There is a shadow that has accompanied me for many years: high expectations.
That voice whispering that I can always do better. That I should go further. That it’s still not enough.
For a long time, I thought those expectations were strength, responsibility, commitment.
But over time, I understood that often it was fear. Fear of not being enough. Fear of disappointing. Fear of not measuring up.
And that is the part that is hard to acknowledge.
Because we don’t usually call something that seems to work a “shadow.” High expectations make us productive. Perfectionism gives us results. Self-demand even receives applause.
But the body doesn’t applaud. The body tenses up. It gets tired. It contracts.
That was where my true learning began: not in trying to eliminate that part of myself, but in looking at it.
Stopping was key.
Because while we are busy, high expectations look like efficiency. But when we stop… what truly sustains them appears. Insecurity, comparison, the need for control, old beliefs about self-worth.
Stopping is not resting. It is ceasing to run away.
Over time, I understood that supporting others’ processes involves something very simple and very profound: continuing to support my own.
Not from a place of perfection, but from honesty.
That is why the Spring Retreat revolves around this idea: creating a space where we can look at what moves us inside without having to defend ourselves against it.
Spring is not just about blooming. It is about allowing light to reach what has been in the shadows during winter.
In this retreat, we will work with what we usually hold in silence: high expectations, the fear of not being enough, the difficulty of setting boundaries, the need to please. Not to change it by force, but to understand it. Because when something is understood, it stops governing us from the dark.
And if I have learned anything on my own path, it is this: the shadow does not disappear when we ignore it; it softens when we look at it with awareness.
If you feel there is a part of you that lives in constant self-demand. If you recognise that silent fear of not measuring up. If you know you need to stop, but don’t know how to do it without feeling guilt…
Perhaps this space is for you.
And perhaps the first step isn’t coming here. Perhaps the first step is simply starting to observe which part of you runs when it could stay.
With love,
Rocío
