When is the Right Time to Retreat?

I know what it feels like to be in the middle of your day either at home or at work and just feel like, “I want to get away from it all.”  You know, that inner bubbling of discontent that is peculating inside you, but doesn’t seem to have a focus.  Immediately you may jump to the thought, “Doesn’t matter, I don’t have time to get away and can’t afford it anyway.” But, even if you did have the time and money do you really know what is going on inside of you?  Do you really understand what that bubbling feeling and desire to get away is all about?

Chances are it is a sign that you are either going through a shift, or need to shift levels.  It’s a sign that you can’t continue to live in the same old status quo life you have been accustomed to.  But, too often these desires are simply stuffed back down.  The demand of daily life takes over and the message of that bubbling feeling dies away, lost for the moment, but not for good.

What I have come to value in life, and why I have created Peaceful Self Retreats, is how important it is to take time to listen to that bubbling up feeling.  There is value in discontent if you listen to it.  It points the way to something you are needing for your growth.  Maybe the message is to simply slow down. There is also value in going somewhere to get away, to let go of the stress, enjoy the beauty, nature, and silence.  But, often if you listen carefully the bubbling feeling is about much more than that.

For example, let’s say that bubbling is saying you need to focus on an Emotional Healing Retreat. You can do some of that on your own just relaxing in a beautiful place, but maybe you need a little more support like some guidance as to what kind of emotional healing you need and some actual spiritual guidance or counseling to help you move through it.  And, maybe you need an environment and atmosphere (even if you follow our guidelines and create that in your own home) that helps you facilitate what you are called to do. If you just relax and get a massage and don’t tap into a deeper level of what is going on for you some benefit from your retreat will have happened, but not as much as was possible. The same could be said for a Self Care Retreat, Real Love Retreat, or any of the other retreats I have available. The point if is you approach any retreat with more clarity and intention, you will get a lot more out of it.  You will do more than relax (though at times that is all you need), you will have made a powerful shift.  You will have found a way to get more to the center where you can watch the bubbling whenever it arises and more rapidly decipher what it is trying to reveal to you.  I call that getting back to your Peaceful Self.  And, that is what retreats with me are really all about.

As for where to retreat? Though I live in Ojai, CA and am happy to arrange to have you retreat with me here, to let you know my retreats are designed to be led anywhere. In fact, finding wonderful places to retreat is what inspired me to create a large database of retreat centers in every state of the USA, plus parts of Canada and Mexico. Between 2000 – 2005 that database was part of a large spirituality website I ran known as Soul to Spirit.  In helping you find a place to retreat I draw on that database, as well as books on retreat centers I own, and other resources on the Internet. I also can help you do a retreat at home. Feel free to check out the pdf’s I have created along these lines.

Ready to retreat?  Contact me here.

Peace, love, and light,

Lisa