I am constantly in motion. My mind, my body, my fingers on the keyboard… something is always always moving, turning, clickety-clacking.
The concept of constantly moving forward has been instilled in me since a young age. As a society, we are inundated with messages, commercials, and pressure discouraging idleness and inspiring action.
Even in difficult times, we’re always told the best way to get over something is to keep going. As kids, we heard, “If you fall down, get back up.” As adults we advise, “If you’re going through hell, keep going” (I especially like the Quotables card version in which the text is written in a downward spiral, like Alice falling down the rabbit hole).
Most of the time, I appreciate this consistent nudge from the universe to keep moving forward. Even as I try, in my most yogic way, to cherish the moment or the day that I’m living in, I’m a planner by nature, and start to get restless if I don’t have a couple of trips or activities planned out to look forward to. When I’ve experienced grief and loss, I have found that continuing to move ahead was really the best way to get over a big hurdle.
But its summer, and that gives us all a reason (as if we really need one) to take a step back from the craziness of life and relax. To retreat. Retreat from constant plans followed by plans, retreat from technology, retreat from our jobs (if possible), and maybe even retreat a little bit from ourselves.
In July, I had the good fortune to attend the Rejuvenation Retreat, sponsored by Flow Yoga Center and One Common Unity. The Retreat took place at Abram’s Creek Campground in West Virginia, which is beautiful, remote, and exactly what this city girl needed.
The weekend was packed with (optional) activities including yoga for all levels, hiking, life coaching, drumming, raw food demos, sitting by the tranquil river reading a book, enjoying homemade food, etc. It was truly a retreat from the world, and rejuvenating at that. There were fun camp-like activities built in to create community building (like a water balloon toss and fire circle), and the people who organized, ran, and attended were all amazing.
But for me, perhaps one of the most interesting outcomes from the retreat was the fact that I just kept on retreating after I got home. Mentally, that is. When I came back to reality, I started to pull away from responsibility, self-imposed or otherwise. I stopped responding to emails, I stopped blogging (sorry!), I didn’t want to go out with friends, and I ignored some of my regularly schedule activities. I just wanted to keep retreating into that quiet space I had created in my mind for the weekend and sit there for a while. I wanted to have the room to notice my wants and desires, to listen to my heart, to wrestle with my confusion, without being overwhelmed by external forces.
At first, I felt guilty. I kept reminding myself of the things I should be doing, or the people I should be calling, or the jam-packed summer of fun plans I should be having. But then I decided that I was allowed to retreat for a little bit longer. A well-timed vacation helped provide an excuse for ignoring the responsibilities that were piling up, but still, what I really needed was that permission from myself to sit in a quiet room, read a book, not turn on my computer or TV, and breath.
It was glorious, and refreshing, and just what I needed to truly celebrate my summer.
Thank you Rejuvenation Retreat for the chance to get away, be a part of a great community, and most importantly, for giving me permission to mentally retreat for a few weeks from the world.
How have you retreated this summer?
If you haven’t, try it for a weekend. Don’t make plans, don’t turn on your computer. Just sit, breath, and notice what comes up.
A full set of photos from the Rejuvenation Retreat can be found on our Flickr page. Enjoy!
Posted by: Jamie
