, have gone through Ingram Spark is the publishing house that I've used. Publish them off and right now, and I'm sitting in my office with a lot of books around me. I'm, I'm posting them out daily and it's excellent. Yeah, it'd be wonderful. So that is great. So you're a lot of the women in the community. So now you have your own morning magic book. So I go live three mornings a week. So the morning that I'm not with you, you can open up the book and there's your theme, or you can. Purely. You don't even have to follow the date. You can just open up randomly, like whatever, you know, makes your heart sing really, but that's what come about. So I didn't see that coming, but it's almost like when the universe knocks and you answer, I feel like a little bit of a calling at the time to pull it together and put it out into the world. So I did. That's amazing. And how like natural it came about. It wasn't like, all right, I'm going to write a book, flex your fingers, you know, get your keyboard ready. And you're like, What am I going to write about? It was like, the birth of the book just was a natural flow on from something that you were already creating and offering to your community. Yeah. And it was even a funny thing, like a friend was talking to me, because I, then of course social media, if it's not on social media, it didn't happen. You know, when it kind of put up at the end, my girlfriend was like. I didn't even know you wrote a book. And I said, Oh no, because it just kind of exactly, there was no efforting with it. It just arrived. It came and, and, and the biggest thing for me is that I seen it through. Like I, I took the, it's almost like, Hey, what would we say? It's an assignment from the universe. I got the assignment and I sing. I think that's what I feel most proud of that I did it. Absolutely. Because I'm writing a book. I can only imagine it is a labor of love in a way. It's not like something that you can just bash out in an afternoon. Maybe some people can, I guess it depends on how many pages you're writing, but you know, it, it does take time, doesn't it? And you've got to not only write it and then whatever process you go through to then have it published and come out in a physical end, you know, how many people write books or have stories in their heads that don't even get committed to paper, you know, that don't even. eventuate past, you know, the files on their computer. And here you are, you've gone, right, I'm following this guidance. I'm following this inspiration. I'm following the process here. And it's actually going to come out into a physical reality. Yeah. And there is that little bit of trepidation where you go, Oh gosh, God, now I've got to actually put out in the world. And what if it's good? Like, what if you've almost got to let go of all that and say, well, you know, Everyone's going to have an opinion, good or bad, hard to say, keep moving. It's done now, move on next. Like I, it's almost like that, that feeling for me also. And not to, you know, downplay it and say, Oh, well, whatever. But it's kind of just keep moving, you know? Yeah. It's out into the world, enjoy it. And then what's the next creation I can give birth to or, or create. It's like that too. And I'm sure it's been well and truly well received by your community. Yes, everyone's, it's been helpful because now they've got their guidebook because in the past I would be sending out like a, a little PDF and that have to, and now it's just all organized in one. They've got the little, I guess that the process and the framework, we know what our theme is, our mantra is, and our flowetry prompt and away we go. Yeah. And like you said, like it's, when they're not with you online, cause you only offer your online sessions three days a week. So when they're not with you, but they want to continue their practice throughout the week for an extra two days or for the full seven days of the week, they've got that there for structure and guidance as well. So you're not left going, Oh, what am I going to stretch today? What am I going to meditate on, you know, what am I going to, you know, write about? Cause we, some people, yeah, we do get a bit lost in that morning unless. You've got that guidance straight there that keeps you on track. You can easily go, Oh, well, I'll just like, look for something. And then next minute, you're seven minutes gone. Right. Cause you're trying to find something to do. I think that's the biggest barrier to people journaling. They go, well, what would I journal about? What would I write about? Often just get some started. And even some of the feedback I've had, they said, I always followed your prompts, but I will always say most mornings or have a free write. You've got something on your mind or on your heart. Or you just want to have a free write. Cause when you get in the flow of this, that's what sometimes happens. And you just want to have a free write. You've got something you want to express, but it's a practice. It's like anything. And, and for most of us who don't often take time to pick up pen and paper anymore, it's almost like our imagination. We left back when we were seven years of age or nine years of age. You know, most of us have, because we've just grown up and, you know, Life's