Taking retreat isn’t just about taking a vacation. So, why take retreat?
Retreat has been a central aspect of monastic practice since the birth of the sangha, when the Buddha required all of the monks and nuns take a three-month retreat during the rainy season every year. We take retreat to withdraw from everyday life and journey inward. It is to cultivate physical and meditative practice for the benefit of all sentient beings.
It’s designed to help us get out of our own way by creating space and time in which we can broaden and strengthen our physical, spiritual, emotional & mental wellbeing. By changing our outer environment, we are able to quiet the noise of our day to day life, routines and habits. Only when we get quiet, can we REALLY listen. Finding spaciousness creates room to evolve and the spaciousness retreat containers offer provides opportunities for rapid expansion.
BY JUST CHOOSING TO TAKE RETREAT, one has already stepped over the first and most challenging threshold. One has decided to commit to themselves and gift themself an experience that provides tools, resources and memories that they can take with them lifelong. After just a few days of retreat, one is guaranteed to experience a shifting. An opening. A rejuvenation. A deep & powerful cleansing and nurturing. A coming home.
It’s about sangha. Community is a central pillar to transformation. An opportunity to be witnessed, heard & seen in our vulnerable & most valuable states. To be a mirror and be held accountable for our parts & how they show up in the world. Retreats offer support in an authentic way–they release the loneliness of feeling like we’re on this journey alone. It’s incredibly healing to be in an intentional space surrounded by like-minded people on their own path of self discovery. 
All over the world for countless centuries, humans have communed in ceremony and ritual to explore this earthly existence deeper & connect to oneness. We feel this interconnectedness in sangha of retreat space where we are reminded that at ALL of our cores, we are just light beings on a journey of remembrance. We are spiritual beings in a human body trying to grow & evolve. One can come to retreat to get clear, find their WHY and understand their dharma. Every step is still one step forward on the path. Sometimes those steps are small, like making a wise choice for breakfast this morning. And sometimes those steps are bigger, like making the commitment to yourself that is required when you sign up for a retreat. Offering a giant leap forward in a very short period of time. It’s an offering to the inner world, communicating “I’m here for you” to our inner children who are screaming for our attention and affection. And sometimes just going to retreat is enough for your parts to feel loved for the first time in a while.
We MUST gift ourselves an opportunity to take retreat as often as we can to be fully in an intentional container of authentic healing space. Here, we can really move through what is holding us back and awaken to what is living in the body-mind.
It’s the opportunity of self exploration and rehabilitating one’s deepest wounds. This is an invitation for fully integrated healing: a series of days fully dedicated to the path and spending each day fully invested in mental, physical, emotional and spiritual wellbeing. Spending each day fully dedicated to YOU and being witness to your parts and their stories so you can be better informed on what’s still holding you back from being your brightest, most authentic, most empowered version of yourself.
Retreat is ALSO like a vacation–just one with more intention. There is plenty of time allocated for rest. Time for exploration and immersion into the location of the retreat. There is connection to others and the birth of new relationships you’ll take with you lifelong. There is delicious, healthy food curated just for your expansion experience that also brings the palate alive. And there is fun. Sure, there are tears sometimes, but there is also an abundance of laughter, light-hearted fun and good stories–memories you’ll take home with you that will always remind you of how beautiful life can be when we choose an environment that cares about us.
Take retreat for yourself. It’s the best gift you can gift yourself. Even if you can only gift yourself one retreat a year, prioritize it. It will change your life, and that’s a guarantee. I promise it’s worth every penny. It’s worth every day off work. It’s one long weekend that will leave you feeling nourished for months. And unlike conventional vacations that can often be filled with alcohol and excessive overconsumption, retreat is designed to bring you BACK to life–coming back home after vacation feeling more resourced, alive, and ready to take on the world. Fresh with momentum and excited about the next chapters. Think about it like a booster for the soul. It’s deep healing medicine but it also serves as preventative medicine for future you will now have new resources to whip out when life does life. You will come back feeling invigorated and ready for whatever life has to throw at you. You will access more Self energy than you probably do in your daily life in a short period of time, reminding you of who you really are, what you really care about, and what you really want from this life. And you will come back to your life with a filled cup, ready to support those around you authentically.