Jumpstart Your SOULjourn! 2.5
Connect, and claim what's always been yours:
This year our logo is reminiscent of the timeless wisdom of our foremothers, and acknowledges our ancestral homeland of Africa as the "Grandmother of Mexico". Holding a Mexica calendar based on earlier calendars (Olmec, Aztec, Mayan, etc.) she reminds us of the importance of ritual, remembering our ancestors with reverence and honor; ceremony, and acknowledgment of our potential as we traverse through time and the cycles of life. Change and transformation are symbolized in the monarch butterflies which come home to Mexico every year in a glorious migration journey of their own.
Jumpstart Your SOULjourn 2.5 Retreat 2025
Registration is open
Dates: September 19-25, 2025
Chapala, Jalisco, Mexico
Email info@sojournersvistadellago.com for 2026 Waiting List
As a Black woman, you have always been on the forefront of societal change, and the expectations have always been high. You have met the challenges with grace, and have dutifully fulfilled them- for our families, our vocations, and our communities. But the truth is that you've shouldered the weight of the world for far too long. The polarization of perspectives in today's society and the chaos permeating the environment has left many of us feeling exhausted, uncertain, and eager for a change. In the midst of it all, we know that you're craving a life of intention, self-care, and ease- even as you grow.
That's why we're inviting you to join our "Jumpstart Your SOULjourn 2.5 retreat" – a sacred space for Black women to rest, renew, and rediscover themselves. This year, our 7- day 6- night retreat is in Chapala, Mexico and is specifically designed for mature Black women who are ready to leave the chaos behind and start anew.
Do you desire to live with more freedom, ease, expansion, and adventure? Are you tired of the nonsense, stress, and overwhelm in daily life and are ready for a change?... for good? Do you want to know how to slow down, yet do more and stress less? Join us in Mexico as we tap into the wisdom of our foremothers where dreams and imagination are integral to our survival . Let's DREAM. See your life through a different lens where we move away from grind culture and make way for your rest and that of others. IMAGINE. What would it look like to have everything we need? GO SLOW... and move from the toxic brainwashing that has attached our inherent worth to what we can produce.
Consider expanding your idea of what is possible for yourself and your loved ones. Join us and explore the land, culture, and language of inland Mexico, and experiencing this colorful and vibrant area for yourself. Jumpstart Your Souljourn is your opportunity to come to the lakeside villages of Chapala, Mexico and to come home to yourself. We invite you to breathe in and embrace the change you are looking for. You will move from uncertainty concerning how to craft more ease in your life to embracing an expanded life that includes more tranquility, caring community, expansion, and holistic freedom. Join us in Mexico in September and craft a new life chapter of freedom, rest, exploration, and expansion. Leave this reatreat with your personalized rest practice in place. Within caring community, let's make it happen!
Jumpstart your SOULjourn 2.5 is the soft landing to your very SOUL. It is also your official welcome to the Lakeside area of Jalisco, Mexico, characterized by Lake Chapala, Mexico's largest lake, and the surrounding towns and smaller pueblos. This experience is designed to give hands-on information to Black women, especially those considering their future and life during our mature and wisdom years.
Africa is considered the "Grandmother of Mexico" due to the significant cultural and genetic legacy of African people in addition to the various other indigenous peoples of North America. African, Indigenous, and European customs have shaped Mexico's music, dance, art, and cuisine. Our old and new genetic legacies have been documented and are celebrated in many places in Mexico as Afro-Mexican identity is awakened and celebrated. Just as we came centuries before and during the Transatlantic Slave Trade, we also came through Southern routes. Our diasporic footprints continue to create new migratory patterns and make history today. You will tap into the wisdom of your own foremothers and embrace the wisdom and energy of the land as you journey within.
So, take a deep breath. If you are ready to seize the time, expand your territory, and embody the change that's inside of you, then this retreat is for you.
About Your Facilitators:
Sunya Folayan and Donna "Savvy" Jones
Sunya Folayan and Savvy Jones will be your facilitators. Sunya, is a coach, published academic writer, award-winning textile artist and musician; and Donna "Savvy" Jones (The Hope Coach) is a writer, motivational speaker, and entrepreneur. Both have had flourishing careers helping others; Sunya in social work via direct clinical services, financial social work, corporate executive counseling, HBCU faculty, and non-profit management; and Donna as a registered nurse in mental health settings, teaching, and consulting.