gotten very serious and we're adulting. So to return to that beautiful art of writing, and most of us now are, are typing all the time. And the truth is when you put pen to paper, you actually can't write as fast as you can think. Some of us can type as fast as we think, and that's the problem. We're in. When you write, you have to really slow your thoughts down and that's part of the practice. Yeah, absolutely. Yeah. And there's also that element of like, like you said earlier, like you're channeling and you're tuning in and you're not only like writing maybe what's on your heart or following the journal prompt, but ultimately you're tuning into that aspect of your higher self and your intuition. So have there been moments where you've either experienced or you've heard from your participants that they've just. Channeled something that they knew wasn't themselves, like, and seen it in their flow of writing, because I've heard that some people, you know, when they get into that moment where they're channeling something that's not themselves, their writing might change or their language might change, or they hear a different voice come through their writing. I have had feedback from some of the women that it is definitely in that meditation to the journaling part where they will most definitely be tuned into almost that clairvoyant part of themself. That knowing. They know what they know and that part, so they will have, you know, I have particularly one student that often will share with me things that have happened that she predicted and captured it. Interesting. Yeah. That is so interesting. Yeah. So she's. Honing and tuning that skill. There is actually more than one honing and tuning that skill of almost like clairvoyance, clairsentient, clair, that then they are capturing. Yeah. And it is amazing when you do quiet your mind, what, what you hear. It is really fascinating, yeah. Absolutely. And what are some of the other things that your participants or your students have given you feedback on that they've noticed from doing this exercise every morning? Most definitely setting their mood for the day. Yeah. Wow. So coming from a more calm, grounded place, as opposed to a frazzled place, how we start our day definitely impacts. And that's why I said early, it's the gift that keeps on giving. If you can give yourself that 21 minutes, set your intention for the day. And I'll often ask the question. The last thing that we often will write, I'll say, so finishing off with your last sentence for the morning, how do you want to feel today? Writing down that feeling. And then when we bring hands to heart center, I'll often say, whatever that feeling is, put an I am in front of it. I am calm. I am clear. I'm productive. I'm grounded. I'm energetic. I'm vibrant. Whatever that, the I am in front of that, because as we know, I am is very powerful, but it's what you put after I am that is the most powerful. Oh, 100%. Yeah. So starting that morning. In your little bubble, because often people haven't chatted 21 yet, you've rolled out of bed. One of my ladies says, she's so in summer at 6am in winter at 630, she says, I set my alarm for 628, I roll out of bed onto my yoga mat. So she hasn't talked to anyone, she hasn't said a thing. And then you've set your feeling and your intention for your energy for the day. And everyone always says, I feel so much better through the day because I've taken that time just to set my intention and just, like I said, not starting your day, you know, with this external bombardment of the outside world, which is often quite an assault to our senses. Yeah, it is, isn't it? It is. And, and nervous system, you know, our nervous system When we first wake up in the morning, isn't that beautiful place where you can prime it as opposed to inject it with chaos and stress and all of the, you know, the things that we must do, if you give yourself that little bit of, you know, space and grace, then the day starts a little bit different and your, Your nervous system, or even if we want to use the word resilience, because you've given a little bit to yourself in the morning, your capacity is raised a little more. Your capacity is a little bigger. Absolutely. I love this. I think the listeners are going to love this. They're going to love it. They're going to love it. I love it. I love it. I'm just so enchanted with this process because I've noticed within myself as a reflection of being a mum now of almost a two year old, I'm now reached a part with my daughter where I can get up early and do. Make sure I am honoring like my time of meditation, maybe some exercise of some sort or playing my bowls or whatever it is, but do it for myself before I then step out and go and be a mom. And I'm finding that the more times I allow myself to do that first, I'm such in a better head space overall. Like for example, this morning I got up early and it was like, I'll just do some basic stretching. I think I did almost what you, you suggesting here anyway, but I Just doing some basic stretching, just sitting here and, um, doing some meditation or playing my bowls or whatever it is, it really does set me up for the day. And it more so just gives me that reassurance of, but wait a moment, I did fill my cup up this morning. Like