How to plan your own mini-retreat

I used to think I needed other people in order to do fun things… travel, celebrate occasions, eat out, or go to the movies. But after learning about the self-love act of dating yourself, and taking my first solo trip to the movies, I discovered the beauty of doing things just for me!

So when I had tickets that needed to be reused after a cancelled holiday, I decided to plan a solo yoga retreat in Bali! The idea of going on this retreat by myself had me so inspired! But it wasn’t going to be for another 11 months! I didn’t want to wait that long and when I really thought about it, there was nothing stopping me from doing most of the things without flying anywhere!

I could meditate, do yoga, go to the beach, go for a bike ride in nature, read, relax, eat delicious nourishing food, and make tropical smoothies… all from the comfort of my home or within a 10-mile radius!

So it was decided. I was going to plan my very own retreat. I created a beautiful itinerary, menu, shopping list and preparation checklist in Canva.

However, the same problem arose... this retreat wasn’t going to be for another three months as it was still winter and I wanted it to be closer to summer so that I could go to the beach and go for picnics in the park!

(You might be able to glean a little bit of impatience here… but when inspiration strikes, it’s important to act!)

So that led me to plan a ‘Welcoming Spring’ weekend where I would do a deep spring clean of my house, pick wildflowers and bake a strawberry pie to celebrate the start of spring!

Needless to say, planning my own mini retreats and weekend celebrations is now my new obsession! I am going to plan an art and craft retreat, a book-themed retreat, a weekend for celebrating Halloween spookiness, the Christmas spirit, my birthday, the Summer Solstice and any other occasion I can think of! Or no occasion at all!

And the best part is I don’t have to fit in with other people's schedules or try to tailor my celebrations to what other people want to do… the celebrations are a gift to myself! That doesn’t mean I won’t be celebrating Halloween and Christmas with my loved ones. But I’m picking a weekend in October and December to do my very own celebration!

Being intentional about creating these magical moments and making the time to celebrate things, like the start of spring, that could easily pass by without acknowledgment is how I’m choosing to celebrate life itself!

I hope this has inspired you to choose a weekend to go on your own mini retreat or go all out celebrating something just because it brings you joy!