As of 2pm tomorrow afternoon, I will be unable to communicate electronically or telephonically for five days. It will probably sting for a while but I’ll get used to it fairly quickly. I know this because I managed to survive without my iPhone/iPad/Macbook for eight whole days last year.
No surfing the web, no texting, no emails, no Facebook, no Tumblr, no Twitter, no Pinterest, no iPlayer – nada. This excommunication will, however, be of great benefit to my inner life. I will be able to plunge deeply within, as there will be no distraction from whatever is arising in the moment – thoughts, feelings, beliefs, memories, whatever.
The distractions of 21st-century life keep us in our heads and disconnect us from our hearts. Remove them and it’s harder to suppress or repress emotions we may not want to face. The purpose of a retreat is to allow you to reconnect with your heart, with your wisdom, with what’s really true for you.
An intensive retreat might not be to everyone’s tastes but I can certainly recommend switching off your electronic devices for at least a weekend, just as an experiment. See what happens – do you feel lost? Do you feel like eating more? Do you turn to the bottle? Or is it liberating – do you cast off your phone and romp in the fields? Or spend more quality time with friends and family having proper conversations?
I’ll be keeping a diary while I’m away so I’ll let you know how it impacted on me when I get back. Have fun while I’m away!
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