The Retreat
Life can feel complicated. It can feel pressure-filled. We can get on autopilot with “I’m so busy” as an unintentional mantra. We can get rundown. This post is about the power of getting away from “regular life” for a little while, and stepping into simplicity.
A retreat isn’t just an escape. It’s a necessary pause to unplug, gain perspective, and recharge your mind.
I’ve been on retreat in the Dominican Republic for nine days. There are about 20 of us, all staying in a cluster of villas overlooking the Atlantic Ocean. It’s been a much needed reprieve for me. By hopping on a plane last week, and landing in a tropical foreign land, I began to breathe deeper. The to-do list vanished. There were no meals to make or errands to run, and with wifi spotty at best, no calls to make either. The pressures of my work life and the goings-on of my household fell away. I didn’t realize until I was here, but being on island time amongst the easy-going attitudes of the the Dominican people, is just what the doctor ordered. Was I burnt out? I think so.
We’ve done yoga, meditated, eaten clean & light food, and we’ve gathered for moonlight gazing and walks on the beach. We’ve chatted about spirituality and longevity (they are intertwined!) and we’ve rested. The perfect weather conditions have added an extra ease to each day. I’m feeling restored.
Albert Camus said, “In order to understand the world, one has to turn away from it on occasion.” This has proven to be true for me on this get-away.
Here’s what I was blind to until now:
• A subtle level of mental fatigue that had become “normal,” creeping in very slowly since last summer
• The sense that there was always something to get done while at home, from folding laundry and watering plants to pulling weeds or grooming the dogs. This made me never truly relax until bedtime, seven days a week.
• The fact that this past winter seriously kicked my butt, and I was still carrying “winter tension” both physically and mentally.
When I return home later this week, back in the hubbub of real life, I‘ll have renewed enthusiasm for it. Perhaps I’ll set clearer boundaries, act with more direction, be less distracted, and fee less bogged down.
“Vacation” and “retreat” are a bit different by the way, because a vacation, while it could be restorative, usually doesn’t have as much introspection. We also bring a bigger agenda on vacation, setting out to accomplish things, while retreats are more about self-care.
Do you need to retreat? Ask yourself these three questions:
1. Am I feeling low on energy, inspiration, and/or joy?
2. Have I been working the same usually amount of time, but my output is less efficient than previously?
3. Do I find it challenging to down level my nervous system at the end of each day?
➡️ If you answer yes to any of the above questions, a retreat might do you some good.
In modern life, we are always reachable. We bring work home or work late at night. We carry our job through the weekends. I find it’s particularly taxing on women, who are expected to “do it all.” This is totally unnatural. Our ancestors had sabbaths and seasons that delivered them some much needed stillness. Today, we’ve got to consciously bring stillness in.
Retreat. It rights the ship. It corrects the course. It puts wind in your sails.