Jumpstart Your SOULjourn! 2.5
Photo: Robert W. Johnson
Imagine...
Close your eyes.
The light skips across the surface like memory.
You walk slowly toward the water, each step softer than the last.
Feel the water of Lake Chapala call you back.
With each breath, let the world recede.
Let urgency unravel.
Let rhythm return.
Feel the hum of the earth's energies ground you back to your rhythm.
Feel the ancient stirrings of Michigali and Oshun- those who dwell in the water; who guard the stillness, the wind, and the waves.
Let the waters say:
You are not a machine. You are memory. A movement. A breath.
Now, place your hand on your chest and whisper, "I remember"
When you are ready, return- not to the grind, but to your own sacred pace.
You're a Black woman who has spent decades proving your worth... through career milestones, community uplift, church, and responsible political and civic engagement; family caregiving, and more. All admirable, yes...but at what cost? Are you tired of surviving on scraps of joy while pouring out full plates for others? Have you grown used to hiding your exhaustion behind a smile no one thinks to question? Are you exhausted from always being the one who knows, the one who leads, the one who holds it together? Well, we see you, and we know you’re ready for something more.
For generations, Black women have been expected to give- relentlessly. You have carried the weight of the world with grace- leading, nurturing, and building change. You are praised for your strength, your hustle, your ability to “make a way out of no way.” But the truth is, you've been fed a toxic story: that your worth is earned through achievement, constant caretaking, and productivity at any cost. It’s time to release that burden—claim a healthier movement and reclaim rest not as a luxury, but as a birthright. You are worthy just as you are right now.
Jumpstart Your SOULjourn 2.5 is our signature retreat held in Chapala, Mexico September 19-25, 2025, and the theme for this gathering is: Slow Down, Sister: Rest! Rest is a Radical Move.
This retreat is specifically designed for Black women 50+ who are ready to leave the chaos behind and start anew. We invite you to pause and remember yourself.
Held in the peaceful lakeside villages of Chapala, Mexico, this 7-day, 6-night retreat is a sacred space for rest, renewal, and reconnection. Here, for millennia, the indigenous legends surrounding the lake have drawn healers, writers, and mystics to the gentle pull of Lake Chapala.
If you’re done with the grind… if you’re longing to breathe, to go slow, and to live with more ease and expansion—this is your moment. Explore vibrant culture, build caring community, and reconnect to the parts of yourself that hustle tried to silence.
You’ll return home with a personalized rest practice, clarity around how to move through the world with more softness and strength, opportunies to come together as community post-retreat, and the tools to make ease your new baseline. And perhaps most transformative of all—you’ll leave as part of a cohesive community of kindred sisters, united in shared purpose and deep rest. You’ll find yourself settling into a soft landing by the lake… and discovering that peace, connection, and home can begin within you.
This September, join our Jumpstart Your SOULjourn 2.5 retreat, "Slow Down, Sister, Rest"– a sacred space for Black women 50+ to rest, renew, and rediscover themselves.
So, take a deep breath. If you are ready to seize the time, let go of the weight, and embody the change that's inside of you, then this retreat is for you.
Why Chapala?
Where the land itself invites you to rest.
Lake Chapala doesn't just hold water-it holds memory, myth, and medicine. The lake isn't just a beautiful backdrop- it's a balm. Nestled in the highlands of Chapala, Jalisco at 5000 feet above sea level, this region offers a rare combination of clean mountain air, gentle breezes, and a microclimate so temperate it's often called eternal spring. The air is light but grounding, rich in natural bromides and subtle magnetic fields that support deep sleep, joint ease, and emotional clarity.
The lake's stillness has a rhythm of its own-one that slows your breath, comforts your nervous system, and reminds your body what it feels like to not be in survival mode. It's no coincidence that artists, healers, and seekers have long been drawn to Lake Chapala's shores. There's something about Chapala that make rest not only possible-but inevitable.
And beneath it all flows the legacy of Michicihualli, the ancient water goddess said to dwell in the lake's depths. Her presence is felt in the morning mist, in the fishermen who catch a glimpse of her in the morning's dawn; in the hush between waves, and in the way time stretches just enough for your soul to catch up.
This is not just a place to visit. It's a place that holds you. A place that remembers what you have forgotten: that rest is sacred and you are worthy of it.
Food, Color, and Culture:
Enjoy Two daily meals of authentic, nutritious, and varied Mexican cuisine and other diverse flavors. You'll be tempted with chef-prepared specialties as well as visiting curated establishments featuring local fare. Find yourself in the culinary roots of Africa in Mexican food, flavors, textures and colors. Drink Red Jamaica tea, Horchata, and Tamarindo; savor red rice and black bean dishes, and so much more as you uncover the West African foundations of so many Mexican dishes.
