“BUNK BEDS? ARE WE IN PRISON?”

“Bunk beds? Are we in prison?”

Ha.I turned my head to see who was talking but they disappeared along the darkened forest trail. I chuckled as I thought about the skinny mattresses, communal showers, cafeteria line-ups and the number of dirty, uncensored women in a remote location without five-bar connection. OMG she was right. This wasn’t a retreat; it was an episode of Orange is the New Black.

Except… it wasn’t.

In fact, the FallFit Women’s Weekend had nothing to do with being confined and controlled and everything to do with experiencing freedom. There was so much freedom that I heard women saying, “It’s weird not having to be somewhere, or make someone a snack.” Two nights, and three days of freedom from your to-do list, freedom from caring about all the “others” in your life and the absolute freedom to let go and reconnect with yourself.

And yes, there was a line up for the salad bar – but it had more quinoa than an Oakville suburb. And yes, the mattresses were thin – but you weren’t sharing your bed with a kick-you-in-the-head human. And yes, the communal bathrooms were not perfect but they felt more like, “a brushing and flushing group-hug” then a deal breaker for coming to camp.

This weekend was about living your dash; SUPing it up; finding your life message; making a great cocktail; riding the Zumba train, killin’ a bootcamp, and putting Yoga in your soul. It was about Seeing the Lighter Side of Life while you searched for your Slice of Happy – because this was your weekend to choose. This was your time to reconnect with the person that’s so much more than her “have-tos” and her “shoulds”.

Thank you FallFit, I needed that.

Heather Korol, author and speaker can be found at: A Slice of Happy.