A Budget-friendly Spiritual Retreat for Mothers

Maybe what you're seeking isn't outside of your life, maybe it's closer than you think. It might not be the budget-friendly option you envision - but read on to open your mind to something new...

A few weeks ago I craved the alone time of retreat. After a pretty challenging year in terms of my health and my spiritual journey, I was feeling desperate for the images I saw online of silent retreats and amazing breakthroughs. I particularly liked the idea of being in nature, I found myself searching for spiritual sites and stone circles around the world, I looked into different pilgrimages in South Africa (where I live) and around the world. I felt this longing to be anywhere but where I was, alone and allowed to just be and connect with God/Spirit/the Universe in a new way.

But... and this is a big one! The world of retreats and pilgrimages, as usual, seemed to be out of my reach. Journeys for the wealthy and those who don’t have any commitments or responsibility. I started looking forward to retirement where these things seemed more feasible (lol). What about my kids? Where would I find the money? And this isn’t to say it was out of my reach and totally impossible. I could’ve spent time saving up, asked someone (my husband or parents) for help babysitting while I went away. All of it was definitely doable. But for me, it didn’t feel like a practical step at that time. And yet I continued to crave the experience.

At first I felt quite disappointed; straight up resentful that the retreats and pilgrimages seemed quite out of my reach in this phase of my life – and probably a time when I could benefit the most. So I did what I often do... I stepped back and asked myself if I was willing to see it from a different perspective.

My Retreat Solution

While reflecting on my deep desire to retreat – I started exploring why I wanted to experience it in the first place. I was craving alone time, connection and an opportunity to see spiritual sites and places I assumed would bring new perspective and possibly a profound spiritual experience (if that wasn’t too much to ask). I turned to one of my favourite practices – taking time to visualise my ideal outcome, and allow myself to fully experience the feelings around it.

So I dreamed about what I wanted and felt excited to create the budget-friendly version in my home. I had to put aside the perceived benefit of traveling to a designated spiritual space and instead allow myself to explore another option. I chose to lean into the process of being curious and fully feeling what I was craving. I realised my desire was solitude, connection and feeling the freedom of being out in the world where others had experienced a spiritual connection.

I used some of my rose quartz crystals and created my own sacred site – a sacred circle round me in my bedroom in my usual meditation spot. I lit my candle and sat in my circle setting an intention to create a sacred, quiet space.

I sank into the meditation and allowed myself to imagine walking the paths I’d never visited and sitting in the places I wanted to go to. The main objective was to feel what this could bring to me. I saw the stone circles I’d seen online, I prayed the prayers I would’ve prayed, I asked for the support and guidance I would’ve asked for and I sent out a wave of energy imagining myself connecting with others at these same sites.

Over the weeks that followed, during my usual meditation time, I ‘visited’ my sacred spaces and had my imaginative retreat – and I genuinely started to feel what I’d been craving. I felt more grounded, more connected and started to see that while a retreat may have been just as beneficial - I wasn’t seeking the places, the tools, the people, the experience... I was looking for a deeper connection with myself and to find some solitude. And finding it in the simplest way was just as beneficial.

How to create a budget-friendly retreat

Let’s recap how you could make this work for you...

1. Be open to a simpler solution than booking a retreat

If you hold onto the idea of what a retreat is “supposed to be”, from what we’re told online, it may just get in the way of your ability to fully lean into this type of experience. It needs to be a conscious choice you make to try and shift the narrative in order to fully lean into the experience.

2. Explore what it is you’re really seeking from the retreat

You won’t achieve the outcome you desire if you don’t really know what it is. Can you be totally honest with yourself and dig a little to find the real reason you are wanting to retreat. Keep asking the question – why do I want to go on retreat? Even if the answer may seem different to what you want it to be.

3. Think of ways to bring the intention of the retreat into your every day life

Now that you know why you want the retreat, how can you bring it to life in your own way? If an organised retreat or spiritual trip is not on the cards right now, how can you bring the experience into your life in a simple way right now? You could plan a day at home where you engage in retreat activities (meditation, relaxation, journaling etc), you could go on a nature walk nearby, you could connect with women at a meditation circle or even visualise a meditation circle, you could do a visualisation of yourself on retreat and explore the feeling around it. The possibilities depend on your intention behind the retreat.

4. Reflect on what your ‘budget-friendly’ retreat brought you

Once you’ve planned and enjoyed your budget-friendly retreat – give yourself a chance to really reflect on the experience. Did you find what you were seeking? Is there more you’d like to explore?

A Closing Reflection

In a world of beautifully photographed and expensive spiritual retreats, we are often drawn to a retreat or experience because it looks so enticing. It looks as if it will bring us what we are craving... but can we truly lean into what it is we’re craving without the retreat? And find ways to bring it into our lives without the frills and fuss?

Spending the money, having the leader or teacher, being in the sacred site... may not even bring about the experience and epiphany you seek! And if you feel it will and still want to go – then by all means make it happen! But, I truly believe that starting with yourself and tapping into your own intention behind the desire to go on retreat may actually bring you something that you can incorporate into your daily life and change your life from the inside out.