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CIVANA Wellness Review and Experience
14 Plays6 days ago
Join host, Chantelle Kincy as she breaks down her recent experience at CIVANA wellness retreat near Scottsdale Arizona.
Looking for a wellness escape that doesn’t feel intimidating or overly strict? In this episode, I’m sharing my personal experience staying at CIVANA Wellness Resort & Spa in Carefree, Arizona — a place designed for rest, renewal, and reconnection. From complimentary fitness and mindfulness classes to the luxurious spa treatments and nourishing meals, here’s everything you need to know about what it’s like to stay at CIVANA.
Whether you're planning a solo retreat, girlfriend getaway, or just want to explore the world of wellness travel, this episode gives you the honest details — including what surprised me, what I loved, and what I’d do differently next time.
Book CIVANA here
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Transcript
Introduction to Wellness Retreat Experience
00:00:00
CHANTELLE KINCY
Hi, everybody. It's just me today. i want to talk to you about an experience I just had at a hotel in Scottsdale, well, in Carefree, Arizona, which is just outside of Scottsdale, ah called Savannah.
Open-Minded Approach and Initial Impressions
00:00:13
CHANTELLE KINCY
So something I'd never done before, it was really unfamiliar, it's a wellness retreat. um I was hosted by Experience Scottsdale, um And so I really just wanted to go into it with an open mind and open heart, but I wasn't sure what to expect.
00:00:30
CHANTELLE KINCY
um I had read up on all of the, you know, the website and tried to figure out what, what it was going to look like when I was there, but I just wasn't prepared, I think, for the experience that I ended up by having.
Savannah's Atmosphere and Amenities
00:00:42
CHANTELLE KINCY
And so um I wanted to share that with you.
00:00:46
CHANTELLE KINCY
First off, um everyone was really great um with welcoming me there. I'm with my friend Christina and everyone was just very kind and very sweet.
00:00:57
CHANTELLE KINCY
ah The atmosphere felt very warm and welcoming. It didn't feel judgy. ah People were walking around in robes and silk pajamas and yoga clothes and sort of just all over the place and no one really...
00:01:10
CHANTELLE KINCY
Dr. Emily Helderick- judged or cared was there, there was professional athletes they're working through things in their off season, there were people who had just gotten divorced, there was someone who lost her dog and she needed help with grief.
00:01:24
CHANTELLE KINCY
There were just people from all over with all different sorts of things going on. And everyone was just really focused on themselves, but also really supportive one another, which I thought was great.
00:01:35
CHANTELLE KINCY
Savannah is located in an old hotel that they've remodeled to make just absolutely gorgeous. There's places to eat, a spa, of
Transformative Massage Experience
00:01:44
CHANTELLE KINCY
course. There was meditation gardens and a labyrinth and workout rooms and just all sorts of um the pool, all sorts of great amenities there.
00:01:55
CHANTELLE KINCY
The food was all really healthy and good. um
00:01:59
CHANTELLE KINCY
But you could take classes. So you could spend kind of as much time as you wanted, just reflecting, being quiet, being by yourself, but you could also take part in these classes. And I kind of consider myself to be pretty introverted where I'd wasn't really looking forward to the idea of being forced into these classes. It felt kind of summer campy and I didn't really like the idea of it.
00:02:23
CHANTELLE KINCY
Um, but since they were hosting me, i decided I was going to just not go in with any preconceived notions and just really give it my all and, and do what they asked of me. um,
00:02:36
CHANTELLE KINCY
um so, so glad that I did because it turned out not being scary, not being awkward, but honestly just being one of the coolest things I've ever done. And it was really transformative um and interesting. So I just want to tell you about that experience.
Intention Setting and Emotional Release
00:02:51
CHANTELLE KINCY
So the first thing that I did was have a massage, which is not a bad way to start any vacation, right? I did what they call revive revived to thrive. And in that they used an exfoliant to kind of remove all the dead skin.
00:03:09
CHANTELLE KINCY
make my skin nice and smooth. And they kind of massaged with pressure points and things to relax different muscles and to kind of just get you in that mood to just be relaxed. And it was the first thing that hit me, which is interesting, is that I don't think I've ever had a massage just because before.
00:03:32
CHANTELLE KINCY
um I've had therapeutic massages. I've had, you know, with my neck and my shoulder hurting from hygiene and things like that. I've done massage, but they've never been just for me just because.
