Women, Food + Horses:
Overcome Food Obsession and Body Shame
through the Way of the Horse
November 10, 2018 | 9am - 4pm
A full-day retreat in beautiful Malibu, CA with Melissa Costello, Transformational Eating Coach and Natalie Riggs, Equine Guided Educator.
Do you feel alone and isolated by your long battle with food and your weight?
Do you feel ashamed of how you look and regularly experience self-loathing?
Are you missing out on your life waiting until that day you lose those extra pounds you've been carrying?
Are you tired of sabotaging yourself and feeling like a failure over and over?
Do you long for freedom, confidence and normalcy so you can enjoy your life and do all the things you love?
Join Melissa Costello, Transformational Eating Coach and Natalie Riggs, Equine Guided Educator (EGE) for this small and intimate full-day retreat nestled in the beautiful hills of Malibu, California. Melissa and Natalie will take you on a transformative journey with a special herd of horses, so you can return to your sacred self, and rediscover your soul’s path that is free of food obsession and body shame.
We know how devastating it can be to feel powerless and hopeless when it comes to food and weight struggles. Habits can be hard to break and ingrained belief systems tend to keep them in place. Years of yo-yo dieting, restriction, emotional eating and using food as a crutch are what you know, and it can be difficult to know where to start when you are feeling defeated and disappointed over and over. We are here to change that for you!!!
We want you to step into your true, authentic power so you can feel confident, free and inspired to live your life to the fullest. To eat like a "normal" person and to feel good in your skin, so food is not ruling your life anymore. Through experiential exercises, discovery dialogue and powerful interactions with the horses, you will learn how to trust and attune to the wisdom of your body, as well as let go of the damaging habits and belief systems that have kept you stuck in a vicious cycle of self-loathing, yo-yo dieting and weight struggles for years.
You will leave this retreat feeling CONFIDENT, EMPOWERED, CONNECTED and FREE!
This full-day retreat is for you if, you are a woman who...
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I could not have created a more perfect retreat for me...
I loved it all. I felt safe, supported and like I was giving myself a gift. I could not have created a more perfect retreat for me. It felt like divine design. I was deep in body hate and food obsession. Kundalini + horses have separately been my saving grace. To find a retreat that combined BOTH Kundalini yoga and horses that also addressed the food and body obsession was nothing short of a miracle.
Arielle G. | Owner, Art Camp LA
The Healing Way of the Horse...
Horses are gentle, intuitive, sentient beings who help us to get in touch with parts of ourselves that we may have hidden away a long time ago. They are capable of reconnecting us to our deepest truth and desires through reflection, presence and authenticity. Their ability to interact with human beings and trust us even though they are prey animals, makes them a powerful source of healing.
Equine Guided Education therapy is an experiential form of coaching that involves interaction between humans and horses. Through your own curious nature and the presence you bring to the exercises with the horse that chooses you, we will create the opportunity to identify negative patterns that have been keeping you stuck in a vicious cycle, whether they are emotional, mental or physical.
The goal of equine therapy is to help you develop trust and confidence in yourself. To be able to attune to your deeper desires and needs, and how to navigate them in a way that feels empowering. We do this through looking to the horse as a mirror for what is happening on your inside, as well as looking to the horse for new perspectives and problem-solving capabilities.
Our bodies hold both positive and negative memories and consequently this is the wisdom of your body. You will learn to trust that wisdom so you don't feel the need to overfeed yourself anymore. You will also build strong appreciation for yourself today, not in some future time down the road. Imagine what you would be able create if you could actually rewire your body for the experience of intense joy, love, abundance. You can do this through the healing way of the horse.
Why you Need to Attend:
The Women, Food and Horses Mini-Retreat is a place to connect and bond with other like-minded women who are facing the same challenges as you. Women who have been ashamed about their struggles with food and their bodies. Women who have felt alone and isolated. Women who are dreamers, but don't know where to find support, and feel lost.
Through our experiential work with the horses, you will get to explore your deepest desires, reconnect to your inner wisdom and reclaim what you truly desire in your life, so you can break out of the patterns and habits that have been keeping you stuck in a vicious cycle with food and your body. You will let go of shame, disappointment and feeling like a failure, once and for all.
You will also create supportive bonds with the other women, as we all hold intentional space for each other's deepest truth to be revealed, so we can drop the masks, excuses and limiting beliefs that keep us from living life fully and freely.
You will experience a sense of freedom, confidence and belonging that you have never felt before; free of the painful habits and behaviors you have been carrying around most of your life that have been keeping you playing small.
THIS IS YOUR TIME; TIME TO BREAK FREE AND LIVE THE LIFE YOU HAVE ALWAYS DREAMED OF...
