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It’s Time for a Retreat: When you need to recharge and renew

By Michael Kimmel

05/05/2022
in Columns, Community Voices, Feature, Featured, Features, Life Beyond Therapy
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It’s a tough time to be alive. There’s so much crap in the world swirling around us that even the most grounded and together people I know are struggling. We can’t run away from problems, but we can take a break – giving ourselves a respite where we can recharge and renew. It’s time for a Retreat, where we (temporarily) withdraw from the world, take good care of ourselves and find more peace and satisfaction in our lives.

I have been on many retreats in my 68 years; today I’d like to tell you about three kinds of retreats. I start with the easiest to experience (because it’s free and you do it at home), then I’ll say a bit about meditative retreats, and end with the most luxurious kind of retreats.

The At-Home Retreat. It’s free, easy and you only need some uninterrupted time to be alone (or to share it with a special someone). It can be a morning or a weekend, but let it be – at minimum – at least half a day. You’ll need that long to begin to detach from the demands of the outside world.

Set up your retreat however you like, but give it some kind of structure. Otherwise, it’s too easy to just give up when you get distracted. Create a schedule and write it down. Then, follow it! Don’t be too ambitious, that’s a set-up for failure. Start modest: you can always have another, more challenging retreat next time.

Set an intention: you want to have a purpose for your retreat, for example, “I want to heal from my bad breakup” or “I want to feel calmer”. Eliminate distractions: turn your phone off and stay away from any electronic devices. Here are some other ideas on creating an at-home retreat: https://www.calmmoment.com/wellbeing/how-to-have-your-own-diy-wellness-retreat-at-home/

The Meditative Retreat: You might want to spend a day or two away from home, maybe at the beach, woods, desert or mountains. You could spend the day in some beautiful outdoor place, walking for most of the day (hopefully away from people) and drive home at dusk. Or, you could rent a cabin somewhere nearby (Idyllwild is great for this) or even go for a 3, 5, 7 or even 10-day retreat to a retreat center like Spirit Rock, in Northern California.

I have been on several week-long silent meditation retreats: not talking brings up a lot of mental and emotional stuff that we are normally too distracted to notice. It’s not so easy to “be in the present”: it sounds so simple, but I’ve noticed how much I tend to plan the future or worry about the past when I go on a silent retreat.

A retreat center like Spirit Rock offers you support and structure to handle the challenges of silence and meditation, and Spirit Rock offers retreats specifically for the LGBTQ community: https://www.spiritrock.org

The Luxury Retreat: When you want to be really good to yourself, it’s great to go to a place where you are pampered and taken care of, can eat wonderful food, explore beautiful places (mountains, forests, hiking paths) and have kind people encourage you to develop your mind/body/spirit. I have had wonderful experiences at Rancho La Puerta, a luxury retreat center and fitness spa just across the border in Tecate, Mexico.

At “The Ranch”, your mind can be stimulated by lectures and workshops given by famous authors, your body can be happy with every sort of exercise imaginable, from Feldenkrais to Aerial Yoga, and your spirit nurtured with many varieties of chanting, sound healing and meditation (sitting and hiking).

Everything here is optional: you choose the kind of retreat you want and there are plenty of knowledgeable staff to help you create it. Rancho La Puerta is very LGBTQ-friendly: I’ve met lots of LGBTQ guests and staff on my visits here. If you’ve never given yourself a gift like this, there’s no time like the present: https://rancholapuerta.com.

Regardless of the type of retreat you choose, turn off the outside world for a while and find some peace and quiet in these difficult times. You deserve it.

—Michael Kimmel is a licensed psychotherapist who specializes in helping LGBTQ clients achieve their goals and deal with anxiety, depression, grief, sexually addictive behavior, coming out, relationship challenges and homophobia. Contact him at 619-955-3311 or visit lifebeyondtherapy.com.

 

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Volume 4, Issue 9, February 2023

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AIDS Memorial Groundbreaking to be Held February 1 AIDS Memorial Groundbreaking to be Held February 10th!. For over 35 years, there has been a campaign for San Diego to join cities across North America to establish an AIDS Memorial honoring and remembering the over 8,500 men, women, and children who have died of AIDS. Read full story on the link below.

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The Devil is alive in the United States, and it li The Devil is alive in the United States, and it lives in right wing, Republican driven state legislators. According to an article written by Matt Loffman for PBS, the Human Rights Campaign has identified 30 state legislators who proposed more than 115 bills targeting Transgender, Gender Non-Conforming, and Non-Binary rights in their states. Everything from participation in sports to accessing medical care has been attacked. According to a poll conducted by PBS NewsHour/NPR/Marist fewer than 3 in 10 people support any anti-Trans legislation, yet the Republic legislators continue to introduce and vote for all of them. It is hard to understand why these Republicans are voted into office over and over when they obviously do not reflect the wishes of their constituents. click link to read more

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What started as a personal social media project vi What started as a personal social media project via Instagram during the pandemic, Hillcrest San Diego has become a 10K subscriber resource for news, history, memes, and all things Hillcrest. We caught up with Rick Cervantes the force behind the account to get to know more about the motivation behind it, the plans for the Instagram account and the upcoming inaugural #hillcrestsandiego Honors with its reception schedule for Monday February 6 at Uptown tavern to honor local community members and organizations.
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Our community has been built on the need for resou Our community has been built on the need for resources and support, and sectors in our community have also been called to create organizations that enrich and serve their own specific needs. One such organization is the San Diego LGBTQ Coalition.  Read full article on the link below
https://lgbtqsd.news/san-diego-black-lgbtq-coalition-a-stronger-front-for-the-betterment-of-the-community/
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