As the founder of Personal Retreat Day, my passion is helping people on the brink of burnout discover a rhythm of rest and reflection. I encourage you to set aside one day each and every month to invest in your own well-being and personal development.
Think of your monthly Personal Retreat Day (PRD) as a “container” filled with deep rest, time to reflect on the previous 30 days, and a chance to reorient towards the month ahead. All 3 “R’s” are important, but REST is the vital ingredient. Rest permeates the container of the day. Only once you are fully rested can you do the deeper work of reflecting and reorienting. It always starts with rest!
The beauty of a monthly retreat day practice is that you can take one small step at a time. Each PRD will be a new experience. If you commit to a day once a month to invest in rest, I guarantee you will notice small incremental changes throughout all areas of your life. A more relaxed, refreshed version of yourself will start to emerge. You will realize just how weary you’ve been, how you’ve been running on fumes. Nobody brings their best to the world in that fragile state! Get the rest you need. Commit to a Personal Retreat Day practice, starting now.
If this is your very first stab at a PRD, keep it simple. Don’t succumb to the temptation of a lengthy agenda for the day. Just create space for rest, give yourself a wide window of time, and don’t overfill it. Otherwise, it’s like starting a workout program and lifting too-heavy weights on Day 1 – you’ll wind up sore and discouraged on Day 2. So, for your first PRD, I encourage you to just rest. Giving yourself permission to rest sounds easy and even exciting! Fair warning: rest is a place of vulnerability. We keep ourselves active and our minds distracted for a reason: these external diversions protect us from dark thoughts, fears, anxieties. Giving ourselves space to rest can allow a crack in the armor. Know that this is a good thing and be prepared for it, should the demons come knocking!
As you rest, you might want to keep a journal handy. Jot down what you notice. Bring curiosity to your thoughts. I like to start my PRDs with a “brain dump” list and keep it going throughout the day. As random thoughts or ideas pop into my mind I just write them down.
Here are a few restful ideas for your Personal Retreat Day, starting with the most accessible practices and moving towards more active forms of rest. This is not a checklist! Pick and choose a few that speak to you.
- Silence
- Meditation
- Mindfulness
- Prayer
- Reading
- Listening to Music
- Gentle Movement
- Sleep
- Time in Nature
- Self-care treatments
I’m currently working on a book about Personal Retreat Days where I’ll take a deep dive into each of these practices. If you’d like further explanations about anything on this list, please reach out to me at wende@personalretreatday.com
A gentle reminder that being is so much more important than doing. And yes, you can change your attitudes and values just like you can change your activities. We each have unique tendencies and personalities, but we aren’t locked into them. “Well, that’s just who I am” is an excuse. We can become better, healthier, happier versions of ourselves by adjusting our attitudes. Today, I’d like to challenge you to cultivate an attitude of rest. What would a well-rested you look like? What would you feel like? How would you move through your day? How would you respond to challenges if your “container of rest” was full? Pause often today and remind yourself: “I am safe. I am at peace. I am at rest.” Do this even when you’re going through a stressful time. What we tell ourselves becomes true over time.