Retreats, retreats, retreats! This has been my life in a nutshell over the previous 12 months. In 2022, I traveled over 5 months of the 12 months and went on 10 retreats world wide. These journeys coated every little thing from private {and professional} improvement to well being and health. I desire these sorts of immersive, group-travel experiences over every other trip. Right here’s why.
Retreats are all about progress: mentally, emotionally, bodily, and spiritually. You’ll study the significance of self-awareness, the ability of mindfulness and meditation, the impression of optimistic considering and angle, and the advantages of setting clear intentions and making a imaginative and prescient on your life.
With a mixture of interactive workshops, group actions, and particular person reflection time, retreats are designed that can assist you achieve a brand new understanding of your self and your home on the earth.
Think about your self in a paradise of lush surroundings, surrounded by like-minded people all on the same journey of self discovery. With a workforce of specialists to information you thru the method, you’ll escape the day by day grind and get to deal with your self and your well-being.
In 2023, there’s no higher time to embark on this internal journey of exploration. The world wants good leaders. The world wants extra mild, laughter, and love. Via retreat experiences like these, you’ll not solely change your self, but additionally the world round you.
Prepared for an journey that can change your life and allow you to develop into the very best model of your self? When you’re seeking to push your self out of your consolation zone, achieve new views, and are available out feeling rejuvenated and refreshed, then be part of me in exploring this thrilling world of non-public improvement and mindset retreats.
Listed below are some key classes and takeaways from my 10+ retreats over the previous 12 months!
1. If you wish to be joyful, don’t be afraid to precise your self
That is the important thing to residing a contented life. It might appear easy, however the actuality is that most individuals will not be residing their lives in an genuine means. Many are afraid to precise themselves (together with their feelings, beliefs & needs) for concern of judgement and rejection from others. They’re afraid to be foolish and weak. Fuck that – that is no solution to stay. Having to put on a masks day-after-day carries an amazing quantity of weight and results in pointless struggling.
Expressing your self authentically is a breath of contemporary air. It provides your soul a voice and likewise permits you to be true to your self. Think about with the ability to communicate your thoughts with out concern of judgement, with the ability to present your true colours with out concern of rejection. It’s like having a weight lifted off your shoulders – it’s tremendous liberating!
Being genuine (and trustworthy) additionally lets you construct deeper, extra significant relationships. Once you’re capable of categorical your self authentically, others can get to know the REAL you and join on a deeper stage. Plus, if you’re true to your self, you entice individuals who additionally worth authenticity.
And let’s not overlook, expressing your self authentically may be numerous enjoyable! Once you’re true to your self, you’ll let your creativity and individuality shine. You’ll be able to faucet into your distinctive abilities, passions, and pursuits and use them to create one thing actually particular.
So, right here’s to authenticity and honesty. Let’s take a step in the direction of being true to ourselves, and embrace the liberty and pleasure that comes with expressing ourselves on this means. It’s time to let your true self shine!
2. Discover the enjoyable in all issues
Retreats have taught me the final word lesson in life: comply with your highest pleasure and pursue enjoyable and pleasure in any respect prices! In any case, if it ain’t enjoyable, it ain’t value it. Whether or not it’s a routine, behavior, or way of life change, if it doesn’t convey you pleasure and pleasure, it’s not sustainable in the long term.
Give it some thought – if you’re doing one thing you like, it doesn’t really feel like work. You’re so engaged and within the second, that point flies by and also you’re left feeling fulfilled and energized. However if you’re caught in a rut, dragging your self by means of a tedious process or a boring routine, it looks like an eternity.
Take train as an example. Whereas some individuals could not discover operating or weight lifting notably pleasing, there are numerous methods to make bodily health into one thing enjoyable. Join pickleball at an area health club, go mountain climbing with a gaggle of individuals, watch yoga movies on YouTube, or attempt mountaineering. I assure you’ll discover one thing on the market to make exercising enjoyable. When you haven’t but, then you definitely haven’t regarded exhausting sufficient.