I did give back to myself before I stepped out of the room and became a mom and then step back into the office and became a businesswoman or whatever it is. So. It's now become like this really lovely sacred time for me. Yeah. And I think that's the thing it is now. It's like, it's sacred. Like I'm not sharing this with anybody but myself and it's sacred for me. Like it's a special moment for me. It is. Yeah. And it only has to be like we say, I mean, 21 minutes is great, but what if it's only 10? What if it's 15? It's great. And back to the children thing, Anna, I did have just a couple of weeks ago feedback from one of my ladies and she messaged me and she said, Oh, my 10 year old son had joined me this morning. Oh, beautiful. And And when we got to the floatery part, she said, we actually didn't journal. We actually just sat and chatted about the journaling prompt. And she said it was such a wonderful conversation with him. Oh my goodness. And even that, you know, if you were to include your children and maybe it's not a journal prompt or maybe it is, maybe it's a little seven minutes of a conversation together about a question, that beautiful connection. And I know that, you know, quite a few. of the women have had their kids with them. And of course it's geared for children, children can absolutely do this. Even though it is aimed at women, they still get it. But it was just such a thrill to think, Oh my gosh. And because now my son is 19, I think, Oh my sonny, we would have done that together. Like him at 10, just reminded me of my sonny, you know, that's. Yeah. It didn't stage and it just, it warmed my heart. So even that, if, if let's say we have got children, oh my goodness, have them join you. Even though yes, the time alone is wonderful, but if they're with you, wonderful too. And don't journal, maybe discuss. Yeah. Like welcome them into. That's a really great reminder there that you've shared that if they are in a place where they're curious to see what you're doing, like be open and share, like I'm doing my exercise, I'm doing my meditation and this is how it sets me up for the day. And then, yeah, like you said, invite the conversation because that's where the world needs to go. Right. Like we need to have these really nice open conversations with our kids and realize that this is an example of how mom or dad or whoever works on themselves so that they're like, you know. Best they can be for the day and yeah, it really helps inspire other people. And I think creates that realization for kids that it's okay to do those things as well, you know? Yeah. Without doubt. And you know, I feel that it's an old saying, but words don't teach. Your children are watching you. They are watching you. Yeah. Yeah. You can say whatever you like, but they are, they are watching you. They are seeing how you handle things and what you do and what your own self care is or what your, the way you go about the world. So it's the wonderful example to them. And if we talk about, you know, children also are in this busy world where there is technology and, you know, stress as well. It's great to have them practice with you. So there's our listeners, Anna, to say that if you have children, you know, great. You can do it yourself, but include the kids. Yeah, absolutely. Cause seven minutes of meditation, I'm sure it benefits everybody, right? You don't have to be of a specific age or gender or whatever it is to be able to meditate. Everybody can. And if that helps kids also, you know, manage their nervous systems and sets them up for a great day, you know, whatever they're doing at school or with friends, you know, that's a real benefit to them. What a gift. Yeah. What about it? What a beautiful gift behind what you've created there, Emma. I love it. Let's flip this a little bit towards your retreats. Tell us all about these beautiful Luscious retreats. How did they come about? You said that they were sort of born out of loving creating the connection and community of bringing people together. Where was your first retreat? And how did you feel about it? Like, what was, I just want to know, like, what was your mindset around it? Like, what was the experience? What was some of the ins and outs that went along with it? Because as a participant to a retreat, you, you love the experience and you love the connection, but for the retreat holder, the person that's running the retreat, there is so much that goes on in the background. So I'm really eager to hear what has been your experience about building them, where you first held it and all those other fun, fun things. Nitty gritty things that go on behind the scenes. So that was a love of retreats. I had attended retreats myself and loved the feeling of the receiving part of it was just beautiful because I ran the yoga studio. I felt like it was a natural from a business perspective. It was a natural, I guess, evolution or a natural, what would we say? Complimentary. Yeah. Complimentary service. And because Connection is grown in a yoga studio and in a community. I thought let's definitely run like an, an immersion, like where you're actually there, we're doing some yoga and by no stretch of the imagination is the yoga, crazy yoga, it's very gentle and very nurturing. I also realized