If you have been keeping track of my previous posts the past couple weeks, you will remember my mentioning being in quasi retreat. That is because it was my intention in the month of November to pretty much take time off. I have been doing that pretty well.
But let me be clear. When the word “retreat” is used by someone who practices Tibetan Buddhism, they are often referring to a time of solitude and intense meditation / Dharma practice. A retreat is usually at least five days of solitary practice if not much much longer. I am not going that far.
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For me, I am using the word retreat in another connotation: to withdraw. What am I withdrawing from? Any behavior that depletes me – binge watching Netflix shows for instance, playing computer games, being around people who bring me down, etc. And I am withdrawing toward a space where I practice more self care (and Dharma).
Most days I am doing between one and three hours of practice. And practice can be anything from yoga (I do Svaroopa yoga mainly – yin yoga or occasionally I do a few Kundalini yoga breathing techniques), qigong, meditation, mantra recitation or prostrations. Some days I do two or three prostrations, other days I get up the nerve to do a hundred. All in all, I am doing a better job of practicing very sound, very solid self care.
And as I withdraw into a restorative space, I am finding myself getting more and more requests to do stuff – whether to see clients, to be social or to assist in teaching bodywork classes, etc. Therefore, I am doing my best to balance a desire for contemplation this month with a desire to be active in the world and hopefully benefitting beings.
May it be so!
Thanks for reading,
~km
Meditation Informs Healing Facilitation 