When Your Body Needs A Different Kind Of Reset: My Weekend At The Sucimurni Retreat

“And no Cobra poses,” my chiropractor said as I left his clinic after my last check-up. A perfectly reasonable instruction, except I was due to head to Dungun in a few days for the Sucimurni Retreat. I had planned for three days of movement (and, ideally, not thinking too much about work). But I just had to injure my lower back during a workout the weekend before. The diagnosis was a sprained ligament, which meant a temporary ban on certain movements, including arching my back.

Naturally, I was about to attend a Pilates retreat.

I also wasn’t in the best headspace to begin with. I’d spent the week scaling back workouts and lifting lighter weights (yup, an aspiring CrossFitter here) than usual. I knew there was a sensible reason for it, but knowing something intellectually and accepting it emotionally are two very different things. When you’re used to contributing to a team (while training), having to sit out or do less can leave you feeling as though you’re letting everyone down.

So, as I packed, I had three things on my mind: 1) whether my back would cooperate, 2) whether I could participate without making things worse, and 3) whether I could stop feeling guilty about not being able to train as usual.

Quite a lot to bring along for a supposed weekend break.

Over the next three days, though, I found myself confronting something less tangible: the pressure I put on myself to always do more.

Friday: Learning to work with my limits

Ashley, my colleague and roommate for the weekend, and I arrived at Tanjong Jara Resort in Terengganu just after 4pm that Friday. After a quick check-in and change, we headed to the garden for our first session, a gentle practice of controlled movements focused on alignment and lengthening the body. It was a welcome introduction for those of us who had spent much of the day travelling.

Our instructor and retreat lead, Joyce Shih, made the practice feel approachable with her calm presence. Her measured, reassuring voice guided us through each movement without making the experience feel intimidating. For someone arriving with a mental checklist of things her back might object to, that was a welcome start.

I was conscious of my back from the outset. Instead of throwing myself into movements and hoping for the best, I had to pay attention to what my body could manage. My instinct was still to do everything properly, which, in my head, often meant doing as much as I could.

That first session gave me room to ease into the weekend without having to prove anything. I couldn’t magically will my back into behaving as it normally would, and pushing through wasn’t an option. For once, I had to start with what I could do, rather than what I wished I could.

Saturday morning: Doing less isn’t letting anyone down

Saturday began with a sunrise session on Teratai Beach, where breath-led movements gradually warmed up the body. Later that morning, we returned to the garden for a more challenging practice involving strength, coordination, and stability.

By then, I was beginning to question whether I needed to approach every session as something to conquer. At CrossFit, I’m used to having numbers to work towards: weights to lift, repetitions to complete, or a time to beat. When a setback takes those markers away, it’s easy to feel as though you’re losing ground. Even when nobody is judging you, you can be remarkably efficient at doing it yourself.

Pilates asked for a different kind of attention. I still wanted to challenge myself, but being generally fit didn’t mean I could approach every movement as usual. So I worked within my current limits, even when part of me wanted to do more.

The frustration hadn’t disappeared, but I was beginning to see the distinction between what I could manage that day and what I believed I should be able to do. Modifying a movement wasn’t a personal failure, nor did doing less mean I was letting anyone down.

I could still participate and enjoy the challenge without measuring myself against what I might have managed before the injury.

Saturday evening: Permission to switch off

After lunch at Di Atas Sungei, a restaurant shaded by greenery and tall ketapang trees overlooking a small river that flows into the South China Sea, the afternoon was ours to enjoy at leisure.

Later, we returned to Teratai Beach for an hour of gentle movement and breathwork as the sun began to set. Unlike the earlier sessions, this one placed more emphasis on slowing down and releasing tension.

The combination of gentle movement and focused breathing helped me settle. I wasn’t suddenly free of worries about my back, but I felt less caught up in them.

That evening, I didn’t need to solve anything. I could follow the session, breathe, and let the day wind down without figuring out when I’d be back to my usual routine or how long recovery might take.

For a while, it was enough just to be there.

The hours in between

One of the nicest things about the retreat was that Pilates wasn’t the only thing on the schedule. We ate too much well, with plenty of opportunities to refuel, and there was time between sessions to enjoy the resort at our own pace.

During an hour by the beach, Ashley settled into a deck chair under the shade while I went into the water. We were technically on the same retreat, but there was no need to experience every moment in the same way. She had her quiet corner; I had my sea dip. Both seemed like perfectly valid ways to spend part of the afternoon.

Saturday evening also brought the Kampung Sucimurni Lifestyle experience, with traditional games and local delicacies, followed by a dinner featuring dishes from Terengganu. These little moments made the weekend feel more rounded than a timetable of classes alone. There was movement, of course, but also food, local culture, the sea, and the freedom to enjoy the resort in between sessions.

Sunday: Finding my way back to movement

Our final session on Sunday morning was a more intense core and glute workout. By then, my back was already feeling much better, perhaps a sign that the gentle, consistent movement over the previous two days had been helping. It was a lively way to finish the weekend, and I was glad to have something physical to focus on.

I still enjoyed the challenge of working through a demanding session. What had changed was my expectation of what that challenge needed to look like. I didn’t need to use the workout to prove that I was back to my usual self.

I could still be someone who enjoyed pushing herself physically, even if that meant adjusting how I did it for now.

Not a new person, just a more rested one

I went to Tanjong Jara hoping to give my body a reset. I hadn’t expected to spend quite so much of the weekend negotiating with my own expectations, too.

A three-day retreat wasn’t going to fix a sprained ligament, and I didn’t leave as a newly enlightened person who had mastered the art of slowing down. I’m still someone who enjoys a hard workout and will probably get impatient the next time I have to scale one.

But I came home feeling more rested and a little less anxious. My back was still recovering, and my usual training routine would still need to be eased into. The difference was that I no longer felt quite as compelled to treat the downtime as a failure.

Looking around the retreat, I saw couples, groups of friends, mothers and daughters, and workmates like Ashley and me, all sharing the same experience. Some may have come for the Pilates, others for a few days away together, but Sucimurni Retreat provided space for all of it. There was no one way to spend the weekend, just as there was no one way to benefit from it.

A reset doesn’t have to turn you into a new person. It can simply give you a little space to be the person you already are, preferably one who has stopped trying to negotiate her way back into Cobra poses.

Planning a Sucimurni Retreat in 2027?

Sucimurni Retreat returns to Tanjong Jara Resort from 15 to 17 October 2027, with Joyce Shih leading another three-day programme of Pilates and restorative wellness. Based in Kuala Lumpur, Joyce is a STOTT-certified Pilates instructor and Integrative Nutrition Health Coach whose approach brings together mindful movement, physical strength, and overall wellbeing.

Rates start from RM2,600++ per Bumbung Room per night for two adults. The package includes a three-day, two-night stay, three meals daily, and Pilates sessions led by Joyce. Contact Tanjong Jara Resort directly for booking details and package terms.

All photos are by and courtesy of YTL Hotels & Properties and Zafigo.