Last year’s roller coaster

Eden’s last year has been a typical example of our life since Remy and I have started our adventure in Nicaragua. It’s one big roller coaster. Eden got to a place where we wanted her to be, she slowly got to the top of her game, was finally a place how we imagined it would be and just when she got to the top, BAM, she crashed down again. How did Covid-19 affect us, what have we been doing in our quarantine time, what have we learned from this period and how does Eden get back on her feet again?

The dream of running retreats, Januari-March 2020

What an amazing group we have again. It’s so fulfilling to see that we have created a space, where people really can connect with each other and at the same time go through their own journey and connect with themselves. A full house with guests who took a step out of their comfort zone to go on an adventure in the still raw and pure Nicaragua. They took a step to set new intentions and reflect on life itself. Every day you see the people relax more into their new home, relax more into their body and start to open up more and more. They really start to feel the effects of a daily yoga & meditation practice, a healthy diet and a life close to nature. The body and mind is healing and is starting to find its balance again. This is a dream, this is why we started Eden.

When Covid-19 started, April-June 2020

Is it time to wake up from that dream? That dream we worked so hard for? We are in the middle of a full retreat when we need to make a hard decision to close Eden for the next 3 months. We have no idea what kind of virus this is and at this point it just seems like the best thing to do, so we all would be safe. Quarantine life starts. Eden is not the worst place to be quarantined, so we decided to take an inner journey ourselves. The Eden team was doing their own retreat. Reflecting on their own life and starting every month with a new intention during a cacao ceremony. A new intention in what way we could grow. In what way we could grow as a person and in what way we could let Eden grow. Our volunteers, Katie and Scott are becoming really close friends. What an eyeopener to see that there are more people who care about our ‘baby’ as much as we do. They come up with so many great ideas to turn Eden into her best version of herself. As Eden is growing Katie and I both have new life growing in us as well! With only 3 weeks difference we found out we are both pregnant. Going through this special period of our lives, makes our friendship even stronger.

A new Eden, July-September 2020

Covid-19 is taking longer than we expected. By this time Eden is completely renovated. Katie made beautiful murals in our cabanas, we added a very intimate bonfire place and the garden is in its full blossom as the rainy season, my favorite time of the year, has started. We developed a completely new yoga retreat where we take people more and more on an inner journey where we can help living their life to the fullest. We can’t wait to share the lessons we have learned with our guests. We started working on our own life vision in every part of our life. We wrote down our vision for Eden, for our health, for our relationship, for our social life, for our family etc. It gave us new impulses to get through this period, where there are no guests and we have to get our motivation and strength completely from within. We learn a lot from all the self work we do, but it is not getting easier as we don’t know when would be the end of Covid-19 and how much longer this period of silence will take. We trust that the universe is giving us what we need. At this time it’s giving us lessons in acceptance and patience. Now our focus can be on our family. As we found out we are expecting a twin, we realize we can not do this alone, we need the support and help of our family in our home country The Netherlands. Eden needs to stand on her own legs for a couple of months. Katie and Scott are going on with their own new adventure of starting a family, so we need to attract people with the same vision and drive to manage Eden. At this point luck is on our side and we found two amazing talented Dutch women who could fulfill this job. 

New yoga retreats, October-December 2020

By attracting new team members, Eden is seen through another set of fresh eyes and again new ideas for yoga retreats are coming up. Maija, our yoga teacher with over 10 years of experience developed a few special yoga retreats for people who really want to dive deep and reconnect to their true self. We are also very excited she will lead our very first teacher training October next year. More info will follow soon! For people who are experiencing the advantages of being flexible to work from wherever, we developed our new 25-day work retreat. If you are looking for a place to work in a surrounding where you work in a setting where you will be in the right mindset to be highly productive, where you will be easily inspired and where taking care of your body, mind and soul is guaranteed, this retreat is something for you!

Our home country, The Netherlands

Remy and I are enjoying the love of our friends and family in The Netherlands and we are proud that Eden can stand on her own legs for now. Check out our previous blog about how we are experiencing life in our home country. We are very excited to welcome our two girls into our family. It will be another part of our roller coaster and when the crazy ride has slowed down a bit, we will be back! 

Happy holidays!

*Blog written by Kelly de Beer*