Thirteen Moons

Thirteen Moons is a Women’s Wellness retreat near Peterborough, Ontario.  This past weekend I attended this amazing place with 6 girlfriends in honour of my friend, Dr. Emily Howell’s 40th Birthday.

I have never been to a Wellness Retreat and I really had no idea what to expect.  On top of that this place is vegetarian.  I am not  a vegetarian.  So the things that went through my head about that ran from “I’m going to be hungry” to “Oh good, maybe I will lose some weight”.  Ya, ok no.   Run by Louise Racine, a certified Nutritional Practitioner, Thirteen Moons has been in operation for 16 years and let me tell you there was not a moment that I was hungry or, as my ‘Evil Mother-In-Law’ (EMIL for short) says “sufficiently suffonsified” (I haven’t been allowed to say “I’m stuffed” since I began eating at the EMIL’s table) . Lousie created the most amazing dishes from and several courses per meal.  She has published two cookbooks and if I get permission I will blog some recipes at a later date.

Back to my Wellness retreat experience…. two nights and three days with 6 fierce women getting to talk, receiving endless support (more on that later), having a foot soak and facial, doing yoga, communing with horses, learning a drumming song from a Metis woman named Adele (Louise’s sister), massage treatment (for me a thai herbal massage – brand new experience), walks in the woods, earthing (aka walking barefoot) on thick moss and a vegetarian cooking class.  How did we fit it all in and why on earth did I ever leave?

We were nurtured, well taken care of and nourished in a way that only other women can do for a woman.  I highly recommend it and I hope my friends keep our promise of going back at least once per year.

thirteenmoons.ca