DIY Retreat
We’re in the business of retreats, so we talk a lot about them. Obviously, we want you to join us on retreat. But sometimes you need a retreat right now, and there’s really no better way to find the bliss and the value of going on retreat than by retreating on your own.
DIY retreating is how Amy and I discovered the joys of retreat. We planned a weekend together away from our families and when we arrived, we lit a candle and set an intention together for the weekend and separately for ourselves. We got centered and asked for guidance from the great wide universe and received it in the form of drawn Tarot cards. We brainstormed activities for ourselves - that involved reading poetry, journal prompts, confronting some old lingering life obstacles, forgiveness, more journaling. We wrote a dear john letter to those long standing obstacles and threw it into the fire. We took time to indulge in our dreams and wrote about that for a long time. We celebrated and watched goofy feel good movies.
One of the coolest things was that we kept drawing the same tarot cards over the course of the weekend - when we ask for signs, sometimes it’s freaky how persistent they can be! We also had some delicious food and swanky cocktails - because that’s just how we roll.
I expected to spend some quality time with Amy and come home feeling refreshed. No, no, no, that’s not what happened at all. I came home on fire! Really recharged, and feeling unstoppable! And no one was more surprised than me!
So what’s the point? The point is that while Amy and I think the Perfect Avocado Retreat is beautiful and fulfilling - going on retreat is the big deal. We made ours up, and you can too. Even in COVID times - like here’s a day and a half retreat off the top of my head.
Set up a Google Meet (because it's free with a gmail account, which is also free) with friends, light a candle, share what’s on your mind or heart that you’d like to shift the energy or have a breakthrough and write it down
If you have tarot cards and I recommend that you do, try asking for guidance around that issue, write it down. If not, try using good ol shamanic wisdom and ask for guidance and then open a favorite book to a random passage and see what happens. It’d be good to pick a book with some innate wisdom and you can choose your poison like the Koran, the bible, Money Detox, or Harry Potter, any Mary Oliver book of poetry, anything by Barbara Kingsolver - whatever speaks to you.
You can do a guided meditation from Insight Timer - definitely try for at least 20 minutes because it takes 10 minutes just for your mind to calm down.
Staying with the issues and your intention, have a watch party with some friends - like you can catch Brene Brown on Netflix, or The Shack on Hulu. Keep a journal at the ready so you can record your astonishing insights and epiphanies. I promise - you’ll have them. That’s what happens on retreat.
After the movie and back on Google Meet, see if your filter changed how you saw the movie, and share with your fellow retreatants.
Go to bed.
Get up in the morning, and try a yoga practice (if you like that, which I def do) from YouTube.
Back on Google Meet, light a candle, revisit your intentions with any revisions. Share any more insights after having interactions with family or roomies in your enlightened state. Were you able to maintain? Did you get knocked off balance?
Journal about all that.
Then conjure up the issue that you each brought to the retreat and power up your imaginations to envision it solved, resolved, reframed, or with a new mindset. Write about that for 20 minutes and share that.
Then ask each other what are one or two things you can do towards that vision. Write that down too!
One more tarot card reading for good measure - write it down.
Notice that you feel powered up and peaceful. And hopeful. Committed.
The reason you go on retreat is to allow yourself to come into focus without discrimination and with equanimity.
The point of retreat is to integrate your mind, body, spirit with your life and how you are living it.
A DIY retreat is a great way to dip your toe into retreating. Alternatively, a facilitator can help to maintain a safe nonjudgmental space. If you have resistance to a particular line of inquiry a facilitator can help you stay with it, where without the guidance, you might stop before you get to the juicy parts. And that’s why we created Perfect Avocado Retreats - for when you’re ready.
We’d love to hear from you if you decided to try a DIY retreat and we’re available to chat if you have questions or want to brainstorm. Here’s a link to our Facebook page.
AND - every month we offer a Virtual Super Power Retreat!