Slow Down, Sister, and Rest.
Each participant will enjoy two curated spa treatments as well as a day to luxuriate in the thermal waters of the San Juan Cosala spas. This year, we have more rest time built in for you to use as you see fit. Do nothing, if you please, and allow time to stand still.
Rest is a skill—a discipline, a compass...and when you know how to use it, it becomes your superpower.
Rest, Re-Imagine and Renew
Our award-winning movement specialist for our morning sessions is LaT’anya Johnson. She has created a movement practice that allow you to create a sacred space for your dreams and imagination.
LaTanya states,
"I’ve learned—often the hard way—that healing doesn’t come from doing more. It comes from slowing down, dreaming beyond survival, and tending to what’s sacred within.
This workshop is my heartfelt offering to those of us who’ve poured endlessly from an empty cup. You’re invited into a space where you don’t have to prove, produce, or perform—where your breath, your truth, and your being are more than enough.
We begin with Rest—not as a luxury, but as a birthright. From there, we move into Reimagine: a tender process of visioning and reclaiming your imagination as a sacred tool for healing. And finally, we enter Renew—the space of restoration, integration, and forward movement.
This isn’t just a workshop. It’s my gift to you—for your spirit, your body, and your becoming".
Rest Technologies through Embodiology® Practice
Deirdre Lovel is on board with us once again and will be working with you as you develop technologies of rest through the practice of Embodiology®. Deirdre is an Embodiology® Facilitator and Practitioner, a multi-hyphenate "business- as- usual disruptor", and she is bringing her whole self to move us all to new places!
After your dream sessions move into the next phase of your experience to the afternoon practice of Embodiology.
Embodiology is rooted in West African principles of human communication, connnection, and community building, Imagine grounding your truth with rhythmic improvisation through body movement, unleashing your creativity, and tapping into the wisdom of your soul. Learn keys to transcend your limitations, and unlock more of your full potential, so you can leave the retreat with a new toolkit for thriving.
Learn more about Embodiology ® here:
https://www.embodiology.com/home
We Are Bringing the Feminine Fire! Let's Dance Flamenco!
Let's dance Flamenco!
Our maestra for our retreat, Veronica Reyes will share the fundamentals of Flamenco with passion, style and grace. Veronica is one of Mexico's premiere folklorist dancers. Her love of Afro-Mexican culture, and knowledge of its musical and dance expression adds an additional layer of authenticity to our class.
Immerse yourself in the passionate rhythms and fiery movements of Flamenco: a dance born from the rich cultural fusion of African, Romani, and Spanish people. Feel the heartbeat of the music, and the percussive rhythms of the drums and feet. While Flamenco originated in Spain, its message and people have migrated all over the world, and it has a secure home in Mexico. Join our class and celebrate cultural exchange, tap into femininity, and blend traditional technique with modern creativity.
Why Flamenco::
For Black women- especially in aging bodies that have carried generations of labor and love- flamenco offers a homecoming. A space where strength does not mean silence.
To move like this is to remember:
I am not here to perform. I am here to be.
My rest is a rebellion against erasure.
My rhythm is ancestral, not algoritmic
There is stillness in rhythm
Flemenco is about more than technique:
Its about the beauty of imperfection
Flamenco is about intuition, feeling, and spontaneity, allowing you to let go of perfection, production; and tap into your inner feminine fire.
The joy of Community: Our class is a welcoming space where you will make meaningful connections, stretch beyond your comfort zones and find new self- discoveries.
Reclaim spontaneity and joy through foot stomps, hand claps, and flourishes that the hustle and grind has muted.
Ven y Unete! Come...Join us!
Your Home Base: Hotel Memora, Chapala, Mx.
Hotel Memora in Chapala will be your "Rest Central" base. You will choose to reside in a two-bedroom, two-bathroom shared bungalow, or a one bedroom one bath building in which you will reside alone. Located 10 minutes by taxi from Chapala Centro, you will find this peaceful haven along the lower side of a mountain with great lake views.
On your rest days, enjoy the boutiques, shops and artisan offerings, art galleries, music, and color, of Ajijic and Chapala, as the backdrop for your activities. Tap into these communities, enjoy fragrant coffee and pasteles at dusk on a sidewalk table at the town's Plaza Centro, and tap into your own magic, actualizing the dreams that have been placed inside of you.
See video of your accommodations below:
Get inspired through daily dream sessions. Spark your imagination through daily journal prompts—catalysts to activate your intentions and make them a reality. During our Vision Board and Goal-Setting Session, you will create and/or refine your vision and outline the steps to actualize the dreams inside of you that are waiting to be unfurled.
