The Power of Retreating
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“If we step away for a time, we are not,
as many would accuse, being irresponsible,
but, rather, we are preparing ourselves….
Maya Angelou
We all agree that taking time to be relaxed, contemplative and mindful about our lives is a worthwhile thing, yet we still don’t do it. We’re too busy. Being busy is a given for most of us. And the truth is, we’re probably not going to get any less busy. Interestingly, when we take time to retreat, time expands, and you approach your tasks with a more peaceful heart, open mind, and relaxed attitude.
To retreat sounds like we’re running away, but we’re not. To retreat is to come back to yourself. To retreat is to create a stillness, a space, so you can hear the whisper, so you can revisit your needs and your desires. By retreating from the busyness of our everyday lives, we can be reminded of the truth about our strengths, our weaknesses, what we want, what we don’t want, and what we will and what we won’t do.
Retreating is a very powerful tool for rediscovering, rejuvenating and recommitting yourself to your life.
If you come to my weekend retreats, or if you come to my day retreats, everything is designed to help you step away from your busy world for the purpose of taking that inner journey back to yourself. I call this creating a safe space. Please check on my website for what happens during a retreat.
In February, we will be hosting another wonderful Women’s Weekend Retreat at Palm Key Nature Resort. This retreat is based on a life design program that I have written about in Your Possible Life: Design the Life You Were Meant to Live. This program helps you ask (and answer) the powerful questions of your life and then to design a plan based on this self-knowledge.
Imagine getting away from all the stress and distractions of everyday life. However, the retreat experience is very different from a relaxation experience. While being relaxed is a crucial component to a successful retreat, it is not the end result. Rather, the end goal is a clearer vision of yourself and your life path and to reconnect with yourself, the universe, your higher power, your dreams, and your purpose.
It’s also nice to have support on this journey. Through the retreat experience you get the support of the structured program and the facilitator, but more importantly, you get the support of a community of women just like you that heard the call to stop and take some time.
The reasons for coming are different for every woman. It may be to get away from it all, or to be in a supportive environment with other like-minded women, or for the deepening exercises of the Your Possible Life program. It will probably be a combination of all three.
Come and join us. Give yourself the gift of retreat or ask someone to gift it to you. (There is a discount if you sign up before December 31.) Tell other women, bring your friends. Click here for registration information.
If you can’t arrange to come on retreat with us in February, know that a retreat doesn’t have to be an elaborate escape. Personal mini-retreats can range from spending the weekend alone in silence and contemplation, to just taking a walk on the beach for the purpose of reconnecting with your self. You can take a lunch hour to meditate or journal, some time with a friend to assess your lives, or a two-minute deep breathing retreat. A retreat can be rocking on your front porch.
Remember what’s most important is the intention. Saying, “I’m going to pull away and designate this time and this place to being conscious, thoughtful, and loving about who I am, and what I want, and what I’m going to do.”
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SIGNS THAT YOU MAY NEED TO RETREAT?
• You feel like you’re running on empty.
• You feel disconnected, without a center.
• You know that there’s more – but you don’t know what it is.
• You don’t remember your dreams.
• Your heart feels closed.
• You feel an unquenchable inner yearning.
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“To be guided by your inner wisdom,
you have to stop moving, stop doing,
and listen to yourself.” Maya Angelou
Powerful Question: What are signs that you recognize in your own life that make you think you need to retreat?
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Please email me with any inquiries about the next Women’s Weekend Retreat or customizing a program just for you.
3 Responses to “The Power of Retreating”
I’m always amazed how much energy and new perspective I get when I take the time and make the investment to get away!
Powerful Question:
What are signs that you recognize in your own life that make you think you need to retreat?
This is a powerful and oft revisited question for me.
Many times I feel I come to this question in life and then become carried away in the awareness and forget the signs all over again.
The signs are usually in the form of non-sustentative distractions, cravings almost. Analogous in many ways to craving junk food, when what your body is really screaming for something slower to process, substance, sustenance. I notice myself at these times becoming easily distracted – “look at the shiny object” syndrome.
I know that the times after I have retreated (whether via an old friend, a long walk or just stopping and looking into the distance) are truly expansive and the height of my creativity and connection to all that is ‘real’ to me.
This blog is a treasure of these reminders – I am thankful to have a place online to come to for these reminders and explore the insights of others.
Dr. Murphy,
I enjoy your blogs, especially this one. This speaks to my inner “type A” and her desire to DO and BE everything to everyone. The month of December is a time of year that I dread most. I spent too much of my childhood agonizing over being the child of divorced parents, and splitting my Christmas right down the middle…like a brownie that no one wants to share. Last year my boyfriend and I visited Mepkin Abbey about a week before Christmas. It was such a reviving visit, if only for a day. While I cannot financially (currently) do one of your retreats…I am encouraged to report that he and I discussed making “the journey” to Moncks Corner a part of our holiday traditions. The stillness and beauty of that place remain with me long after the presents are opened, and the lights have come down. It has become my “retreat” from the busyness of our modern world.
Wishing you many blessings for your Christmas, and the JOY of a new year of possibilities! 🙂
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