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Reviving mind and body
When yoga instructor Donna Davidge was a child, she spent summers visiting Sewall House, her great grandparents' home in Northern Maine. Davidge’s great-great-grandparents settled in Island Falls, where the property is located, in the mid-1800s. "My great-grandfather was the first non-Native American child born in Island Falls. So, he learned about nature from Native Americans since age three. So, that's what I heard about as a child. I grew up in Connecticut, but my heart was always in Maine. I love nature. I believe in the healing attributes of nature," Davidge said. To this day, she cherishes her childhood summers spent in Maine.
Many years before Davidge frolicked about the property, her great-grandfather was friends with Theodore Roosevelt and was the 26th President's nature guide. In fact, Davidge's family told her that Roosevelt recovered from asthma at Sewall House. Over the years, the home remained in the family, and Davidge’s centenarian aunt lived there. When she died, three elderly relatives inherited the property and listed it for sale in 1997. It was then that Davidge purchased Sewall House with the intention of creating a yoga retreat. Unlike today, yoga retreats were few and far between 25 years ago.
"I purchased a family home ostensibly because I wanted to keep the historical legacy of Theodore Roosevelt healing there of asthma. And I liked the link because I liked my family history. It's interesting, and because I'd known about it from my childhood a lot about that story. I thought it was something worth saving. And I had also been teaching yoga. The person I was seeing at the time suggest I buy the house and turn it into a yoga retreat. I certainly did not need a large house in Northern Maine for myself. So that's what I did in 1997 on a wing and a prayer with no capital and nothing but a vision and a dream to share what I felt was very healing for me, and the house itself had a history of healing," Davidge recalled.
When purchasing Sewall House, Davidge lived full-time in New York City, where she still resides during the offseason. Reflecting on the early days of Sewall House Yoga Retreat, Davidge recounted, “Initially, it was a very slow start. As you can imagine. The house was left the way my great aunt, who was 101 when she died, had left her house."
Davidge's first clients were her students from New York. "And at that time, I had a pretty good following in New York City because yoga was not this big commercial endeavor that it is now. So, if you taught yoga, you were one of the few. And so, I had a pretty big following at the time before social media."
In 1999, Davidge was on "Good Morning America," representing a health club where she taught yoga. One of her students saw the television spot and recommended she create a website for her yoga instruction. "And I said, 'I don't know what that is and I don't want one, but I bought this house and I think maybe I could use one there. And that was one of the wisest things I've ever done because I didn't know what a website was, and that's what attracted people beyond my scope. We had our first website booking in '99. I think it was one person from California," Davidge said. At the time, Sewall House was one of a handful of yoga retreats. Hence, internet bookings became more frequent for Davidge's business. “In 2000, "Instyle" magazine featured Sewall House, which boosted reservations. Several more publications have featured Sewall House Yoga Retreat since then.
Over the years, Davidge has evolved the types of yoga she teaches at Sewall House. "When I first started the retreat, I was teaching only Kundalini. And as yoga evolved into Vinyasa being the most popular, I evolved as well. I teach not only Vinyasa yoga, but my teaching is also influenced by the alignment-based Iyengar and Ashtanga, which is the original Vinyasa,” Davidge said. In addition, the yoga instructor offers Yin, Restorative and Nidra, as well as breathing and meditation at the retreat center.
Sewall House operates on a seasonal schedule, from Memorial Day until Indigenous People's Day, also known as Columbus Day. When asked to describe a stay at the property, Davidge said, "We offer yoga lifestyle at Sewall House, which means we don't serve alcohol. So, it's a very good place for people that, for example, are in recovery. Though that's not our main focus, we just offer the lifestyle. We don't serve flesh, we don't serve meat, because if you're really into yoga, you are vegetarian. So it's not an ashram (spiritual), but it is a kind of wellness lifestyle place. And, retreats are customizable with guests staying for different lengths of time."
Additionally, Davidge noted that clients seek out Sewall House for the sense of healing it provides. "We've kind of stayed with what we believe helps heal people…it's a lifestyle. I mean, we're not claiming to be medical or anything like that, but it's a healthy lifestyle."
When clients are not practicing yoga, meditating or enjoying a nutritious meal included with their stay, they can hike, kayak, ride horses or enjoy nature. "Conde Nast Traveler," noted the retreat's comfy accommodations. "The charming rooms make you feel like you're staying at an old family lodge. Opt for one with a deep-soaking tub to kick your post-practice relaxation up a notch," the publication said.
When asked what she likes best about running Sewall House Yoga Retreat, Davidge revealed that one of her clients recently shared that her time at the retreat changed her life. "I mean, that's very gratifying. There's just no way around that. It's gratifying. And it's not huge money in the bank, but it's what I love doing and helping people have a better life, a healthier life—mentally, physically, emotionally and spiritually. I'm the kind of person that it matters to me."
For more information on Sewall House Yoga Retreat, check out their BBB Business Profile. To learn more about BBB and read more stories like this, visit Behind the Business Stories with BBB in Eastern MA, ME, RI & VT.
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