A retreat is more than just a few days’ time off. It’s a space where you can rediscover yourself – beyond everyday life, distractions, and roles. If you’re considering a retreat for the first time, questions, expectations, or uncertainties may arise.
Here you’ll find 10 suggestions to help you prepare yourself – and recognize whether the call to introspect is right for you.
1. It’s not about a “vacation”
A retreat is not a wellness trip. Even though the locations are often beautiful, it’s not about relaxation in the traditional sense – but about an honest encounter with yourself. This can be quiet, intense, liberating, or even confrontational.
2. You don’t need any previous experience
You don’t have to be “spiritual” or know how to meditate. If you feel something calling you – that’s enough. Openness, presence, and a little courage are your best companions.
3. Letting go of expectations is part of the process
Many come hoping for “enlightenment,” transformation, or immediate answers. What really happens is often much more subtle—and at the same time, deeper than words could ever describe.
4. It’s not always pleasant—but often healing
Inner work also means going through unpleasant feelings: insecurity, resistance, emotions that have been pushed away for a long time. But that’s precisely where the power lies—feeling instead of functioning.
5. Body and mind react—that’s normal
Some people cry, tremble, laugh, experience visions, or deep silence. The body often frees itself from stored stress, the mind from thought loops. Everything is welcome.
6. Nature supports you
Retreats often take place in energetically powerful places – forests, mountains, islands. This nature plays a part – it holds you, reminds you, strengthens you. In Tenerife, for example, you can feel this primal force particularly deeply.
7. Trust is more important than control
You don’t have to “achieve” anything. You can let yourself be held – by the space, the team, the group, the plants. Trust is the key to the inner door.
8. You are not alone
Even if the process is individual – you are seen. A good retreat creates a protected space in which you can show yourself – without a mask, without judgment.
9. Integration is just as important as the experience
The experience of the retreat is only the beginning. The real work often happens afterward: What do you do with what you have seen, felt, or recognized? Good retreats therefore also offer support for integration.
10. If you feel called – trust the impulse
You don’t have to understand everything. If your inner self says, “There’s something for me,” then that’s often reason enough. It’s not your mind that’s calling you – it’s your soul.
✨ Summary:
A retreat is an invitation to yourself
A retreat is more than a retreat – it’s a turning inward. Toward your innermost being, to your truth, to your very own pace.
These 10 points don’t give you instructions, but rather a direction. They remind you that you’re on the right path when you feel yourself, when you question yourself, when you dare.
A retreat can be many things – a break, a change, a new beginning. Above all, it’s a place where you can feel welcome with everything you are.