Ep 135: Love and Lessons from Miraval

Today, I share my experience at a remarkable destination that helps me be my favorite me. I have recently returned from a five-night trip to the amazing Miraval Tucson, and I have gathered several of the best things about the resort and the lessons I have learned to pass along to you.

Miraval is a premium wellness retreat that offers an all-inclusive experience. There are currently three locations in the US, with plans for more around the world. A trip there is truly an investment I encourage you to consider making in yourself. 

There are so many things I love about Miraval–the incredible classes, luxury bedding, and rejuvenating spa. I am also grateful for the valuable things I have learned during my visits. Every time I go to Miraval, I discover something about myself that helps me thrive when I'm back home. I hope this episode gives you a peek into the benefits of a wellness resort and offers some of the wisdom I have gained during my time at Miraval.

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Transcript

Hey, this is Melissa Parsons, and you are listening to the Your Favorite You Podcast. I'm a certified life coach with an advanced certification in deep dive coaching. The purpose of this podcast is to help brilliant women like you with beautiful brains create the life you've been dreaming of with intentions. My goal is to help you find your favorite version of you by teaching you how to treat yourself as your own best friend.

If this sounds incredible to you and you want practical tips on changing up how you treat yourself, then you're in the right place. Just so you know, I'm a huge fan of using all of the words available to me in the English language, so please proceed with caution if young ears are around.

Hello my loves, welcome back to another episode of Your Favorite You. Today I want to share a little bit about a place that makes it easy for me to be my favorite me. I am freshly returned from a five night trip with my girlfriends from residency to the amazing one and only Miraval Tucson. 

This trip got started because one of my friends from residency introduced all of us to this magical place four years ago. My friend Mary Lynn was turning 50 and she had the brilliant idea to book a trip for herself to go there and celebrate half a century. She invited several of us from residency and other pediatricians that she knows and she also invited us to invite our friends if we were so inclined. And since that first magical trip in 2021, we have been going back annually as each of us celebrates our 50th. Pretty soon we're going to have to start celebrating everyone's 55th so we can keep this party going. There seems to be a slightly different group every time and a core of us remains the same which I love. 

So if you don't know, Miraval is a premium wellness retreat that offers an all inclusive experience. There are currently three different locations in the US with plans for more and other locales around the world. 

It is part of the Hyatt offering. So if you're a Hyatt enthusiast, you're able to use your Hyatt points to book your room, which is amazing. So this is not an inexpensive trip. It definitely is an investment that you would choose to make in yourself. 

So what do I love about Miraval and what lessons has it brought me over the years? I'm going to start with the things that I love. First, once you arrive at the Tucson airport, you don't have to worry about anything. Typically, you're met at baggage claim, the workers there take your bags and you don't see them again until you get checked into your room. One of the lovely drivers gets you set up in the van and the adventure begins. 

I love that they truly encourage mindfulness and have reminders all over the resort to appreciate the beauty of nature all around you. When you check in, you get a little sleeping bag that they encourage you to put your phone in. And there are only a few places around the resort where you're even allowed to be on your devices. Your room, of course, is one of the places. There's a courtyard and then there's a little deck area. Otherwise, the expectation is that you are not tethered to your phone. Luckily, you are allowed to pull out your phone to take pictures as there are really beautiful places to be found in the desert at the base of the Catalina Mountains. 

The next thing I love is the amazing bed and bedding that the resort provides. Thinking back on it, 2021 at age 48, this was the first time I was staying in a hotel room all by myself for pure pleasure. Sure, I'd stayed by myself for conferences and for work trips, but never on my own just for the fun of it. Many of my friends are the same and we really can't say enough about having your own space, making your own mess or not, sleeping when you wanna sleep, waking up when you wanna wake up. It really is a beautiful luxury that I want each of you to experience at some point in your life if you have not already. 

