You’ve built a full life. When did you last step away from it?

My time spent at the Ital Momma Jamaica Retreat 2025 has been magical and amazing. Mygella was such a wonderful organizer and host of the event. 

It was a great experience if you want distance yourself from the average fast-paced busy lifestyle and embark towards beginning a personal spiritual journey. 

Through my experience, the group of individuals who also joined the retreat were all very welcoming and friendly. We developed a sisterhood atmosphere, and a safe space for inner healing and a deep genuine connection with the divine feminine spirit. 

We began our rising into spiritual work such as meditation, yoga, journaling, rituals/ceremonies that helped open cleanse the mind, body, and spirit. 

Then checking out the excursions such as visiting the Moore Town Museum to learn about the history of the Maroon people, their community lead by Nanny of the Maroons. We also swam by the beautiful Nanny falls, went on a bamboo water raft through the river, had a clay spa day at the Springs Bath Fountain and was welcomed to a Steam Chalice ceremony to learn how this was an ancient practice prevalent in the Rastafari community and in other communities specifically in Asian and African countries as an herbal remedy. 

This retreat encourages participants to live more in alignment towards establishing a relationship with their ancestors while acquiring an innerstanding of their cultural/practical traditions. 

The vibes in Jamaica were all in all very positive from the people, the art, music, food, weather, and culture etc. The meals were exclusively plant based and ital style. Some meals were prepared at our stay and some were prepared outdoors. 

We had a cooking class presented by Ital Momma and tasted meals that were prepared by her, Rasheeda, and Tasha. They were all very kind to share how they prepared each meal they served us with. I was personally intrigued by how they made these meals and plan to make them at home someday. I also thoroughly enjoyed watching the meals prepared outdoors cooked in pots in the open fire. The opportunity to enjoy eating our meals with a nice view of the river and waterfalls in Jamaica was certainly an added bonus.  

 If you have an interest exploring Jamaica, I recommend being a part of this retreat as it helps display Jamaica in the perspective of it being a small island with an abundance of culture and natural scenery. 

Overall, I am glad that I listened to my inner instinct to be a part of the Ital Momma Jamaica 2025 Retreat. My time there was a memorable moment to cherish forever.

Een spirituele reis in de schoot van Moeder Natuur

Van 11 tot en met 16 mei ontvouwde zich in Portland, Port Antonio, Jamaica een ervaring die het alledaagse overstijgt. De Ital Momma Retreat was geen traditionele retraite, maar eerder een zachte bedding waarin lichaam, geest en ziel de ruimte kregen om te ademen, te vertragen en zich te verbinden.

Een warm welkom

De aankomst bij Villa Maat, een huis met een naam die doet denken aan balans, waarheid en rechtvaardigheid ,voelde als thuiskomen op onbekende grond.

De ontvangst was warm. Er was ruimte om je eigen pad te volgen, op je eigen tempo. De sfeer was gevoed met de aanwezigheid stiltes van spiritualiteit tussen de momenten in, een energie die onze aanwezigheid droeg.

De kracht van overgave

In een tropisch land als Jamaica beweegt de tijd zich anders voort. De planning, hoewel aanwezig, ademde mee met het ritme van het eiland. Elke avond ontvingen we het schema voor de volgende dag, een uitnodiging tot overgave, een oefening in loslaten.

Voor velen van ons, gewend aan de Westerse snelheid en structuur, een verademing én uitdaging.

Maar juist daarin zat de kracht van deze reis, het vertrouwen in wat zich aandient.

Een reis door het paradijs

De dagen werden gevuld met excursies naar adembenemende plekken in de natuur , plekken die eerder aanvoelden als heilig dan als toeristisch.

Van rivieren tot bergen, van zee tot bron, de elementen leidden ons en Ital Momma was de gids die toegang tot deze plekken begeleidde. De ritten langs de kust waren als meditaties op wielen, met uitzichten die de ziel streelden en fruit langs de weg dat de smaakpapillen eerde.