that women, and because I work with women, women, particularly Need a bit of nurturing themselves and need some downtime, but also that spiritual practice side, just that connection to mother nature and stopping getting off the ride for a bit and letting someone else hold you is so beneficial for a woman and of so much value because when, as we know, the woman is the heart of the family. She gives. a beat and blood flow and make sure everything's flowing to the rest of the family. So when we take care of the heart of the family, she's able to spread her love and blunt the rest of the family to keep everyone going. So I thought, okay, Let's do this. So I found, because the Gold Coast is so close to the Byron Bay and Byron Bay is just such a beautiful location because it's got the hinterland, it's got the beach, it's that gorgeous little surrounding and because it was so accessible and because we were during COVID one of the retreats and then after I thought I need to make it, even though I was across the border, technically Queensland to New South Wales, I needed to make it that women could get in the car and drive there. Yeah. There was no planes, trains and automobiles, it was very simple and accessible to get to, even though I still had women fly from Melbourne and Sydney. Wow. Amazing. Which was wonderful, but which was great. It was still accessible to get to Byron Bay because you can fly into Ballina now. So I thought I can going to do this, found a tremendous location. I've ran it in two different locations, but I've found the perfect spot now, which has got a beautiful yoga shala. We can get to the beach for a sunrise in the morning. We've got a beautiful hinterland where we can do a bushwalk and the accommodation's great. It's got a pool and a sauna and you know, the kitchen's great. So I brought in a dear friend of mine. I ran one retreat alone, And then I brought in a dear friend. So I co facilitate the retreat with another yoga teacher. And that has been incredibly helpful because they're, like you say, there is a lot to do and a lot of organization. And particularly because you're feeding a large number of women too. That, you know, the food is probably the biggest thing that takes quite a bit of planning. And I've outsourced a fair bit of that too. So it's just knowing, you know, what everyone's going to be eating and taking into consideration. So I've done with the retreats, I make them vegetarian and alcohol free. I do say they can have a coffee though. I can go meat free. Yeah. Some people just cannot live without their coffee, right? Yeah. It's an absolute, yeah. Yeah. Yeah. And I certainly don't want people with a cracking headache the whole time. No. So, and two, I do laugh and go, because I know they'd sneak it anyway. So just say how it is. You don't, there's, you know, and you know what, even two with that, and I am not a kind of person that is really strict around this stuff. This is suggested, we are going to be vegetarian and we're going to be alcohol free, but if you need your coffee, by all means, you know, I need you to have a wonderful time. Like it's, so yeah, the treat now, have I answered that question? So the retreat, yes, bringing in some help, outsourcing what you can is really, really helpful. But the gathering of women and then keeping the program. balance because I feel women need to have a little bit of free time as well. So always giving them the afternoon free has always been my methodology, you know, a little bit of activity in the morning, the evening, but that afternoon, you know, after lunch, giving them some space. So that's my by and by retreat. But then my true passion is India. Yeah. Wow. How did that come about? Like, how did you go, all right, I'm going to India with a bunch of Beautiful women. And we're going to have the most amazing time. Yeah. So I attended India myself on a retreat in 2016. And like I said, the start, I knew that I would return with women. So after, you know, during the COVID thing, I thought, well, what do I really want to do with the rest of my life? I want to go to India and take women. That's definitely a bucket list. So that came to fruition this year. And why India? Yeah. I feel like we potentially can get to Bali ourself. We can get to a lot of locations ourself, but India for a lot of people is a hell yes or a hell no, or if I'm going to go, I need to know I'm going to be safe. I'm in that category. Yeah. I'm very intrigued about India. I would love to experience it, but I want to go with India. Organization with someone who's going to hold my hand and guide me to some really great places that I don't have to navigate myself. I'm not that confident to navigate India on my own. Yeah. And it, and it very much is that you, yeah, you do definitely want to, I think, have someone on the ground there, which I do. I have a travel partner there, which is wonderful. So an incredible Indian company, which I know through a dear friend who's 14 times. Whoa. I know. So I felt really lucky to have that connection and then organizing everything, working with that partner has been tremendous. And then even in India, we have somebody with us the whole time. I have the bus, we have our own. So this time we took, there was 13 of us, this trip. This trip we've