Synergy: The Retreat Show is the creation of a healing visionary named Laura Montesanti. Like many people, the stress of modern life in London led Montasanti to meditation and to yoga and to a personal healing that she just had to share. She began teaching yoga and travelling as a teacher and eventually created a business putting wellness retreats aboard yachts and at resort properties.
Laura Montesanti, Founder, Synergy: The Retreat Show
Over the years, she got to know a wide variety of healing practitioners and property owners and travel professionals around the globe—and also came to recognize an enormous disconnect—these people didn’t know one another. So much passion, so much talent, so many opportunities, so much demand, so much need! What was lacking, she realized, is that simple word that is so hard to pull off: Synergy.
Synergy: The Retreat Show incubated during the pandemic and had its inaugural gathering in 2022 on the island of Ibiza. The second gathering was last October at Palmaia: House of AiA, a unique luxury beachfront sanctuary on the Riviera Maya near Cancun. This year will be in Bali at REVĪVŌ WELLNESS RESORT October 1st to 4th.
Synergy is three days of non-stop speed dating for sharing the businesses of wellness, spiritual healing practices, and transformative travel. Mornings and afternoons are spent at numbered tables for two, and every 20 minutes you meet a new person—a healer, a travel agent, a retreat owner, a feng shui expert—and it’s amazing just how much and how fast one can learn. When you’re not speed dating or meeting-while-eating, there are experiential gatherings to try new workouts, practices, and share more stories. Synergy has the combined energy of an Arabian souk and a Christian revival—and most everyone is trading, witnessing, and sharing with a single goal—healing some piece of the world.
Synergy has the combined energy of an Arabian souk and a Christian revival—and most everyone is trading, witnessing, and sharing with a single goal—healing some piece of the world.
Synergy Guides to Creating Retreat Centers
A World Class Couple’s Celebration
Karina and John Stewart were drawn decades ago to a cave on the southern coastline of Koh Samui, Thailand, that was once used by Buddhist monks as a place of meditative retreat. Karina is from Mexico and studied anthropology at Princeton before immersing herself in Asian healing traditions. John is from Canada but had spent decades as a devoted spiritual acolyte in the Himalayas, where he met Karina. Around the cave, the couple brought together their passions to a Wellness Sanctuary and Holistic Spa called Kamalaya, which translates as Lotus (Kamal) Realm (alaya) in the ancient language of Sanskrit, symbolizing the unfolding of the human spirit. Individually and together the couple has won numerous awards for creating a remarkable world class place for deep healing. kamalaya.com
Glamping at 777 Guest Ranch; photo by Stephen Kiesling
A Dream House that Became a Glamping Retreat
Heather Kelly and Eric Adams were both successful in the Seattle tech world—and ready to leave. They got together, bought an Airstream trailer, and started to explore. Ultimately, their camping trips took them to Southern Oregon and finding their dream home on 43 hillside acres nestled between a new winery and thousands of acres of federal forest. But now deep in the woods, they want to build community with interesting guests who might stay a day or two. So, they first bought some Safari tents and listed glamping on Airbnb. And it proved a hit. People wanted to come stay in nice tents with fine beds in the privacy of the quiet woods—and providing the experience also proved to be the sort of work Eric and Heather wanted to do. Their market test let to led to getting county permits and building roads and setting up more tents and gathering spaces and inviting special guests and speakers. The 777 Guest Ranch is good quiet fun and the couple are enjoying their adventure—and perhaps creating a model for your dream/retreat home. t7gr.com
Building a House of Transformation
Yancy Wright spent a dozen years in Seattle working on corporate green building projects before he decided it was time for more intense and intentional greenery in his life—and a personal sustainability challenge. So, he found the perfect grand old house near the beach in the Puerto Rican rainforest. Inexpensive because it had been abandoned for seven years and lacked amenities like windows and wiring and plumbing, it had the bones of an eco-chic paradise. As he reimagined the old house as a nine-room retreat space, he reimagined himself—and trained as a Hendricks Institute Leadership & Transformation Coach and HeartMath Institute Coach. He also gathered his team. Nowadays, Casa Alternavida is recognized as a retreat destination for corporate teams and executive retreats. In between full-house bookings, they provide custom retreats for individuals and couples, working with nature as a metaphor during daily adventures in the rainforest and at the beach. It’s a perfect place to plan your own transformation. casaalternavida.com
