Coming back from what seemed a very relaxing two week holiday somewhere nice and idyllic, finding yourself at the office, thinking: did I go on a holiday this year?
Stress levels are up, kids to school, everyone back into the rhytm of daily life and the feeling of bluh arises again…
I think I need a holiday… sounds familiar?
Very different from what retreat participants tell us about the lasting effects of a retreat!
The fading vacation effect
The vacation effect of normal holidays is really short.
Depending on the number of emails you received while you were away, you might have a feeling of overwhelm on the very first day already. And by the end of your first week, you wonder if you skipped the summer holidays this year as you already feel so tired.
The beneficial effects usually fade out within two weeks or even less. Lots of people feel sluggish after just a week of being back at work. Pushing themselves way too hard to catch up.
How retreats are different: the lasting effects of a retreat
A one-week retreat experience is nothing like your usual holiday and the effects are also very different.
For one, research has shown that, especially meditation retreats, can lead to substantial improvements in multiple dimensions of health and well-being, with many improvements being maintained for months.
Ranging from better sleep to having a completely different relationship with stress, your overall state of mind changes for the better on retreats.
One of the retreat participants recently mentioned that a retreat is a far better idea for some employees than yet another training. Long lasting health effects and people get more efficient and productive!
Connection
A meditation retreat is a unique opportunity to unplug and literally retreat from daily life and all it’s obligations and must’s.
With daily yoga and meditation, your body-mind connection is restored or deepened and you will truly get in touch with yourself again.
You will learn specific breathing techniques, eat healthy and the mindset coaching will show you where you are ‘in your own way’.
There is enough free time to explore the area, there will be walks and inspiring talks.
A meditation retreat is a powerful way to make permanent changes.
And this is why there are lasting long term effects that normal holidays do not have.
There will be an increased sense of mindfulness in just about everything you do and the term ‘conscious and intentional living’ will make a lot of sense to you. It will make you more efficient at any and all tasks.
Typical MBSR excercises like the 10 finger gratude will become a daily practise, something you will want to continue doing at home. You will create lasting habits that serve you and you have the opportunity to drop certain behaviours that do not serve you any longer.
There is time for yourself, to do exactly that what is needed. To figure out what you need, for yourself, from others.
Meditation and Yoga
As a meditation expert, I love sharing the love for meditation. I do so in a way that feels light and accessible. Meditation is an incredibly powerful tool to deal with stress and to keep your emotions balanced but lots of brains will resist the practise at first.
Teaching meditation to beginners for over a decade now, made me understand where people drop out and how to get you hooked. A retreat environment is of course the perfect place to learn, experiment and enjoy the many benefits of meditation.
Noticing on the spot how your relationship with yourself and others changes, just because you are more conscious of your thoughts. There is time to investigate feelings, emotions and reactions, something that is rare in daily life.
Through meditation and practises like yoga nidra, you will be able to release tension that has been stuck for a very long time. You will sleep better and feel more in tune with your body and nature. Those are typically lasting effects of a retreat.
Find Your Retreat
3 options when you’re looking for a retreat in 2024!
There’s the Relax and Recharge Retreat in Morocco, near Marrakech from October 12-19.
This retreat has it all: combining culture and hiking, silence, amazing food and the incredible vibe of a North African country. Everything you can think of will be included in your retreat package and you will feel safe 100% of the time.
Rather go to Italy? Why not join the Pure in Puglia Retreat from November 2-8!
Puglia is nothing like the rest of Italy. It is so robust and authentic, you would think you’re in a completely different country. The colors are amazing, the air is pure, and this retreat will bring you back to what really matters. There is lots of time for walking, contemplation and simply ‘being’. It is so rare for us to be able to slow down but when the environment is perfect, you might just never want to leave.
And for a memorable Christmas experience under the sun, there’s the annual Christmas Yoga Retreat in Morocco from December 20-27. Far away from the hustle and bustle of the holidays, you will thoroughly enjoy a week for yourself to fully recharge your batteries.
In 2025, Revealing Vajra will offer three kinds of retreats: either focused on meditation, silence or Adventure.
Yoga is still a part of every retreat but it will not be the most important thing on the schedule. Daily yoga asana (the movements) is a practise to connect body and mind, something that is almost obvious so we decided to step awy from the ‘yoga retreat’ label.
Meditation Retreats
If you have always wanted to learn how to meditate, this is your retreat.
In a gentle way, you will learn different techniques and understand fully what meditation is all about. All questions will be answered and you can be sure that you will know how to ‘quiet that mind of yours’ after a week.
This will all happen in a safe and secure environment with likeminded people who are all on the same journey.
Silence Retreats
3 and 5 days of noble silence in locations that are absolutely perfect to just be in.
Daily guided meditations, silent meditations, yoga classes, lectures and lots of walking are on the schedule. A silent retreat is truly the best way to fully reset.
This is not vipassana, there’s no guru involved and the only real rule is to keep the silence.
In fact, there is a daily schedule but you can build your own experience. There is full permission to rest a lot, to slow down and to be fully yourself.
Flex Your Mind Adventure Retreats
Once in a lifetime experiences that require you to flex your mind!
Hiking up a 4167 meter mountain is not an easy thing to do. Your mind and body will struggle at some point, however fit you may be.
Walking in the Moroccan desert for three days is incredible, at the same time, there will be sand in places we do not talk about…
And still, mind over matter in all these adventures as you will make it.
Meditation will be an essential part of these journeys to experience how much stronger we are than we think. When we think we are at our absolute limit, in most cases, we’re just at 50%…
Back home
When you return home from a retreat, you will be a different person.
You will have transformed your relationship with yourself and others.
You will feel the lasting effects of a retreat.
More information about the Revealing Vajra Retreats is on the website
About the author
Rachel Bonkink is an experienced meditation teacher, a certified mindset coach and she very successfully organised and hosted over 100 worldwide yoga and silence retreats.
For the past 13 years, Revealing Vajra is the standard for amazing retreats.
Her book, Flex Your Mind, talks about the yoga philosophy and how to bring that into your daily life.
Sinds 2021, Rachel teaches meditation to cancer patients. And companies like the European Commission, Sanofi and Bayzat regularly ask her to organise workshops on mental wellbeing.
In a previous (working) life, Rachel was an operational director for a medical market research company in Belgium. After 4 years in Morocco and 9 months in Dubai, Portugal is now home. For workshops and meditations in English, Dutch and French, visit www.rachelbonkink.com
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