Cottage As Retreat
Taking time away from the everyday to rejuvenate, replenish, and restore yourself to a place of wholeness is important to your wellbeing.
Why Take A Retreat
Stress takes a physical, emotional, and mental toll and can lead to impatience and irritability, stomach aches, headaches, and far more serious physical ailments, as well as diminished mental performance.
Overwork manifests itself differently in different individuals, and it is often hard to see the symptoms. Clenched jaws, grinding teeth, and tight muscles in the back, shoulders, and neck can be some of the early warning signs that your body has had enough. Ignoring these only forces your body to "speak" more clearly.
Women especially tend to neglect their own wellness in order to give support to their families, but the quality of the care you give can suffer when you do not look after yourself as well.
Get away to the cottage
A good way to put yourself back on the path to wellness is to remove yourself completely from the environment that is causing the stress, in such a way that there is absolutely nothing you can do to continue the pattern. Find a place of quietness and water - the sound of water has a calming effect on people, and for whatever reason, being immersed in water (hydrotherapy) actually sharpens mental acuity.
A cottage can be a perfect location for a personal retreat - provided you are not substituting one set of distractions for another.
If your goal is decompressing, this is one time when you want to experience the most basic elements of life - no motor boats, no television, no news. Additionally, it should be a time away from children or those who are not sharing your goal for the duration of the retreat. Think of it as a short journey of self-discovery.
It can be a disconcerting experience for some to spend so much time with themselves; facing that which you are hiding from by throwing yourself into work or family is unnerving.