How to Create your own Home Retreat and Taking Care of your Wellbeing.

-

 What is a Home Retreat


Think of the days you feel overwhelmed, stressed, over emotional or just not coping well. You feel that escape is your only option. A regular home retreat is a coping mechanism, a place to get away or a place for just you. This is your own space where you can lose yourself, sit with your thoughts and explore your feelings. 

The practice of yoga and meditation are self care routines but your home retreat is just a step further. This is the next level of self care to really nurture yourself with love and kindness. This is something we normally put on the back burner for another day.

I quite often spare a few hours or a whole day if I can find the time, to dedicate to my home retreat. There is some preparation involved and some thoughts to process to prepare yourself for your retreat. I have some pointers to share with you and a free PDF home retreat schedule to encourage you to make this a regular practice.

Home Retreat - Set Your Intention

Firstly you will need to set an intention. Why are you creating a home retreat? Take time to think about this and focus on your intention. There are many reasons why you want to take time for yourself and to feel some kind of calm and tranquility. 

  • Do you feel the need to rest and recharge
  • Do you feel you want to 'let go' of emotions and deep routed feelings
  • Do you want to find an emotional balance
  • Do you need to de-stress and calm the mind

  • Do you want to have a completely relaxing occasion 

Think about what you hope to gain from this experience? Perhaps you want to rediscover yourself by sitting with your thoughts or maybe to feel some freedom from interference and focus on yourself?

Home Retreat Preparations


There are a few preparations to make before you open your home retreat. 

The night before your retreat make sure you have printed out your retreat schedule and your intentions for the day. Save all the links for your meditations and yoga practices so you don't start hunting for them online. Turn off apps and notifications and think of any distractions you have during your normally daily routines that can be postponed or switched off.

Prepare your food for the following day. Food prepping is important as you want to make time to eat mindfully and enjoy your meals. 

Prepare a quiet space and make it cosy and comfortable. Cushions, candles and flowers can make an area very snug and restful. Always have a blanket close by so that during a meditation you can stay warm.

Home Retreat - Schedule



Home Retreat FREE PDF - Click Here

Now you are ready to really enjoy your Home Retreat. You have a cosy corner or you have set an ambience in a quiet location without distractions. You have set your intentions with a moment to reflect upon your experience. Your food is prepared and you have saved your links for your meditations and yoga practices. This is now your time to enjoy your home retreat. 

The PDF is my schedule and a home retreat that I practice regularly. You can change the times of the schedule if you wish. Personally, I am a night person, so waking early would not be beneficial to me. If you are a morning person and enjoy this time of the day, you will be better with an early rise. I know people that like to start their home retreats at 5am. 

This home retreat schedule has links to meditations and yoga sessions that I really enjoy. The sessions between these practices are filled with activities I love to do, such as writing, walking and reading. 

The whole idea of a Home Retreat is to guide all the activities and meditations towards your intentions. For example if your intentions are to calm your mind from disruptive and negative thinking then maybe you could choose meditations that encourage you to focus on your breathing and mindful walking to keep your mind occupied on the activities you are doing.

Home Retreats and Meditations

If you haven't meditated before, please do not worry. There is no wrong or right way to meditate. It is like any other activity we do to make ourselves a better person. It takes practice.

To lose weight, you have to diet and eat healthier. This is not easy, it takes time and preparation to achieve weight loss. If you want to be fitter and stronger, you need to exercise. Again, this is not easy, you have to dedicate time and energy to a new exercise routine.

Meditation is a practice and to feel the full benefits you need to meditate regularly and make it part of a daily ritual. Meditation is for self-care and wellness and a healthy habit to practice. 

There is a fabulous FREE app that you can download from the Medito Foundation. The Medito Foundation believes that mindfulness meditation helps improve mental wellbeing. They provide these meditations for free so that everyone can benefit. There are tutorials to help you feel comfortable whilst sitting during your meditations. They also give you guidance if you are a beginner to this practice.

Meditations I enjoy

Here are a few more Meditations that I use regularly and thoroughly enjoy.

Breathing Meditation with Music by Dr Itai Ivtzan  This is a beautiful meditation

"Itai Ivtzan is a positive psychologist, an associate professor at Naropa University, and an honorary senior research associate at University College London. He has spent much time studying, writing books and teaching classes in the field of meditation."

I am a Mindful Meditation Teacher and I gained my accredited practitioners certificate by studying this subject through the School of Positive Transformation. Dr Itai Ivtzan is the founder and Director of this school to which I received most of my guidance and knowledge. 

Daily Calm - 10 minute Mindful Meditation - Be Present

Daily Calm has an app to help you develop your meditations into a daily practice. Their mission is to make the world a happier and healthier place.

How to Meditate with Anxiety A meditation to work with anxiety and stress - by Bob Stahl

©HealthyForeverFitnessMotivation

I hope you enjoyed this article.

 
Never miss out on future posts by Following me 

You will receive an email alert every time I publish a new article. This will bring you up to date on all things "healthy" that you need to achieve optimal health. This is my hobby and I love to share with you all the things I learn through my ongoing studies and the things I experience to make life a calm, healthy and peaceful adventure

If you are a little unsure about following me then please see a little bit more about me or check out my Tumblr Blog 

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Is Circuit Training the Best Class for all-round Fitness?

-
Image
  What is a Circuit Class? As a Class instructor and personal trainer I am often asked “What is the best class for fitness and weight loss?” My answer will always be circuits. The reason for this is a good circuit class will incorporate strength training, cardio fitness and core strength. The class “ punches a packet” when it comes to a full body workout and cardio health. The big bonus comes with the diversity and variety of this class. I do hear many of my clients say that strength training is boring or they hate cardio and core workouts. But by putting all these 3 elements into one circuit class it adds a bit more gusto to your workout and adds a little more interest. A circuit class makes for a quick and efficient workout with major results. How does a Circuit Class Work? A general circuit class will give you a full body workout, plus cardio, plus core strengthening exercises. Some circuit classes can be set to a specific discipline such as football or boxing to help improve perfor
Read more

7. Why Strength Training is a Must as we Age

-
Image
  Lifting for Longevity  Why is it important to lift weights? Apart from building strong muscles, the benefits include burning body fat, strengthening joints and bones, reducing the risk of injury and improving heart health. To lift safely, it is very important to start slowly, take rest days and make sure that you are lifting with good posture (form). Two or three 20 to 30 minute strength sessions every week can result in significant health benefits. Increased Muscle mass: Our muscle mass decreases drastically as we age and strength training can help to reverse this natural tendency. Strong Bones: Strength training increases bone density and helps prevent fractures Joint Flexibility: Lifting weights keeps our joints supple and can help prevent the onset of arthritis Weight Control: As we build more muscle, our bodies burn calories a lot easier enabling us to maintain or lose weight. Improves Balance: Strengthening exercises increase flexibility and balance, preventing falls and redu
Read more

The Best Youtube Home Workouts

-
Image
  Youtube Home Workouts I like to mix up my workouts from gym training to HIIT's to resistance band workouts. When you are short of time and a visit to your local exercise class isn't an option, then a homework will fit the bill perfectly.  At the moment we do not have a choice of course, but once normality returns and we are working longer hours, don't use the excuse of 'being too tired' or 'having no time' to exercise. Home workouts are instant, come in all shapes and sizes and available at the touch of a button..........and accessible anytime of the day or night.  I have been instructing classes online during this lockdown with my  private facebook group  members and it has been a lot of fun.  We have had gym sessions, strength training and circuit classes. My group members have done really well and are reaping the benefits of keeping active during these uncertain times. Staying active at any age, will help you live a healthier and happier life. Exercis
Read more