“Why do you retreat?” a young woman asked me recently. My eyes lit with delight at the opportunity to talk about one of my favorite topics. “Retreats are wonderful experiences where we take time away from our day-to-day lives to relax, gain new perspectives, and have fun!” I explained. “They offer us the opportunity to learn new skills or perhaps remember ones we have forgotten and want to start again. Most retreats offer time of solitude as well as time for fellowship with others. They provide chances to reconnect with your Self and with other wise women. It’s a magical combination of individual and collective relationship building.”
To be honest, I have always loved retreats. My interest in them sprouted from family camping trips I experienced as a child. Time spent in the woods, away from the comfort of home with my large family formed lasting bonds and memories. Not only did I enjoy the time with my siblings and parents, I also benefited from being in nature. Camping made it clear what was most important: to stay fed, dry, and physically comfortable. Spending time in the woods presented the opportunity to witness God’s creation up close and personal. It was good for my heart and soul to escape to the woods with my loved ones. I came home dirty and ready for a hot shower but also reconnected to an inner sense of simplicity and priorities.
Those memories led me to help organize family retreats for my church when my children were young. We would travel to the Eastern Shore of Maryland with other families where we would stay in cabins on the water’s edge. Both structured and unstructured time allowed multiple generations to interact in fun, educational, and spiritually nurturing experiences. More lasting memories were made over many years as we continued a tradition of retreating to the Shore.
These experiences made me a firm believer in the benefits of retreating and led to the formation of ‘Wholistic Woman Retreats’ in order to provide nurturing experiences for women. Gone are the days of roughing it, though! Our retreats are physically comfortable while at the same time they encourage participants to step out of their comfort zone in order to experience growth. We don’t develop without some degree of discomfort. Our goal is to balance your comfort with experiences that stretch you to try something new such as reflexology, acupuncture, creating a vision board, or engaging in a discussion about a new skill you’re learning. We meet you where you are and move forward with you in the direction you want to go. We want you to come away from our retreats feeling refreshed, inspired, and supported in your new endeavors.
Who comes to our retreats? They are designed with the busy woman in mind. The truth is we each have a lot going on in our active lives. We accomplish a great deal for our employers, families, and our community. It’s been said if you want to get something done, give it to a busy woman! We are experts at juggling multiple demands and handling them well (for the most part…no one’s perfect, after all).
What we need, though, is time that is for us. Time to stop being busy and to refresh ourselves with laughter, healthy food, gentle movement, positive information and skill building. We provide busy women with time to receive (instead of give); time to recharge your batteries before you return to the demands of your busy life.
Everything that Wholistic Woman Retreats offers is a retreat for your mind, body, heart and spirit. Whether it’s an evening retreat, a tele-retreat, a one-on-one retreat, or a weekend retreat, we want to provide experiences that are enriching, fun, and supportive.
Details: for more information go to www.wholisticwomanretreats.com.
