A completely unscientific analysis of the arc of a successful retreat might go something like this: The anticipation and excitement of arrival and change; a growing dis-ease and desire to go home; an inexplicable certainty that you never want to go home; and a final acceptance that it is time to go home.
The big question is, what do you bring back? The key is not to expect too much … or too little. This brings us to a critical practice of the retreat that most people ignore. It’s the reverse of the anticipation of the retreat itself. It is the time when you reflect on all the good experiences you’ve had and all you’ve learned on your retreat, and then you visualize yourself back home.
REENTRY EXPECTATIONS
Explore your home and your living situation in the light of your retreat. Look at your life. Look at your friends. Look at your relationships. And then look at yourself—and your future ideal self. Write down what you see and feel—write down what you really want to hang on to—and how you might hang on to it.
As you do this, keep an obscure bit of marketing research in the back of your mind: Once upon a time, a pillow manufacturer discovered that from the time a person wakes up to the realization that their pillow is truly uncomfortable to the time they actually purchase a new pillow is two years. The simple fact is that we hold on to things that are obviously painful for way too long.
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Self-Care Tips from Slow Animals and Helpful Droids
Meditate with (rev) Sarah Bowen and her favorite creatures at sacredsendoffs.com/ meditations.
Billy Collins
“Read. Just Read,” advises Billy Collins. “The best teachers are not lecturing behind some seminar table, but are instead sitting quietly on the bookshelves of your home.”
A Better Friend
Victor Parachin dives into the Buddha’s advice for being a better friend.
RESTORING RELATIONSHIPS to Ourselves, to One Another, and to the Earth
AN INTERVIEW WITH FARIHA RÓISÍN
READING AS A SPIRITUAL EXERCISE
GRACE JI-SUN KIM encourages us to see reading in a new light.
FOCUSING ON WHAT MATTERS MOMENT BY MOMENT
The Summer 2002 issue of S&H included this still-timely article
LOGGING INTO Online Wellness
LEARNING CAN IMPROVE OUR QUALITY OF LIFE—AND THE EFFECT IS TWOFOLD FOR COURSES ON WELLNESS AND SELF-BETTERMENT.
HOW TO LAMENT
JENNIE MCLAURIN, MD, MPH, gives instructions to guide a rediscovery of this age-old tradition.
Seeing Is Empathy
Mixed-media artist Morgan Harper Nichols explores how art can lead to empathy.
5 Care Tips: Pineal Gland
The pineal gland, which is about the size of a grain of rice, is located in the center of the brain (although technically it is not part of the brain). Its main function is to receive signals from the environment about the amount and quality of light so that it knows how much melatonin to produce to help us wake up in the morning and go to sleep at night. Melatonin is involved in much more than sleep, however. It plays a role in sexual development and is a strong antioxidant, among other functions.