The Monastic Life in Umbria
Marcello Murzilli left the fashion world to sail around the world for a couple of years before he created Hotelito Desconocido, the first luxury resort pioneering tranquility in Puerto Vallarta. Now, he’s created a new singles hotel in Umbria, Italy—and not for that kind of single. Eremito Hotelito Del Alma is built in a monastery for travelers who come to be silent, even at meals, looking outward at a UNESCO Biosphere Preserve. Guests should expect to stay in monastic cells that have very fine beds but no refrigerator, television, phone, or even air conditioning. At night, candles light your room. (Relax: there are no chamber pots, and there is a washroom and shower.) All food items are vegetarian, according to Mediterranean monastic traditions. Eremito has been listed as one of the top eco-hotels of the world, and maybe the world’s best place for digital detox—and to reimagine luxury living. eremito.com
The Retreat Costa Rica; photo courtesy The Retreat Costa Rica
A Couple Creates a Couple’s Paradise
Diana Stobo is a celebrity chef, best-selling author, and health and wellness life-coach, who went to Costa Rica with a dream to create a transformational wellness center. She bought a jungle property overlooking a Blue Zone, the Nicoya Peninsula, and went to work renovating a villa as a luxury yoga and Ayurveda retreat. Then magic happened—she jokes that Jane met Tarzan but Enrique says it was the other way around. He’s is a builder who was working on the villa, and he grew up on a large ranch in the rainforest and knows the flora and fauna like his own body. They got together and began creating gorgeous jungle visions that feel like flying around in Avatar. The Retreat Costa Rica features 18 unique, elegant rooms, the spectacular Vida Mia Healing Center and Spa, two farm-to-table organic restaurants, an organic coffee plantation, two saltwater pools, a yoga studio, meditation deck, organic gardens, river swings, jungle and river paths, and a sweeping view of the Gulf of Nicoya. theretreatcostarica.com
A Full-Scale Resort Retreat
A most appropriate host for Synergy, Palmaïa The House of AIA is surrounded by more than 988 acres of jungle and more than half a mile of beautiful beach on the Riviera Maya. You don’t drive in. You’re brought by motor cart through an adjacent Cancun-style resort and enter the sanctuary through a tunnel of greenery. Inside, there is water everywhere: Cenotes, pools, the ocean. A ground-floor suite has a grand soaking tub in the main space and a couple of steps beyond the sliding glass doors puts you into a swimming pool. The suite has a separate bunkroom for kids or grandkids—and they would obviously have a fine time. But Palmaia is a retreat with spectacular art installations, meditation spaces, and yoga platforms. The food in the various restaurants is vegan (with the option to opt out), the drinks are mocktails (with the option to add in), and everyone is asked at the door about food allergies. Their jungle spa is breathtaking with a signature treatment that combines a superbly trained massage therapist and a sound healer with amazing instruments and a beautiful voice. Live empathic music blended with massage proves to be a remarkably transformative experience in a place well designed for exactly that.
An Ayurvedic treatment at Ananda; photo courtesy Ananda
A Maharaja’s Palace of Ayurveda
Ananda, in the Himalayan foothills of India, is a truly grand Ayurveda retreat. Spread over 100 acres of a Maharaja’s palace, Ananda overlooks the spiritual town of Rishikesh and the Ganges river valley, the birthplace of yoga, meditation, and Ayurveda. This spiritual location attracts wellness seekers from around the world, and the resort features exquisitely landscaped gardens, 70 elegant rooms with panoramic views, four suites with secluded private gardens, a historical Viceregal Suite and three luxury villas with private villa pools. The expansive spa includes 24 treatment rooms, a state-of-the-art gymnasium, outdoor swimming pool, and luxurious hydrotherapy facilities. Ananda offers different paths to enlighten and awaken the inner self, from exploring the ancient philosophies of Vedanta, to higher states of meditation and mantra chanting. anandaspa.com
Synergy Guides to Creating Exotic Retreats
Become a Transformational Travel Council “Transformer”
Mona Lewicka is Director of Business development for the Transformational Travel Council, an international group of travel professionals, progressive destinations, sustainable accommodations, thought-leaders, retreat facilitators, coaches, and travel media. interested in transforming the lives of travelers and the lives they touch. She says a great first step toward joining this remarkable group is to take training to become a “Transformer,” and the course description sounds like wisdom for all retreat leaders.
