The Benefit of Community During Your Spiritual Journey

One of the most beneficial things I have learned from going on retreat is the cosmic sisterhood that can come out of it. 

Through different outlets in my life, I have reached for community. From the women’s swim team in high school, sorority and competitive dancing in college, all the way down to community I fostered professionally. I didn’t realize how healing a spiritual community could be for me until I went on my first retreat in 2022. 

I went to Costa Rica with one of my closest friends, who I knew for seven years at that point. We were and continue to be soul sisters whose bonds are deepened by sharing similar beliefs. I was expecting to learn and experience a bit from the teacher, but in my mind this was a vacation with my best friend.  I didn't expect to see the different versions of myself reflected back at me through the 18 other women who were there as well.  After each share in the circle, personal conversation and jokes passed over dinner, I felt held by a community of intimate strangers. I didn’t know these women prior to stepping off the airplane, but they soon learned some of my darker inner secrets that I had hidden away. My fears, insecurities, proudest moments and victories were teased out of my coffers until I stood bare between them… and felt accepted. Finding that acceptance was a fast-path to healing, further exploration, discoveries and victories both for that week and for the months and year that followed. 

Community is something hard to create in modern society, where individualism is triumphed and we move away from the communities that knew us from childhood. By being open with my own struggles on my online platforms (instagram and Sage Sophia) as well as pushing myself out of my hermit cave to go to public events (workshops, yoga classes, etc.) and retreats I have created a virtual and in-person community that can continue to hold me as I reciprocate that friendship back to them. Having fellow women in my corner is hugely empowering and gives me a sense of accountability from them as well as myself.