00:03:45
CHANTELLE KINCY
And I started going in with a swimsuit on and he said, you know, you can wear that for sure if that's what you're comfortable with. But with doing the exfoliation, it does work better if you don't have anything on.
00:03:56
CHANTELLE KINCY
And so i was like, oh, okay, well, since I'm going for it, like, I'll just go for it. And it was so interesting to me because as I just laid there and let myself just have the experience, it took me five or ten minutes to really get out of my head and to really have that experience.
00:04:16
CHANTELLE KINCY
And it dawned on me that I've never treated my body
00:04:21
CHANTELLE KINCY
to I've never treated my body to feel good. I've never just let myself feel good. um When I was married to my ex-husband, he made me hate my body.
00:04:36
CHANTELLE KINCY
um Not just because I was told, you know, that I was disgusting and and horrible and gross all the time, but also just the way that he abused my body.
00:04:47
CHANTELLE KINCY
just made me kind of shut off from all sorts of touch and happiness through that. And then when I've had massages and things because of injuries, that's not fun either, right? That's not relaxing. In fact, I usually cry and throw up halfway through them, you know, because it's pretty terrible.
00:05:05
CHANTELLE KINCY
But this was the first time I just really relaxed and let my body feel happy and worthy of receiving those good vibes and that nice touch.
00:05:16
CHANTELLE KINCY
um So right then and there, I thought, well, this is what I need to do. I'm going all in with this for sure. um Whatever they say to do is what I'm going to do. And so i you know, left, walked around in a robe just like everybody else and had a great time.
00:05:34
CHANTELLE KINCY
um And then the first class that we took was called an intention setting class. um She didn't know what that was. it sounded really like hippy dippy. And I was like, okay, but I'm in So here we go.
00:05:48
CHANTELLE KINCY
So then of course we go into the room and there's this, you know, chairs are in a circle. And I thought, God, here we go. This is, gonna be awkward, but it wasn't awkward.
00:05:59
CHANTELLE KINCY
And the, the leader, the coach, i don't know what you would call her, but she was so wonderful. And she just said, um, We're going to, you know, talk about what your intention is for being here and what you want to let go of. It wasn't an intention to like welcome things into your life. This was more of a um a letting go of something negative or that was holding you back.
00:06:22
CHANTELLE KINCY
And I thought, okay, well, I've got plenty of those. What do I choose from? You know? And um then she asked us to go around the room and say it out loud. And I was not excited. Okay.
00:06:35
CHANTELLE KINCY
But as people went around, luckily I was towards the end of wherever she chose to start the circle from. So as we were going around the circle and I was listening to everybody's different intentions and everybody's different emotions, it hit me that we were all the same, that everyone had their own shit they were going through.
00:06:57
CHANTELLE KINCY
But we were all the same at the end because all everyone in there wanted was to feel loved, was to feel comforted, and to feel accepted. And at the bottom line, no matter what it was that they were going through, it all boiled down to that.
00:07:16
CHANTELLE KINCY
And so... My intention was to, to let go of the feeling of being unworthy was to let go of the um feeling that I didn't deserve good things. I didn't deserve love and I didn't serve to be happy.
00:07:31
CHANTELLE KINCY
And It's something I've always carried with me from a really young age, um from just growing up with family that I didn't think accepted me for who I was and didn't want me around, to a church that definitely didn't accept me for who I was and definitely didn't want me around, and I didn't want to be around either.
00:07:51
CHANTELLE KINCY
um it think a lot of those things really played into these emotional like scars that I've carried with me. And then I've let those scars kind of just become my personality, that makes sense, which isn't ideal.
00:08:07
CHANTELLE KINCY
um And so I said I was gonna let that, I wanted to let that go. And so she gave us some paper and she asked us just to write down the things that make us feel that way and why we feel that way and what we want to be done with it for and what our life could look like without that holding you back.
00:08:25
CHANTELLE KINCY
And we had about five minutes, I think, to write. I ended up by writing like four and a half pages. And I tell you, the words just flowed from me. Like it was just insane the way that I just kept writing and writing.
00:08:42
CHANTELLE KINCY
And then she had us meditate on that. And then we were just supposed to get up and kind of just walk wherever we felt like walking within this room to kind of just meditate and really take in those feelings.
00:08:55
CHANTELLE KINCY
And my first instinct always is to go away from people, to be by myself. Like I just want to be by myself. And turned to like kind of leave the circle and walk away. And something just kept pulling me back. And I just realized that I just had this intense need to be with the other people. Like I didn't want to be by myself. I wanted to be close to other people.
