Updated February 27, 2022
Weekend retreats are just great. Getting away from your responsibilities, the phone, the devices, the social whirlwind, is a nice reset for your body and mind. The relaxation response has time to fully express itself, the hormones wind down, the muscles change from rock to softness, your neck and shoulders relax. Puts your life in perspective. All these things that seem so important, well….you realize you are ok and all of our modern trappings don’t make the person. Good for your body, mind and soul. Do you wish you could reset more often? Yes, those weekend retreats are quite a commitment of time and money.
You can create a nice DIY Wellness Retreat in your own home. Some planning ahead helps you focus so that your weekend can be a haven where you are a human “being” in your home instead of a human “doing”.
One month ahead
Yes, that far ahead!
I know it sounds a bit, um, stressful...to begin planning for your relaxation weekend so far ahead. But think about it. Spontaneity sounds good, but if you want to have a weekend (or a day!) to yourself and...your place is a mess and there is no food and there are piles of work all over....will you really be able to spontaneously relax? Hmm, you'll probably be answering emails and feeling stressed about the piles of stuff that needs doing!
Planning ahead will give your space to think about what you want to achieve and what helps you unplug and recharge. Just brainstorm ideas and on paper and then choose what is realistic and what fits into your budget.
Plan the date: Start thinking about when you can fit into your DIY Weekend Wellness Retreat in. Look at your calendar and pick out two days you’d like to devote to your well being.
Block that weekend out and guard it from social gatherings. If there is someone you really want to see, then create another date for them. I know how easy it is to say yes and to not want to be left out of things! You’ve decided to devote some time to your well being, so stick to it!
Plan to not spend: Are you going to set aside some money for a massage, a body treatment or reflexology for that weekend? Want to keep it real affordable? Then pass on that bodywork for now. Take a warm bath instead.
Plan relaxing activities: Do you want to plan a yoga class and time for meditation? A hike in nature?
Plan food: Will you fast or eat very simply for the weekend. eating just fruits and vegetables?
Spirituality: Will you attend spiritual services?
If I had a whole weekend to recharge and I wanted to keep costs down, I’d brainstorm like this:
Splurge on a massage. I carry my stress in my body. Bodywork reduces body tension and with less muscular tension, I feel better, my mood improves and I think more clearly.
Eat simply, going vegan or pescatarian. I do eat meat, but sparingly. During a retreat, I want to eat mindfully and use whole foods that my body can use. I also fulfill my desire to help the planet by going meatless for one day.
Plan time for a walk in nature with my dogs for the benefits of forest bathing.
Take time to give myself a restorative mud facial and a deep conditioning hair treatment.
Attend a restorative yoga class.
Unplug from my devices for a nice extended amount of time.
Journaling by hand, rather than by computer.
Work on an art project.
Work on a sewing project.
Wind down and go to bed when the sun goes down.
Use natural lighting only, try to unplug from electricity. (Tall order, I know!)
Although I love to garden, I would leave gardening off my retreat weekend. It usually ends up being alot of physical work for me. Although gardening is a wonderful hobby, for me, I wouldn’t plan this into a weekend retreat. You might feel
Two Weeks Ahead
Check on how you’re doing for time for that wonderful retreat date! All is good, then good!
Clean your house to your satisfaction. Your retreat will be more pleasant if your house is clean. And you won’t feel compelled to clean your house during your special weekend! Maybe do a deep vacuuming and mopping of the floors and a nice dusting. There you go, nice and clean! I really love clean floors and that’s quite a challenge to maintain. If I’m trying to relax, I won’t if the floors aren’t spick and span! (Just my thing!) Of course, you can assess how the cleanliness/neatness of your living space affects you and proceed accordingly. It’s all so you have a real relaxing weekend, that’s the goal!
Make any appointments you’ve chosen for massage, bodywork, facials, etc. Check to see which classes you want to attend.
One Week Ahead
Shop for the food you’d like to have that weekend. My list would include arugula salad, tomatoes, nuts, seeds, limes for my water, filtered water, gluten free frozen bread, strawberries, raspberries, blueberries, bananas, oatmeal.
Check around the house for any fun or luxury bath/facial/conditioning/soap items you have. For my facials, I like to use Shea Moisture Rose Oil Mask for Sensitive Skin for my face and Shea Moisture Shea Butter Deep Treatment Masque for my hair. I normally don’t take time for these extended treatments, so its a real treat for me to schedule time to do so!
Check around the house for reading material you’d like to catch up on. It must feed your soul and serenity only! My reading list includes Thich Nhat Hanh, Peace is Every Step: Mindfulness., Art and Healing by Barbara Ganim is another book I love to refer to over and over. I’ve been wanting to peruse Robin Rose Bennett’s Healing Magic for quite some time. So, I think I’ll leave these books out for reference, in case I want some reading materials.
Set up any art projects to work on. I've been wanting to get out my beading work and complete one of my smaller projects, so I'll incorporate that into my weekend.
Decide on your (flexible) schedule.
Mine is shaping up to be:
Thursday: Shop for any other vegetables that I need for salad.
Friday: Shop for wild salmon or haddock. Set up bead work on a tabl
Saturday:
Swear off all devices and begin a news fast.
Rise, meditate for 20 minutes.
Get out my mat and do a short at home yoga routine
Have light breakfast of organic gluten-free oatmeal, berries and green tea.
Take my dogs for an early morning hike to absorb the effects of forest bathing
Return home and prepare a light lunch meal, salad and veggie burger.
Work on my chosen beading/art/sewing projecting the afternoon. No writing! Too left brain!
Go out for my massage in the evening, so as to be able to rest when I get back home and let my body and mind fully absorb the effects of the massage.
Prepare a light dinner.
Read in bedas the sun goes down. No TV, no news, no internet.
Sunday:
Early rise, 20 minutes of meditation.
Get out my mat and do an at home short yoga routine
Have light breakfast of organic gluten-free oatmeal, berries and green tea.
Take my dogs for an early morning hike to absorb the effects of forest bathing.
Prepare a light lunch.
Do some beading again, or read, if that's how I feel.
Do my facial mask and hair conditioning ritual.
Prepare a light dinner.
Read in bed as the sun goes down. No TV, no news, no internet.
Enjoy!
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