Financial Self-Care. Time is money. Are you using your time wisely? Do you know how much your time is worth? Are you working for your money or is your money working for you?. Get the answers and information you need so your valuable time and effort will no longer be taken for granted. You will be assigned a coach and receive group and individualized coaching sessions to address self care for your money, too. Your retreat experience and preparation will begin in advance of your arrival in Mexico.
This retreat is offering more than respite—it’s restoring what the modern world has depleted.
What You’ll Gain by Slowing Down and Saying Yes to this Retreat:
✔️Deep, uninterrupted rest—the kind that recalibrates your body, mind, and spirit after years of sleep debt and overextension.
✔️A radical realignment of self-worth—shifting from proving and producing to being and belonging.
✔️ A renewed connection to your femininity and intuition, often buried beneath survival-mode schedules and performance.
✔️ Tools to release toxic productivity patterns that leave you busy, burned out, and unsatisfied.
✔️Permission to slow down without apology, and practices that help you sustain that rhythm back home.
✔️ A blueprint for rest as a lifestyle, not a reward, rooted in ancestral wisdom and tailored to your unique flow.
✔️Restorative rituals and daily rhythms you can carry into your calendar, your relationships, and your self-talk back home.
✔️Community with other Black women who see you, hold space for you, and are walking this path beside you.-
We’re not just offering relief from exhaustion, we’re extending an invitation back to wholeness.
Space for this retreat is limited to 10, so register early, and pack your bags!
What's included:
Cost: $1597.00 per person for retreat in shared bungalow; 1997.00 for retreat in private bungalow. (Catch this Early Bird registration rate through August 1, 2025- but don't wait until the last minute!) Price includes lodging, 2 daily meals, workshops, financial success tools, coaching, two individual spa treatments, Inipi ceremony, Flamenco Fire classes, trip to thermal waters, guided daily body and breathwork sessions; transportation and admission to thermal waters, and transportation to and including mountaintop dinner, and closing ceremony: Ritual of Return.
(Airfare, taxi to and from hotel, return from individual spa treatments, and individual sightseeing/shopping trips on rest days, and alcoholic beverages are not included.)
Jumpstart your sojourn to your SOUL's desires in the private bungalows on the lower campus of Hotel Memora in Chapala, Mexico. Here, on the lower side of a mountain, you will experience beautiful views of the wooded landscape and breathe in the lovely expanse of Lake Chapala.
Our recommended travel vendor this year is Mary Heredia is our preferred travel professional this year for airline tickets and world travel. She is our bi-lingual Chapala- based travel agent who knows the language and cultural terrain, and she has been a great supporter of our business. Mary provides courteous service to our clients,is excited about our retreat, and is committed to helping our customers get the best prices. Her information is provided once you enroll.
Airport and Ground Transportation:
Airport: You will fly into Guadalajara Hidalgo International Airport. Airport taxis are plentiful and easily accessible from the front portico of the airport. The cost of taxi service is approximately 600 pesos (Approx. 35.00 in U.S. dollars.) Our retreat location is approximately 20 minutes from the airport. Detailed information is provided upon enrollment.
About Your Facilitators:
Sunya Folayan and Donna "Savvy" Jones
Meet Your Retreat Guides: Sunya Folayan & Donna “Savvy” Jones
We’re Sunya Folayan and Donna “Savvy” Jones—your facilitators for this revolutionary rhythm shift.
Together, we bring decades of experience in healing, leadership, and soulful transformation.
We’ve walked the path of service, burnout, reinvention, and now… rest. And we’re here to guide you into a softer, more sovereign way of living.
Sunya (left) is a certified financial social worker, published academic writer, award-winning textile artist, and visionary coach. Her career spans clinical social work, providing over 30 years of therapeutic services; executive counseling, HBCU faculty leadership, and nonprofit innovation—all rooted in helping others reclaim their power.
Savvy (right) is a writer, motivational speaker, and former mental health nurse whose work has touched lives through teaching, consulting, and community care. Her gift is helping women reconnect with their voice, their joy, and their inner compass.
Together, we co-founded Lakeside Wellness and Retreats, and we own Sojourners Vista del Lago, a Bed & Breakfast nestled in the tranquil village of San Nicolás de Ibarra, adjacent to Lake Chapala, Mexico.
We’re not just retreat hosts—we’re sojourners ourselves.
We met in a Zoom chat during the Exodus Summit in 2021, and soon after created MEXodUS Sojourners, a vibrant Facebook community for Black women exploring life beyond borders. What began as a conversation became a movement—toward joy, ease, and intentional living in the heart of inland Mexico…and beyond.
This retreat is our offering to you.
A space to exhale.
To remember what wellness really feels like.
To explore financial sovereignty, emotional spaciousness, and the kind of rest that rewires your nervous system.
We’ll share our stories, our tools, and our hearts.
And we’ll show you how to create a life that feels like belonging.
