The Power of a Solo Retreat

Welcome to This Daring Adventure podcast, where we work on bridging the gap between where we are and where we want to be in order to live a bigger and bolder life. In this podcast, we will provide inspiration, tips, and skills you need to make your life the adventure you want it to be. Here's your host, mindset mentor and life coach Trista Guertin.

Hey, everybody. Welcome back to This Daring Adventure.

Thank you so much for joining me today. I wanted to talk about the importance of taking time away from your life and being by yourself, and it's basically taking a solo retreat. I have been traveling by myself for many years now. I live and work internationally, so most of the time when I take vacations, I land up, going off by myself just because it's harder for people to join me from Canada and coming out to where I'm going. I do still travel with some friends and family, and I love that, and I really do enjoy that time that we have that together.

But I also enjoy taking time by myself and going off and doing whatever I want. And one of the things that I'm planning to do this year is a solo retreat in Tuscany in May. And I had this idea because I landed up last year going to Tunisia about a year ago now, and I landed up staying at this lovely villa outside of Tunis. It was a guest house called Villa Edo, run by a lovely French couple. And it was so relaxing, and it was just a little oasis of peace and calm.

And I think I landed up staying there for four days. And they had a lovely garden and a little pool, and I had an ace room, and I spent the time just napping and writing and relaxing and practicing yoga and meditation and just thinking. And I had some great ideas. And I just remember thinking it was just such a spacious time. It was just so relaxing, and it gave me that opportunity to just settle in, lay low, and enjoy myself.

And so I'm excited to be able to do that again. And I have built my week in Tuscany so that I will specifically be doing that. And if you are at all interested, if this speaks to you in any teeny, tiny little way, this is why I've created this episode for you. And I hope that you will seriously consider doing something similar. You don't need to do four or five days if you don't want to, or if you can't.

I think you can take whatever time you want, wherever you want. If you can just go to a park or a beach or somewhere else that you can get away and take that time, even if it's just for a couple of hours, you could do it over a couple of days, just go back and forth from home. I think it would help and I think it would be such a great opportunity and I will tell you a little bit more about the reasons and why I think this is such a good idea.

I think that one of the things is that it's great to get away from your daily routines and the busyness of everyday life. It's helpful to do something different and I think it just gives you that shift in perspective, it might give you some new ideas, it might bring you some clarity, it might allow for you to have some thoughts and to some creativity that you wouldn't necessarily have.

When you're rushing from all of your daily work, family, chores, whatever it is that you need to do. And just settling in might give you a little bit more energy. You're just there, you're not having to take care of anybody else or anything else and you just are able to slow down. And as I said, to have that different perspective and a change in pace, that can just be that shift that you need next.

I think you can connect with yourself and your feelings better when you are by yourself and having that time alone, it's important for you to think about your life and your feelings and you are then able to focus on your thoughts and your emotions.

And I'm a big proponent of processing emotions, understanding what you're feeling, understanding how it is driving your actions and creating your results in your life and cleaning up some of the old emotional charges that keep us feeling stuck and keep us in.

Sometimes pain and discomfort keep us from moving forward and creating what we truly want in our lives. So having that time and that space alone can help you to slow down and think about what it is you're thinking about and what it is you're feeling and then cleaning up, processing it, and then thinking about what it is you do actually want to think and feel going forward.

It's also important to take time away from everyone else and everything else in order to grow as a person. When you can take time away from your life to think about your life, you will be able to find answers or some of the questions that you will have or may have in your head.

It's ideal to connect with yourself, as opposed to when you're constantly surrounded by other people. And looking at some of these questions. Reflecting on them is a good way to uncover some of your beliefs, some of your dreams, some of your ideas about what is important to you and what it is you value and what it is you want to create.

One of the things I'm going to do for this episode is to create a list of questions. There are some great questions that you can use as journal prompts that I will put together in a document and you can access them in the show notes and pick and choose whichever speak to you and just write about them, see what comes up.

It's a great way to explore and to reflect on things that you wouldn't normally have time to think about. I also think it's good just to have that time to recharge mentally and physically, emotionally.

It really is a great idea to slow down, to take a nap, to relax and to just have that time and space where you're prioritizing your emotional and your mental health, your physical well-being, and you just allow everything to recharge. Take a nap if you need to sleep in, go to bed super early. Those are all the things that I do. Lie by the pool, go for a swim, practice yoga, meditate, do all of those things that help you to recharge.

Then finally, I think it's great to just focus on what's important to you. Think about how you want to feel, who you want to become, what you want to create for your future, maybe some of your attitudes, some of your decisions, maybe that you need to make if you need to make any major decisions. It's a great opportunity to take time for some of these things. I'm a big proponent as well for doing future self work.

What do you want to create? Who do you want to become? What does your future look like? You can take this opportunity to visualize and activate those feelings in you so that you are tapping into where you're going in the future. But as I said, it's also really important if you have any major decisions, anything you want to decide and settle.

It's a great time when you're by yourself to reflect on some of these things and actually make a decision one way or the other. So what you can do is either decide to go somewhere, take a trip, rent a place, rent a hotel room, go wherever you want to go, where you know you will have some peace and some quiet and some space. It can be for a couple of days, it could be for an afternoon.

I think it's important that you know that there are no rules, there are just some ideas. But because this is your retreat, make it exactly what you want, what you enjoy, what you like, what you think will create this environment for you to have the space and to have the calm and the peace.

Take a journal, take some pens, take candles, take comfy clothes, take some fun books to read, take whatever music, your yoga mat, whatever you need to make it personal, to make it comfortable, to make it fun, to make it enjoyable again. There are no rules. So personalize it, make it your own. Take what's important, leave the rest behind. You just want to take this opportunity to relax, to write, to read, to nap and to think and have fun.

I think whatever you do will just give you exactly what you need and trust that that is what is going to happen. So if you think at all this might appeal to you, I really do urge you to seriously think about it and go out and do it. Have some fun. Get it done. Decide what it is you need right now.

Ask that of yourself. Be honest. Decide what it is that would make you happy and would be enjoyable.

Go somewhere where you know you'll be alone, where it's quiet. It doesn't have to be somewhere exotic. It doesn't have to be a big trip. It doesn't have to be expensive. Make it your own.

I will put the list of questions in the show notes. If you want more information, don't hesitate to reach out. My email will be in the show notes as well.

I hope that you will seriously consider this. I think that these types of retreats really can be life changing. I know for myself that when I did this last year in Tunis, I had some of the best ideas that I've ever had. Just having that opportunity to think and be creative, and it just all came so easily. So I'm looking forward to see what comes out of this next retreat.

And you know what? Even if it doesn't, even if there isn't any major creations or revelations that come out of it, it's just such a great opportunity to relax and have that space. All right, that's what I have for you today. If you're interested in trying coaching for yourself, the link to my calendar is in the Show Notes. You can sign up for a private 1 hour coaching session.

You don't have to stay stuck. You are able to get the support and guidance you need to make the changes that you want in your life. And if you are feeling that you are meant for more, it's because you are. So let's find out what that is.

Thanks, everybody. Have a great week. Bye bye.

Thank you for listening to this daring adventure podcast with your host, Trista Guertin. We hope you enjoyed the tips and conversations on how to get excited about life again.

As always, you head to tristaguertin.com for additional resources and to book a 1:1 coaching session. You can also follow Trista on Instagram at tristavguertin. Don't forget to subscribe rate and review us on Apple podcast.

Thanks again for tuning in, and we'll see you next time.