5 Reasons Why We Need to Retreat

Going on a retreat can be 5 minutes, a weekend or a month, the choice is all yours.  The choice is also yours to retreat alone, at a spa or wellness center where there will be others around, or with a group of women where there will be comaradarie and sharing, with some alone time if you want it. Find a retreat option that resonates with you and just go for it.  Give yourself permission.

Here are 5 reasons you should make time for yourself and retreat from your daily life:

1. To Get Unstuck - When we slow down and become more aware of how we are spending our time and what we are and are not accomplishing, it allows us to get unstuck and put more thought into how we can reach some of our goals that we try so hard to achieve.  With retreating comes clarity. 

2. To Get Away From the Hustle and Bustle - The peaceful and tranquil surroundings while on retreat allow us to get away from the hustle and bustle of everyday life.  To be alone with your own thoughts and to write down intentions, goals and dreams is very powerful.  Sometimes we don't take the time to do this in our everyday lives.  Or we attempt to and then get interrupted by one or a million other things going on. Use this time as some real 'down' time.  Take your journal and write down your thoughts and feelings while you are away from the hustle and bustle.  

3. To Find Support in Others - When we allow ourselves to open our hearts and minds, we can see more of the goodness that surrounds us and we can find support in others. As women, we tend to not ask for help, we just 'do it all'... because we can.  But we don't have to. When we go about our day, focusing on our to-do list, we tend to be in the mode of doing rather than being.  While on retreat, make some time for just being.  If others are around, your interactions can be more meaningful and you can take that sentiment back with you into the real world. 

4. Renewal and Rejuvenation - No matter how long you choose to retreat it gives your mind a different place to go.  This allows space for creativity to happen.  You will find yourself getting more done with a feeling of renewal and rejuvenation.  Feeling more relaxed and rejuvenated, you can take on those daily tasks that come along with a different, new-found energy.  

5. Ritual Self-Care - Don't forget that retreating is not a luxury.  With all the things going on in our lives this day and age, we are busier than we've ever been.  We are always plugged into one device or another. Taking a retreat is a necessity.  It's like the 'oxygen mask in an airplane' analogy... you have to put your own oxygen mask on first, before you can help others.  Think about it.  When you come back from a retreat, feeling all relaxed and rejuvenated, you are a better person to those around you.  Not only that, but you've given your body, mind and spirit a break from the stresses of the everyday grind. 

So whether it's 5 minutes, a few days, or a week, take some time out for yourself.  Bring all that goodness you had while on retreat back into your real world.  Eventually, the more you do it, this goodness and your real world will meld into one.  It's a practice and a necessity.