There are a million and one classes that you can take at Miraval. There are fitness classes, yoga, meditation classes, dancing classes, something called cardio drumming. There are classes for you to learn about your chakras and crystals if that interests you. Classes to help you maximize your sleep, your nutrition, to increase the strength of your pelvic floor. There are classes on photography and pasta making and cocktail creations and learning about bees and honey. You name it, there's probably a class on it. 

There are also these incredible challenge courses that you can participate in. The first year I went, a few of my friends and I did a course called Quantum Leap where we climbed up a 35 foot telephone pole, had to get ourselves to standing at the top of the pole and then leapt off. I went first and I could not wait to leave off that damn pole once I got to the top. I'll find the video and share it on my social media this week. There are also ropes courses, tight rope walking, slacklining, so many different things that are so much fun. 

Another incredible experience that I've participated in now three different times is an equine experience. So working with the horses to gain their trust and building your confidence to get the horse to do what you want it to do. It sounds easy until it's not. And each time I've had an incredible coach, his name is Tyler, and he has helped me work through my stumbling blocks. Of course, I cry every time. I can't even explain it in a way that would make sense here. 

You just have to take my word for it and head out to Miraval, Arizona and try it out. There are psychics and clairvoyant and intuitive guides that are all incredible in my experience. And coming from a former cynic and skeptic, this might mean a lot. 

I haven't even gotten to my favorite part of Miraval, and if you know me you can probably guess what it is. Of course, it's the spa. When you stay for four nights, you get the fifth night free and you also get a credit to use for any of the paid classes. 

Many of the ones I already mentioned are free and some come with a fee. I tend to use all of my credit at the spa in a shocking twist that everyone who knows me saw coming. So massages, facials, Ayurvedic treatments, reflexology, neuromuscular massage, acupuncture, ancient Thai and Chinese treatments. The list really goes on and on. And this trip I planned my entire trip around what I scheduled at the spa. At one point I even asked the women at the check-in desk at the spa how many body treatments were too many in five days, and they of course said there is no such number, which made me feel good. 

There are three beautiful pools and whirlpools and a sauna and a steam room. It's really a dream. There is a very well-equipped gym. Actually, this is the first time I have been to the gym. I've started weightlifting again and I went for the first time this time. 

And honestly, they need more dumbbells if you're asking me, but other than that, the gym has everything you could ever need. There are so many places to sit in quiet contemplation. There are two labyrinths to walk. There's a beautiful kiva to sit in and watch the sunrise and a lookout over the valley to watch the sunset if you're so inclined. 

Another of my favorite things about Miraval is that when you arrive, you get a letter from them asking you to set your intention for your stay. And then before you leave, they encourage you to write a letter to yourself with your aha moments and takeaways and what you want to remind yourself about your adventure. You leave it with them and they send it to you about three months after you get home. It's an amazing thing to get that letter from yourself in the mail months later. I love it when it shows up in my mailbox as a love letter from an older version of me. I even love it so much that I ended up having my retreaters do this same thing. I shamelessly stole the idea from Miraval and I'm about to send out their letters from our trip back in January. 

Okay, now on to the lessons I've learned over the years on my trips. The first one is that women thrive when they get to know themselves on a deeper level. 

Every time I go to Miraval, I learn or rediscover something about myself that helps me thrive when I'm back home. Next is that sometimes the most beautiful things come into your life when you are lost. 

On my first trip to Miraval, I didn't know where I was going. I got lost looking for my next class. And when I turned around and headed in the right direction, there standing in front of me was one of my personal heroes: the one and only Glennon Doyle and her sister, Amanda Doyle. This was before the We Can Do Hard Things podcast became so popular. So I only knew that I loved Glennon. I had not yet figured out that I loved Amanda too.  It was just the three of us in this big courtyard and my mouth gaped open and I smiled. And I said to Glennon, it's you. And I immediately started crying and she smiled back and she said right back to me, it's you. 

