8 Very Good Reasons to go on a Yoga Retreat!
Why would you choose to go on a Yoga Retreat instead of just going on a holiday? If you’re a parent or carer, is it fair to take time out and do something alone? Something just for you? Damn right, is it? That is what I would say.
When you hop on a flight and listen to the safety announcements, you are told to put on your oxygen mask first, then help others. We should apply this safety drill to all areas of our lives!! If our cup is complete, it’s much easier for us to fill the cup of others. Our wellness and wholeness serve the wellness and wholeness of all others in our lives.
I will give you eight good reasons to consider attending a Yoga Retreat. Once you understand the benefits of a retreat (especially if you have experienced it), you may not consider it a treat but a necessary accessory in your wellness program.
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Prioritise Yourself
The older we get, the more responsibilities we have. We get a job, we get in relationships, we have children, we have ageing parents, and many other things we have to manage, support, control, and do. What happened to the times when we could hang out with ourselves and do nothing or do those little self-care things that we know nourish us?
Prioritising yourself may sound selfish, but it’s essential to a healthy and balanced life. Doing something just for YOU is crucial for your mental and emotional health. Spending time with yourself and your thoughts and feelings is a healthy and sure way to a calmer mind and happier soul.
When we look after ourselves, something happens. We feel much better and have more vital energy. We become more positive, caring, and patient. Giving to yourself is just like giving to others!
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Meet Inspiring People
Our retreats always attract interesting people who care about themselves, others, and the bigger picture. We often choose a retreat because of the facilitator, someone who inspires us and who we believe can help us understand something better.
Everyone who attends always brings a wealth of wisdom and experiences. When these are shared in the safe environment of a Retreat, their experiences often help us better understand ours. We gain so much more than we expected.
We often leave Retreats with new friends, new insights and a new conviction to make the changes we want and need.
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Deepen Your Practice
Retreats allow you to focus on your practice in a way that general classes can never offer. When you have a class every morning and work towards a goal over the week, you can see the evolution of your practice and attitude toward it.
The consistency of getting up every day for practice and often also having an afternoon class means you get to experience all the different approaches to yoga and the different techniques to use for different times of the day, in life, and in emotional states.
Not only will you learn more and deepen your personal experience of yoga and its philosophy, but practising with others you haven’t practised with before can help you understand things in a new light.
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Hand Over Control
As adults, we try to control so much in our lives. You may be a parent or have responsibilities at work or in business. There is so much pressure on our time and the number of things we have to achieve in that time.
One of the wonderful things about retreats is handing over control to another. Retreats are your turn to be looked after. Lean back into the held space to let go and go inward. Once we realise that we don’t have to cook, clean, call anyone, or arrange anything, our nervous system realises it can finally relax and rest.
And unlike just going on holiday, there’s none of the ‘holiday guilt’ about not doing or seeing enough of the place you are staying. On retreat, you hand over all control and allow yourself to receive and be looked after. Om Bliss.
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The Bigger Picture
One of the great things about a retreat is getting away from home and going somewhere beautiful, as well as the time and space given to contemplate your life. Going away from home and any situation you find yourself in is always helpful for insight. Distance allows you to look at the bigger picture. But having time and the correct prompts to contemplate this enhances this potential even more.
We can often come home with fresh insights and understanding of our lives and any situation we are experiencing. This, in turn, helps us develop creative solutions to problems or even a better attitude to help us through whatever arises.
Seeing the bigger picture always helps us put our difficulties or uncertainties in perspective.
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A Holiday for Your Digestion and Senses
Yoga retreats are focused on your well-being and health. So, the food is healthy, clean, and usually different from what you normally eat, especially in a different country. If you work a lot, you may develop unhealthy eating habits, even in the form of the times that you eat. At our retreats, healthy food is served simultaneously every day, which is good for digestion.
It is essential to give our digestion a break regularly. Still, sometimes, we don’t have the proper knowledge or enough space to honour this (or perhaps even enough energy to implement it!). So, going on a retreat can be a perfect way to break from poor eating habits and get inspired to try new foods and eating methods. Once we return home, we often incorporate this into our daily lives, inspired by new recipes and tastes!
Retreats also offer our senses a break. We don’t use our eyes all day long, looking at screens or using our phones. We have a break from the everyday sounds we hear and instead listen to the waves on the beach or the rustle of trees in the forest. We take in new smells and tastes and touch ourselves healingly through massage or treatments.
All this helps us maintain better health throughout our body, mind, and spirit.
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Challenge Yourself
Often, we come to retreats alone or in an unfamiliar country or place. We are confronted with a group of unfamiliar people. We may be asked to speak personally in a group setting. Sometimes, we must show our vulnerabilities, pains, and weaknesses. Other times, we have to physically do things we have never done before, which may cause some fear.
Retreats can be confronting, but facing these challenges is how we get the most out of them. In short, retreats help us grow emotionally, personally, and spiritually.
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Drop Back In (to Yourself)
Being present sometimes feels like it’s only for the privileged. When we have a full schedule and busy lives, dropping back into our Essential Self can feel impossible. It does take time and space, especially if we don’t have some routine to encourage this at home, and even then, it’s very easy to lose it.
Retreats not only give you that time and space and the held environment to support it, but they also give you the tools to deepen into that experience. Yoga retreats are made for this exact experience.
When was the last time you felt present? When was the last time you felt completely comfortable and at home? We must cultivate this homecoming, or we will lose the experience altogether.
Dropping back into yourself deeply renewals you and gives you the motivational boost you might need to keep fighting the good fight.
With all these benefits in mind, I hope to see you at the retreat soon!