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The barre3 Retreat Changed My Life—And I’m So Grateful
When Amy Moore, a client at barre3 Cherry Creek, attended Experience B3 in 2018, she assumed it would be a nice weekend of pampering. What she didn’t know was that it would kick-off a deep self-exploration that would ultimately change her life. Read on for her story, in her own words.
In January 2018, I saw a social-media post for Experience B3, barre3’s immersive retreat, and I was immediately intrigued. I had been debating how to spend my upcoming 40th birthday, and the retreat was going to be at Brasada Ranch, not far from where I went to college. It seemed made for me. I booked my spot, expecting a relaxing weekend of shaking muscles and some pampering. Little did I know the retreat would change my life.
Dandapani was a special guest at this particular retreat, and it was no more than 20 minutes into his presentation that I knew I would be learning a lot more than just new modifications on different barre3 postures during this retreat. Dandapani tackled big topics—the mind, awareness, energy—in a way that resonated so strongly with me.
Later, during a break-out session, Sadie led a small group of us in what she called the Drop the Rock Exercise, followed by a Core Values exercise. Drop the Rock helped illustrate the idea that we need to address our values first and the little stuff last. As Dandapani had explained in his session, energy is finite, and if you don’t address the most important things first, you won’t have the time or energy to give them the attention they deserve.
So what were my big rocks? What were my most important values? After the exercises and some time journaling, I narrowed in on my top five values: Spirituality, Connection, Gratitude, Health, and Learning. I looked at how I was spending my time and saw so much of my time going to other things, most of which were not so aligned with my values. This was a huge moment for me. There’s nothing like taking an honest look at your life and seeing that it doesn’t reflect what you think of as “you.”
I was so fired up about the weekend when I returned home to Denver that I typed up all my notes and shared them with Julie Gordon, the owner of barre3 Cherry Creek, and Stephanie Aiken, the then studio manager. I then went on to tell all my friends about what I learned at Experience B3 and the impact it had on me—and I ended up starting a small yet powerful women’s networking group. At the kick-off meeting, I gave a presentation that incorporated what I’d learned from the retreat, and I led the group through the core-values exercise. We shared our core values with each other, and we used our follow-up meetings to help keep us accountable for living our values and aligning our time with those values.
Three of us from that group had already been meeting for 6 a.m. coffee every Wednesday to have life check-ins and now, with our core values identified, we discovered we all shared the value of connection in our top five. Eager to share our thoughts and live our shared value of connection on a greater scale, we created a podcast: Less Alone: A Podcast About Connection. It’s taken on a life of its own and, as I sit here writing, we have over 25,000 downloads! We were even featured in Denver’s, 5280 Magazine.
Leading up to and during the recording of our first season of the podcast, I was struggling in my marriage. Thankfully I had shared the exercise with my then-husband, and I came to understand that we had very different core values. While that’s disheartening on a certain level, I was grateful to have clarity on why things had gone so wrong. I am in the midst of getting a divorce. It might seem ironic that at the same time I’m creating podcasts about topics around connection, my most important relationship has fallen apart and lost all connection.
But in so many ways, I can look at this not as a failure but as progress. With my new perspective and understanding of myself, I have been able to rekindle several past connections and strengthen current ones. I am so grateful I have a community of people who share some of my values. Sometimes I wonder if I would have been able to see the dysfunction and the unhealthy behaviors—and ultimately my need to go my own way—if I had not done the important work at the barre3 retreat.
Living with purpose, passion, and integrity demands that we identify our values and work to align our lives with them. I know I am far from mastering this, but I also know I can gently remind myself that it takes practice. I look at my values and I forge ahead, doing the best I can to live this life with the values that are the most important to me. I am grateful barre3 is there to give space to me to show up in my body as I am and to take up space with big movements and challenge myself with small ones, focusing on my breath throughout.
Bonus: We had the great pleasure of interviewing Sadie for the Less Alone podcast. We talked about how important connection is in her life, the power of circles, the connection to our past, achievement, and much more. Sadie gently reminded us throughout the hour that it all takes practice. What a gentle thing to hear from someone so accomplished. What a gentle thing we can all remind ourselves.
Join us for Experience B3 | Brasada Ranch April 16 – 19 for a life-changing, immersive weekend of mindful movement, inspiration, and self-care. Learn more and sign up here.