00:09:18
CHANTELLE KINCY
So even though no one was speaking, no one was touching, no one was there, everyone was doing their own thing. I wanted to be near them. I didn't want to be by myself. And so I just walked next to these people that I didn't know. And I just, you know, was really letting myself feel that and be there for them, for myself.
00:09:39
CHANTELLE KINCY
By being with them, i kind of was picking up all of the energy from other people and it was making me feel normal and wanted and accepted. um Then it came time to sit back down and she said, I want you to crumble up that paper, destroy that paper. We're going to burn it.
00:09:56
CHANTELLE KINCY
and We're going to set those intentions free.
Vulnerability and Trust Building Activities
00:09:59
CHANTELLE KINCY
um And Christina was next to me and she just kind of took her paper and just crumbled it.
00:10:04
CHANTELLE KINCY
And i thought, oh, I can't just crumble these up. These are my feelings. Then I watched the person next to me and she just folded her paper in half. And I almost had a panic attack trying to figure out how to properly fold this paper. Like, these are my like emotions and my feelings. And if I just fold them, like, are they going to escape? I don't know what I thought, but I couldn't figure out the right way to fold this paper. And I must have folded this thing back and forth, back and forth five times until finally I was like, this is crazy. Like you need to just fold the paper, just fold the paper.
00:10:39
CHANTELLE KINCY
And my hands just started folding it. And when I was looking down, ah had made it into a fan, you know, when you were like in middle school and you would crinkle the paper and fold it into a fan. And I remembered that I used to do that sitting in church all the time when I was trying to distract myself from the ah preaching that was going on. And When I didn't feel comfortable being there, I would always just fold the programs up into these little fans.
00:11:03
CHANTELLE KINCY
So that was kind of fitting that that's what I was doing there with these feelings that kind of all go back to those times anyways. um So then it was our turn to go up and set this paper on fire. And so there was bowls of water and you're going to set the paper on fire. There was ah a candle in the middle, like a big three wick candle that you could use to set your fire. Well, Christina set hers on fire right away. So I just looked to her and put my paper up against hers to use her fire to start my fire.
00:11:32
CHANTELLE KINCY
And it wouldn't burn. Mine would not burn. was like, oh, this is a bad sign. And so then i used the main candle, the big one. it would I had it folded so tightly and there were so many pieces of paper that it would not start on fire. i actually put out the fire of the main candle and had to be relit because I was wound up so tight with this paper that I kept putting out the flame.
00:12:01
CHANTELLE KINCY
Finally, we got it to burn and everyone else had put theirs down and i couldn't physically let myself put it down. I couldn't drop it. It was on fire.
00:12:14
CHANTELLE KINCY
i couldn't let it go. And the coach, the lady, she came from behind me and she put her hand on my shoulder. She said, you have to let it go. and I said, I can't. It's really scary.
00:12:25
CHANTELLE KINCY
and she said, why is it scary? and I said, I don't know. I didn't know it going to be scary. I think it's just always been a part of me and I don't know what to do without it. And she said, but it's not serving you. It's not good. It's not helping you.
00:12:40
CHANTELLE KINCY
And I said, no, I know. She said, then let it go. i said, I don't know how she said, just open your hand, just open your hand.
00:12:48
CHANTELLE KINCY
And I opened my hand and the burning paper fell into the water and I just started sobbing uncontrollably. i could not get it together. I just felt this release and this weight just come off of me.
00:13:04
CHANTELLE KINCY
And it was just the most freeing and wonderful and tiring experience. I just had to take a nap. think that was all I could do for the night is just take a nap.
00:13:17
CHANTELLE KINCY
Um, so that was just a really nice experience. Um, we went and ended up by doing like a sound bath before bed, which was really relaxing and interesting. Um, I had a harder time with that, just laying and feeling vulnerable with my eyes closed because she was walking around, like making the sounds.
00:13:35
CHANTELLE KINCY
I didn't like the feeling of someone like walking around while I was trying to rest and be relaxed. Cause I kept thinking like maybe she was going to kill me or something because my brain. So that wasn't my favorite, but i get the idea of it.
00:13:50
CHANTELLE KINCY
And I do think for some people it could be really soothing and really nice. I did like the sounds. I liked the comfort. I would have just liked to have been doing it like by myself in my own bed with those sounds, but not with someone like walking around. It was freaky to me.
