What are the benefits of a retreat?

A retreat is a focused period of attention and reflection. It provides an opportunity to reflect on how you are really doing, and explore what you need to function well – physically, mentally and emotionally. And gives you tools to recognize patterns, release tension and redirect what is important to you.

However, a retreat is not an escape from life; rather, it invites you to step into your life. A retreat provides space to experience, learn and deepen. And by working with both body and mind, you learn what helps you stay balanced and resilient to what life demands. You learn not only to better understand what is going on inside you, but also how to work with it practically .

Not by moving away from what is troublesome, but by working with it mindfully.

DIFFERENT TYPES OF RETREATS

The word retreat is used these days for a variety of activities. Increasingly, retreats are primarily focused on wellness or intended as a temporary break from everyday life. This can be valuable: taking a break, unwinding, not having to do anything. There are also retreats that combine various wellness trends, from breath work to rituals or ceremonies, and are primarily aimed at an intensive experience in a short period of time.

Although you can’t miss the retreats of The Land of Now can be used perfectly well as a wellness vacation, – for wellness and special activities are also experienced in abundance – they are also a guided period of personal development, rooted in the full context of tradition and the latest scientific insights. You deepen yourself, and who knows, you may gain some insights that can enrich your life.

A retreat is not a substitute for therapy. It can, however, have a deepening effect alongside a therapeutic program, or be a valuable step in maintaining what you have learned earlier. A single retreat does not change everything, but it can set something in motion: insight, recognition or a first step towards a different way of dealing with yourself. A carefully guided retreat offers you a handhold to support that process and give direction for further growth, also after the retreat.

We offer you space to discover what suits you, and let you experience what possibilities are available, so you can determine your direction.

Of course, the benefits of a retreat cannot be captured in one experience or insight. They arise in what you encounter along the way and also depend on what you are doing or want to be doing in your life. So it is very personal. We offer you depth in themes that touch on how you live, move and interact with yourself and others.

INNER STABILITY

Inner stability is about being able to stay put in the midst of movement. It is the ability to stay in touch with yourself even when there is tension, pressure or change. During a retreat you will explore what influences your balance and how you can take direction in it. By consciously dwelling on what is happening in your body and mind, you develop more self-insight and clarity. This helps you to better regulate and make choices that fit what is right for you.

FEBRUARY

Resilience is the ability to recover. Not by avoiding resistance, but by learning how to move with it without losing yourself. In a retreat, you have the opportunity to explore how you deal with tension or fatigue, and what you need to recharge. By practicing with attention, breath and conscious presence, you develop skills that support recovery and resiliency. In this way, confidence in your own carrying capacity grows.

SELFREGY

Self-direction is about being able to steer consciously. About recognizing what is going on, taking responsibility for what is yours, and giving direction to what is important to you. A retreat offers a safe context to practice this: space to explore, experience and apply. You learn to listen to what is right for you and gain insight into how you can make decisions with peace and clarity. Self-direction is not something you ‘have’, but something that grows through attention and practice: a skill that carries you further in everyday life.

INTEGRATION

When tension, overload or old patterns become too much, a distance can develop between feeling, thinking and acting. We call this dissociation: you become as it were detached from yourself, or from what you are experiencing. During a retreat there is room to restore that connection step by step, or to practice it. You learn to feel again what is going on, without becoming overwhelmed, and to trust what your body and intuition indicate.

Integration means reassembling yourself: being able to be present in your own life, with all that goes with it. From that solidity grows the confidence to take your own direction, make choices and act on your own power. Not by striving for perfection or quick solutions, but by experiencing that you can live from realistic balance and resilience.

AFTER THE RETREAT

Your retreat is not an end point, but a beginning. De inzichten en ervaringen die je opdoet, vormen een basis waarop je verder kunt bouwen. In hoe je aanwezig bent in het leven, keuzes maakt en richting geeft aan wat belangrijk voor je is.