This year, travel has changed for many of us. We have spent more time at home than ever before, sometimes scrolling through our Instagram travel feed, eating ice cream on the couch and wondering when it will all go back to normal again. But being homebound doesn’t mean that we can’t still get that retreat experience and personal growth from the comfort of our lounge chair.
No one knows this better than Sarah Rollins, Director of Meditation at Samyama Life, an online retreat center for Meditation and Mindful Living.
We spoke to Sarah to understand how to cultivate the calm, clarity and perspective that most of us get by traveling, from the couch instead.
“I love retreats! I have hosted in Bali many times and understand the blissful saturation that comes with a fresh, beautiful environment and deep relaxation. I originally developed Samyama Life’s beautiful meditation Journeys for hotels to offer their guests to use whilst on vacation so that they could have the benefits o a meditation retreat from any hotel. But the demand for this retreat experience from home has been huge due to C19.
Interestingly, what I am seeing in my guests now is that they are building so much resilience, strength and acceptance into their character by home-based retreating. They may not be escaping to an exotic location, but they are showing up in a way that is having a profound and lasting impact on the quality of their daily lives. It is so inspiring to see them shift from feeling scattered, exhausted, unable to get to sleep and putting themselves last, to feeling in control of what they give to the world and themselves – it’s very empowering!
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