5 Advantages Of Taking A Meditation Retreat

How much time do you dedicate exclusively to yourself? This is a question we must all ask ourselves. Probably many of us would have to respond by saying that we rarely focus only on ourselves. Time and life are being devoted to matters that take more attention away than desired. That’s why it’s so important to have a meditation retreat every now and then.

A meditation retreat is a time when you are away from your home or workplace. The main objective is to think about yourself, about your life. The basic activity is reflection, and the essential motivation is to get to know yourself better and assess how you feel.

Ideally, the meditation retreat should be at least one full day. It is necessary that you do it in solitude. Choose a place where you can be calm, without major distractions and feel comfortable. When put into practice, the effect is wonderful. These are five of its advantages.

Loneliness eliminates many pretexts

We spend a lot of our time surrounded by other people. We then focus on the interactions we have with them. We keep our attention on others: what they tell us, how they see us, how they respond to us, etc. In a word, we look outside.

In a meditation retreat, these external stimuli disappear as we withdraw from others. We are left alone with ourselves. At first, out of habit, it can be uncomfortable for some people. Perhaps there is a feeling of a certain abandonment and helplessness. By concentrating on what we are going to do, that feeling disappears. Little by little, we go deeper into ourselves and give ourselves the opportunity to adopt a different perspective, a point of view that does not resemble the usual one.

Taking distance offers another perspective

By separating a little from our everyday reality, we facilitate a more global view of our life. It’s as if we mentally put ourselves in a position that allows us to see the big picture. Much of the detail disappears, but the entire map becomes clearer.

Under these conditions, we have better tools to review the moment in life we ​​are in. It’s easier to see if we’re where we want to be or if we’re too far away from that place. We were also able to unite the emotions and thus see the bigger picture in a more dispassionate way.

Disconnect, a big advantage of a meditation retreat

Disconnecting means making a temporary break with technological means, but also with routine. This in itself is a source of rest. The brain needs, from time to time, to reduce external stimuli to their minimum expression. This is only possible with a temporary retreat. And what would be better than a meditation retreat?

When you disconnect, it not only gives your brain an opportunity to slowly reorganize itself, but it also facilitates a relaxed and calm state in your emotions. It means slowing down, giving time to digest sensations, thoughts and emotions. This will undoubtedly make you feel more relaxed and in control.

Reactivate contained emotions

Just as some excessive emotions fade during a meditation retreat, there are other subjective realities that begin to emerge. Among them, repressed feelings and emotions. Sometimes it’s sadness, sometimes it’s discomfort, fear, or anger.

When you spend time with yourself, one of the effects is that the real “me” has more opportunity to express itself. So, without knowing how, memories come to your mind about facts that you believed were forgotten, or a feeling appears that persists and tells you about something that has not yet reached your awareness. The retreat is a place where your voice doesn’t have to compete with others.

Rest, in the deep sense

Rest is not about being inactive or saturating yourself with distractions. You don’t really rest if your mind can’t move away from everyday worries and replace them with creative and/or liberating exercise. In fact, psychological fatigue is much stronger than physical fatigue. Therefore, more than giving rest to the body, it is about decanting the emotions.

A meditation retreat allows you to achieve true rest. It is not necessary for you to set rigid goals or feel that the experience should be “productive” in terms of observable results. Sometimes such a retreat only leads us to wander. Even so, it opens the floodgates to purify much of what we carry within us.

It is highly advisable to set aside a few days a year to go on a meditation retreat. There are no formulas. Meditating is mainly about being still and contemplating. It is a gift to ourselves that we should not fail to give ourselves. A way to lavish care and affection.