Sunday Scribblings #340 Retreat
It’s almost crazy how so many of the Sunday Scribblings words are speaking right to me lately, nouns & adjectives about my life. Retreat is another one of those words this year.
I’d never been on a retreat until this year, and I’d generally associated them with corporate retreats or leadership planning retreats. It wasn’t until I started diving more into the world of self-love & self-care that I realized there were so many fabulous options for taking a retreat as a means of restoration or immersion.
After attending the Creative Joy Retreat in New York earlier this year, I most often associate retreats with summer camp for adults. I adored the Creative Joy retreat & it looks like they are offering it again in 2013, so I’d highly encourage anybody that has the slightest inkling they are creative to check it out, and let yoga, photography, and writing be a pathway to finding your inner creative artist.
Jen Louden, leader of Creative Joy, wrote an entire book on retreating, called the Women’s Retreat. She spoke at length to us about the importance of setting aside time & space/place to step outside of our everyday lives and to do a little self-evaluation and reflection. She is an incredible retreat leader & really added a feeling of the sacred to our retreat time by creating connections with others & honoring rituals.
Probably a little bit different than a regular workshop, like the photography workshops I’d considered going to, a retreat usually has some element of relaxation and soul-nourishment.
I’m extremely tempted to see if I can fit in a yoga retreat next year, preferably on some gorgeous beach or in the mountains somewhere. But I’ll admit I’m a bit intimidated by the thought of doing hours of yoga a day- I’d have to train for it like my marathons to get in shape so I could make it through several days of vinyasas and chattarungas. There are so many incredible retreats out there now that I know about them- I’d love to spend a year just traveling around to amazing places & getting my emotional/spiritual tank refueled.
I am however signed up with Molly Mahar of Stratejoy to join her Elevate Mastermind program in 2013, which kicks off the year with a retreat for all participants in lovely California in January.
Retreat as a military term didn’t even cross my mind until I picked it up in the Google image search. Guess that’s a good thing that my language isn’t in the military mindset. I’m usually full-steam ahead into any and all projects I take on in my life. I can’t really think of anything that I’ve ever had to give up on or walk away from because I couldn’t do it or wasn’t up for the battle.
GOOD NEWS OF THE DAY: Lots of airplane time today to get caught up on blogging!
