What is a reconnection and meditation journey like? This is how wellness retreats work.

More and more people around the world are suffering from burnout syndrome, a problem that, according to many health professionals, could become the next pandemic. And this isn't because it's a virus or a communicable disease, but because this condition is increasingly common in the workplace and personal life, where repetitive and over-demanding routines end up taking their toll.

In response, one of the global movements that has emerged to curb this increasingly prevalent condition is the movement toward wellness and reconnection through travel and retreats. In Latin America, where these spaces are not yet common, one of the places seeking to promote them is Los Cabos, in the state of Baja California Sur, Mexico.

At the southern tip of the peninsula, where the desert meets the ocean, more and more travelers are arriving in search of reconnection, pause, and silence. And that's where Suda Experience comes in, an initiative that transforms tourism into a journey into one's inner self.

Flor Daneu and Lighuen Desanto are two Argentine creators of Suda, which, in their words, blends "art, movement, and consciousness." Both assert that they don't create retreats, but rather design experiences that feel like rituals.

The most recent, created in collaboration with the Los Cabos Tourism Trust, is an immersion into the region's tranquil desert aesthetic. "We wanted every moment to have meaning. We wanted nature not just to be a backdrop, but a guide," says Flor.

Suda doesn't limit herself to offering yoga classes or meditation sessions. "They're not activities, they're immersive experiences," Flor repeats. Trained as a choreographer and theater director, her life took a turn after an initiation trip to India. "That's when I realized that the true scene was within me," she says, recalling the silence of the Himalayas and the chanting in the ashrams.

That trip was the seed. The pandemic was the fertile ground. Locked down, but creative, Flor and Lighuen began to develop Suda during the isolation period. Born in Patagonia (Argentina), with a soul shaped by introspection and an eye trained in film and photography, he brought to the project an aesthetic sensibility and a philosophy centered on the natural rhythm of things. “All my life, I've been guided by a more leisurely way of looking. The marketing world was noisy, and I was looking for silence,” says Lighuen.

Together they designed a method that flows in four stages: connect, let go, begin, and release. Like a well-directed play, each retreat becomes an intimate narrative. At the Soul retreat, held in Los Cabos, for example, participants wore headphones for an immersive yoga session, listened to meditations with ocean sounds, and concluded with a ritual ceremony. All designed to reconnect with oneself and with others.

Sunset ceremonies, oceanfront meditations, physical exercise sessions to activate muscles, and guided breathing sessions were also held. These activities bring the body to a sense of fullness and calm, allowing one to feel—and live—beyond what busy city lives allow.

Even breathing feels different. And Ofelia Bojórquez knows it. A psychologist and therapist specializing in breathwork, during the Soul retreat, Ofelia leads sessions that feel like mini-journeys through conscious breathing, music, and silence. “It's the closest thing to being on a psychedelic trip without consuming any substances. An unconventional experience just from breathing,” explains Lighuen.

This same experience has been extended to India, Nepal, Portugal, the Dominican Republic, and Spain. In each location, Suda adapts her activities to the destination. “We don't repeat formats. We're inspired by the local area. We want the place to transform us as well,” says Lighuen.

Attendees are often diverse: exhausted executives, digital nomads, older people seeking physical and emotional flexibility, and young people who sense there's more to performance. But all, according to Suda's founders, share a common need: to stop.

“Urban life disconnects us. We live in a hurry, and we forget about our body, our breathing, our soul,” Flor explains. “And there are also people in small towns who need to break out of their cultural molds, discover themselves, and laugh again with their inner child.”

For them—and for everyone—Suda seeks to empower people to stop, breathe, and continue, with the goal of returning to themselves.

Environment and Health Journalist