More then ever we have the opportunity to seek safe sanctuaries in which to recharge our batteries from the hypnotic, daily grind of our everyday reality. To take a retreat is to step into a peaceful ambiance within a tranquil setting in which to rejuvenate your various “bodies”. These include the mental body, the physical body, relational body, emotional body, and spirit body. Each body is connected and therefore affected by whatever type/modality of retreat you decide to take part in.
The empowerment of a retreat comes in various forms. For example, walking along a wilderness river you may realize that you no longer need to try to change the outer “things”. They are simply a reflection. When we change our inner perceptions, the outer reveals the beauty so long obscured by our own attitudes. When we concentrate on our inner vision we find our outer view transformed.
Being on a retreat is also great for networking and connecting with “others” (other reflections of me). New acquaintances and friends provide an opportunity to see ourselves in new ways. Some examples are:
• I am okay and so is everyone else.
• Everyone likes me.
• I speak only the truth.
• Everything is interconnected.
• This is a friendly and empowering world.
The world is rich with interesting people, and some of them are seeking retreat as well. Be open to magical meetings; embrace them all. You may meet a CEO “Chief Energy Officer”, or a lionized athlete racing for the laurels of compassionate wisdom, or a metaphysician with her finger on the pulse of bliss, or a kosher meditator with a computer chip memory, or perhaps, a maverick scholar with an Irish cop’s morality! Remember, who we meet is often simply perfect for what we need at the time.
Being on retreat is also an opportunity to learn many new things; human beings are connected to each other, there is enough for all of us to be happy; we can work/play with each other in harmony, and we are all equal.
The true power of a retreat, the reason to go, may only be shown to you when you arrive back home to your everyday life. When you begin in integrate the learning’s and unlearning from a retreat, there lays the true purpose: to make true and lasting changes and to create a more peaceful, enriching, and healthy life.
More then ever before, we have the opportunity to seek out sanctuaries for inner and outer explorations. Cultivate some breathing space and remember who you are. Play big and go deep! Find your retreat.
Brian Olynek has been “retreating”, fire walking, and rafting all over the world, from here to the Himalayas, to hosting Retreats and teaching at his place, Quantum Leaps Lodge in Golden, BC.