Lessons from Retreat

I went away on retreat with Joanna Randall at the end of October and it's fair to say it was much-needed time to out. It was a fantastic weekend with lots of rest, relaxation and time to reconnect with myself.

Here are my top 3 take-aways:

Take time out to relax-the retreat schedule was relatively gentle with optional activities. The 1st-morning activity started at 07.30 am. As much as I wanted to take part in the mediation and breathe workshop, I wanted to sleep in more. So, you know what? I slept in. Sometimes we push ourselves way beyond what we should, out of the habit of going 'the extra mile'. Give yourself a break.

Follow up on your insights-one of the things that I really struggle with at this point in my life is finding time to exercise. It is the thing that always falls off the list when time is tight. Jo and I were talking about this while we were away and I committed to working from the gym one day a week. It took me a couple of weeks but I finally scheduled it in my diary and have committed to it. I know that if I don't schedule it, it will just remain an insight without having any real-life impact.

Acceptance-there was a time in my life when I used to do A LOT of yoga, was bendy and flexible and could get into most yoga poses. Not so much now! I met a lot of mental resistance over the weekend, thinking about what I used to be able to do. There is no point at all in comparing yourself to a version of you that no longer exists. My challenge was to work on acceptance of the now. Once I got my head around that, I was able to let go of my expectations (and ego, to be totally honest!).,

It's been a while since I've been on retreat and I benefited so much from taking that time out for myself.

We'd love to welcome you to our weekend retreat in February 2025. Give yourself that time out to reconnect and refocus on yourself :)