Why Retreats?

I found this article on a site called Q Spirit by Christian de la Huerta and wanted to share it with you as we prepare and consider the January retreat at Windwalker Ranch

Why Retreat?
Posted by christian on November 9, 2007, 11:36 am

Too often we get so captivated by the busyness and hecticness of daily living that we forget to reference our deeper, intuitive selves. ..

The benefits of a retreat are manifold: relaxation, rest, healing, reconnecting with oneself. The opportunity to go within enables access to deeper answers and allows us to get distance and perspective from the circumstances of our lives.
Why Retreat?

Too often we get so captivated by the busyness and hecticness of daily living that we forget to reference our deeper, intuitive selves. TV can be entertaining as well as educational, but it can also be a distraction, deflecting self-reflection. Our relationships with lovers, family, friends and co-workers likewise provide the juice that makes life worth living and the necessary friction out of which growth ensues. Yet, they too can be a diversion from the inner journey, where the potential for maximum fulfillment lies.

The benefits of a retreat are manifold: relaxation, rest, healing, reconnecting with oneself. The opportunity to go within enables access to deeper answers and allows us to get distance and perspective from the circumstances of our lives.

Retreats afford the opportunity to reassess the direction our lives are taking, and to make the necessary course corrections.

The word "retreat" comes form the Latin meaning to "draw back." In spiritual retreats we withdraw from the "real" world – from surface living – and enter the deeper inner realms. For most of us the inner journey is an adventure that remains vastly uncharted and unexplored.

Going within

One of the constants found among most spiritual traditions is the importance of going within.
Jesus is said to have said: "the Kingdom of God is within you." "If human beings knew their own inner secrets, they would never look elsewhere seeking for happiness and peace," asserts a Sufi master. A well known Wiccan prayer ends with: "And you who seek to know Me, know that your seeking and yearning will avail you not, unless you know the Mystery: for if that which you seek, you find not within yourself, you will never find it without." The whole thrust of Buddhist or Hindu meditation is to quiet the mind and delve inside.

Retreats, especially those that include time for silence, make possible the temporary quieting of the constant inner chatter which Buddhists call the "monkey mind." Our thoughts are compared to monkeys randomly jumping from branch to branch.

Types of retreats

Among the many types of retreats are meditation, yoga, and breathwork. Retreats can be solitary or in groups, guided or not. Camping for a few days alone in nature could be profoundly centering, healing and inspiring. Most people choose to join more structured settings, where they feel supported by a facilitator and a group of like-minded others, all sharing a similar purpose. Some choose to rent a secluded house or other venue and hire a leader to facilitate their friends or colleagues in a variety of experiences to deepen their connection to themselves and each other.

Generally, participants are then inspired to go without once again, and re-engage the world as integrated human beings making a real difference.

Below are some retreat opportunities coming up during the next few months.

I hope that you will take some time for yourself and dive deep into your own inner journey.