CREATE A DIY AT-HOME WELLNESS RETREAT

Autumn is a vital time to nourish the body, mind and spirit and perfect for creating your own wellness retreat right at home.
While we can’t always make time for that dream retreat, we can easily carve out a day to give ourselves the R&R that we deserve.
So, treat yourself to a personalized wellness journey that you can enjoy from anywhere, a do it yourself retreat that brings into balance your whole self.

Here’s how…

1. Create a schedule
The first process I’d like to share with you is an ancient practice used centuries ago in Egypt and India. It stimulates your spleen energy line, which helps you manage stress and removes excess energy and toxicity from your system, while at the same time flushing your joints through with fresh oxygen.

Of course, the beauty of having an at-home retreat is that you are free to leave your schedule as open or as structured as you like.

Sample Schedule:
⦁6am: Wake up and watch sunrise
⦁7am: Breakfast
⦁9am: Meditation
⦁10.30am: Yoga or Pilates
⦁12.30pm: Lunch
⦁1pm: Rest
⦁2pm: Walk in Nature
⦁4pm: Journaling
⦁6pm: Prepare dinner
⦁7pm: Yin Yoga
⦁8:30pm: Bubble bath
⦁9 pm: Listen to guided meditation online
⦁9.30pm: Bedtime

2. Unplug
If there is one thing that seems to be a given at a retreat, it’s that you disconnect your devices. Switch off the TV, laptop & iPhone, use this time to detox from all of the technology that we constantly inundate ourselves with.

Keeping phones out of sight entirely will mean you feel less triggered to pick them up. Try to be in silence or if you feel the need to listen to music, keep it ambient and beautiful. The aim of the retreat space is to allow the nervous system to slow and calm.

3. Prepare Your Sacred Space
Dedicate a sacred space in your home where you can quietly meditate and practice Yoga, add candles, crystals that appeal to you, a notebook and pen and have a bolster and cushions handy for meditation, pull out some cosy throw pillows and blankets to make it extra retreat-like.

Fill the space with plants to connect you with nature, plants are a healing tonic for humans to live alongside, connecting with nature can also be done through playing nature sounds in your home.

4. Take a Hot Bath
Nothing relaxes the mind and body like a hot bath!
Focus on flotation in the bathtub, this is one of the most relaxing therapies, add minerals and natural scents to the bath to create a restorative infusion. Relaxing indirect lights and a good sound system playing meditative music can also help you to relax.

Try taking a freezing shower for 5 minutes followed by a long hot bath to emulate the hot/cold therapy that invigorates and relaxes!

5. Yoga & Meditation Practice
In the yoga tradition, the body is the physical manifestation of spirit and expression of the mind. Breath and meditation are essential components that reduce the effects of stress on the body and new research is continually demonstrating how detrimental stress can really be to our health. Yoga and Meditation are both great ways to bring the principle of mindfulness to your daily routine.

Whether you take five minutes to simply close your eyes and breathe deeply, or set yourself up for a nice long meditation & Yoga session, take time in your day to simply breathe, be still, and go inward. This inward stillness is so relaxing, calming and grounding, a perfect way to stay present.

6. Journal
Journaling and recording thoughts can be extremely healing and restorative. Purge yourself of all of the thoughts or stresses that you have going on, or simply make a list of the blessings in your life.

Sometimes writing down all of the good things that we have in our lives makes such a difference in our perspective. And if you can, do this outside, on a balcony, or throw a blanket down in your yard. Try to immerse yourself in the nature around you!

7. Create a healthy meal plan
Morph into your own personal health food chef, map out what and where you’ll eat for breakfast, lunch and dinner in the home and do your grocery shopping in advance or plan a visit to the farmers market on Saturday morning to stock up on fresh produce.

Cooking can be a very therapeutic and mindful experience. Find a healthy recipe and replicate it. Use fresh ingredients that you enjoy and go for it. Be mindful of the smells, tastes, and sense of touch as you cook.

8. Stay hydrated
Stock your kitchen with a selection of your favourite teas and herbal elixirs and fill your fridge with fruit to add to your water, add apples, mint or cucumbers for natural flavors.

Stay away from caffeinated drinks during the retreat process.

9. Sleep
Essential to building a reservoir of wellness, sleep is a natural preventative to the effects of stress on the body. Optimal wellness begins with optimal sleep. The body preserves cellular health and corrects inflammation, balances weight and strengthens memory all during sleep. To get the most out of your wellness retreat give quality sleep front and center.

10: Reset & Recharge
So, nap, snooze, cosy up, listen to some guided meditations and take it easy, listen to your body and let it guide you to what it needs. This deep relaxation time is when your body can do its best work of re-setting and healing. We all lead busy lives, but taking care of ourselves should always remain a top priority.