Retreating Yourself This June ??

Virginia Woolf wrote "Arrange whatever pieces come your way."

And that is what I did when I signed up for a writing retreat in the South of France a year ago while writing my memoir.Next week I finally depart for?Collioure, France to write among the ghosts of the early 20th Century impressionists, my stories washing ashore like the softened shards of sea glass onto the beach from the Mediterranean.?

I have been on two writing retreats before, and look forward once again to?re-treating?myself to time away to reconnect with myself, gathering again the focus and energy I bring to my creative work, and enjoy all the delights of the new places I’ll go and the new people I’ll meet along the way. All of which I trust will inspire my words to flow. On my first writing retreat four years ago this June in Taos, New Mexico (a beautiful week of writing hosted by?Jen Louden) where I first met my writing teacher?Natalie Serber?who was co-leading then and will be co-leading in Collioure, I was a different person. It was a time before I could imagine how a pandemic could change our world, before I knew if I had the stamina and discipline to write a book, before I believed what I hoped in my heart was true, that I was indeed a writer as much as I was a leadership coach and a storyteller.?

?I came to understand that a retreat is a time to press the pause on daily life and create a totally new daily experience. It is an intentional redesign of how we choose to spend our days, allowing us to imagine a lifestyle forwarding our creative expression with an abundant sense of time (this is the true treat). If you have ever asked yourself,?“What would it be like to spend my days nourishing my body, stimulating my senses, and expanding my sense of community through a deeper connection with self and others?”?—the answer is: Go on a retreat!

We don't have to go anywhere to press pause and create an opportunity for a total reset. You can do it in blocks of time in your day, or over many days. You can do it at home or at your friend's house, one town over or on the other side of the mountains. The thing is—the closer to your patterned routines you are, the clearer you need to be about how you are going to create the boundaries necessary to hold a sacred container for your focus during your time “away” from the usual hubbub of your day-to-day busy life.

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I go on retreat to?do less?and?be more, sinking deeper into a whole-bodied presence of what is right before me, and what is not.?I find the joy of retreating from the responsibilities and distractions of my life, taking a moment away from my beloved children and husband who I'll miss, and my clients, who I still think of when I’m away. But a break is good. Stillness, for those chronic doers, like me (and maybe you too), is medicine for the soul.

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Those are all the typical reasons one goes on retreat, but for me, this one was different. I read the description and I took it as a sign I needed to be on this trip. And just like that, within a day, I signed up, a whole year in advance! My decision was less?choice?and more?instinct. I just knew this trip was for me. I knew because two women authors and writing teachers I deeply admire, Natalie Serber and Lidia Yuknavitch, were co-leading the retreat. Synchronicity! The pieces were arranged for me by the Universe, so obviously, I had to go. I heeded the call and signed right up.

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I have come to trust these urges as important downloads of truth coming through my body, moving me into action before my brain catches the logic of all of it.?Heart-led living. I trust my body to know best. I have worked consciously to deepen my connection to my intuition through my daily writing practice and personal development work. By calling in all the available wisdom of my body, mind, and spirit to weigh in on important decisions, I am better able to make choices that I find engaging, fulfilling, and deeply resonant, allowing me to feel whole, expressed, and alive.?

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After all,?we are spiritual beings having human experience.?We don’t have to know?exactly?what we get in exchange for our choice of commitment, we just have to trust ourselves to know what we feel is best for what we want and who we are becoming.

Inquiry

Here's an inquiry for you to ponder on this month:

How do you create a retreat space at home? If you had a full weekend away from responsibilities, what would you like to feel? What would you spend your time doing?

Commitments

Write a stream-of-consciousness response to these questions:

Imagine designing your own retreat that re-aligns you to your best self. Where would it be? What kinds of things would you like to spend time doing?

Remember

The demands of daily life, working, and parenting can feel like centrifugal forces pulling you out of alignment to what you feel is most nourishing of your mind, body, and spirit. Take time to reconnect to yourself and your values.

Be there for yourself, for those you love, and for the vision that aligns you with your work in the world.

xo,

Katie

?#alignment?#valuesmatter?#wellbeing?#vision?#wholeness?#leadershipcoachingforwomen