00:14:04
CHANTELLE KINCY
um The next day we did an intention or like in the morning where we'd get up and kind of choose like a, you know, something we were grateful for.
00:14:15
CHANTELLE KINCY
and just kind of really lean into that great gratitude feeling for the whole day. We did an ice plunge or a cold plunge, which was scary, but it was so nice. um and We went into the cold for three minutes and then we got out and went into the hot tub for a couple of minutes and then back. So we did it three times and just forcing yourself to go under the water all the way to your neck.
00:14:41
CHANTELLE KINCY
And stay there for three minutes, just reminding yourself that you're safe, that it's not pain. It's just a sensation. It's just a feeling you're going to be okay. It's, you got to work through that feeling.
00:14:54
CHANTELLE KINCY
um And just to really trust your body and to trust your mind in that moment. And it was all just such a mental game. You know, your first... instinct is this is uncomfortable. I don't like this. I'm out of here because I run from things that are uncomfortable all the time. Like I just don't want to deal with it. And so I don't.
00:15:09
CHANTELLE KINCY
Um, and I'm just like, always have these great intentions and i'm like, Hey, yeah, let's do this. And then it gets like a little bit messy or a little bit hard. And I'm just like, well, hate that. Never doing that again. Bye.
00:15:21
CHANTELLE KINCY
And I leave and it's just so bad. Like I just never, live to my full potential because I'm always scared. I'm scared of it everything. I'm scared of failing. I'm scared of looking stupid. I'm scared of people talking about me. I'm scared of me letting people down. I'm scared of letting myself down. I'm just scared all the time. And I'm so tired of that life that I just don't want to do it anymore. And so to me, the cold plunge was just really mind over matter.
00:15:51
CHANTELLE KINCY
Like, does it suck? Yes, it sucks. It's cold and my feet hurt. And it's really, really cold. But the lady next to me in the pool, she was repeating to herself out loud.
00:16:05
CHANTELLE KINCY
I am safe. I am safe. I am safe. I'm strong. I am safe. And to this day, I can still hear her voice saying that. And it helped me.
00:16:17
CHANTELLE KINCY
I just kept breathing through her words. She said I was safe. And I was like, I'm safe too. yeah, I could do this. And I just, you know, really leaned into that. And I felt so good by the time I was done.
00:16:29
CHANTELLE KINCY
um So that was a really like internally rewarding experience. Also, i didn't need coffee that day or caffeine. um I was awake. That cold plunge is some serious adrenaline and it didn't wear off. So that was nice.
00:16:44
CHANTELLE KINCY
um Then I did aerial yoga really hard, super fun, kind of. It was really, really hard. It was harder than I thought.
00:16:55
CHANTELLE KINCY
But using the silk to, again, trust yourself and to trust the equipment to fall back, go upside down, do all the things. That was a neat experience that I wouldn't have done anywhere else. Yeah. And then the last hard thing that I did, and I had chosen this because I knew it was going to be hard for me. And I told Christina, do not let me quit. Like I am, I have to do this.
00:17:16
CHANTELLE KINCY
And it was a high ropes course. And I didn't know what that meant. For some reason, I thought maybe like, it would be like this fun little like zip liney thing where you like walk across like a suspension bridge and all this.
00:17:27
CHANTELLE KINCY
No, it was not that. It was not that at all. um I climbed a telephone pole. And walked across another telephone pole that was laying horizontally across the two tops of the telephone poles.
00:17:40
CHANTELLE KINCY
Walked across that.
00:17:43
CHANTELLE KINCY
I wasn't scared of the height. I was scared that i could I wasn't strong enough to do it. I tried to quit the very first step up the pole I took. I said, nope, my body's not strong enough. I can't do this.
00:17:58
CHANTELLE KINCY
And k Christina said, yes, you can. And they said, you took one step. Like, I'm sure you can least do two steps. And I was like, eh, nah, I can't do it. My body's too weak. I'm too weak. My neck hurts and I'm too weak.
00:18:10
CHANTELLE KINCY
um But then I just told myself, just stop being such a baby. And I took another step. And as I'm pulling myself up this pole,
00:18:21
CHANTELLE KINCY
I thought, well, there's no sense in going through all this pain if you're not going to finish. So just finish it. You can do this. You can do hard things like you've done crazy hard things before. Maybe not physically like this, but if you can live through what you've lived through, you can climb a pole.
