Environment Impacts Energy

I’m writing this on my journey home, still carrying the echo of something extraordinary—Todd Durkin’s Mountain Retreat. It wasn’t simply an event… it felt like stepping into a living, breathing world of purpose. The room held fitness pros, life coaches, corporate leaders, teachers, and entrepreneurs from every walk of life, yet the moment I crossed the threshold, there was this undeniable sense of being known.

It was as if a hundred silent gazes whispered the same invitation: “Your story matters. Your gifts matters. And you belong here.”

For 2½ days, we were guided—sometimes gently, sometimes with the kind of intensity that wakes you at the soul level—into the deepest parts of ourselves. -Time to get comfortable with the uncomfortable!! We explored the passion that fuels our calling and the traumas that had become quiet anchors, holding down our wings. And then, with intention and support, we began releasing those anchors one by one. Raw emotions were not spared.

There were moments of clarity that felt like someone wiped the fog from the mirror. Decisions became simpler. Priorities sharper. Pathways forward more obvious. Plans didn’t just get written —they ignited.

But the greatest element? The people.

A hundred individuals, only about a quarter of them had I already met,  became family almost instantly. We shared stories, tears, breakthroughs. We held space for one another’s fears and celebrated victories that had been waiting years to surface. By the end, we weren’t just attendees —we were accountability partners. Tribe members. Mirrors and catalysts for each other’s greatness.

The keynote speakers carried a kind of humble fire—authentic, vulnerable, and powerful enough to make you sit taller and breathe deeper. Their words landed like arrows of truth, reminding me that this is exactly the kind of tribe every dreamer needs: the kind that believes in you so fiercely you start believing in yourself again.

Each day began with chapel, followed by a workout that lit up every muscle, then a cold plunge that snatched your breath and sharpened your senses. Those moments weren’t just physical challenges—they were metaphors. Tiny initiations reminding us that discomfort is often the door to clarity.

And clarity… we found a lot of it.

Restoration.

Reconnection.

Reawakening.

The retreat felt like standing on a mountain not for the view, but for the perspective—finally seeing your life from the altitude it deserved. (Let me tell you, Big Mountain, Glacier National Park, and Whitefish Montana, is that magical place for all the above)

I left with my heart full, my mission sharpened, my energy restored, and my tribe at my back. (Bonus: I was able to experience all of this with my husband by my side doing the same.)

Now?

Now it’s time to go out and IGNITE the power in others.

“Legacy isn’t something that you leave behind, it is how you live your life through the lives that you touch!” - Carrie Armacost