What Happens on Retreat
By Theresa Shay
What happens on retreat does not stay on retreat, which is exactly why we go.
Retreat invites us to step away from routines and open to the gifts already present. Setting aside responsibilities lightens the load while the car is still in reverse pulling out from the driveway. Before night falls, you're breathing slower and noticing the world differently.
Going on retreat is like lifting room-darkening shades and being surprised at how bright everything is. You see the brilliance that permeates existence all the time.
Responsibilities of taking care of the family: cooking, cleaning and tidying up, moving from one place to another to arrive on time, take energy. When you're free from those routines, the body and mind open up to a different reality. Slowing down creates space. Space bends time. By the end of the weekend, Friday feels long, long ago, and you've tapped into new energy for the inner explorations.
The rest of retreat exposes truths that humble. Maybe you've been neglecting your Self, allowing your mind to pull you off track. You might notice you've failed to honor the vehicle of the body in what you've demanded of it as you were carrying on at an unsustainable pace. Perhaps you realize you need a different quality of nourishment. Retreat sometimes clarifies a truth that has been bubbling below the surface and now rises to full view.
In the nurturing environment of retreat and the company of fellow seekers, opening your heart to these situations does not overwhelm.
It rescues.
Retreat makes you remember how you want to live, knowing that you can. Retreat infuses you with the energy to soften, surrender, and shift. Retreat uplifts your vibration to help you meet with calmness whatever rises next on your path.
Many have sat in their car preparing to leave and wondered, “How can I sustain this good feeling?” The car points toward home; the question lingers.
This is where the gift of having stepped away wields its power.
You realize that the contents of the mind can be navigated exactly the way you are navigating the roads you drive now. Straight ahead? Exit? Merge? Pass? Stop for gas and a stretching break? You trust yourself to drive your car to your destination, as long as you know which way to go. The inner journey, with your full tank, is no different.
What happens on retreat does not stay on retreat. It comes home with you. This coming home to the Self IS you. When you are connected to the reality that rises when you give it a chance, life is an expression of unbounded joy.
This Wisdom for the Week was revised from an original entry shared in 2023 when TYCP returned to offering retreats after the COVID pause.
The 2026 TriYoga Fall Retreat is scheduled for Oct. 9-11 at Light on the Hill, Van Etten, New York. We have a few spots open!
Theresa Shay is the founding director of TriYoga of Central Pennsylvania, where she teaches weekly yoga and meditation online and trains others to teach TriYoga®. Each week, she shares wisdom cultivated from decades of TriYoga study and practice.
Learn more about her here. Theresa can be reached at Theresa@PennsylvaniaYoga.com. Find her on Instagram @theresa_of_triyoga for more inspiration and light.