Sometimes I fantasize about being on a retreat.
Somewhere beautiful and peaceful, with tasty and healthy food appearing at regular intervals, a loose schedule of yoga classes and meditations, and absolutely no obligations or anybody wanting anything from me.
I just float through the day and feel taken care of.
The One Time It Was Actually Real
I’ve only been on one actual retreat in my life. A one-week yoga retreat in Spain in a gorgeous village house, with daily yoga practices, and fantastic vegan food.
The closest thing to that in my hometown is a sauna/spa I recently went to for the third time. It’s called Va Bali — the architecture, the decoration, and the Balinese greeting from the sauna personnel right before they torture naked customers with a hot sauna infusion.
The spa overlooks a tranquil lake and looks like a small high-end resort hotel. Every time I go, I’m instantly serene and relaxed.
This is how I want to feel in my life.
Not the tightness, tension, frustration, boredom, busyness, exasperation that comes up so frequently in daily life for me.
As I was lounging on the deck chair next to the placid lake, sipping my tea infusion and surrounded by other naked humans in colorful bath robes, I started thinking about how to get more of that into my daily life.
Regrettably I don’t live at Va Bali, a Spanish yoga retreat or the real Bali, and I have a toddler at home — basically the Antichrist of retreat.
My (Very Realistic) Solution: Pockets of Retreat
As a compromise, I’ve decided to introduce pockets of retreat in my life. Here’s what that looks like:
Once a week: the retreat hour
After toddler bedtime, I give myself a retreat hour. I go to the one clean room in our apartment and have a gentle yoga practice with dimmed light and an expensive scented candle. Followed by a tasty cup of tea while I cozy up on the sofa in my bath robe and read something fun or inspirational.
Once a month: the no-obligation window
When my partner is out with our toddler, I give myself 1-2 hours of no-obligation chill time. I’ve banned myself from using that time for housework, to do’s or side hustle tasks. It’s my guilt-free chunk of quiet time that I get to spend as I please — after I took eight minutes to put away the toys and wipe the yoghurt-smeared living room table.
Good Enough Is the Point
Would I want more? Definitely. But I need to work within the limits I have. That’s what I keep telling my toddler after all when I give her a choice between applesauce and yoghurt for breakfast.
These little retreat moments are not quite Bali or a Spanish yoga retreat, but they allow me to infuse a little of that peaceful, taken-care-of energy into my real life.
