The Push Off from Here Retreat, held in serene Boone, North Carolina, and hosted by bestselling author Laura McKeown on the weekend of July 21-23, 2023, did not disappoint the gathering of 150+ attendees. Retreat attendees were treated to one and a half days filled with rest, recharging, and making connections amidst the Appalachian Mountains. Laura and her retreat team, which included Alexander Smith, Tammi Scott, and Sarah Mulrooney, meeting leaders from The Luckiest Club (TLC), an international sober support community that Laura founded, structured the retreat to combine restorative yoga poses, breathwork, journaling, and the beautiful setting of the Art of Living (AOL) Retreat Center for a weekend that those in recovery won't soon forget. In this stunning, alcohol and meat-free location, retreat attendees enjoyed healthy vegan meals and lovely cabin-like accommodations at the AOL center, where they could opt to walk or hike any number of trails on the mountain or schedule a spa treatment at the award-winning Shankara Ayurveda Wellness Spa during downtime. Retreat activities began with a short yoga session led by Laura on Friday night that included journal prompts and restorative yoga poses to get attendees warmed up for the weekend. Saturday morning began with Laura framing the retreat program by noting that the nine points outlined in her "We Are the Luckiest" book and further detailed in "Push Off from Here: Nine Essential Truths to Get You Through Sobriety (and Everything Else)" would be the basis for the weekend's yoga poses and journal entries. Laura and her team led participants through the nine points, asking questions along the way for participants to answer in their journals, which built upon each prior point. The pacing of the retreat programming allowed ample time to stretch, connect, and reflect throughout the day on Saturday. When Saturday's session was through, Laura graciously took photos with those who were interested before recessing for the evening to another fantastic vegan meal and an optional bonfire. During the bonfire, retreat attendees who participated were encouraged to throw index cards that included something they wanted to "let go of" into the fire while retreat center staff burned sage around the group. When the retreat reconvened on Sunday morning for the final session, Laura's staff had the books that attendees requested be signed waiting for attendees who were then treated to more of the same restorative programming. Throughout the relaxed program, Laura sprinkled in key parts of her recovery story and entertained meaningful questions about recovery from the audience. All in all, the weekend proved to be restful, reflective, and restorative for the Push Off from Here Retreat attendees and left participants with self-selected action items to help them move forward in their personal journeys at home.
