We noticed that one of our SoMeDocs member, Dr. Rashmi Schramm, not only started a movement (surrounding movement and meditation), but that she also organized retreat, cohosted by another physician, that they completely sold out.

We thought, “Hey! Our readers may be interested in how Dr. Schramm put this together. Or why. Or how she sold out!”

So we reached out and created a feature spotlight.

After all, these spotlights are a great way for doctors to learn from one another.  

 

Can you describe to our readers what “movement and meditation” means, where it comes to a retreat? How is it incorporated into a getaway?

My co-host, Dr. Michelle Quirk and I decided to host the movement and meditation retreat because stillness and activity have such a harmonious blend. Both movement and meditation enrich and enliven our busy lives.

We are incorporating hiking, yoga, and running in the Blue Ridge Mountains. Our attendees get to also experience deep, rejuvenative rest with activities like guided meditation sessions, mindful teachings and even daily sound baths.  

 

 

How does “movement and meditation” contribute to overall health?

I think it’s safe to say that we’re all feeling drained by everyday stressors. We may not have the time to exercise as much as we want, or to even think about meditation on the daily. Stepping away from the daily hustle is a powerful way to heal and reconnect with ourselves.

We know that mindful movement in nature, community support, mindset work, and meditation all have the incredible ability to help us move into better mind/body/emotional wellbeing. We’re going to ensure that our attendees return back with more energy, resilience, joy and enthusiasm for life.

We specifically designed much of our time to happen outdoors, in glorious nature. When we combine time in nature, community, movement in all its forms and effortless meditation, it’s an inevitable path to improving our overall health.  

 

Who’s the target audience of your retreat?

Our target audience is high achieving, busy women. We offer CME credits for attending and currently our attendees are 75% women physicians. Every attendee is a powerful human and we are so excited to serve.  

 

Do you have any special credentials, or experience, where it comes to “movement and meditation”?

Yes! I’m a certified coach as well as a certified teacher in several advanced meditation techniques whose lineages can be traced back to 3,000 years of evolution.

Dr. Michelle Quirk is a certified run coach and she’s the founder and CEO of Mindful Marathon.

Together, we both serve a large community of clients in their wellness journey and have thousands of hours of coaching and teaching under our belts.  

 

 

Is this the first time you’re putting a retreat together?

Actually, I’ve co-hosted 3 other retreats here in Florida and they were powerful catalysts for long lasting transformation for me and the attendees.

What do you think stands out about your retreat?

So much! We’re very different from many other retreats offered…

1. We are keeping our retreat on the small side to provide over-the-top service.

2. We’re infusing so much healing from nature that’s not usually offered in CME retreats.

3. Intentional sisterhood and support. We create a safe space that feels like a sanctuary.

4. Movement with experts, with big take home learning.

5. Meditation with experts. designed to yield clarity, energy and inner peace.

6. Empowerment beyond the retreat – this retreat is curated to have long lasting mind/body/emotional wellbeing benefits.

7. AMA PRA Category 1 CME Credits! 

 

 

 

You mention your retreat is sold out. How many spots are there? How did you successfully sell out those spots?

Yes! We are completely sold out! What’s incredible is that we have women coming from 12 different states with such rich life stories.

We only offered 18 spots because we wanted this to be an intimate gathering where we could give personalized support. I think we successfully sold out these spots for several reasons –

⭐️ We have established clients who already know, like and trust us

⭐️We created an irresistible early bird offer where we sold 75% quickly and then we made sure and broadcasted the news to the world that we had very few open spots.

⭐️ We asked a lot.

⭐️We created a launch plan and stuck to it, and we didn’t take it personally when we got a “no”. We just kept asking because we knew we had an amazing offer that would change people’s lives.

 

 

In organizing this retreat, have there been any hurdles that can serve as learning lessons for those reading this and hoping to organize their own event?

Yes, there were so many hurdles and we have learned so much.

Initially, we tried to negotiate our contract by ourselves with a medium sized hotel in Colorado. It turned out to be a disaster and we lost about 6 weeks of planning this way. Then, we found and hired a wonderful travel agent who was able to make our lives much easier in terms of contracts with the resort, etc.

I think the biggest piece of advice is to follow your intuition and remember your why. Our why has always been in service, creating ease and joy, so that helped guide our journey.  

 

For folks that are interested in this subject matter, what are some great resources you can recommend?

For retreat planning, we leaned heavily on our travel agent to help guide us.

If you mean for folks interested in meditation, there are so many resources out there these days. I like the App Calm and also Head Space for beginners. They tend to be pretty generic so for those interested in a deeper, richer experience, I always advise them to find a teacher and a community. Research shows that the likelihood of sustaining a regular meditation practice (and all of its benefits) doubles when we have a teacher.

 

Is there an easy meditation technique that beginners can learn and, if so, where can they find this?

Yes!

I really like a series that Head Space created for Netflix called “Headspace guide to Meditation”. It’s produced so well and embodies a lot of the fundamentals that tend to get misunderstood about meditation practices.

I also offer effortless meditation videos for free on my youtube channel. https://www.youtube.com/drrashmischrammoptimalwellness

 

 

You wrote an article for us called, “The Surprising Benefits Of Tree Hugging You Need To Know” – how often do you actually hug a tree? Are there certain trees that make for better “hugging” than others?

Oh, I hug trees daily! I’m pretty religious about my morning run/walk and I always make sure to hug at least one tree, if not more when I’m out there. It’s so, so embarrassing for my daughters.

Every tree is a hugging tree, I say!

Just being out in nature is so healing, even if we just touch trees or leaves (that are not poison ivy, of course) we get benefits of exchanging ions with mother earth.  

 

 

Is there a book or movie/series you’d recommend to those readers who wish to learn more about “movement and meditation”? What about those who wish to put together a retreat?

I think most books/movies tend to separate out movement or meditation but I’ll list a few of my favorite books…

“Perfect Health” by Deepak Chopra. This is a great overview of the wisdom of Ayurveda, which is really the original lifestyle medicine.

“The Miracle of Mindfulness” by Thich Nhat Hanh is a great practical primer.

We may need to ask Dr. Quirk for some running book recs but I really like this one: “ChiRunning” by Danny Dreyer. It’s a great guide to mindful running, which is also energy efficient.  

 

How did you decide to partner up with Dr. Quirk?

 

 

Will you come back to SoMeDocs, when your retreat is over, to report back to us about the experience? Your attendees are invited to come along as well, and report back as to how they felt! (And with that, we wish you luck with your retreat!!)

Yes, absolutely! I would love that! Thank you for the opportunity.