That’s why it’s important to infuse your day by day life with actions and habits that convey you pleasure and pleasure. Whether or not it’s dancing round your front room, taking a hike in nature, doing enjoyable actions with pals, or studying an excellent ebook, be sure to’re doing issues that mild you up. And when you end up in a scenario the place it’s not enjoyable, ask your self, is that this sustainable for me? If the reply is not any, it’s time to make a change.
Life is simply too quick to be depressing and sad. So, take advantage of it and pursue your highest pleasure. By making enjoyable and pleasure the final word aim, you’ll thrive in each facet of your life.
3. Neighborhood is every little thing
Happening retreats has taught me the significance of group. On this digital age the place individuals desire Netflix over going out and dealing from residence fairly than in an workplace, it’s simple to stay in a solitary means. Nonetheless, it’s if you encompass your self with like-minded those who magic occurs.
Give it some thought – if you’re on a hike with pals, the journey up the mountain is a lot extra pleasing when you might have somebody to share the breathtaking views with. Equally, if you’re doing yoga with a gaggle, the vitality within the room is electrical and it helps you push your self additional than you’ll by yourself.
However it’s not nearly having enjoyable – being in a group additionally helps you study and develop in methods you by no means thought doable. Throughout a chilly immersion retreat I did in Iceland final 12 months, we spent our days doing chilly plunges in ice chilly rivers and lakes and mountain climbing to the highest of a mountain in only a bathing go well with. Evidently, it wasn’t simple! However doing this with a enjoyable and supportive group made this the super expertise that it was.
Once you’re in a gaggle, you’re additionally uncovered to totally different views and methods of considering. It helps you broaden your horizons and see issues from a special approach. Plus, if you’re going by means of a troublesome time, having a supportive group could make all of the distinction.
In 2023, I’ll proceed to hunt out alternatives for extra group journey experiences. I encourage you to do the identical!
4. We’re SO a lot stronger than we expect we’re
That is maybe my greatest takeaway from the previous 12 months. I didn’t study this from a ebook or YouTube video; I discovered this whereas pushing myself to my absolute limits throughout a Wim Hof retreat in Iceland.
From mountain climbing a snowcapped mountain in only a bathing go well with to leaping 9 meters into Europe’s coldest lake, I discovered my edge on this journey. I pushed past my fears and self-imposed limits and bought after it. Right here’s what I discovered:
As mammals, we had been born with a toolkit of highly effective psychological colleges and bodily skills. With the suitable mindset and constant effort, we will do just about something we set our minds to. This contains plunging into ice chilly water throughout the winter months.
After all, you don’t need to submerge your self in icy waters to beat your self, your fears, and your limiting beliefs. However rattling, does it work wonders. And I can’t think about a greater place than Iceland to just do that!
One other expertise that helped me discover my edge was Physique Camp Mallorca. Throughout my week at this world-class health retreat, I labored out for 3-4 hours every day. This helped me crush my limiting beliefs round how a lot day by day train my physique may deal with. Whereas relaxation and restoration are essential, I discovered that the physique will adapt to the workload irrespective of how difficult it’s.
Like anything in life, observe makes excellent. To unlock the deep layers of energy and energy that every of us possesses, it requires us to persistently problem ourselves and push our bodily and psychological limits.
There’s a lion inside you simply ready to be unleashed; retreats like these will allow you to discover ways to faucet into that vitality.
5. Setting boundaries and studying to say “no”
Studying to say “no” is the final word superpower. It provides you the flexibility to decide on what you let into your life and what you retain out. It’s not simple to set boundaries and communicate up for your self – however boy, is it essential. Retreats have helped me get there.
I spent the primary 28 years of my life as a individuals pleaser. I might usually decide to issues I didn’t need to do and spend time with individuals who drained my vitality. My aim was to be preferred by everybody, which put me at odds with myself. How are you going to stay life to your full potential if you’re giving all of your time and vitality to everybody however your self?
Retreats have given me the chance to observe these abilities, as they supply a secure and supportive surroundings to discover my limits and discover ways to talk them successfully.
And it’s not nearly saying “no” to exterior calls for – it’s additionally about setting limits by yourself self-imposed expectations. Moreover, saying “no” could be a type of self-care. It permits you to prioritize your individual wants and well-being, fairly than continuously placing others’ wants earlier than your individual.
