Somehow I have learned to feel at home on a retreat, regardless of the location. I know how it works. There is a sense of familiarity in that you are going to be asked to connect with the collective present, with oneself, and hopefully nature. Space will be available for silence and processing, after being pushed out of your comfort box. Opportunities for reflection walks and moments alone journaling are abundant.
Limited time is given to post on social media or check your emails. Your daily busy routines are interrupted by a long pause. One slows down and cannot escape oneself, and all the moments for awe and wonder arise. It doesn’t matter where the retreat setting is: on a mountain top in the chill rich autumn months, on the beach on a hot summer day, next to the ocean in a natural spring bath during the fluctuating weather of spring. If you listen, sacredness is present.
But even though I know the structure of what may arise at a retreat, there’s always some element of surprise. There is a new piece of information I hear that I cannot wait to share with a loved one, or something that is unravelled that you discover about yourself. Or the essence of the land becomes embedded in your bones, and there is a vow to return to this exact healing place again.
Retreats nourish our bodies, souls, and minds. They cradle our overworked bodies, while providing a nook to sleep in, and satiate your belly with delicious healthy cuisine. And somehow for a moment, we feel satisfied with what is in the human experience. The joys we celebrate, sorrows we grieve, mysteries that unfold, and the sublime feeling that lingers.
Like the ocean waves that hit the rocks and sway back to source, there is a natural rhythm present, a push and pull that’s gravitational. Nothing shall be feared if one surrenders to the creative process that one is immersed in. Retreats call us back to ourselves. That inner self that is unique and yet the same as everyone else. Perhaps this is what Jospeh Campbell meant when he said “Follow Your Bliss,” as he returned to the Esalen retreat center annually for his birthday. Someone who studied mythology and cultures from around the world when travel was limited and met with some of the greatest minds and artists of his time, chose to return to a retreat center in Big Sur California each year to honor his birth.
Magic happens at retreat centers that is ineffable, and it is my hope you grant yourself this gift. Perhaps it will be once, but I have a feeling if you are moved as much as Joseph Campbell and I, you will be called to return annually to come home to yourself.
It Only Takes A Smile 