It seems that in recent times it has become fashionable to make a spiritual retreat, temporarily withdraw from the urban routine to recharge that positive energy that we are losing due to personal conflicts, economic crises, work problems… But what is exactly? Why do so many people decide to enjoy this experience? All the answers in today’s article.
What is a spiritual retreat?
Some people define a spiritual retreat as a physical absence, a break with daily reality to delve into our feelings, our emotions, our soul… But paraphrasing the French philosopher Georges Gusdorf, we prefer to say that a spiritual retreat is not an absence, but an encounter personal with that part of ourselves that remains hidden and silent most of the time, that part of the emotions and sensations that conditions our physical well-being for better… and for worse.
But, in addition, the words spiritual retreat make us think of a mystical or religious experience, a period of time in which a person temporarily withdraws from the world and their daily routine to pray, meditate, etc. That is one definition of spiritual retreat, but it is not the only one. Withdrawing from the world is not exclusive to believers or people with mystical concerns, but rather a vital experience of rest, meditation, reflection and energy recharge that all of us should enjoy at least once a year.
From this point of view, we see that there are many ways to make a retreat: dedicate a few days to live with monks or nuns in a monastery participating in their faith activities, participate in reflection groups and transcendental meditation, enjoy a few days of rest contacting nature in a Life Reset program, etc. All these types of retreats are valid as long as they reach their goal: to find peace, emotional balance and the feeling of well-being that we have lost in our life path.
Why do a spiritual retreat?
At the end of the previous section, we have already noted the main reason for devoting time, budget and energy to making a spiritual retreat: to recover the lost balance between mind and body, between emotions and sensations. But there are more reasons that can encourage you to try this type of experience, reasons as powerful as the following two:
Put your ideas in order
A common feature of any type of spiritual retreat is silence, meditation and introspection. Through different mental exercises, the subject delves into his inner self to organize the different rooms that make up his mental home. This guided reflection exercise helps anyone to order their ideas, identify their needs or desires, categorize their priorities… In short: putting in order the mental chaos that we sometimes carry is an excellent reason to encourage us to enjoy a retreat spiritual.
Appreciate the positive in our lives
In the same way that a physical trip to a disadvantaged country helps us to value more and better the daily comforts that we enjoy in our home, an internal trip to our emotions -a spiritual retreat- helps us to really value the positive sensations that surround us, our family ties, the love for our partner, the pleasure of good company… Traveling physically helps us to get to know the world in order to value our own; Traveling emotionally through a spiritual retreat helps us to know our interior to value all the positive sensations that we deserve as good people.
Let’s say you can consider a spiritual retreat as an alternative vacation, do you sign up for the idea?
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