Studying to say “no” may be tough at first, nevertheless it’s a ability that may be developed with observe. And the advantages are quite a few – if you set boundaries, you’ll have extra time and vitality for the issues that actually matter to you. You’ll even be extra prone to entice individuals and alternatives that align together with your values and targets. That is little doubt one of many greatest classes I’ve discovered whereas on retreats.
6. It’s SO essential to get clear in your private values and beliefs
Having a transparent understanding of your values and beliefs is like having a map or compass to information you in life. It lets you make choices that align with who you might be and what you stand for. It additionally lets you set targets which are in alignment together with your values and beliefs, and to stay a life that’s true to your self. Plus, if you’re clear in your values and beliefs, it’s simpler to acknowledge and say no to issues that don’t align with them.
Retreats have given me alternatives to get crystal clear on what my core values and beliefs are. This may be fairly an intentional train – requiring you to dive deep into unconscious patterns and routine behaviors.
Understanding your private values
To get clear in your core values, begin by asking your self these questions:
– What are the values that form your life and your day by day choices?
– Are you pleased with them, and if not, what values would you prefer to embrace as an alternative?
It’s simple to make an inventory of values and fill them with buzzwords like love, exhausting work, management, and gratitude. However with out defining what these values imply to you, they carry little worth.
Listed below are a few of my core values and what they imply to me – taken from my pocket book in the course of the Stay Life Activated Retreat in Costa Rica:
- Authenticity: Letting my coronary heart information my life. Being actual with myself and others
- Boldness: Getting after it it doesn’t matter what
- Excessive vitality: Bringing pleasure and excessive vibes to every little thing I do
- Curiosity: Having a ardour to continuously study and develop
- Freedom: Being to do what I need every time I need for my highest good
- Neighborhood: Prioritizing time spent with individuals who encourage me. Deeply connecting with others – bodily, mentally, and emotionally
- Journey: At all times in search of out new experiences
- Enjoyable: Prioritizing play, laughing, and fooling around day-after-day
- Religion: Deeply understanding that it doesn’t matter what occurs in my life, every little thing will work out for me
As you may see, these aren’t textbook definitions of core values. Every of those phrases and their meanings got here immediately from my coronary heart fairly than my thoughts or a dictionary. You don’t need to sound rehearsed or polished if you’re arising together with your private values. In any case, they need to be pure (and particular) to you!
As well as, as a part of this train on core values, it’s essential to make a distinction between your required values and the way you might be displaying up proper now. For instance, many individuals worth authenticity, however how usually are they really residing this manner? The extra trustworthy you might be about this, the simpler you’ll be on this train.
Understanding your beliefs
Upon getting a stable understanding of your core values, it’s essential to get clear in your perception techniques. Ask your self – what are the beliefs which are at the moment serving you AND are holding you again?
Most individuals spend their complete lives with out considering or altering their beliefs. They simply persist with what they know – consuming content material that reinforces their opinions and discovering like-minded individuals who make them really feel secure and unchallenged. I’m not simply speaking about subjects like politics or faith, by the best way. That is about all your perception techniques (primarily unconscious) that dictate your ideas, actions, and behaviors each single day.
One set of beliefs that I’ve essentially shifted over the previous years are my beliefs about misery. Like everybody else, I used to hunt consolation and ease. I cherished staying in my consolation zone, giving excuses for why I wasn’t attaining sure issues, and avoiding excessive ranges of bodily and psychological stress. I additionally did every little thing to keep away from emotions of concern and nervousness. Now, I search out difficult conditions on a regular basis – doing chilly immersion, exhausting exercises, and retreats regularly. What’s modified?
I didn’t get up sooner or later and have this big awakening second. It took numerous intentional, incremental adjustments in my habits over time to alter the best way I present up in life. I absolutely settle for that typically life will suck, however I get to decide on how I need to present up regardless. By selecting to hunt out discomfort day-after-day, it makes the unplanned challenges appear means much less scary.
Simply bear in mind – life is a journey and it takes time to impact change. Don’t sweat the main points and set arbitrary deadlines for attaining your targets. Simply make progress day-after-day, irrespective of how large or small. That’s adequate. Benefit from the journey!
