🌈 The Path of Joy: A Sacred Retreat at Lake Atitlán

Join Michelle Fajkus and Ash Fletcher for a heart-opening, soul-nourishing retreat designed to uplift your spirit and reconnect you with the radiant joy within that is your natural state.

Set against the shimmering waters of Lake Atitlán—an ancient and sacred place nestled in the volcanic highlands of Guatemala—this retreat offers you space to pause, breathe, and realign with your most vibrant, present, and joyful self.

This journey isn’t about escaping life’s challenges. It’s about learning to see and feel joy as a conscious choice—available to us even in the midst of sadness or uncertainty. Together, we’ll explore what it means to live with a joyful heart, to speak our truth, to listen to the wisdom within, and to trust the beauty of our becoming.

💖 A Retreat to Remember: What’s at the Heart

Throughout this week-long retreat, we’ll co-create a sacred space of connection, laughter, movement, and emotional honesty. We’ll breathe deeply, move intentionally, and give ourselves full permission to feel—whatever arises. Joy and sorrow, lightness and grief, all are welcome here. You are welcome here.

Using the upper chakras—heart 💚, throat 💙, third eye 💜, and crown 🤍—as energetic guideposts, we will work gently and steadily to lift our vibration, let go of what weighs us down, and access the clarity and bliss that come from presence.

🧘 Practices to Elevate

Our practices include:

• Heart-centered yoga to connect breath and movement with intention

• Conscious breathing and mindfulness meditation to calm the nervous system and raise awareness

• Sound healing journeys to harmonize your inner world

• Dance to awaken joy in the body

• Mayan fire ceremony to honor the sacred count of days and connect with ancestral wisdom

• Sweat lodge for beauty, deep cleansing and renewal

• Optional morning swims, forest bathing, journaling, and quiet contemplation to deepen your connection with self and nature

You’ll also receive a personal Mayan reading, helping you align with your unique energy and life path according to the sacred Mayan calendar.

🌿 The Gift of Presence

In our fast-paced world, presence is the greatest gift and skill. This retreat invites you to step away from screens, distractions, and responsibilities—and step into a rhythm that is slow, sacred, and intuitive. Rather than striving for joy as a future destination, we’ll explore joy as something simple, intimate, and available now. We’ll soften into the present moment, cultivating compassion for ourselves and each other.

🌟 Come As You Are, Leave Lighter

Whether you’re seeking inspiration, healing, connection, or simply a chance to exhale, this retreat is an invitation to come home to yourself. You'll be nourished by healthy meals, held in a nurturing community, and surrounded by natural beauty in an energetically potent place.

You’ll return home changed: clearer, softer, lighter. More aligned with joy, truth, and the mystery and magic of being alive. This is the path of joy. We invite you to walk it with us.

What’s Included in Your Retreat Experience:

🛏 1 Night Accommodation in Antigua
– Private hotel room
– Welcome Dinner + Brunch

🏡 6 Nights at Bambu Guest House – Lake Atitlán
🥗 Daily vegetarian meals (at Bambu)
🍛 Picnic lunch included on travel day

🚌 Transportation
– Airport to Antigua (arrival) shuttle
– Antigua to Lake Atitlán shuttle
– Lake to Airport (departure) shuttle

🧘 Yoga + Wellness Experiences
– Daily Yoga, Breathing and Journaling with Michelle & Ash
– Blue Lotus Sound Bath 🌀
– Mayan Fire Ceremony 🔥
– Personal Mayan Reading
– Beauty Day: Natural Facials, Reflexology, Sweat Lodge, Cacao Scrub 🌸

Excursions & Connection
– Guided Visit to San Juan La Laguna
– Hike to Jaibalito/Santa Cruz
– Evening bonfire and dance
– Service Project with Wellkind

Optional additional activities
– Massage/spa day at Santo Domingo in Antigua
– Tarot reading
– Farm tour and waterfall hike
– Guatemalan cooking class
– Sunrise paddleboarding/morning swim

Rates and Registration

• $2,095 USD Single/private room

• $1,895 Double room (2 roommates)

• $1,795 Shared dorm room (4 roommates)

A nonrefundable $500 deposit is required to reserve your space. A maximum of 14 participants will be in the group.

Early bird discount! Book by April 30 to save $200!

About the Teachers

Michelle Margaret Fajkus is a left-handed, heart-centered teacher and writer. She has led retreats in Guatemala since 2010. Michelle offers an accessible, rejuvenating practice for all levels. Her classes incorporate vinyasa flow, dharma (Buddhist teachings), yin yoga, mindfulness, pranayama (breathing practices), and the sacred Mayan calendar.

Ash Fletcher is a sojourner with a spirit of wanderlust who loves to experience diverse cultures and communities. Yoga found Ash during her training as a dancer, and she began daily practice and teaching of yoga at age 18. With her bright and playful spirit, Ash joyfully works to promote healthy and regenerative practices for everyone. She is the founder of Wholesome Living.

Ash and Michelle have joyfully co-led several yoga retreats in Guatemala together over the past 15 years!