Learn more about Amy and her connection-driven work here.
When Amy Moore, a client at barre3 Cherry Creek, attended Experience B3 in 2018, she assumed it would be a nice weekend of pampering. What she didn’t know was that it would kick-off a deep self-exploration that would ultimately change her life. Read on for her story, in her own words.
In January 2018, I saw a social-media post for Experience B3, barre3’s immersive retreat, and I was immediately intrigued. I had been debating how to spend my upcoming 40th birthday, and the retreat was going to be at Brasada Ranch, not far from where I went to college. It seemed made for me. I booked my spot, expecting a relaxing weekend of shaking muscles and some pampering. Little did I know the retreat would change my life.
Dandapani was a special guest at this particular retreat, and it was no more than 20 minutes into his presentation that I knew I would be learning a lot more than just new modifications on different barre3 postures during this retreat. Dandapani tackled big topics—the mind, awareness, energy—in a way that resonated so strongly with me.
Later, during a break-out session, Sadie led a small group of us in what she called the Drop the Rock Exercise, followed by a Core Values exercise. Drop the Rock helped illustrate the idea that we need to address our values first and the little stuff last. As Dandapani had explained in his session, energy is finite, and if you don’t address the most important things first, you won’t have the time or energy to give them the attention they deserve.
So what were my big rocks? What were my most important values? After the exercises and some time journaling, I narrowed in on my top five values: Spirituality, Connection, Gratitude, Health, and Learning. I looked at how I was spending my time and saw so much of my time going to other things, most of which were not so aligned with my values. This was a huge moment for me. There’s nothing like taking an honest look at your life and seeing that it doesn’t reflect what you think of as “you.”
I was so fired up about the weekend when I returned home to Denver that I typed up all my notes and shared them with Julie Gordon, the owner of barre3 Cherry Creek, and Stephanie Aiken, the then studio manager. I then went on to tell all my friends about what I learned at Experience B3 and the impact it had on me—and I ended up starting a small yet powerful women’s networking group. At the kick-off meeting, I gave a presentation that incorporated what I’d learned from the retreat, and I led the group through the core-values exercise. We shared our core values with each other, and we used our follow-up meetings to help keep us accountable for living our values and aligning our time with those values.
Three of us from that group had already been meeting for 6 a.m. coffee every Wednesday to have life check-ins and now, with our core values identified, we discovered we all shared the value of connection in our top five. Eager to share our thoughts and live our shared value of connection on a greater scale, we created a podcast: Less Alone: A Podcast About Connection. It’s taken on a life of its own and, as I sit here writing, we have over 25,000 downloads! We were even featured in Denver’s, 5280 Magazine.
Leading up to and during the recording of our first season of the podcast, I was struggling in my marriage. Thankfully I had shared the exercise with my then-husband, and I came to understand that we had very different core values. While that’s disheartening on a certain level, I was grateful to have clarity on why things had gone so wrong. I am in the midst of getting a divorce. It might seem ironic that at the same time I’m creating podcasts about topics around connection, my most important relationship has fallen apart and lost all connection.
But in so many ways, I can look at this not as a failure but as progress. With my new perspective and understanding of myself, I have been able to rekindle several past connections and strengthen current ones. I am so grateful I have a community of people who share some of my values. Sometimes I wonder if I would have been able to see the dysfunction and the unhealthy behaviors—and ultimately my need to go my own way—if I had not done the important work at the barre3 retreat.
Living with purpose, passion, and integrity demands that we identify our values and work to align our lives with them. I know I am far from mastering this, but I also know I can gently remind myself that it takes practice. I look at my values and I forge ahead, doing the best I can to live this life with the values that are the most important to me. I am grateful barre3 is there to give space to me to show up in my body as I am and to take up space with big movements and challenge myself with small ones, focusing on my breath throughout.
Bonus: We had the great pleasure of interviewing Sadie for the Less Alone podcast. We talked about how important connection is in her life, the power of circles, the connection to our past, achievement, and much more. Sadie gently reminded us throughout the hour that it all takes practice. What a gentle thing to hear from someone so accomplished. What a gentle thing we can all remind ourselves.
Join us for Experience B3 | Brasada Ranch April 16 – 19 for a life-changing, immersive weekend of mindful movement, inspiration, and self-care. Learn more and sign up here.
Learn more about Amy and her connection-driven work here.