What to Expect:
We will begin the day at beautiful Shakti Ranch** nestled in the mountains of Malibu, overlooking the crystal blue Pacific ocean, surrounded by 700 year old oak trees where you will be welcomed by Natalie, Melissa and Natalie's therapy horse, Sophie (there might even be some goats and chickens.) After saying our hellos, we will gather for an intention circle in warm, welcoming surroundings so you can feel relaxed, connected and attuned.
From there, Natalie will guide you through some gentle, transformative movement including breath that will help to bring you present, and open your body and mind to be receptive for your time with the horses. Melissa will then guide you through a beautiful inner exploration to help you bring appreciation and grounded-ness into your body, and to uncover the deep root of your challenges with food.
We will then break for a lovely vegan lunch prepared by Melissa and Natalie, where you can eat on the beautiful balcony overlooking the Pacific. From there, we will head out to the herd, where we will meet with the horses. Each person will have the opportunity to be guided through a Discovery Dialogue with a particular horse, while other women hold space and support you for this life-altering process.
We will wrap up the day with a closing circle to share our experiences and insights. You will leave this full-day retreat feeling empowered, refreshed and clear about how you want to show up in your life and what to do moving forward! And, you will have made life-long connections with incredible women too.
Cost and Details:
EARLY BIRD RETREAT COST: $175 ** (early bird pricing until October 22nd - price goes up to $225 on October 22)
USE CODE: EARLYHORSE at Checkout!!
Retreat cost includes a light vegan lunch, beverages and healthy snacks.
Location address, parking/transportation, what to bring and other details will be shared upon registration. If you are traveling from out of town and need more information, contact us here.
Still have QUESTIONS??? Contact Melissa here and she will answer any questions you have about the retreat, the horses and the accommodations.
Space is VERY limited. Save your spot today by clicking button below!
Early Bird Discount Ends in...Save Your Spot Now!
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My relationship to my body has never been better....
Melissa helped me find my happy place, my authentic self; to let go of my fears and worries. She provided tools that both challenged and lifted me. My relationship with my body has never been better! Melissa has helped me heal from many years of self-abuse and I am forever grateful for the rare opportunity to work with her!
Sarah T. | Singer United States Navy
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I'm effortlessly fitting into clothes I never thought I'd wear again...
When I first started working with Melissa, I had no idea how big of an impact she would have on my relationship to food and my life. I have had such a huge improvement and there is so much growth that has happened underneath the food issues that I never anticipated. My life felt scattered and out of control at times. I was a regular binge eater on the weekends. The grounding principals and tools Melissa provided helped me to let go of my fixation on food and my obsessive, negative thoughts about my body. My internal dialogue has shifted and now I trust myself to make choices that feel more natural versus restricting and depriving. I never could have imagined the depth of this work, and it was exactly what I needed to find the freedom I was looking for in my life when it came to my eating and my body. I never thought I would get to this place and I feel incredible. I’m effortlessly fitting into clothes I thought I would never wear again. I’m listening to my body and feel on top of the world!
Sara P. | Attorney at Law
About Melissa:
Melissa Costello is a Transformational Eating Coach, Author, Speaker and Holistic Nutritionist. Her years of work as a private, plant-based chef for celebrity trainer, Tony Horton creator of P90x organically led her to work with her clients on a much deeper level when she recognized the struggles they had with consistent, healthy eating and sustainable weight loss. Her mission is to empower busy professionals to stop the struggle with yo-yo dieting, weight loss, emotional eating and food obsession. Melissa’s in-depth training in Spiritual Psychology, Clinical Nutrition and holistic coaching along with her own life-long personal struggles with her body image, provides the foundation for her clients to experience powerful breakthroughs and sustainable, profound transformation. She has helped thousands of clients around the world take their power back from food, learn to love their bodies and create a life of freedom. Melissa's own deep connection with horses, has provided extraordinary healing in her life's journey in overcoming her food issues. To learn more about Melissa and her coaching services and programs, click here.
About Natalie:
Natalie Riggs is a certified Equine Guided Educator (EGE) and Yoga Therapist who brings nearly two decades of practice and intensive study to her clients. In the world of equine therapy, EGE is recognized as an experiential learning approach that provides the opportunity for participants to discover valuable information about themselves and the way they interact with others through the 'eyes of a horse'. As an EGE facilitator, Natalie provides the bridge between the participant and horse; facilitating their interactions and drawing out and interpreting the horses’ responses and how they relate to the participants’ behaviors. This Equine Education team of horse and human encourages participants to become actively involved in their own learning as they move through a series of activities with the horses and the other workshop participants. Natalie’s prior professional experience working as a communications consultant for Fortune 500 companies and her personal experience as an equestrian and owner of an equine therapy horse give her a unique perspective and skill set that benefits her clients and workshop participants. To learn more about Natalie, click here.