Hoda Kotb Recalls the Enlightening Moment She Realized What True 'Happiness' Is and Why She's Now Helping Others (Exclusive)

Hoda Kotb knows firsthand the importance of prioritizing her well-being — and now, she's helping others do the same.

From Oct. 25-27, the longtime Today anchor hosted the inaugural "Making Space: A Wellness Weekend" event at Miraval Austin. The weekend-long event, which borrows its name from Kotb's Making Space podcast, offered guests an exploration into the broadcaster's pillars of personal growth. Attendees also got the chance to attend various self-improvement sessions, engage in conversation, partake in mindfulness exercises, and more.

Noting how all of the "hand-picked" guest speakers, including famed journalist and philanthropist Maria Shriver and businesswoman Jamie Kern Lima "had played a part" in her own happiness and self-growth journey, Kotb tells PEOPLE about what that journey looked like for herself.

"I think for me, it was realizing that I was someone who thought happiness was about going to the concert or having the drink with friends. And that was good. That was fun, nothing lasted," Kotb, 60, says. "It lasted for the moments that I was doing the thing. So I think through [guest speaker] Arthur Brooks, he's a real explainer on happiness isn't the thing at the end or the club or sitting at the bar or throwing back a few drinks and you're laughing and then three hours later you're back to you. It's about figuring out stuff that goes beyond that."

Kotb says that Shriver, in particular, proved to be "really instrumental" in this process. "She basically said to me, 'Here's a platter.' She goes, 'Just get a piece of paper and cut it up and on each piece, put down each part of your life that requires your time or attention or emotions.'"

The veteran broadcaster notes that she wrote down her two daughters, career and other areas of importance in her life. Afterward, Shriver instructed her to "cut them up into the size that corresponds with how much time they get," which allowed Kotb to realize she "wanted family to be bigger than work, but work was actually bigger."

"I looked at my platter and she goes, 'Well, there's your life. Do you like it or not?' I was like, 'I don't think so. Doesn't look good. It doesn't look so good,'" she says, adding that she realized she has to make a "change."

"Sometimes you need to go 35,000 feet, look down and sort it out," she continues. "Those different things kind of helped me take a look at my life and apply what was given. I decided one time telling the truth means your body relaxes. If you're pleasing, you're not telling the truth. But if you tell the truth in a spirit of kindness, your body relaxes."

"So every time I told the truth a hundred, I felt better. .. Every time you do something that is contrary, your body tightens and you're like, 'Why do I keep getting sick?' All the things, the tension and the stress that cause your body to be funky," she adds. "It's just a way to calm everything down and just try to be on your path."

Kotb says she also "kind of got on a little bit of a wellness kick" in her 50s after she initially "thought I had everything" under control. "I was like, 'I'm good. My life is amazing. I've got a great job. I'm running around. Everything's good.' I'm exercising, I'm eating right. I felt healthy, I felt physically good, but somehow it wasn't ringing the bells," she recalls.

"I'm eating salmon all the time and I'm on the Peloton with Ally Love, peace girl. And it's not doing what it always did. ... Something's missing," she continues. "I found some good friends who said to me, 'Why don't you try breath work? Have you ever tried it? I go, 'Look girl, I've been breathing for 50 years, so no, don't need you to show me how to do it.' But all of a sudden they gave me a course and through that class, she was like lower belly, high chest out."

Kotb then admits, "I did it repeatedly and I exploded in tears."

"I was like, 'What is that?' They go, 'It's just stress. Anyway, it's okay. Just stress release,'" she says. "That was a taste. I was interested. So once that started, I became a student. I was like, wait, I have clarity. I noticed it at work because we're up at the crack of dawn. So to be able to process things, I noticed at work, I was like, wow ... everything was registering."

"Usually, you're like, I got to read seven times. I thought, what was that that made that happen? So then I did the next thing and the next thing and the next thing, it was breath work. It was meditation, it was try this, it was go to a healing place. And all of a sudden my life felt physically, emotionally, and all the way spiritually stronger. And I was like, this feels good. I hadn't had this before," she shares.

Given that Kotb's event's specially selected guest speakers and experts were a big part of what she called her "wellness road," she thought, "Since I have the benefit of these guys, why doesn't everyone come and try it? See what works, what doesn't, and give it a go."

The three-day event offered sessions in areas like breath work, meditation and yoga. And according to Kotb, Miraval Austin was the "perfect spot" to do the "wellness and healing."

"I've been to a couple of their other retreats and I loved the feeling. Right when you get out of the car and walk around, you feel like your shoulders dropped three or four inches," she explains. "You're like, 'What is happening here?' It's such a calm, beautiful place."

Also speaking to the magic of Miraval Austin was Hyatt Hotels Corporation's President, U.S. & Canada, Susan Santiago, who tells PEOPLE that Miraval (which also has locations in Tucson, Arizona, and The Berkshires) has been "the thought leader when it comes to well-being."

"Our mission for the last 30 years has been about fostering connections, and inspiring transformations, and creating a safe space basically for our guests to be able to explore their well-being journey and find balance," she says. "The way that we define Miraval and balance is a balance of mind, body, and spirit."

"When we met with Hoda and the team and learned how passionate she was and her commitment to mindfulness and making space, it literally was just a perfect reflection of the Miraval spirit. It just aligned perfectly and it was like, 'This is just the perfect fit.'"

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Kotb's "Making Space: A Wellness Weekend" event is just the beginning of her work in this space. In fact, she plans to dive deeper into that world next year following her departure from Today.

"I'm working in the wellness space. That's my new thing," she concludes. "I'm working on an app and retreats and things. It's all going to be all the nourishing stuff."