A Little R&R

Sometimes in life you've just got to relax, let go. Doing this while at home is not an easy task, especially when you have kids. Relaxing, as wonderful as it sounds, isn't easy. It's actually a skill if you ask me. One would think as a yoga teacher that I would know how to relax no matter where I am, sadly this isn't the case.

We all come to yoga for our own reasons. Mine was stress and anxiety. My yoga practice has helped me considerably with this, however it is still a daily struggle for me to let go. I find that during long stretches of stressful times my body starts to tell me that a little R&R is needed. My body spoke, I listened. If I've learned anything over the 10 years I've been doing yoga is that when the body speaks, you listen.

So here I am, typing this blog while at Kripalu, a yoga retreat center in Massachusetts. I love this place and have done three teacher trainings here, but this is the first time I've come here strictly to relax. I feel slightly out of place, like I should be hanging out in the classroom, but as time goes on I'm feeling more at ease with it. I'm starting to recognize the other R&R guests as we're showing up to the same programs specifically catered to help us let go and relax. We even have our own special name tags that tells the world, don't do anything to stress us out, we are here to relax!

As a teacher I'm a people watcher, even when I'm not teaching. I'll notice you on the street and critique your posture, your mood and how you engage with people. So naturally I'm doing this to the other R&R guests here. Surely these people are here for the same reason I am, to relax and boy do they need it! The first day you'll notice they hold their bodies stiff, their expressions are tight, trying to laugh and let go, but they aren't there yet. They have this look of being unsure. But by day two, or perhaps three, you begin to notice a change. They are starting to let go because they see that it is ok to do so. They are starting to live life and realize that there are things outside of themselves. They are getting out of their head.

That is what a retreat is for. It is for you to learn to let go of the things that are weighing you down and gives you a safe and supportive space in which to do it. To open your eyes to what is out there when you pull yourself out of the routine of everyday life. You see it is ok to laugh, to let your guard down and most important of all to allow some time for yourself. Sometimes we are afraid of these things, especially the last one because we won't know what to do with ourselves if we had some free time.

The one downfall I see to retreats is that they aren't cheap. So how do you get the retreat experience without the price tag? Simple, create your own. Find a place that you can go to to get away from everyone that isn't your house, this is important because when we are home we feel the need to tackle our to do list. Simply sending the family away for the weekend to go camping won't work. Perhaps you can house sit for a friend, find a cheap Bed and Breakfast. Get creative.

The next step, and this is the hard one, do nothing for at least part of the day. Turn off the cell phone, the computer and go dark on technology. (Yes, I'm not going dark writing this, but after I'm done it is off for the rest of the R&R.) Read books, write, draw, go for a hike, do all the great stuff you used to do before life got so darn busy. Eat out if it is in the budget or have prepared meals ready to go so you don't have to think about what's for dinner. Aim for healthy foods, healthy body, healthy mind.

The main point of a retreat is you time. Time carved out for you to do whatever you want. It is a time for us to explore our thoughts and deal with them. The treat is that when we do come back into the real world, we are ready to take it on.