Self Love Retreat with Flower Therapy & Rose Baths

Empowerment, Retreats, Self Discovery, Self Improvement, Self Love, Wellness

Deep in the belly of a self-love retreat, you’ll find the roots of astonishing discoveries. Scientists have recently discovered that our atoms are mostly made up of 99.99% nothingness, which leaves me utterly astounded because I’ve spent most of my adult life in recovery from trying to fix something that was wrong with me, whether it was physical or mental health issues or this looming feeling that I was doing something wrong to be suffering so much.

Through all my journey, a profound realization keeps deepning in me. What if I embraced the idea that there’s nothing within me that requires fixing? Could it be that all I’ve been living are just stories my body is entangled in, and within that void within me, lies the power to craft the life I truly desire?

Hi darling, I’m Lumalia, a self-coined connection architect cultivating spaces and awareness so that we all can return home to the profound beauty I believe is inside each of us waiting to be rediscovered. Giving myself permission to play, to discover, and as Mary Olive says, “Pay Attention, Be Astonished, Tell About it,” has filled my life with more beauty than suffering. (Read my full story in my memoir Blooming Upside Down or how I recovered from chronic illnesses here).

Often, I find myself on mini self-love retreats with flower therapy or rose baths as I’m creating and living the life of beauty and joy. I’ve discovered that while I love a few days to reset at a full-week self-love retreat, an excellent self-care retreat at home has become a daily practice of mine, from taking time for creative expression, filling my bath with roses and Epsom salts, making rose petal baths, and letting the flower energy heal my body.

Self Love Retreat At Home With Flowers

What if a self-love retreat with flowers and rose baths was all you needed today? What if you didn’t need to spend thousands to dive deep into some self-love?

Deepening into my own self-love retreat with flower therapy and rose baths has been one of the most nourishing experiences of my life. Over and over again, on my self-love journey, I’ve been astounded by how often flowers call into my life and how profoundly healing they are. So much so that one became my book cover; flowers have brought relief to unimaginable pain that doctors would have otherwise been recommending chemotherapy and long-term steroid use to support, both of which have highly horrific side effects.

Recently, I’ve been guiding 1:1 on self-love retreats with other women here in Oregon and self-paced flower therapy adventures. The effects of these retreats for myself and others have been wildly impactful, and I hope these inspire you to try out the rose petal bath as listed below or come join the mini women’s retreats I’ll be hosting in Oregon this summer.

Self Love Retreat with Wild Flowers

This past spring, I dedicated time to somatic movement meditation and photography experiences with a few remarkable women. We discovered picturesque spots here in Oregon, my home, to photograph them among wildflowers.

As I gathered with each woman, we set an intention for our self-love retreat among the wildflowers. One woman was there to rediscover self-love after a significant life transition. We gathered at a cliff overlook and commemorated her beautiful journey just by being surrounded by the wildflowers.

Here are some photos from our wildflower mini self-love retreat experience.

Then, another woman joined me at this self-love retreat. We visited a stunning place where delicate wildflowers bloomed. We both shared a beautiful story of healing from autoimmune diseases and entering a season of rebirth. The blooming wildflowers embraced her as we celebrated her at this gorgeous location.

I recently had the extraordinary pleasure of working with Lumalia for a photography session to celebrate a significant chapter in my life.

The session was more than just a photo shoot; it was an experience. Her ability to connect on a personal level helped me relax, feel deeply into my intentions, and genuinely enjoy the moment—resulting in photos that truly celebrate this phase of my life.

I feel like I now own a talisman that reflects this special time in my life, and my inner child got to play and have a beautiful time in nature, thanks to Lumalia!

I gathered with one other woman and we embraced the stregthen of growing admist adversity, here are her photos.

Of course, having been on the same path, I stayed back after to take some photographs of myself because how could you not want to hang out with these beauties for your own self-love retreat?

Self Love Retreat with Rose Bath

It’s been six months since I took my first rose petal bath as a form of self-love retreat, and I’m hooked. I often buy myself roses to take into the bath with me or keep them dried and use them over and over again until they get too muddied, at which point I carefully place them back into my garden.

I have a beautiful story about my self-love retreat/self-care retreat at home that I’d love to share with you. (Listen to the audio here).

However, if you’d like to try your own mini self-love rose bath retreat, here are some steps!

How to Make A Rose Petal Bath

Step 1: Find roses

You can source them from your own garden, ask friends or co-workers if anyone has any roses you can harvest, or purchase rose petals online. Roses bloom mostly in the summer, so if you’re in winter, you can also purchase rose petals online.

Make sure to be mindful of the pokey vines. You can cut a bud off, or I like to gather the petals from blooms on their way out, too, to give them a little more life instead of becoming hummus again.

As a last resort, you can purchase roses from a grocery store, but they usually haven’t been sourced well or contain pesticides, which you really don’t want to be taking a bath with. However, you should be good to go if you have a local farmer with a greenhouse or buy them from a farmer’s market!

Wherever you harvest make sure to practice leave no trace princples.

Step 2: Prepare your rose petals:

Peel off the petals gently without touching the prickles on the stem of the roses. You can keep the leaves if you want, but I generally don’t.

If you harvested your rose petals for your bath, make sure to rinse them off to prevent little buddies from swimming in your tub. (If you’re a super anti-bug person, don’t worry; they usually aren’t as “buggy” as you think.)

Step 3 Draw your bath:

I love HOT baths, but set the temperature just how you like, leaving room to get in (the water level rises when you get in baths; I know it feels silly to mention, but I honestly forget this all the time and have a way to a high bathtub.)

Step 4 Get In Rose Petal Bath:

Add Epsom salt to boost the flowers’ energy. Salts always boost everything. I like to add one to two cups. Soak for 20 minutes, or however long you desire.

I like to light candles and turn on nature-sounding music or whatever you want.

I’d encourage you not to scroll on your phone and let yourself play with the petals.

I love to cover my skin with each one. Let it marinate me.

Step 5: Remove Rose Petals

Before you drain your tub, make sure to remove all the petals. You don’t want them clogging your drain!

Bonus

Set them gently on a drying rack, dry them thoroughly, and you can use them again and again. I’ve used dried rose petals five times until they lost their scent or color. Make sure to dry them thoroughly before storing them.

Or go nude in your backyard and let them dry on your body like I did one time after my rose petal bath. Haha. Here’s your permission slip to be as WILD as you want with your rose petals.

If you don’t want to dry them, you can toss finished petals in your garden or compost.

Going Deeper: Flower Therapy, Self Love Retreats, Being A Rebel

Recently, I decided to use my roses to feel like a wild rebel. I love how roses are a bit of a rebel themselves; the dark rose, you know? Head here to see how I played with roses to heal inner childhood wounds.

Read and see more photos about this self love experience healing my inner child as I played with the theme of the dark rose.

I love how self-love retreats can be simple exercises you take yourself on at home with rose petals or any flower that is safe to consume or expose your skin too. I also love soaking with fresh lavender, peonies, calendula, or dandelions!

Ready to go on a self-love retreat with other wild women and visit Oregon, because as you can see, it’s crazy gorgeous here! I’d be so honored if you joined me for all or one of my eight mini wild women retreats in Oregon this summer!

Want to explore more options for self-care retreats at home? Check out my 30-day self-care challenge!

Women's Wellness Experiences Summer 2024

Women’s Wellness Experiences in Portland, Oregon:

A summer camp like vibes where we bring wellness experiences outdoors with an intentional group of women.

Mini Women’s retreat-like experiences in eight different sessions during the summer, find out more about summer 2024 Women’s Wellness Experiences in Portland, Oregon