Do you ever feel the need to get away? To just go, escape, take a trip, get away from your busy life of demands for a while? I get this wanderlust urge a lot! I love the sense of escape and adventure going on holidays or taking a break if only for a weekend away.

It’s only in the last few years of working for myself and learning alot more about wellbeing and how vital it is to take care or myself that I really embraced retreating. When I moved home to Kerry six years ago I knew nothing about working for myself and absolutely nothing about how to set up a yoga teaching business. So I looked around me at what other established teachers were doing in the local area. All ran 6 - 8 week courses of yoga classes. I wasn’t sure why but I thought okay, this is working for them, it should therefore work for me, I’ll try that.

And so I set up my classes in terms, taking a week off between each course. This was such a self-indulgent luxury for me! I had a week off in every six! Unheard of in the corporate world I’d come from. I sort of went with the flow of it all and as classes got busier and I was getting work offers from all sides, I began to understand the importance of these weeks off. The importance of disconnecting and retreating away and how it restores me. Teaching yoga classes was tough on my energy levels back then, I worked 5 nights a week, several mornings and two weekends a month pre-pandemic. I rarely saw friends or family and never seemed to have any time for myself despite the fact that I left Dublin and relocated home for a better quality of life. I was a relatively new teacher and hadn’t quite yet grasped how to protect my energy and practice what I preached. I worked at the same breakneck speed pace I’d learned to operate at in my corporate career. Different job, different location, same pace, same me.

I was always exhausted in those early days of business. I longed for those weeks off like never before and used them to recouperate and go offline and away from always being contactable, away from being of service to others. We used to head off in the campervan alot those days too spending a week around Ireland no matter the season or weather exploring coves, beaches, surfing and eating our way round the coast.

I began to think of these weeks off as fire breaks. Fire breaks are spaces in planted tree forests where theres a space between the trees so in case of a fire, it'll stop it spreading and halt the damage. During these times I take a break from routine, I do things I enjoy and that energise me. I come back feeling topped up, calmer, more patient and honestly, more pleasant!

I’ve become totally fascinated by the concept of escapism, I follow brands that promote it, photographers that capture it and I’ve bought a little home and plot of land that allows me to indulge in it - barn, campfire, open space, trees, I launched an online seasonal wellbeing programme for women called Seasonal Soul so that I am not solely reliant on teaching evening yoga classes all the time. I’ve been slowly edging my way towards this kind of life where I can retreat and nurture myself often.

I’ve recognised and felt the power of retreat, but I am not the only one to tune into this. We all understand it, we all know after a holiday we feel recharged and ready again. We know that going offline helps us feel more grounded, that being outdoors brings us life and that travelling opens up our minds and stimulates a sense of wonder and enjoyment. Dr. Catherine Kelly & Melanie Smith wrote a paper on the “The need to retreat” where they examined the importance of retreating as a journey into the self. They notes that “the lens through which a person sees him/her own sense of self and life purpose in a home setting, can be blurrd by the everyday routine of work, childcare, commuting and other duties. This lens is clearer when a person takes themselves to a chosen retreat location with the purposeful decision to engage with a particular practice, guru or even just to rest”.

It is with all this in mind that I have created a series of mini retreats this year with Ballygarry Estate & Spa, Tralee, Co. Kerry. To create a space for others, like me, to escape to. Retreats traditionally offer mindful practices which help bring you to the here and ow and essentially, to a more authentic self of self - you feel more like you again!

Dr. Kelly has also completed a body of research on women’s retreats. She found they can “provide supportive, nurturing, restorative experiences to women who may have lost touch with elements of themselves and identity in every day life. Retreats offer individuals the opportunity to reconnect with themselves in the company of like-minded others, the inner and outer selves, body, mind and spirit combining together in a healing and holistic experience”.

Our Ballygarry Retreats are designed around this approach and incorporate all the things you & I love - yoga, journaling, meditation, time in nature, down-time to read, rest, amazing fresh food, luxurious spa treatments and more. All gathered together to fulfill your need for escape, to support your need to retreat. Our next retreat takes place for one-night on 11th March there are just 3 spaces left.

• Imagine one night all for you in a luxury hotel and spa

• Imagine melting into the outdoor hot tub and watch the clouds roll by overhead as the steam envelopes you

• Imagine wrapping your body up in a soft snow white bathrobe and wandering to the spa for a hot stone massage

• Imagine lying in bed undisturbed reading your book

• Imagine stretching away your worry and tension in a yoga class with me

• Imagine sitting under the tress in the morning light and journaling your thoughts to the sound of birdsong

• Imagine floating through a guided qi gong class in the forest inhaling the scent of the woodlands all around you

You do deserve this, consider it a fire break to keep you protected and cared for. Booking link in bio for the last spaces. Come and retreat with us to Ballygarry Estate & Spa 11th March 2023.

“When you travel, you find yourself
Alone in a different way,
More attentive now
To the self you bring along,
Your more subtle eye watching
You abroad; and how what meets you
Touches that part of the heart
That lies low at home…

May you travel safely, arrive refreshed,
And live your time away to its fullest;
Return home more enriched, and free
To balance the gift of days which call you”.

For the Traveller by John O’ Donoghue

Ps. If you’ve never been on a retreat before, don’t worry, we all start at the first time. I wrote a blog about my own experience, you’re welcome to have a read if you wish, it’s here for you