I wrote this blog post as I sat on an airplane following a week-long retreat I lead in Costa Rica, near the quaint little community of Punta Banco. I have had the opportunity to lead and participate in retreats over the last ten years and am always amazed at the transformation that can take place in just a week. By simply changing your routine and exposing yourself to new people, cultures, and experiences, it allows us to reconnect with what might be most important in your life, what might be missing, or how you might have been moving through the motions without truly being present to your daily experiences.
On retreat you have the opportunity to let go of your google calendar and schedule, you get to simply listen to your body and what it needs for nourishment and health. You are no longer controlled by the external demands of your life but instead can tune into the internal requests that you might have been ignoring.
After watching the owner of the retreat center wake up in the morning and walk to the beach to surf each morning, I heard someone ask him “do you surf everyday?" I heard such simple wisdom in his response:
“Yes, because it feels good for my body. Why wouldn’t I?”
Good question. Why don’t we do things that are good for our body and provide us with nourishment and health?
I know what you might be thinking: Because, I don’t live with an ocean as my front yard and rainforest as my backyard. I hear you. But, if you think about it some more, you might realize, as I am now, that it is a choice. We get to choose how we prioritize how we spend our time and what we do throughout our days, months, and years.
If we spend our time constantly being controlled by external demands, we lose our connection to our inner self and our ability to be in greater rhythm with our life force. Costa Rica taught me a lot about how good it can feel to be in greater rhythm with nature. It reminded me that the busyness I create takes me further away from my true nature and that simplicity is what can help to bring me back into balance.
I realized that when I slow down enough to see the sun rise and set, to drink in the beauty around me, I feel more whole. It doesn’t take much. All it took was a simple reminder that there is purity and connection all around us - if we would only slow down enough to see it.
What are you missing out on or choosing not to do for you and your body-mind-spirit because you are “too busy”?
How can you simplify your life so that you have time for what matters most?
Share your thoughts in the comments below!
