11:11 Waves Blog 51: Retreat

Every Monday, I share 1 question for you to contemplate, 1 idea from me, 1 quote from others, and 1 inspiration for us.

This week’s topic is: Retreat

Every December, images of holiday lights, warm family gatherings and happy children unwrapping presents dominate our collective consciousness. While these may be the ingredients of a well-celebrated holiday for many, there are many holiday traditions that deviate from these formulas. Our personal holiday tradition is to retreat. Every year, we join a group of individuals from around the world and we embark on a 12-day meditation retreat. Each day's gathering is a chance to go within, explore and meditate.  As the year is coming to a close, retreating offers a wonderful opportunity to be held in silence, reflect on the year that’s been and gather wisdom for setting powerful intentions for the year in front of us.

One Question for you

In order to understand the world, one has to turn away from it on occasion.

Discuss the question here.

One Idea from me

This week I invite you to retreat. Whether you are going to take 12 days, one day, or one hour, just find a quiet space in your calendar that’s just for you. Below are five suggested questions to help you think about your 2023 takeaways, lessons and highlights and five questions to set your intentions for 2024. Answer all of them or pick the ones you want to explore.

When you look back at 2023:

1.      What do you feel most grateful for?

2.      What surprised you the most?

3.      What did you learn and in what ways did you grow?

4.      What did you avoid and why?

5.      What do you want / need to leave behind? What do you wish to carry forward?

As you think of 2024:

1.      What excites you the most?

2.      What are your intentions?

3.      How do you want to evolve?

4.      What will you say yes to? What will you say no to?

5.      What mindset do you wish to embrace to help you stay on course?

One Quote from others

“Nowhere can a man find a quieter or more untroubled retreat than in his own soul”. Marcus Aurelius

One Inspiration for us

Music can be a powerful source of comfort, peace and connection during the holidays. However, from Thanksgiving to New Year, it can be tricky to go anywhere without hearing the same holiday songs. As much as I like these traditional tunes, the overplayed-Christmas-song burnout is real. So, if you are looking for new songs, this week I am sharing this feel-good playlist containing some amazing 80s Japanese holiday songs. This compilation is so wonderful, positive and I promise you the songs will stuck in your head and make you smile. My favourite songs are: Christmas Eve (30:23),  December 24 (07:39) and Silent Night (22:13). Enjoy!