this has become an essential practice for me: to reflect, breathe, refresh. 1-3 nights at a time.
My view: we are better—for ourselves and everyone—when we take meaningful, nourishing pauses.
A couple features of my retreats
– changing my location: go somewhere different, outside of the usual rhythms of life. It doesn’t have to be fancy.
– no phone! — be as disconnected as possible.
– notebooks and pens for lots of journaling
– Walks. I try to get (safely) lost — whether in an unfamiliar town or down a forested trail, I like going somewhere I’ve never gone without knowing where I’m going. You should of course be safe—carry along some pepper gel for peace of mind.
– silence / just, nothing / no inputs, no outputs
– meditation
– books. Often I’ll bring a couple dozen, since I don’t know where the muse will take me, but most of them sit unopened.
– an unhurried approach — being disconnected from phone-driven urgency helps