Sound familiar?  Yet this is precisely the time when we need to devote time to silence and take a break from the daily pressures and pace.  Retreat has long been a practice in almost all spiritual traditions.  Retreat is a time to review our past, to appraise our lives and reconsider them, perhaps making corrections or charting a new course.  Reflection allows us to uncover the root of what is troubling us, and to access our creativity and allows deeper insights, which often have to complete with the cacophony of our mind’s chatter, surface into our conscious minds.

Retreat can take on many forms (and can meet all types of budgets), so don’t let money be the barrier that prevents you from engaging in this practice.

Here are some ways you can engage in your own retreat:

Set aside an hour everyday that you will be silent.  Turn off all phones and computers, let your loved ones know you aren’t available and sit in silence. You can close your eyes and focus on your breath, or simply sit quietly by a window.  Try to stay in a state of silence to allow your mind’s chatter to die down.

Find a piece of nature that speaks to you.  Make time throughout the weeks or months to spend some time there, as little as 20 minutes or as long as a day.  Sitting by the ocean is particularly useful for some of us, the natural rhythm of the waves can be a soothing backdrop for your mind.

If you are fortunate enough to have a friend or family member who owns a cabin, offer to do any cabin work or chores that they need in exchange for staying there for a weekend.  Manual work in a natural setting has long been lauded as a way of grounding someone in the present.

Sign up for a course at a retreat centre, like our sister organization Hollyhock Centre, and connect with a community of peers.  Many centres offer retreat-based programs for inquiry and personal work, and working with others can be extremely transformative.

Go to a retreat centre as your vacation and spend the week in contemplative practice.  Again, Hollyhock Centre is a good example of this.  They offer retreat packages that allow you to use the yoga and meditation services and the natural setting to rejuventate and re-focus.  Having your meals prepared and being away from chores, work and obligations can help clear away stress and refresh you for new challenges.