00:18:38
CHANTELLE KINCY
So I did. So I climbed the top of the pole. I went from sitting to standing on the horizontal pole. And then I walked across it and it felt so good. And I didn't hesitate when I was walking across it. I just looked ahead.
00:18:52
CHANTELLE KINCY
i didn't look down. I didn't look at my feet. I didn't look at where I was. I looked at where I wanted to end up. And I walked until I got to that spot. And I felt so good afterwards.
00:19:03
CHANTELLE KINCY
ah Not physically. i felt like crap physically because my muscles were shaking and I was out of shape and sore. But inside, i felt really good. And it just was another example to myself of how my mind is strong and how if I get out of my own way, i can do hard things.
00:19:23
CHANTELLE KINCY
And that just because it was uncomfortable didn't mean i had to run away from it. And that if I just pushed through, this reward at the end was so great. And by keeping an eye on where I wanted to be instead of where I had been or where I was,
00:19:39
CHANTELLE KINCY
I could get to where I wanted to be.
Insights on Personal Trauma and Self-Forgiveness
00:19:41
CHANTELLE KINCY
One of the training ropes courses where had to walk across this little cord and hold one rope, but then you had to let go of the rope behind you in order to reach the one in front of you. And he kept saying, you have to let go of what's behind you in order to ever get to what's in front of you. And that really resonated with me. It was something I really just kept in my head um the whole time I was there. And so that was really great. And then we went to another gratitude circle where we talked about what we were grateful for.
00:20:07
CHANTELLE KINCY
And again, just listening to people, ah the things that they're grateful for, the things that they're struggling with. And i was just grateful that I was alive. You know, there had been so many years where i thought maybe I was going to die. i thought that he was going to kill me or that I was going to hurt myself just so I didn't have to deal with him anymore. Because I really thought that dying was the only way out.
00:20:31
CHANTELLE KINCY
And it hit me, all these great experiences that I'm having and I had just been horse rack riding in the desert on a dune buggy and doing aerial yoga and having a massage, all these things I wouldn't be able to do if I had chosen to not tough it out when it got really, really hard. And if I had just chosen to quit life, um, like I had wanted to so many times.
00:20:53
CHANTELLE KINCY
And so I was just really grateful to be alive and I was really grateful to have those experiences. But as I was sitting there listening to every everyone else, It kind of gave me a different perspective to on the people that hurt me, the people that caused me initially to have these feelings that I have of not being loved and not being worthy.
00:21:16
CHANTELLE KINCY
And I started wondering what it would be like if they were in that circle with me. And that they must have their things too, right? Because we all have our things and they must have things that they want to let go of or things that hurt them, that caused them to act the way that they do or feel the way that they feel or treat me the way that they treated me.
00:21:39
CHANTELLE KINCY
And that maybe understanding that they had their own shit,
00:21:43
CHANTELLE KINCY
didn't make it about me as much. Like maybe I was the target, but I wasn't the reason. And so being able to think about them that way, those people um that have hurt me my whole life, that they're going through their own things too, can help me approach it with a little bit more grace for them and a little bit more grace for myself.
00:22:07
CHANTELLE KINCY
Because if it's not all about me, then I'm not the bad person and I'm not, maybe everything they say or make me feel isn't really about me.
Gratitude and Recommendations
00:22:18
CHANTELLE KINCY
And so while it's frustrating that I've carried that with me for over 40 years, I think that now that I can look at it from that different perspective, it can really help me move forward and stop being the victim of those things and just really push forward into my own life and my own truth.
00:22:37
CHANTELLE KINCY
And so um I'm really grateful to Savannah for the staff there, for everyone that gently pushed. I'm grateful for Christina for being there and not letting me quit and letting me cry and letting me take a nap when I needed to, when I was overwhelmed.
00:22:53
CHANTELLE KINCY
and just really going through that side by side with me. um i just really appreciate this experience. If you ever need just a reset in life, I highly recommend Savannah.
Listener Engagement and Shared Experiences
00:23:06
CHANTELLE KINCY
It was just a really transformative and incredible experience. um It would be great to go with your girls. It would be great to go with your mom and your sisters. It would be great to go by yourself.
00:23:18
CHANTELLE KINCY
Um, and if you guys want to go, I'll go again. So you can hit me up on that, but yeah. So I just wanted to share that experience with you. And, um, I'd love to know if you've been to a wellness resort, um, what kind of things you have experienced along those same lines, definitely leave me a comment, let me know, and, I'll talk to you guys soon.