7. Get out of your thoughts and into your coronary heart
One of many greatest classes I’ve discovered over the previous 12 months is that the thoughts is a good servant, however a horrible chief. Once you lead with the thoughts, you let unconscious biases cloud your judgment and speak you out of issues which are essential to you.
I’m not saying that you must forgo the thoughts utterly. No – I’m not that a lot of a hippie. Completely use this unimaginable psychological school that you’ve, however use it as a device for attaining your coronary heart’s needs fairly than let it management you.
When you usually end up fastidiously planning issues that you simply say and do, then you might be working from the headspace fairly than the coronary heart house. If you end up speaking about stuff you “need to” or “have to” do, then you definitely’re main from the thoughts. Although I’m tremendous acutely aware of it now, I nonetheless discover myself hanging out extra within the thoughts than I would love. It’s a-okay although…we’re all human!
On all my retreats, I’ve discovered many highly effective methods to open up the center. Listed below are a few of them beneath:
Coronary heart-opening workouts
- Meditation: Practising meditation might help you to quiet your thoughts and join together with your coronary heart. It could additionally allow you to to achieve perception into your ideas and emotions, and to develop better self-awareness.
- Conscious respiration: Focusing in your breath might help you to shift your consideration out of your ideas to coronary heart. It could additionally allow you to to calm your thoughts and cut back stress. Chilly immersion, which requires conscious respiration, is among the finest methods for me to maneuver from the thoughts to the center.
- Gratitude journaling: Writing down stuff you’re grateful for might help you open the center house. It could additionally allow you to to attach together with your internal self and to precise your self authentically.
- Yoga or different bodily practices: Yoga, dancing or different bodily practices might help you to attach together with your coronary heart and the remainder of your physique. It could additionally allow you to to launch stress and to achieve a better sense of internal peace. Kundalini yoga is one in all my favourite coronary heart openers.
- Nature walks: Spending time in nature might help you to attach together with your coronary heart, feelings, and emotions. It could additionally allow you to to achieve perspective and really feel grounded.
- Artistic expression: Partaking in artistic actions resembling drawing, writing, music, might help you to attach together with your increased self. It could additionally allow you to to precise your self authentically and to achieve better self-awareness.
- Conscious listening: Take heed to others attentively, specializing in their phrases and feelings. In doing so, your coronary heart will open as a facet product.
With regards to residing a satisfying and genuine life, working from the center house is the best way to go! It permits you to join together with your feelings and emotions, to make choices that align with who you might be, and to construct deeper, extra significant relationships.
So, let’s quiet the thoughts and hearken to our hearts. It’s time to stay authentically and in alignment with our values and beliefs. It’s time to let our hearts information us on this journey of self-discovery and progress. Don’t simply assume…really feel (and stay) from the center!
Why you must embark on a journey of non-public improvement proper now
People had been meant to be robust, joyful, and wholesome. Our our bodies – which embrace trillions of cells, muscle mass, tissues, and organs – had been designed to hold us by means of the most important trials and tribulations in life. We weren’t meant to spend most of our time indoors and on the sofa, consuming junk meals and worrying about petty issues. The world proper now’s stuffed with concern, weak point, and victimhood, nevertheless it doesn’t need to be that means.
Within the journey forward, you might have two choices: (1) to hunt out consolation day-after-day or (2) to hunt out challenges and alternatives. When you select possibility one, life received’t be simple. The world is a troublesome place, even brutal place at instances. If you wish to pursue consolation and ease, you’ll be left with nervousness and melancholy – if not now, sometime sooner or later when life will get robust (it all the time does). Life received’t be simple with possibility 2, both. However within the course of, you’ll go on adventures. You’ll study, develop, and sharpen your abilities. Life goes to throw loopy shit your means, however you’ll be ready to face them.
There’s an outdated Dutch proverb that claims tall bushes catch a lot of the wind. By selecting a path of private improvement and transformation, you’ll face adversity. However additionally, you will achieve the ability and energy to resist no matter life throws your means, and impact significant change on the earth within the course of.
If you wish to change the world, all of it begins with your self.
– Plenty of love, Jon
