How an email bounce back helped me reconnect with myself

In the middle of COVID, I made a promise to myself: I was going to keep everything afloat. My team, my business, my family, my sanity – nothing was going to slip through the cracks. It wasn’t strategic, it wasn’t clinical – it was emotional. And it weighed on me heavily. I was stretched thin, constantly on edge, and trying to hold it all together.

One afternoon, desperate for a reset, I went for a forest walk. It should have been peaceful. But let’s be honest: my phone was glued to my hand. I wasn’t connecting with nature – I was connecting with my inbox.

And then it happened.

An email popped up from the Fairmont Lake Louise: Two spots left in our yoga retreat. Without hesitation, I hit reply and typed: I’m in. Sent it off with the speed of someone grabbing the last life jacket on a sinking ship.

Seconds later: Delivery failure. It was a no-reply account. Of course it was. I actually laughed out loud in the middle of the woods – because who tries to register for a yoga retreat by emailing a robot? Me.

So I regrouped, followed the actual registration process, and this time it worked. And then – I went.

I drove through the mountains in a white Jeep, music turned up, windows down. I hiked until my legs burned and my lungs reminded me what fresh air felt like. I did yoga against a backdrop so beautiful it looked like a screensaver. I made new friends, laughed until my cheeks hurt, and reconnected with myself at a time when I needed it most.

And here’s the thing: women need this. Men don’t agonize about whether they “deserve” a golf weekend or a fishing trip. They just go. But women – we wrestle with guilt. We feel pressure. We tell ourselves it’s indulgent, selfish, irresponsible.

That’s exactly why we created The Women’s Retreat. A space where women can take time, unabashedly. To immerse themselves in the beauty of our country. To surround themselves with a network of strong women. To step away from the weight of daily obligations and finally breathe.

Because what I learned at Lake Louise is this: when you step away, the world doesn’t fall apart. But you come back stronger, clearer, and more yourself.

Sometimes the best decisions begin with an email that bounces right back.

by Jennifer Stewart

Co-founder of The Honest Talk. President and Founder of Syntax Strategic. She is one of the Ottawa Business Journal’s ‘Top Forty Under 40′, and was a finalist for Ottawa’s ‘Female Entrepreneur of the Year.’

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