“Transformation lies on a spectrum, from a small t to a BIG T, and it’s uniquely personal, and it cannot be designed, promised, or delivered. Traveling to transform is a balance of intention, awareness, and surrendering, the worst mistake you can make is trying too hard or setting expectations instead of intentions, and waiting for a transformative moment or an epiphany to occur, that really doesn’t work very well … We’ve tried.” transformational.travel
Cynthia Wong; photo courtesy of cynthiatravels.com
A Dream Travel Designer Experience
Cynthia Wong describes herself as “a creative event and travel architect, crafting dreamy retreat experiences oozing with inspired wow-factor moments of magic worldwide.” She has designed and run 17 intimate yoga and adventure retreats for 150-plus attendees across seven countries—Maldives, Bali, Malaysia, Sri Lanka, USA, Croatia, and Santorini, Greece. Each retreat typically has 30 percent to 60 percent returning attendees, often coming back with partners or friends. She’s included here because Cynthia is also a retreat leader strategist, consultant, and coach, who helps other retreat leaders to select their dream locations and venues, and leverage retreats to grow their business. Joining one of her retreats not only would be glorious fun, but a way to learn about a life lived as a successful retreat leader. cynthiatravels.com
An Expert’s Guide to Morocco
Soukeina Hachem is a person you want to know if you want an intimate experience of Morocco—and represents a local retreat entrepreneur to look for in any country. She is a passionate yoga teacher and community organizer who has been co-creating extraordinary retreats in her motherland for several years. These are small groups interested in the practice of yoga and breathwork as a means to become connected not just to the group but to the communities and cultures they visit. Her company is called Constellations, and she explains, “We believe in the beauty of encounters and how they can positively impact our wellbeing, growth, and understanding of ourselves. We are stars gravitating around each other, interacting, loving and caring for each other.” weconstellations.com
Synergy Guides to Creative Retreat Leaders
The Medicine of Music
Letizia Silvestri had clients that included Ferrari and Lamborghini, but she was also battling with corporate burnout, fatigue, and a compromised health. Then the pandemic gave her the chance to pause, reflect, and do a deep dive on what her purpose. Now she is the Chief Healing Officer of Altha, a team of sound healers, holistic lifestyle coaches, and yoga instructors dedicated to providing modern and curated relaxation experiences to release stress, reduce anxiety, improve sleep, and enhance clarity and productivity. Altha sound healing sessions feature a wide variety of instruments that include gongs, crystal bowls, Tibetan bowls, ocean drums, rain sticks, shakers, hand drums, water and earth chimes, flow chimes, and more. Also on offer is the signature Hypno-Sound Bath, which combines the transformative power of sound healing and hypnotherapy. altha.com
Reach Your Physical Edge with Mindful Euphoria
Luuk Melisse has put the Human Potential Movement into a workout. Called Sanctum, you show up at the venue, maybe an old church in London, put on headphones, and get ready to sweat through an hour that might begin with a monologue by Alan Watts and then morphs into music-driven movements and practices including Kundalini yoga, martial arts, and breathwork. His unique approach, influenced by monk life and spiritual exploration, is a strenuous and balanced workout that is also inspiring and emotionally moving—and is coming soon to the US. wearesanctum.com
Monisha Bhanote, MD, wellbeing doctor; photo courtesy of Dr. Bhanote
The Genius of “Cell Care as Self-Care”
Dr. Monisha Bhanote is amazing—an MD with a remarkable five board certifications and a record of diagnosing over one million cases of cancer from looking at cells. She is also a functional culinary medicine specialist, yoga teacher, and all-around-great healer—a Gut-Mind Alchemist—on a mission “to catalyze a paradigm shift towards conscious health, fostering a culture of intentional wellbeing, and creating connections for a blissfully happier world.” She believes that “cell care is self-care” and her recent book The Anatomy of Wellbeing: Intentional Practices to Embrace Your Body’s Unique Design and Revitalize Your Health is an easy-to-read guide to keep all your cells at their best. Spending time with Dr. Bhanote is treat and she frequently leads retreats. DrBhanote.com and wellkula.com
Tending Your Vocal Culture Garden
Mellini Monique radiates presence, and that’s before she says anything. Then she says that there’s no such thing as an “authentic” voice in such a way that makes the statement completely convincing—even before she demonstrates with exercises to locate your voice in various places in your body and then notice how it stretches when you express anger or sadness. Her fundamental point is that your voice is a creation and you should understand what you have created and why—and if that voice is actually the voice you want. Becoming conscious of your voice and more conscientiousness in how you use it can help heal trauma, create healthier relationships, get you a promotion, speaking gigs, influence, money, and peace of mind. vocalculturegarden.com
Women Running Wild
Elinor Fish is an ultrarunner who has made running her spiritual practice and has been creating her own form of women-only trail-running pilgrimages since 2010. These trips are not about medals or competition. Instead, they are about running as mindfulness, personal transformation, community and playfulness—and they take place amidst spectacular scenery like the desert of Moab, Utah, the Wicklow Mountains of Ireland, and even the trails of Nepal. Some retreats are for veteran runners looking to deepen their practice and expand their awareness among like-minded enthusiasts. Others are for novices open to the transformational power running with other women. As well as running, the retreats include journaling and yoga and spa treatments and exceptional food. runwildretreats.com
Awaken to Kundalini
Kathryn McCusker discovered Kundalini yoga and meditation in Mexico in 2000, and now lives in London, where she organizes Kundalini Yoga Teacher Trainings across the globe. She has also studied Reiki and complementary therapies like sound healing that promote profound energetic, emotional and physical healing alongside Kundalini. McCusker’s and her KMYOGA aim is to make the teachings and experiences of Kundalini accessible to everyone—and to recognize how easily and effectively they can be integrated into daily lives. kathrynmccuskerkundalini.com
Stephen Kiesling
Editor at Large Stephen Kiesling was a founding editor of both Spirituality & Health and American Health magazines. He was the youngest member of the 1980 US Olympic Rowing Team and the oldest competitor at the 2008 Olympic Rowing Trials. A Scholar of the House in Philosophy at Yale, Stephen is the author of several books, including The Shell Game, Walking the Plank, and The Nike Cross Training System. He has written for The New Yorker, Sports Illustrated, and Outside, has been featured in The New York Times and The Boston Globe, and has appeared on numerous television and radio shows, including Today and All Things Considered..