The Value of Solo Retreats
Silence echoed from within my cozy studio apartment at the Constance Saltonstall Foundation for the Arts, a local artist's colony that offers residencies and DIY retreats for creatives in New York State. After a month of struggling to meet my daily writing goals set at the beginning of the year and getting swept away from my intentions by the busyness of life, I decided it was time to reconnect. Except for the occasional caw of a crow, I was completely alone.
Solo retreats are powerful opportunities to leave your scheduled life and come home to yourself. Whether the purpose of your retreat is rest, writing, painting, or focused problem solving, stepping out of clock time into a more spacious existence can trigger big shifts in perspective. I have spent my days here at Saltonstall in utter simplicity: quietly writing, napping, walking, reading, eating dark chocolate, watching the wind blow. I couldn't feel more alive!
For many people the prospect of a solitary retreat is terrifying (just like facing the blank page or the empty canvas). As the choreographer Twyla Tharp says in her insightful book The Creative Habit (I highly recommend it!), "fear of empty space affects everyone in every creative situation. Where there was nothing, there will be something that has come from within you. That's a scary proposition."
She recommends writing down your fears rather than running away from them, and through close examination identifying and breaking down the ones that are holding you back. Solitude brings you closer to your fears. But, as Twyla says, "there's nothing wrong with fear; the only mistake is to let it stop you in your tracks."
Oh how easy it is to let fear disconnect you from your sense of purpose, from the vastness that is you, from the empty space waiting for you to fill it. When we live within the complexities of daily life without a break from schedules and obligations, it's easy to get distracted from what really matters: our goals and highest intentions. Fear lurks, unconfronted, in the form of excuses and loud critical voices in the head. Our creative force suffers, and so do we.
So, take some time for yourself this month to reconnect to what matters. Although it can be luxurious to take a retreat on a remote island with calm, clear water and fresh coconuts, don’t let that idea limit the power of retreats you can create for yourself. Below are some low-cost ideas. I would love to add to this list, so please comment below on what you have tried or plan to try as a solo retreat:
1) Take an hour on a weekend to go for a solo walk
2) Plan a technology-free afternoon
3) Make some tea, grab a blank journal, and take 30 minutes to ask yourself: What would feel nourishing for me right now? Then, give yourself what you come up with.
4) Take a vow of silence for a few hours and remove yourself from situations that prevent you from keeping it
5) Do a sauna at your local gym (if you don’t have a membership buy a day pass)
6) Rent an air bnb for one night in your city or nearby town for a change of scene
