THE FAVOURITE SELF RETREAT
Come home to your truest self, and call in your next chapter.
A one-day immersive retreat designed to help you peel back the conditioning, limiting beliefs, and protective patterns that have shaped who you thought you needed to be, so you can reconnect with your truth, embody the woman you are becoming, and create space for your dream desires and opportunities.
Thursday, October 1, 2026
9:30 a.m.–5:30 p.m.
Wisdom Gardens Retreat Centre
East Gwillimbury, Ontario
You can feel it.
The pull toward something more.
A new idea, desire, dream, identity, or way of living that keeps asking for your attention.
Maybe you can see glimpses of who you are becoming, but you are not completely sure how to step into her.
Maybe part of you feels ready to expand while another part is still holding tightly to the stories, expectations, and protective patterns that have shaped who you needed to be until now.
The Favourite Self Retreat is a day to pause, listen, release, reconnect, and consciously choose what comes next.
Not by forcing yourself into another version of who you think you should be—but by returning to the truest version of who you already are.
The version underneath the fear.
Underneath the conditioning.
Underneath the pressure to perform, prove, perfect, or make yourself smaller.
This is a day to come back to her.
“This experience helped me realize I’d been hiding the person I was all along. I left with the confidence to embrace my truest self, let go of perfection, and build my life and brand from a place that finally felt authentic.”
— Kaela Vanderlugt
This Day Is for You If…
You can feel that something new is calling you, but you are not completely sure how to step into it.
You are ready to release the beliefs, identities, and protective patterns that no longer belong in your next chapter.
You have gifts, desires, ideas, or parts of yourself that you know you are meant to express more fully.
You are tired of shrinking, second-guessing yourself, or waiting until you feel completely ready.
You have spent so much time becoming who other people needed or expected you to be that you are ready to ask what you truly want.
You want to feel more connected to yourself—and safer being fully seen as her.
You are craving space away from the noise of everyday life so you can hear yourself clearly and connect with women who are also choosing what comes next.
You Do Not Need to Become Someone Else
Your Favourite Self is not the most productive, polished, successful, or perfect version of you.
She is not another impossible standard to reach or identity to perform.
She is the truest version of you.
The one underneath the expectations, conditioning, fear, and stories that taught you to hide, perform, settle, or make yourself smaller.
She is the version of you who trusts her desires.
Who honours her gifts.
Who allows herself to be seen.
Who believes she is worthy of taking up space in her own life.
The Favourite Self Retreat is an opportunity to reconnect with that version of you—and begin building the inner foundation required to live as her.
During Our Day Together, You Will Be Guided to…
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We will uncover the beliefs, patterns, and inherited narratives that may still be keeping you connected to a past version of yourself.
You will begin to recognize where these stories came from, how they may have protected you, and how they have shaped what you believe is possible.
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Through guided reflection, visualization, journaling, and community conversation, you will reconnect with the gifts, desires, and parts of yourself that you may have minimized, hidden, or forgotten.
You will explore who you are when you are no longer making choices from fear, expectation, or the need to prove yourself.
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You will choose the story you are ready to carry into your next chapter.
Not as an empty affirmation or something you need to force yourself to believe, but as a new foundation that reflects your truth, your desires, and the woman you are becoming.
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Through breathwork, subconscious rewiring, embodied practices, and intentional hot-and-cold exposure, we will work with both the mind and body.
You will explore what it means to move through discomfort, interrupt old limiting beliefs, and create greater safety around being seen, heard, expressed, and expanded.
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Transformation does not end when the retreat does.
You will choose a clear, meaningful action that allows you to begin living your new story—and create a personal foundation for continuing the work when you return home.
A Day Filled With All of My Favourite Things
This retreat brings together some of my favourite ways to reconnect with ourselves, transform old stories, and create meaningful change.
It will be a day of deep inner work, honest conversations, embodied experiences, spacious reflection, nourishing food, and the kind of connection that reminds you that you were never meant to navigate your becoming alone.
Meaningful Connection and Transformation in Community
There is something powerful about being witnessed by women who are also choosing to grow. Throughout the day, you will have opportunities to share, reflect, listen, and connect in a safe and supportive space.
Sauna and Cold Plunge
We will use the physical experience of heat and cold as an opportunity to practice staying present through discomfort, meeting resistance, and consciously choosing a new response. Participation in the cold plunge is optional.
