Wild Softness

Wild Softness is a seven-day women's yoga retreat at Barbarenas, a boutique villa in the hills of Puerto Escondido, Oaxaca, Mexico. It is for the woman who has spent years holding things together for everyone else and wants to put that down for a week. Fourteen women gather for slow yoga, breathwork, temazcal, and cacao, fire, and moon ceremonies. It is led by Julie, a yoga teacher and holistic wellness coach, and Bianca, a registered psychotherapist and yoga teacher.

What to Expect

The week moves through three phases: Land, Listen, and Live. Each draws on one or more of the four elements as a felt experience in the body rather than a metaphor.

Land (Days 1 to 3) is earth. You arrive into your body, the place, and the circle through slow yoga, grounding practice, ceremony, and real rest. The aim is that by the end of Day 3 your nervous system has stopped running.

Listen (Days 4 and 5) is water and fire. Here you find breathwork, a temazcal, a sound bath on the quietest day, and a fire ceremony at the midpoint of the week, where what you came to lay down meets the flame. It is held and witnessed, and not rushed.

Live (Days 6 and 7) is air and fire. The focus is integration and embodiment: ecstatic dance with no choreography, celebration, commitments for daily life, a closing circle, and a continuing connection between participants after you go home.

Daily yoga runs from restorative to dynamic to integrative. There is one held, deep breathwork session, placed when the group is ready for it. The cacao ceremony opens the week, and the moon ceremony follows the actual lunar cycle on the retreat dates. One full day is spent on the Pacific Ocean. International Women's Day falls inside the week, and a day of celebration is built around it. An ice plunge is offered, always optional. Every activity is an invitation, and free time is built into each day.

About Julie

Julie is the founder of Live In Truth, a Certified Holistic Wellness and Lifestyle Coach, mind-body practitioner, and yoga teacher. She created The Embodied Truth Method, a yoga-led, integrative coaching approach for women who have spent years leading at work, holding the family together, and showing up for everyone else. Her work combines coaching, yoga, nervous system support, and embodied practice.

About Bianca

Bianca is a Registered Psychotherapist, yoga teacher, and breathwork practitioner, and the founder of Affirmative Healing. She supports women through life transitions, anxiety, grief, relationship challenges, and emotional healing, drawing on somatic, emotion-focused, and EMDR-informed approaches. She trained in Ashtanga Vinyasa Yoga in India and weaves movement, breath, meditation, and yogic philosophy into her teaching. On this retreat she acts as facilitator, not as a therapist.

The Setting

Barbarenas is a boutique sanctuary with hand-built rooms, an open-air pool and lounge, and a temazcal on the property. The beach and one of Mexico's liveliest stretches of Pacific coast are a five-minute walk away. Rooms are shared by two or three women, or private.

A private chef prepares breakfast, lunch, and dinner from locally sourced ingredients, with snacks and non-alcoholic drinks through the day. Lunches and dinners are mainly plant-based, and eggs are available at breakfast. Dietary requirements and allergies are accommodated. Airport transfers from Puerto Escondido International Airport (PXM) are arranged for you.

Before You Go

All levels are welcome, and no yoga or retreat experience is required. Practices offer variations, and the container is trauma-informed. The retreat is women-only and held in English, and local staff speak Spanish and English.

The stay includes seven nights, meals (except on the excursion day), daily yoga, ceremonies and cultural experiences, the Pacific excursion, airport transfers, a pre-retreat one-to-one onboarding call, and gratuity for venue staff. Flights, alcohol, excursion-day meals, and personal spending are not included. Emergency medical insurance is required, and trip cancellation insurance is strongly recommended.

Because this work can go deep, guests are asked to arrive with their own support, such as a therapist, doctor, or trusted practitioner, in place. For packing, bring flowing clothing, swimwear, comfortable movement wear, and layers for the evenings.