Time for a personal retreat

You don’t need to go very far to take a personal break and focus on what is important → you. You just need a quiet place, in nature if possible, and some tools to support your journey inward.

But first, let’s have a direction for that retreat… Do you want to find clarity, direction, inner peace, self-love, rest ? How do you want to feel after your personal retreat? Try to have a clear goal so you can focus on the right questions, ponderings and vision for yourself. Be realistic that this personal retreat will be a step towards your goal, but may not give you all the answers. However, it is an important step to disconnect from your routine and take the time to focus on yourself (which can be more easily done when you are away from your current environment).

Here’s 5 steps to creating a personal retreat to get you started on your spiritual awakening journey :

Step 1 – Book time off in your calendar

Take at least 3 days off for yourself as it takes at least a day to just settle in. If you can take longer amazing, but if you can’t 3 days can still give you a good starting point.

Make sure you will not be disturbed during that time. You must be able to fully disconnect, that includes from phone and internet.

Step 2 – Pick a good location

Make sure that the location you pick will be supportive to going inwards. A place in nature is optimal. Full camping may not be for you, but there is always glamping! If you are living in British Columbia, there are many options available to you. A great one on the sunshine coast is Stay Wilder in Sechelt. It offers luxury glamping domes. Use this code to get $100 off a 3 nights stay:  TRUESELF100

Stay Wilder makes your personal retreat easy and comfortable. Be immersed in nature while still sleeping in a comfortable bed. You also have access to your own private toilet and shower, and a high-end community kitchen that includes a BBQ, pizza oven, dinnerware and cutlery.

Step 3 – Develop a plan and gather your resources

You can select a series of activities from the list below and print + pack what you will need for your stay.

1 – Circle of Life

Assess your current state of affairs in each area of your life so you can know where or what needs change and which area you will start tackling first.

Click to open the Circle of life  exercise.

Print this chart to assess each area of your life. Then combine this exercise with the Edgar Cayce spiritual ideal exercise to make a personal development plan of action.

What are the 3 most important traits and qualities you need to develop within yourself in order to improve your life?

Here is a list of quintessential trait and positive emotions you may want to tap into and bring more of in your life…

Love, Appreciation, Wonder, Passion, Gratitude, Belonging, Benevolence, Caring, Cheerful, Contented, Contribution, Courage, Creativity, Peaceful, Reverence, Respect, Laughter, Empathy, Affection, Delighted, Deserving, Excited, Generous, Encouraged, Humility, Tenderness, Trust, Hopeful, Welcoming, Playfulness, Forgiveness, Trust, Openness, Active Listening

2 – Journaling Prompts

What if you only had 10 years to live, what would be most important in your life?

What would you need to do right now in your life to place more importance on that aspect?

What challenges are in the way of that?

What would you need to change within yourself to feel accomplished in that area?

3 – Neurographic Therapy

Have you try neurography art therapy? It is a very interesting and relaxing concept I came acrossed last year and really enjoyed. It is a way to explore your subconscious through abstract art and to soften the sharp angles of the mind. It is quite cathartic and available to everyone, no matter your thoughts on your artistic and creative abilities.

This method was developed by Pavel Piskarev and you can find more information about this process here: https://neurographica.us

Know that there is much more to neurographica than these simple basic instructions, but is still an interesting activity.

Here are some basic instructions on how to get started : https://youtu.be/NoIgdt-uQR0?si=mZjbgVCC5zTEEiyu

Another great channel to learn more about neurographica is: https://www.youtube.com/@neuroartproject

To include neurographica into your personal retreat, bring a sketch pad, a black marker and a pack of colouring pencils.

4 – Spiritual Reading

Spend time reading a powerful personal development book such as ‘Feelings Buried Alive Never Die’ by Karol, ‘Radical Forgiveness’ by Colin Tipping, or if you are plagued by an illness, ‘Exposing The Spiritual Root of Disease’ by Dr. Henry Wright.

5 – Walking Meditation

Focus on each of your steps as you are walking down the trail. This doesn’t mean looking at your feet! You can gaze at your feet so you do not trip, but your attention is on feeling the ground under your feet, mindfully taking each step and observing how it feel. Your sole attention (no pun intended!) should be on each of your step, so that all thoughts all away.

Once you have mastered focusing on each of your steps, increase your awareness of the sounds around you. Bring your attention to what you are hearing and tune into your auditory sense. What are the sounds that you hear? Focus on one sound at a time.

The goal is to identify a new sound every time so that your sole focus is on identifying as many sounds as possible, so that all thoughts fall away and your auditory perception is increased.

5 – Mindfulness Meditation

Mindfulness is observing what is without judgment. There are many ways you can practice mindfulness. If you are new to meditation, mindfulness meditation could be a good starting point for you.

Mindfulness is about practising presence, which can help you develop a better response to all types of life situations. Being more present helps us move away from over-analyzing, judging, and reacting to neutrally assessing and responding rightly.

Download this body scan – 10 minute meditation and start practising mindful presence and focus.

6 – Self-Healing

Acts of self-love can also include healing touch therapy. One deep-reaching practice, is the Aleph-Tav Body system, which restores the proper function of the informational level of the body on which every cell develops from.

7 – Herbal Support

Here are natural elements I love using to support the healing of my body and soul.

Essential oils -> rub a drop of Frankincense oil under the sole of your feet when going to bed. Vetiver is also very good for anxiety.

Medicinal herbs -> If you suffer from anxiety or depression, you can drink infusion of St-John’s Wort herb. Or add a few drops of Valerian tincture in water before bedtime to help with anxiety and insomnia.

8 – Rest

Most of us are rest deprived. Allow your body and mind to rest. Take naps, go to bed early, relax. Don’t feel guilty for this extra rest. Don’t have any expectations as to the outcome of this retreat. Let it be what it needs to be.

Step 3 – Pack healthy snacks and food

Support your body with highly nutritional food to lift your soul up and get the clarity you seek.

Pack plenty of fruits, vegetables, and nuts. Avoid highly processed food as it clouds the mind and bogged down the optimal function of our physical body.

Stay away from alcohol and caffeine during your stay.

Try a 24 hour fast.

If you are staying at Stay Wilder, treat yourself to a personal chef or order pre-packaged meals

Step 4 – Pack healing clothes

Do you know that certain fabrics have healing properties while others have a detrimental effect on our health? Natural fabric such as wool, linen and cotton supports the health of your body while man-made fabric such as polyester causes a collapse of our energy field, negatively affecting our health.

However, natural fabrics must not be mixed with other types of material or their healing properties will be lost. That means that the clothing or bedding must be made of 100% wool, 100% linen or 100% cotton in order to retain their healing properties. Organic cotton also has higher vibrational property than regular cotton.

Make sure you have lots of layers as it can get quite cold in the great outdoors.

Step 5 – Turn off your devices once on site

Help your body rejuvenate by turning off your devices. Give your body a rest from wifi, cellphone radiation and Bluetooth.

We have been conditioned to trade off wellness for convenience in many aspects of our life. This include increasing amount of man-made radiation of different levels which bombard us and restrict our body’s natural restorative functions.

It is not because you do not see or cannot touch something that it doesn’t have a negative effect on you. Just think how long it took before they realize that many of the toxic fumes were causing cancer and a host of other problems before adding proper labels, warnings, and creating safety procedures.

Step 6 – Enjoy!

Step 7 – Post retreat reflection and integration

Make sure you take some time to reflect after you retreat. You should also start implementing the insights received and changes you decided to make while you are still in that energy.