Regardless of what you believe about religion, you can benefit from a spiritual retreat. Taking a retreat is an act of coming back together. It’s a means of uniting yourself with what you believe in.
It’s a time to withdraw from the normal routine of your days and get off alone or with a group of like-minded individuals. The purpose is to get refreshed, to find some time alone from the normal rush of life, and to contemplate who you are and what’s going on in your life.
Retreats can be a time of great peace, a time of inner quietness and settling your spirit. Some people who go on retreats are searching for some form of spiritual enlightenment, some are searching for some type of healing emotionally and many are looking to reconnect to the truth of finding themselves again.
Life can be tough on even the strongest of us and if not careful, we end up losing ourselves, losing the person we once were until we don’t even recognize the person looking back at us in the mirror.
We can end up becoming people who live life on autopilot and getting away, plugging back into ourselves can bring deep refreshing and wholeness. While you don’t technically have to travel to engage in a spiritual retreat, finding solitude usually doesn’t happen if you stay in your normal routine.
There are too many distractions – the television, telephone, computer, friends – and before you know it, you’ve slipped right back into the same pace and the same place inwardly. You need to go away before you fall apart. If you’re not renewing your inner person, you risk burning out – not just in your job or with your family – but with yourself.
Not all retreats are going to be quiet. Some retreats are groups where people get together and share conversation and experiences, where connections are made and we learn that we’re not alone in our struggles.
We draw strength in knowing that others are living lives they want and we draw comfort from those who have gone through the place where we’re at emotionally, physically or spiritually.
No matter how hard you try, even if you take a day off from work intending to get in touch with yourself, distractions are going to crop up and ruin that plan. A spiritual retreat – taking that time to care for the spiritual part in you – can help you find wholeness.
It can give you a chance to contemplate and to get in touch with your deepest core – a chance to quiet the outer noise in order to connect with the innermost part of you. This self-awareness will help you to move forward with the assurance that you’re in touch with your spiritual being.