got 16 of us going. So a few more. So I have the same bus. We've got it all mapped out. We pretty much do the golden triangle in India. So Rishikesh is where yoga was born. Just beautiful. And then we do Agra, which is the Taj Mahal. So, and in Rishikesh, we see the Gandhi's like, it's just incredible. It is truly the most incredible country. And then, uh, of course, Agra with the Taj Mahal, and then we do Jaipur, which is just, I think, the potentially could be one of my favorite cities. It's known as the Pink City. So there is the palace and it's just incredibly beautiful, but very hot. And then we do Delhi, which Delhi also is another beautiful, there's New Delhi and Old Delhi. So we stay in New Delhi, which is full of gardens and quite beautiful, but Old Delhi, we do go there is, is quite the, wow, it's quite the India, really. Yeah. Slaps you in the face. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. I was going to say, that's the full throttle kind of experience in a way or, yeah. Wow. Absolutely. So India, and you know, like I said, we, there was 13 of us who went in March and we had just the most incredible experience, the food, the people, the culture. We did some really wonderful things around yoga there. We went to an ashram that was. not working anymore, but observed that, which was really amazing. And we were taught by a yoga teacher there. Cause I teach a lot of the yoga and so does Yogi Louie, who I, who I co facilitate with, but we had an authentic Indian yoga teacher. The women just love that. That was a really great experience. Like there was just so many experiences, you know, even, you know, the women are still, on a high now talking about it, who came back because I've launched the new trip and that's sold out. Yeah, it's, it's all gone now, which is wonderful, but there will be another, I will release another one in the next few months, but yeah, so it is really quite. Like the trip. It's a place where I cannot even liken it to anywhere. It's very different. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. I would say it's a very culturally enriched country. And it's very, I would, you could say it's quite diverse in a sense and it has that high energy I would say, but also that. Deepest spiritual energy that has, that lies underneath at the same time, right? Yes. Even just culturally. So our tour guide, who is the same one that's going to be with us the whole time, his knowledge and his stories of India culturally, just how they live their life is really quite fascinating around arranged marriages and how all of that works, also the history of. you know, the palaces and what happened in the past. We actually said it's like days of our lives. He was giving us, it was so fascinating. He was telling us each day, each place we'd go to, and we're like, we're all hanging on to every word because it was like, it was like days of our lives. He was an incredible storyteller too, which was wonderful. So we all really enjoyed the history and the culture too. Yeah. of this vibrant country. Yeah, I can imagine. I think that for me, like going on a retreat like that would feel really safe because you're with someone who's leading you through a program and it gives you that taster to go, Oh, this is what India is like. Perhaps I could come back again on my own and navigate something now that I've had that experience. But also the fact that you're gaining and you're immersing in. Not just the culture, but what the retreat is offering all in itself as well. When the participants sign up for India, what are some of the things that you're leading them on apart from like good tours to historical places or cultural places of significance and things like that? What else? I know you said that you do yoga teaching as well. Is there any other activities that you intertwine within that schedule? Yeah. So we do personal development workshops, a lot about transformation when we're there and we use the analogy of India. So I guide them through different workshops. We do pretty much a workshop most days and our yoga at whatever location, right? So the locations I've chosen, I've always got a beautiful yoga shala. Our one in Rishikesh looks over the Ganges. It's just, it's, it's beautiful. Picturesque, like it is divine. And monkeys, monkeys everywhere. Oh my goodness. But it's gorgeous. And then Yogi Louie, she also delivers as well, who I co facilitate with. Yogi Louie is a, yoga teacher who specialized in pain and trauma, but also Ayurvedic. So we also have a lot of Ayurvedic experiences too, in India, which is wonderful. And Lu, she comes with her knowledge around that too. So while we're there, we're also leaning into that because a lot of the food is, well, it's Indian food, it's vegetarian, but they use their food a lot as their medicine, their Ayurvedic. Comes through a lot of their spices. We go into the spice market, which is a sight. It is just incredible. We were walking through the chili section. You're not even touching the chilies, but it was just phenomenal. All these chilies like lined up in these big hessian bags and your nose starts to run, your eyes just. Oh, wow. Wow. Just from like, I don't know, the atmosphere of all this chili dust, chili energy. Get me through the chili. And then you