Committed to serving you: Together they own Sojourners Vista del Lago, a Bed and Breakfast in San Nicolas de Ibarra, situated in a lakeside pueblo adjacent to Lake Chapala, Mexico. Both are committed to a thriving community of women and families embracing financial health, and stress-free living as a part of wellness and self-care. Sunya and Donna met online and created MEXodus Sojourners, a Facebook group for Black women who want to experience what they discovered: the beautiful life, people, culture, and pace of inland Mexico's Lake Chapala communities and travel life adventures in general. You will hear and experience firsthand from these two, who are dual residents of Mexico, and the United States, how they manifested their journey into a softer way of life encompassing joy, freedom, loving community, and ease.
...and they want to show how you can do it, too!
Food, Color, and Culture:
Enjoy Two daily meals of authentic, nutritious, and varied Mexican cuisine and other diverse flavors. 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.
Hotel Memora in Chapala will be your 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. 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.
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.
Spa Aguas Calientes and Mountainside Dinner
Our group excursion is to one of the area's thermal spas that bring forth varying degrees of heated volcanic healing mineral spring water. Luxuriate for hours in a pool of fragrant flowers, immerse your body in the healing smoothness of an Avena bath, and experience the decadence of the gentle exfoliation of coffee on one's skin followed by fragrant floral and herbal vapors for the face and neck and body. No rushing through this experience, you will want to linger for a while!
Mud Bathing Beauties. One of the most popular activities of Jumpstart Your SOULjourn is the trip to one of the thermal spas in the area. These beauties soaked in a variety of therapeutic herbs and aromas, and enjoyed a facial and steam bath. The final final step is an exfoliating mud treatment that reveals soft, gleaming, glowing skin.
Mountainside Dinner
After your thermal waters experience, enjoy a breathtaking, mountainside dinner at sunset overlooking Lake Chapala from one of the most spectacular vistas in the area. Allow yourself to be awestruck by the beauty of the starry sky and the enchanting twinkling lights floating below on the lake as we dine by candlelight under a soaring thatched- roof palapa.
Knowledge is Power
Get answers to all of your questions about residency in Mexico from a local attorney we know and trust in our Informational workshop on residency. Get insider information on current paths to residency in Mexico.
Experience informational presentations regarding life in Mexico, enjoy a Spanish lesson, and bring your questions about safety, law, daily life, money, and community.
Home Tour, and Mirador Mingle
You will enjoy informal tours to local residences, a rooftop gathering, and visit our co-living community. Meet and make new friends, and neighbors for a "Mirador Mingle" and check out whether co-living could be an option for you.
Morning Movement and "Dreamspace" for Body, Mind, and Spirit
Wake up, breathe, and lean into our morning movement practice, and create sacred space for the cultivation of your dreams and imagination. Engage your body and prepare your mind to receive all that is in store for you... and we will close out the week's experience with a water blessing ceremony at Lake Chapala incorporating some of the themes you will develop during the sessions you experienced during the week.
Join us for our daily Diasporic Movement practice where we create loving caring community, in sacred and safe space.
We Are Bringing the Heat! Let's Dance Flamenco!
Vamos a Bailar Flamenco!
Let's dance Flamenco!
Immerse yourself in the passionate rhythms and fiery movements of Flamenco: a dance born from the rich culturage 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, blending traditional technique with modern creativity.
Discover:
1. The Power of Storytelling: Flamenco is a dance of emotions, a way to express the depths of the human experience. Flamenco allows us to connect with the joys, struggles and passions of vibrant cultural heritages'
2. The Beauty of Imperfection: Flemenco is about more than technique. Its about intuition, feeling, and spontaneity allowing you to let go of perfection and tap into your inner fire.
3. 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.
Our maestra for our retreat, Veronica Barracan Uzuelta will share the fundamentals of Flamenco with passion, style and grace. Veronica's skills have taken her all over the world, and we are fortunate to have her share her passion with us. Her love of Afro-Mexican culture, and knowledge of its musical and dance expression adds an additional layer of authenticity to our class.
Ven y Unete! Come...Join us!
Your Home Base: Hotel Memora, Chapala,Mx.
See video of your accommodations below:
Get inspired through guided daily journal prompts—catalysts to activate your intentions to make them a reality. During our Vision Board and Goal Setting Session, you will create and or refine the vision and outline the steps to actualize the visions inside 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? You will be assigned a coach and will receive group and individualized coaching sessions to address 5 cashflow strategies to take into middle age, and into retirement. Your retreat experience and preparation will begin in August 2025, in advance of your arrival in Mexico in September.
Space for this retreat is limited, so register early, check your passport, 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 the 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, trip to thermal waters, Embodiology sessions; transportation and admission to thermal waters, and transportation to and including mountaintop dinner and Mirador Mingle.
(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.