I had just read Untamed and I was still in the process of untaming myself and I am still of course in the process of untaming myself. As soon as I started crying, Glennon opened her arms and offered me a hug, which of course I took her up on. And then I offered for Amanda to join us. So I had a three-way hug with them. And then they let the crazy lady, me, go. And we went on about our days. It was a once in a lifetime experience. I got to thank her for putting her beautiful thoughts out into the world. So don't be afraid to get a little lost every once in a while. You just might meet your heroes. 

My next Miraval lesson, don't be afraid of going first. I learned so much from doing the quantum leap. If you had told me prior to 2021 that I would one day climb a telephone pole 35 feet in the air, have to make the scariest step up with my little short legs without anything to hold onto and stand up there for a few seconds before leaping off, I would have told you, you were crazy. I volunteered to go first and I'm so grateful to myself that I did. Because had I known what I found out on top of that pole, I won't ruin the surprise for any of you that might be inspired to do this. You're not just stepping up onto the top of the pole. There's a surprise up there. And if I had known it before I went, I might not have had the courage to do what I did. Often it is only in looking back at what you did that made it happen. 

makes you feel like a complete badass. And looking back on that now, I can't believe I did it. And of course, I totally can believe I did. 

This next lesson I learned in the past, and it was really solidified for me on this trip. So the idea is, and we've all heard this, there are different strokes for different folks. I have so many examples of this from the trip. The first is that there's a yoga teacher that I love at Miraval, his name is Frank. He really takes his time and teaches yoga philosophy during his classes, why we're doing the poses as we do them. He takes his job seriously, and I love that about him. I even complimented him after class, thanking him for sharing his passion for yoga. He's been teaching for some 40 years. He wrote a book about yoga. You get the idea, he's the real deal. And he said, yes, well, I'm a yoga teacher, not just a pose teacher. I love his yoga classes and the meditations that he leads there. Leaving the class, I was so lit up and I found out my friend hated his class. She thought he was too serious. 

Another example, right after this, we went to lunch. I ordered a shrimp dish that I didn't like. And my friend ate hers and then ate mine too because she loved it so much. I already mentioned how much I love the bed and the bedding at Miraval. It's like sleeping on a cloud. I heard another woman there saying that she couldn't stand it. She felt like she was suffocating all night long, even something as mundane as the weather. When we got there, it was cool and kind of raining on and off. 

And the staff at Miraval kept apologizing for the quote unquote, awful weather. And I was like, no, no, I come from Ohio. It is gray and cold and like this all winter long. Another example, the next day I was in a mindfulness class in the yurt and the sun was streaming in on me during the class. The teacher said, that must be annoying to have the sun beaming in on you as we try to meditate. And I said, no, again, I'm from Ohio and I've not seen the sun much in the past several months. So I have so many more examples of this. And this is just a reminder for me that it is not possible for everyone to like me and that I can stop striving to have that as a goal. 

The next lesson from Miraval, nobody gives a fuck what you're doing. So do what makes you happy and what feels good to you. I spent the majority of my time in workout clothes, my bathing suit, and the luxurious robe that Miraval provides. I had a few 8pm spa treatments. So nearly every night I ate dinner with my friends in my robe. Of course, I was not the only one as this type of behavior is encouraged at Miraval. I guess the actual lesson here is to go at least once to a place where you can wear your robe to every meal. 

The next lesson is, if you don't ask, the answer will always be no. We asked for and received so many lovely things this trip. I asked for and received a room that overlooked the creek. My friend asked for and received a complimentary spa treatment because there was an issue with her room. The chefs made us cookies that we enjoyed on past trips that were no longer on the menu. 

Another friend wanted to join a yoga class that I signed up for that was full, and she asked and was able to join because another person didn't show up. One morning, there was no coconut whipped cream to dip my fruit in, and I asked if there was any available, and of course they brought me some from the back. 

My other friend absolutely loves their granola, and she asked on the last day if she could take some for the road, and they filled up a full ziplock for her to take home. Again, so many examples of this. 