Breathwork and Subconscious Rewiring
Through guided breathwork and subconscious rewiring, you will begin loosening your connection to the beliefs and protective patterns that no longer support the life you want to create.
Restorative Spa Time
Alongside the guided work, you will have time to slow down and enjoy the sauna, cold plunge, and heated indoor pool, allowing the lessons from the day to settle into your body.
Journaling and Guided
Workshopping
You will be guided through a series of reflective exercises designed to help you understand the story you have been living, choose the story you want to carry forward, and put the foundation for that new story into place.
Nourishment Throughout the Day
A nourishing lunch, snacks, coffee, tea, and refreshments will be provided so you can remain fully present and supported throughout the experience.
You Will Leave With…
Greater clarity around what you are releasing, what you are reclaiming, and who you are ready to become next.
A deeper understanding of the stories and protective patterns that have shaped your choices.
A renewed connection to your gifts, desires, voice, and truth.
A new personal narrative grounded in what you want to believe and embody moving forward.
Tools for working with fear, resistance, visibility, and discomfort without abandoning yourself.
A clear, aligned action that allows you to begin living your new story.
Meaningful connections with women who are also navigating seasons of change, growth, and becoming.
And, most importantly, a stronger relationship with yourself.
About Your Host
Carly Ottaway is a writer, bestselling author, entrepreneur, and host of The Favourite Self Podcast.
After spending more than a decade helping other people tell their stories, Carly began examining the stories she had been carrying about her own identity, worthiness, success, motherhood, and visibility.
Her bestselling book, Coming Home: The Path to Your Favourite Self and Permission to Do It Your Way, is an invitation for women to stop performing, trust their voices, own their truth, and redefine success on their own terms.
Through her writing, podcast, workshops, and transformational experiences, Carly helps women release the stories that have taught them to hide and reconnect with the version of themselves they were always meant to be.
The Favourite Self Retreat brings this work to life in an intimate, immersive experience—combining storytelling, subconscious work, honest reflection, embodiment, community, and the healing power of being witnessed.
This Is Your Invitation
You do not need to have your entire next chapter figured out before you begin.
You do not need to eliminate every fear before you allow yourself to be seen.
You do not need to become more impressive, accomplished, healed, or certain before you are allowed to choose what you want.
You only need to be willing to tell yourself the truth.
To acknowledge what is no longer working.
To listen to what is calling you.
And to take one brave step toward the woman you already know you are becoming.
You can feel who you are becoming.
It is time to release the story that says you cannot be her.
Join us for an intimate, immersive day of transformation, connection, reflection, and embodiment at Wisdom Gardens Retreat Centre.
Date: Thursday, October 1, 2026
Time: Approximately 9:30 a.m.–5:30 p.m.
Location: Wisdom Gardens Retreat Centre, East Gwillimbury, Ontario
Your ticket includes the complete retreat experience, retreat workbook, spa amenities, nourishing lunch, snacks, coffee, tea, and refreshments.
Space is intentionally limited to protect the intimacy of the experience.
Reserve Your Place at The Favourite Self Retreat
Frequently Asked Questions
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The Favourite Self Retreat will take place at Wisdom Gardens Retreat Centre in East Gwillimbury, Ontario.
The full address, arrival instructions, and additional venue details will be sent to registered guests before the retreat.
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The retreat will take place on Thursday, October 1, 2026, from approximately 9:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m.
Registered guests will receive the finalized schedule and arrival information before the event.
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No previous experience is required. Every part of the day will be guided, and you will always be encouraged to listen to your body and honour your individual comfort level.
Participation in the cold plunge is optional.
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This is not a traditional business or strategy retreat.
The work will definitely influence your business, creativity, leadership, relationships, visibility, or next professional chapter, but the experience begins with you.
It is about understanding the story you have been living, reconnecting with what is true for you, and creating the inner foundation for whatever you are ready to pursue next.
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A complete packing list will be sent to registered guests before the retreat.
You can expect to bring comfortable clothing, a bathing suit, and an openness to the experience. Towels, footwear, and any other venue-specific requirements will be confirmed in your welcome information.
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A nourishing lunch, snacks, coffee, tea, and refreshments are included in your ticket.
Dietary information will be collected after registration. We will do our best to provide an inclusive and nourishing experience, with specific accommodation information shared before the retreat.
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You will receive an email confirming your registration and place at the retreat.
Additional details—including preparation guidance, what to bring, dietary information, arrival instructions, and the finalized itinerary—will be shared with you before October 1.