
REASONS TO RETREAT.
Are you at work or home right now, reading this, looking out the window and thinking about the retreat you could be on? Have a little ponder on what you might get out of a retreat.
☆1 Proper and real relaxation; Do you ever hear yourself or others saying, “I need a holiday to get over my holiday!” Whether it is stressful visits to relatives, excess travels or drinking beer and wine every night, we can come home more tired than we left! Retreats really help you to switch off and relax.
☆2 Connection with like-minded yogis; Making new friends is a wonderful part of a retreat, at our last retreat in Spain so many great connections were made and the support and love that manifested within the group was incredible.
☆3 Positive vibes and healing atmosphere; Yoga alone is great, but in sacred settings, your practice becomes amplified. Feed your senses, retreats are held at some beautiful natural healing life-affirming venues full of good vibrations where you can use all your senses to feel fully awake and aware. Whether it’s the warmth of the sun or crisp mountain air, friendly people, nourishing food or sunsets. Wow, its good to be alive!
☆4 Learn something new? On retreat, yoga teachers usually teach things you don’t learn in class. There is more time to explore some deeper yoga practices especially pranayama and meditation.
☆5 Find a new perspective – Stuck in a rut? – if you’re going through the motions in your life but know something is not right, this time away can help you consolidate what you already know from a different perspective. But watch out, you may make big changes when you get home!
☆6 Listen to yourself and remember to value yourself. If you are feeling stressed, short-tempered and your relationships are suffering – Time and space for your self is a great recipe for self-care – take time to look after yourself, and your relationships will take care of themselves.
☆7 Healthy, nutritious and nourishing foods. At home, we often have to cook our own food, so on retreat, we get to eat healthy food prepared by someone else! We not only get to taste healthy food, but get ideas for new dishes we can make at home.
☆8 A balance of inner discovery and outer exploration. A well-balanced retreat will have time for both inner journey and outer activities or adventures. Inner includes meditation, yes you will actually be able to meditate, reading or just goofing off and lounging in a hammock, and outer includes anything from hiking to snorkelling to zip line tours.
☆9 Kick start your life. Retreats offer a chance to see with new eyes, a change of scenery and surroundings, and meet inspirational people. We get a boost towards a life worth living, to help find our passion and remember what is important and what we are here to do. With a break in routine, we gain clarity on who we are and we may decide to make some long overdue changes in work, hobbies or relationships. As well as appreciating home and being grateful for all those positive things that already exist in our lives.
☆10 Laugh and Have Fun! I cannot tell you how much we laugh and have fun on retreats, which we do not do enough of in our “normal” busy lives back home.
Please trust your heart and gut about decisions on yoga retreats or other getaways. The mind may argue that you cannot afford it, or that you don’t have time, or that you are simply too introverted or just not the retreat type. If your heart says yes, that is all you need to know.
Reasons not to retreat…
There may be some legitimate reasons for some people NOT to attend a yoga retreat:
- If you have a strong need for control, with high expectations. Travel with a group requires flexibility.
- If the financial investment will simply cause you too much stress and worry.
- Your health or food allergies are so challenging that it would cause too much stress.
If you are running away from yourself. Wherever you go, there you are!
If you think a retreat is for you, get in touch to find out what we have coming up in 2018
Kerrie
theyogahouseyarm.co.uk
info@theyogahouseyarm.co.uk
facebook.com/theyogahouseyarm
instagram.com/yoga_house_yarm
Victoria
treelivingyoga.com
facebook.com/treelivingyoga
instagram.com/treelivingyoga
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