Voeding voor lichaam en ziel

De maaltijden waren een feest van eenvoud, puurheid en zorg. Elke maaltijd werd met aandacht bereid, met lokale, verse ingrediënten en een zichtbaar respect voor zowel de producten als de eters. Er werd niet alleen gekookt, maar gecreëerd. Elke maaltijd voelde als een ceremonie van verbinding met het land en de cultuur en de zelf.

Conclusie: Overgave

De Ital Momma Retreat is geen vakantie in de klassieke zin. Het is een beleving. Een reis naar buiten én naar binnen. Een uitnodiging om los te laten wat je denkt te moeten, zodat je kunt ontvangen wat er werkelijk is.

Zou ik het aanraden? Ja. Niet omdat het flowend is in de lineaire zin, maar omdat het authentiek is. Het is een kans om een leven te proeven zoals het zich aandient, ongefilterd, warm, intens, echt.

Jamaica moet niet bezocht worden, maar geleefd.

Ital Momma biedt daarvoor de sleutel.

The Ital Momma Retreat in Suriname was AMAZING! It still feels like a dream.

From the moment Mygella picked me up from the airport I felt very welcomed. I felt like I was fully taken care of and I could turn off the part of my brain that thinks ahead and organizes and arranges things. The whole experience was very relaxing.

I loved that we started every day with meditation, journaling and bodywork. A lovely centering and grounding start of our day. I felt like I really got to go on an inner journey while traveling, both because of the meditation and journaling (and the releasing ritual we did) and because of Mygella’s openness and willingness to give guidance and share her knowledge and insights about life and spirituality in more depth.

We had a perfect mix of activities: culture (city tour, Pikinseei, Koto Museum), active/creative (Ananasberg, cooking class, Angisa workshop) and relaxing. I also just loved the "everyday experiences", like doing groceries and trying all the new-to-me fruits that truly made me feel connected to my Surinamese roots and culture. Very on theme! Everyday was a new adventure, but at the same time it was also very chill, because everything was so well planned, balanced and taken care of.

The food was amazing!! And even though I'm Surinamese, I know how prominent meat is in Surinamese cuisine and I do usually eat meat, I didn't miss animal products at all! All the meals were so tasty and nourishing

The ITAL Momma Retreat was everything! The retreat was my first experience traveling alone and not knowing anyone at my destination. ITAL momma is a kind, warm and welcoming soul. Every day I ate delicious invigorating foods, fresh teas and smoothies. I learned how to cook a few ITAL dishes as well as make fresh coconut milk. The greatest part was that I was able to explore the real Jamaica not the tourist designed version. Could not have asked for a better vacation. Highly recommend!

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Thank you Mygella for the trip of a lifetime in beautiful Jamaica! Your enthusiastic, open and cheerful presence made me feel at ease. In addition, all meals were delicious and I learned a lot about ital food! All activities were appropriate and gave me a good idea of ​​the country, the culture and the music! Thanks and keep it up!

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Kingston, Portland,, Montego Bay, Hanover, Negril, Ocho Rios — Explored so much of this beautiful land of wood and water. Basked in the abundant rivers and drank some of the tastiest water I’ve ever had straight from the Roaring river spring. Got to taste lots of Ital food. Got a limestone foot massage. Went bamboo rafting through the rio grande river (10km- 2 hours long). Had lots of early morning starts and scenic drives. Had plenty of Ackee, Breadfruit, Callaloo, plantain, mango, coconut water, sugarcane & lime. Experienced an incredible open air, fully plant-based, farm to table 8 course dinner at Stush in the Bush. Had an Ital celebrity chef cook for us outdoors by the river. Met wonderful people along the way. Thank you Xaymaca/ Jamaica! And thank you Mygella as this trip wouldn’t have been the same without you!

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The retreat was what I expected and even more. The way the daily schedule was flowing made it seem like we had more time in a day. I like that. 

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I had a great experience.. I really had the time and the opportunity to be with myself and has been a good learning school. Furthermore, the vibe, the food and the trips were amazing. The only remark I have would be, the transport from and to the accommodation.

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