A silent retreat can be truly transformational and healing. With the right guidance, it can you give insights in your feelings and make it clear why you do the things you do.
Zooming in on this subtle feeling that there is something missing for example.
This overwhelming feeling of lack, of absence, …
Is this feeling really inherent in our being?
Or, is it possible that we’re blinded in today’s comparison-obsessed world that most people simply can’t see what is really there already?
A silent retreat will show you what is really there.
Or, it will at least make you wonder if it is possible that the fulfillment that you seek so desperately could be right in front of you. It will make it clear that there is nothing else to seek for, except more peace of mind with what is.
So many people have this powerful sense of pressure to continuously achieve more, that by the end of the day, they might realize that they are chasing dreams that were never theirs in the first place!
Or, they have been so busy achieving that when ‘all is reached’; they feel utterly lost and get this feeling of ‘missing something’ all over again. Wondering if this is really ‘it’? If this is how the world turns.
On a silent retreat, we create the space to take an honest look at what is and what isn’t working in our lives. We create a loving and safe environment where we can observe our mind, body and soul.
There is an incredible well of joy and light inside of us but in our noisy and busy technology based society, most people simply can’t tap into it. On a silent retreat, we create quiet time to touch on exactly that, to rejuvenate your life.
“You are that which you are looking for and what you need to do, is to stop and to be still. “
We tend to look for answers outside of ourselves. Some search in spirituality or religion; others turn to drugs or volunteering work or traveling as far away as we can. But, what we are really looking for is not to be found outside of ourselves.
Deep down, we know that our thoughts of emptiness or neediness or discontentment are not serving us but we feel helpless in countering them.
That’s why the first thing that we do on a silent retreat is to simply observe the stream of thoughts and to connect with our bodies. This way, we can get in touch with how we really feel and notice the quality of our inner chatter.
Just observe
Some people are physically exhausted when they arrive and they are simply too tired to observe anything. Their silent retreat mainly consists of good sleep, maybe something they haven’t had in a long time. Simply noticing how tired the body is, and giving it what it truly needs instead of once more pushing it beyond it’s limits, is a major accomplishment for many people.
After a very short while, we sometimes observe just how violent our thoughts are, mainly towards ourselves. There is usually a constant stream of critique to basically every move you make. Noticing and deciding to give yourself a break from the judging and critique for a while can feel massively liberating.
When we take the time to zoom in on the quality of our mind chatter, we can start our healing.
As our thoughts, create the world we live in.
When we focus on the negative aspects in life, more negativity will come in. And, when we focus on the positive, more positive will come in. Ridiculously simple but this is so true.
After a while of settling into the silence and into your meditations, you will touch on that little Spark inside of you. There are many words to use but Spark has my preference today as it is a Spark of Lightness, a Spark of Joy and Stillness. When we connect to this Spark, we simply know that everything to be content, is already there.
This reconnecting feeling, combined with the knowledge that we can control our thoughts, because we can, will rejuvenate us beyond anything else.
You are super creative!
Sometimes we forget that we are super creative beings. Yes, we are all incredibly creative! After all, we have the immense ability to create our own thoughts! We all create between 30.000 and about 65.000 thoughts, per day, every day, that’s a lot of thoughts!
And, if WE create these thoughts, that must mean that WE are in control of them…
Consequently, that means that we are in control of the speed, and the direction of our thoughts as well.
The more you understand this and the more you practice this, the easier it becomes to choose your thoughts, or at least get a grip on them.
And, on a silent retreat, we create the safest environment to practice. We experiment with the power of silence and experience it’s healing power. There can be yoga to prepare us to sit still and to connect with our bodies but the silence will be the most important element.
This way, you can rediscover your own treasures and incorporate them more in your daily life afterwards.
As the world can use more people who are calm instead of restless. People who’s only intention is love and being kind, no matter what. Who prefer seeing the positive instead of the negative. Who trust themselves and the flow of life. And, who are not being thrown off by little things that don’t go the way they want them to go.
We can’t always change the situations that we find ourselves in, but we can change our reaction to them. Many brilliant authors have written about this. Main thing is to put it into practice. And, a silent retreat might just be the best way to get kick-started.
If you are interested in a silent retreat or want to read more about the benefits, check out my site .
Namaste,
Rachel
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