What comes to your mind’s eye when you read the word ‘retreat’? Sunlight-infused yoga escapes with the scent of warm pine trees and the sound of the sea? Far-flung exotic hideaways immersed in the Buddhist culture? Or do you imagine sweet silence in the heart of mother nature? The Cambridge dictionary describes a retreat as “to go away from a place or person in order to escape from fighting or danger” or “to go to a quiet, safe place in order to avoid a difficult situation.”
A ‘retreat’ is an opportunity to step back from the chaos and challenges of daily life. It is also an opportunity to develop tools and techniques that help you know your inner world better, whilst reconnecting to deeply held goals, wishes and dreams so you can experience your outer world in a healthier, happier way. Retreats offer ways to gain entry to your sacred inner sanctum through yoga, meditations, massages, complementary therapies, sound healing, plant medicines and more.
Yet not always can we press ‘book now’ or jump on a plane to escape our day-to-day reality… even though, as statistics show, we need to ‘retreat’ more than ever.
Our always-on addictive culture
With its fast pace, multi-sensory input and electrical charges, our 21st century lifestyle is stressing our systems more than ever before. Our addiction to smartphones alone highlights this, as Nancy Collier’s book, ‘The Power of Off’ states: “People check their smartphones on average 150 times per day.”
Is your nervous system on over-drive
With the mind always ‘on’ to filter excessive input, the autonomic nervous system switches from parasympathetic ‘rest, digest, procreate, eliminate’ to the ‘fight or flight’ sympathetic nervous system, which speeds up the heart rate, increasing blood pressure, inhibiting digestion and recuperation.
“The peaceful warrior knows when to retreat”
Paulo Coelho – the Way of the Peaceful Warrior
What happens next with higher levels of stress
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Apr-18
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