get the beautiful, you know, the cinnamons, the turmeric and, but the sight of it is just divine. We all bought spices, bought the most amazing spices back and you can get them in. So I was going to ask, is that possible with Australian customs? Yeah, it was. So the place that we go to, they know that. Tourists can bring them back in. So they're sealed and they're stamped. So we just got there, declared them. They went, yep, all good. Three went. So, I mean, I bought home, of course, butter chicken. I bought home butter chicken and it is like the kids. I made it for my husband more than one time because it's his big bag of butter. But just beautiful. And like their potato mix and all of that. And the tea, because of course tea is grown in India. So all different tea and chai in India. Oh my goodness. Oh, it's, it's out of this world, right? And their coffee, their Indian coffee is beautiful. So there's all of these lovely experiences. We do a cooking class as well. And that was just, yeah, phenomenal teaching us how they cook. Cause it's, and you know, we learned, you know, how to use paneer, which is, you know, their chick, cause it's a lot of vegetarian, how they use their paneer cheese. And so he was just that it was just, it is the trip of a lifetime, Anna. I can imagine. And what a great way to, like you said, you know, step into that Indian culture if you haven't ever been there before and to be really like, it sounds like it's a, it's a wonderful experience cause you're getting a lot of everything within the whole entire time. And even I guess like if you've been to India before, it's still worthwhile going on this retreat because of the personal development and the yoga and the other introspection kind of aspects that you get to do within the program. Yeah. And we have actually got three women who are coming this time have been in the past. So they're returning. Yeah. Not on our trip, but they've, they've been in there coming. So it is definitely, if you are slight intrigued by India, it is well worth a trip to India. It is an incredible country. Yeah. Yeah. I feel like that would. Just hearing you talk about it and obviously having met you and talking to you, I feel like it would be such a really nourishing and safe and enjoyable and exciting and fun retreat to be a part of. Yeah. Very much designed for the ladies. Yes. Absolutely. Oh, amazing. Thanks so much for sharing all of that, Emma. Um, before we sign off, I'm just wondering if you can tell us how we can get a hold of your fabulous book and any other fabulous things that you would like to share with the listeners. So I, of course, Emma Walkinshaw is my name. I'm sure you put the links below cause I know Walkinshaw is a bit of a tricky name. So on Instagram I'm Emma underscore Walkinshaw and I've got like a little link there that goes to my website where you can purchase my book and of course go through there to come on to 21 Minutes of Morning Magic. So the 21 Minutes of Morning Magic group on Facebook is it's 21 Minutes. As in 2 1, 21 minutes in the morning, magic and inspiration. So if you, you, you are more than welcome to come and join me for that morning practice and yes, there will be another retreat to India next year, 2025, if you're interested, yeah, reach out and I can let you know, but yeah, so that's where you'll find me, but come and join. And then I've got another embody me program, which will happen in August. August. So that will all be on the website too. So have a seat. Oh, amazing. Yeah. I love all the offers that you have available on your website and what you do within your business. And I think there's something there that would be supportive and for anybody, really everybody in anybody. Who's needing your support. Are you doing, just out of curiosity, are you doing any Australian retreats? Are you doing any more local retreats at Heany State? I actually am July, July 27th. I've got one in Byron Bay. There are still some spots left. It's, I'm co facilitating with Emma Lavelle. It's called Rest and Receive. So I can give you the link to put in there. I know it's quite soon, but just in case anyone is interested. Interested in that one you might be interested. Yeah. Amazing. That sounds great. Well, thank you so much for coming on the show, Emma. I've just loved talking to you and I will be joining you on 21, sorry, 21 days, 21 minutes, 21 minutes, even 21 days, even 21 days of 21 minutes minutes in the morning. We'll get there in the end. Yeah. I will be joining you in that as well, because it sounds like a wonderful experience. Um, particularly when I get my 365 days of morning magic book to go with it as well. You'll love it. Yeah. Thank you so much. Thank you so much for coming on the show. It's been an absolute pleasure as always. And yes, please reach out to Emma if you've got any questions about all the amazing things that she offers. And until the next episode, take care. Thanks, Anna. Bye. Thank you so much for tuning in and listening to today's episode. Please rate and review this podcast so that it can continue to thrive and reach more listeners. I love to know who my listeners are, so please screenshot this episode and tag me on Instagram at Anna F. Hastie, and I look forward to connecting with you in the next episode.