Emerald Isle Retreat

October 9-13, 2025
Hosted by Angela, Macarena, & Lisa

Your deeper self is calling.

Underneath the to do lists you make and the roles you play and the responsibilities you hold, there is a wild and free heart that is longing to be heard. Join us for a curated weekend of yin and yang practices, mindful meditations, sound bath experiences, delectable food, meaningful connection, and stunning nature.

This is more than a vacation. It’s an opportunity to meet and love yourself all over again.

WEEKEND OVERVIEW

Mindfully designed to be intimate and unique, this small-group retreat was created to help you truly step away from your responsibilities and focus purely on yourself. With sessions longer in length and deeper in depth than what you might find in a typical studio class, you’ll have room to explore, grieve, celebrate, process, and release—whatever you need to do to feel more like you. We’ll take care of the details, the planning, the meals, the tasks—you can just show up.

• Check in on Thursday afternoon or evening. Unpack, unwind, spend some free time getting settled, and savor dinner with the group.

• Reacquaint yourself with your body, heart, and soul with structured sessions Friday through Sunday. Move your body through physical practices, including vinyasa, yin, restorative, and myofascial release, with hands-on assists offered at each practice. Tap into your own emotional and energetic healing through guided meditations, journaling prompts, sound bath experiences, breath work, and Reiki. Each session will be led by Lisa, Angela, or Macky, on the beach, house deck, or private onsite studio space. A typical day includes:

  • Early morning coffee and fruit

  • Brief meditation session

  • Breakfast around 9 am

  • Mid-morning energizing practice

  • Lunch around 1 pm

  • Mid-afternoon grounded practice, breath work, or energy work

  • Dinner around 7 pm

• Enjoy one last breakfast and check out Monday morning, or stay later through the day on Monday for extra beach and relaxation time.

MEALS

Daily fare will be provided by our beloved Chef Sonia Rondeau, including robust breakfasts, lunches, and dinners, as well as snacks, smoothies, coffee, and tea. Meals will be vegan and vegetarian friendly, with animal protein available; other dietary needs can be accommodated as well. We firmly believe that food is so much more than just fuel. Each meal is thoughtfully integrated into the flow of the weekend, and Chef Sonia’s cuisine has become a fundamental element of the retreat: nourishing, delicious, and joyful.

Accommodations

We'll be staying in a beautiful home (both sides of a duplex), on Emerald Isle, North Carolina, just 3 rows from the beach. Two stories of expansive decks provide plenty of sunny lounging and beautiful ocean views. Prepare to relax, with room to both socialize and embrace solitude. Enjoy warm days (average high temperature is 74 degrees in October!) and cool nights with quieter beaches and less summer crowding.

The beach is a short 2 minute walk away, or take one of the bikes to explore around town.

Emerald Isle is approximately a 2 hour and 40 minute drive from Raleigh-Durham Airport and approximately 55 minutes from New Bern Airport.

Pricing

Retreat pricing is based on single occupancy, unless otherwise noted. If you’re interested in sharing one of the King or Queen rooms with a partner, friend, or family member, please contact us directly for pricing options.

• King or Queen with Ensuite Bath - $2,600 (first come, first served on bed choice)

• Queen with Shared Bath - $2,200

• Single Bed/Bunk Bed with Shared Bath (double occupancy only) - $1,200

Your $500 deposit secures your spot. Deposit is non-transferable and non-refundable. Retreat must be paid in full by September 30, 2025, or your spot may be released to another guest.

Ready to book? To save your spot, please submit the form below to receive the deposit link. If a room choice does not appear in the drop-down menu, it has already been booked by another guest.

Meet your retreat guides

Macarena Gallardo
E-RYT 500, Reiki II, LMFT

Macarena began practicing yoga years ago when she realized that working multiple jobs and going to school full-time was taking a toll on her mind and body. Living in such a “go go go” society and finding it hard to slow down, she experienced intense emotional distress. The solutions offered to these issues were just band-aids to overcome the situation. That’s when she was introduced to yoga. She quickly figured out that slowing down wasn’t a bad thing, and it didn’t equate to being lazy or something being wrong. Taking care of her whole self – mind, body, and spirit – was now her priority. Yoga was a moving meditation that allowed the movement of the body with the breath and the quietude of the mind to all intersect. She started off practicing in the Ashtanga lineage, which brought some structure to her life and familiarity.

She became certified at the 200-hour level in the spring of 2012. She later completed certifications in Hot Yoga (flow-less sequencing) and Hands On Assists with Hot Asana Yoga University, as well as Yin Yoga, Restorative, Y12SR (Yoga for 12 Step Recovery), Prenatal/Postpartum Yoga, and Yoga for Athletes. After moving to New York, she continued her training with YogaWorks and completed an extra 500 hours of training.

Macarena is also a Reiki practitioner levels I & Usui/Holy Fire III level II and a Licensed Marriage & Family Therapist, really bringing her two worlds of passion together, on and off the mat. Her classes are filled with life experiences, ongoing education, lots of love, and some challenges, suitable for both those who have never stepped on a yoga mat and seasoned practitioners looking to deepen their practice. To learn more about Macky, follow her on Instagram @Macarena.LMFT

Angela Tara Hsu
E-RYT, YACEP, Reiki Master

Angela began practicing yoga just as a means to complement her skydiving career. Competing in the discipline of freestyle (which is like dancing and acrobatics in the sky), flexibility and strength helped to create interesting and dynamic movement for competition routines. However, yoga quickly became much more than just an aid to reach her skydiving goals. In addition to the physicality of yoga, the mental and spiritual benefits quickly came to light – and have been an integral part of her life since.

Completing her first YTT in 2011, Angela has since accumulated over 5,000 hours of teaching. She is a featured yogi in the documentary Why We Breathe, a Lululemon Legacy Ambassador, and was also featured in ORIGIN Magazine as part of their “Women who eat impossible for breakfast” series.

Angela is also a certified Reiki Master and sound healing practitioner. As a result, her teaching style is an alchemy of her experience, modalities and ongoing education that create a uniquely nourishing experience for all. She offers a wide range of classes, workshops, and trainings accessible to everyone – incorporating various styles of yoga, Reiki, myofascial release, sound healing, meditation, breath work, and more. 

To learn more about Angela, visit bio.site/angelatarahsu or find her on Instagram @AngelaTaraHsu.

Lisa Rischitelli
E-RYT 500, YACEP, Reiki I

After years of dancing pre-professionally and into college, Lisa first fell in love with the flowing movement of Vinyasa yoga as an adult because it evoked old memories of choreography. It quickly became apparent to her, however, that yoga was fundamentally different from performing; there was a deep well of self-compassion, connection, and personal growth to discover beneath the postures.

Lisa has now been teaching yoga for 15 years, having completed her 200-hour certification with YogaWorks in New York in 2010 and her 300-hour certification with Grace Morales in North Carolina in 2014. She has logged more than 5,000 teaching hours both in person and virtually and has led multiple 200- and 300-hour teacher trainings, taught at yoga festivals and retreats, led numerous workshops, and filmed on-demand classes. 

In her teaching, Lisa prioritizes cueing physical postures in a way that’s inclusive and adaptive for all bodies; helping students feel empowered in their bodies and in their minds; being honest and transparent about her own journey and experiences on and off the mat; and offering any tools or knowledge that might help students to make their own authentic choices.

To learn more about Lisa, visit LisaRischitelli.com or find her on Instagram @LisaRischitelli.