Retreat

Overview A spiritual retreat is a short, set-apart period where a person or group steps away from normal life to focus on prayer, meditation, reflection, or study. The goal is usually recollection (gathering the mind/heart), renewal, and clearer sense of direction.

Common contexts

• Monastic/Christian: silence, lectio divina (sacred reading), spiritual direction.
• Buddhist: seated meditation, walking meditation, dhamma talks, noble silence.
• Interfaith/secular: mindfulness days, yoga + reflection weekends.

Typical elements

• Physical separation (retreat center, monastery, cabin)
• Simpler schedule (meals, practice, rest)
• Less input (phones off, no social media)
• One or more guiding practices (meditation, prayer, chanting, journaling)

Why people do it To deepen practice faster than in daily life, to reset habits, or to listen for vocation/calling without noise.

See also

• Meditation
• Contemplation
• Silent retreat
• Pilgrimage
• Spiritual direction

Have you thought of?

• Doing a home retreat (half-day, no phone, fixed timetable)
• A working retreat for creative/spiritual projects
• A digital fast as a mini-retreat
• Joining a different tradition’s retreat to see how structure shapes experience

Tiny joke: a retreat is basically telling the world “brb, talking to eternity.”