It's nearly the end of November!! Time is flying isn't it! I can't believe it's been more than a week since the participants of the Real Japan Retreat left to go back to their various countries. None of us will ever be the same again!
This was the first year for the Real Japan Retreat, which was aimed at international women entrepreneurs. In addition to getting a great experience of "real Japan" I wanted to give local women entrepreneurs a chance to mastermind with women from other countries. Somehow this turned out to be an amazing experience where everyone went home wanting more!
This retreat started in Tokyo, after arriving from France and the Netherlands, I whisked the participants away from the craziness and rush of Tokyo to a sleepy little hot spring town called Yumoto, about 2 hours by train north of Tokyo. Once you leave the train, you can get started with the hot springs right away by soaking your feet in the foot bath just outside the station! It's so refreshing after a trip on the train and sitting for 2 hours.
We stayed at a local ryokan or traditional style Japanese inn, called Iwaso. This is a smaller ryokan but we felt very well looked after and almost cocooned whilst we were there. There is a big difference staying in a ryokan to a usual hotel room. Futons are the order of the day, and Iwaso's are the most comfortable ones I've slept on. We can wear a "yukata" around inside the inn which really makes you feel relaxed and we spent most of the time dressed in these bath robes! So relaxing. All our meals were provided in our own room so we had privacy to enjoy our discussions without disturbing others. And the FOOD! Look! Helen, Communication skills coach of Sasuga Communications, based in Tokyo will show just how amazing all the meals were:
In addition to experiencing this very Japanese way of relaxing, we held mastermind sessions. A mastermind is where we work together to help each other with challenges and help and advice. It is a very powerful type of meeting where everyone comes away with a new direction for their business or knowledge and confidence to tackle a problem.
From our masterminding, we came up with some very exciting things over the next year, including a retreat such as this next year for clients of Sophie Coaching. Japan is the place to be.
Sophie is a coach from Bordeaux, France. She wanted to inspire her own clients by taking a big step out of her comfort zone to come to Japan and learn as much as she could. Mission accomplished Sophie! Sophie is such a hard worker, she says she loves her work so much. I can tell!!
Marianne, (doesn't she look AMAZING in kimono!) a mindset coach who works on money blocks through EFT, also said that when she got on the plane from Europe to Japan, she had a feeling that this would not be her last trip to Japan. Japan does that to you Marianne, it gets under your skin!!! It will be great to see you back here soon!
One of the highlights was all of us getting to put on kimono and visit the local hot spring shrine. We certainly turned a lot of heads in this little town, where you don't get to see many foreigners, let alone foreigners wearing kimono! We got so many nice comments from the passing locals.
If you'd like to hear more about the Real Japan Retreat next year or any of the other retreats coming up in 2018, make sure you sign up for my newsletter, which I only send once a month - don't worry no spam! Subscribers get first access to all new trips as registration opens, so don't miss out!