The next lesson may be personal to me, but I would encourage you to try it out the next time you get a massage or any type of bodywork done. The first time I was at Miraval, I was about three years into my coaching journey and I was working on letting go of things that I cannot control, which it turns out is quite a lot. I had to let go of a lot and I'm still letting go of a lot. I tend, like a lot of women, to hold a lot of my stress and need for control in my upper back and shoulders. Whenever I had gotten a massage in the past, my upper back and my neck were like railroad tracks. 

The massage therapist would work on them forever and it would still be a very bumpy road back there. Then on this first trip to Miraval, the therapist was able to get all of the knots to release. Afterward, I was incredulous and I said, man, I do not know how you did that. No one has ever been able to smooth out my neck and my back like that. He replied, it wasn't me, it was you. You were ready to let those go. I was like, what? And he said, yeah, you can be the best massage therapist in the world, but if the client isn't ready to let those knots go, they won't go anywhere or they will go for a few hours and then they'll be right back. 

This changed the way I approach massage. Whatever area the therapist is working on, I send love to that area of my body. I thank it for what it has done for me over the past 52 years and I tell the spot and me that it's okay to let go and release the tension. It has been a game changer for me. I'd love to hear if you do something similar or if you find that you can't do this and I'd love to try to help you. 

The final lesson I will share today is something that my friend and I talked about on our last morning as we sat at the Kiva and waited for the sun to come up over the mountains. She had something really stressful and activating happen the week before we were traveling to Arizona and she said that when she was going through this... stress. It was hard for her to remember that it was temporary, and that life would get better again. I admitted that I get that way too sometimes. It's like when you're really ill with a cold or a bug or a migraine, and you just feel terrible. You forget what it feels like to feel healthy. And I swear every time this happens, I wonder for a moment if I will ever feel healthy again. 

The lesson here is many fold, I think. To remember to have gratitude when life is beautiful and you are healthy and about to watch the sun rise. To recognize that no one gets through life without painful moments. To acknowledge that often the pain fades. Sometimes it just takes time to fade, and sometimes it takes intentional work to get the pain to go away. But the pain does not last forever, at least not to the acute level that we're often trying to shy away from and get away from. Knowing that the ebb and flow of joy and pain are what makes life so beautiful. 

That's all for today, my friends. I hope this episode was helpful. If it inspires you to go to Miraval in Arizona, invite me. I just might come with. Like I said at the beginning, it is a premium wellness resort and an investment and one that I think you should consider making in yourself. If the idea calls to you, of course, there are other less costly ways to give you a similar experience if you feel so inclined. 

All right, everyone have a great week. I'll see you next week.

Hey - It’s still me. Since you are listening to this podcast, you very likely have followed all the rules and ticked off all the boxes but you still feel like something's missing! If you're ready to learn the skills and gain the tools you need to tiptoe into putting yourself first and treating yourself as you would your own best friend, I'm here to support you. As a general life coach for women, I provide a safe space, compassionate guidance, and practical tools to help you navigate life's challenges as you start to get to know and embrace your authentic self.

When we work together, you begin to develop a deeper understanding of your thoughts, emotions, and behaviors. You learn effective communication strategies, boundary-setting techniques, and self-care practices that will help you cultivate a more loving and supportive relationship with yourself and others.

While, of course, I can't guarantee specific outcomes, as everyone's journey is brilliantly unique, what I can promise is my unwavering commitment to providing you with the skills, tools, support, and guidance you need to create lasting changes in your life. With humor and a ton of compassion, I'll be available to mentor you as you do the work to become a favorite version of yourself.

You're ready to invest in yourself and embark on this journey, so head over to melissaparsonscoaching.com, go to the work with me page, and book a consultation call. We can chat about all the support I can provide you with as we work together.

I am welcoming one-on-one coaching clients at this time, and, of course, I am also going to be offering the next round of group coaching soon. 

Thanks for tuning in. Go be amazing!