“Are you listening to your life--what is it trying to tell you?”  Renee Trudeau

Are you having difficulty focusing or perhaps you feel overwhelmed or out of synch with your needs and desires? Are you feeling restless and yearn to experience more peace in your life? Are you being called to explore “what’s next” professionally and personally—but unable to find the time or energy to devote to doing so? Are you craving time to just “be” without a to-do list breathing down your neck?

If yes, you’re in good company. More than ever, many of us are feeling overcommitted, overscheduled and frankly, exhausted. We’re trying to do too much.

Now is a great time to consider taking a retreat and to hitting the “reset button.” Impossible? Well, if not now, then when?

A retreat is defined in the dictionary as: A period of withdrawal from the world.

This spring to set aside an entire day or weekend — completely void of all distractions — for a personal retreat. Use this time to rest, reflect, write and nourish yourself physically, emotionally and spiritually. Or, you may want to spend this time getting clear on your life priorities and thinking about how you want to allocate your energy and resources over the next ninety days (much less overwhelming than looking at an entire year).

From Chapter Four in my book, The Mother’s Guide to Self-Renewal, I recommend making a list of what activities fuel you (which ones give you energy, nurture you, make you come alive) and what activities drain you (create a physical tightness or discomfort in your back, belly or neck every time they cross your consciousness). Often these drains are things like a financial issue that must be handled, a tough conversation that has been postponed, a disorganized space at work or at home or a career or job issue that needs to be addressed.

I like to approach these items with an aggressive housecleaning mindset, giving myself three options to eliminate these drains:

1.  I can do it—set deadlines for completion of the project
   
2.  I can delegate it—ask for help if needed or outsource the task
3.  I can dump it—make the decision that I’m ready to walk away from this task and release that it just isn’t going to happen (at least not this year!)

During your personal retreat, you can revisit old goals or dreams, enlist books for inspiration (see The Mother’s Guide to Self-Renewal resource section at the end of each chapter for recommendations), work on exercises from Career Strategists’ Inspiration Café, journal, draw/paint or create a collage from magazine images that represents your vision for how you want to experience the next three months.

You can also find resources and inspiration for your retreat on my life balance blog The Journey (search by topic), through past Life Balance newsletters or by signing up for the New Way of Being self-paced tele-course. Do whatever inspires you and helps you gain clarity and focus.

A primary goal of this retreat—whether it’s a day or a weekend—is to give your analytical thinking a rest and give your creativity and your “inner teacher” the opportunity to speak.

Some tips to help you get the most from your retreat:

• 1) Spend at least eight hours away (a weekend--or longer--would be ideal).

• 2) You may want to make this a personal retreat and be alone or you may decide to attend a guided group retreat (see resources below), it depends on your personal needs and life stage. I personally get tremendous benefit from guided retreats.
• 3) Choose a location that is inspiring and conducive to contemplation—a quiet park or natural setting; a friend’s vacant house; a retreat, yoga or spa center or even a quiet coffeehouse are good places to go (but get out of your own house!).
• 4) Focus on what you want to create for the next ninety days of your life.

• 5) Get the time on your calendar NOW! Otherwise it won’t happen.

I recommend taking personal retreats each quarter, if at all possible. These respites are a wonderful, nurturing way for you to invest in yourself and your future. They may just be one of the best gifts you’ll ever receive! Have fun, and make this your own. Email me at info@reneetrudeauu.com. I’d love to hear how it goes!

Invitation to join Renee Trudeau on a retreat:  Renee is leading a Women’s Self-Renewal Retreats at Esalen in Big Sur, CA on the Pacific Ocean April 27-29 and in the cool Berkshire mountains of MA at Kripalu Center for Yoga and Health June 22-24. And, in celebration of Mother’s Day, Renee is offering an all-expenses paid retreat to Kripalu; learn more here on how to win a $2500 Yummy Mummy Year-of-Self-Care Package. She’s been creating and facilitating transformational retreats and events for women for 20 years.