Rituals of Retreat: How the Rhythms of Nature and Tradition Help You Regenerate

Discover the transformative power of retreat through the rhythms of nature, ritual, and tradition. Learn how honoring sacred cycles can help you regenerate, restore energy, and align with your deepest intentions.

By Shiva Rea

Our explorations of the many rhythms found in our bodies, our planet, and the cosmos bring us to the art of retreat—the power of the inward pull, the time in between. Life is a ritual from sunrise to sunset every day throughout the day, time outside of time, within the pure presence of one cycle of breath. We can experience the essence of ritual this way, following the nature of our own bodies.

Human culture has developed around these timeless cycles, and the festival and retreats we have created back through time have always reflected these rhythms of nature. It is natural to honor these rhythms by pausing occasionally to regenerate, and all of nature does this: the tiger at rest on the savannah conserves her energy instinctually.

Just as we waste more energy than we actually use in the United States, we often "waste" the most precious times for experiencing heightened energy. This chapter describes the retrieval of the power of retreat—no matter who you are or what your life circumstance is.

Five Rhythms of Retreat

In my life and as I have led global retreats over the past 20 years, I focus on five aspects of retreat, whether I am creating a group offering or one for my own daily life. These retreat elements are sacred time, sacred space, natural ritual, spirit of sadhana, and sacred activism—the power of something positive being generated through that retreat time. Just the act of "unplugging," taking time off the technological grid every day, has positive repercussions for our energy future.

Five Flows of Retreat

Sacred time—setting an intention and setting time aside within the flow of life
Sacred space—awakening to the space around you, tending to your inner and outer altar
Natural ritual—ways of connecting to the natural process of change
Spirit of sadhana—ways of integrating practice into your retreat
Sacred activism—energy Sabbaths—unplugging as a way of energy activism

Sacred Rhythm

The natural waxing and waning of life offers all kinds of opportunities to create personal retreat time and allow yourself to move into harmony with whatever may be arising within you. You can create a sacred retreat at any given moment by honoring the breath, daily at sunrise or sunset, or during the cross-cultural holy days that are tied to the movements of the sun and moon through the wheel of the year. You can answer the call for retreat whenever you see auspicious signs that the time is right, or when you sense a warning that you need some regenerative time. This listening creates your intention, or your dedication, for your cycle.

There are three natural cycles within the pulse of life that we can emphasize during our retreat times:

Cycles of Initiating—Rhythms for Beginning Anew

Optimal times: On an inhale; at sunrise; during the new moon; during the wheel-of-the-year festivals of winter solstice, New Year's Day, Imbolc, or spring equinox; any time you are initiating a new phase in your life, such as a project or a relationship.

Cycles of Sustaining the Peak—Honoring and Celebrating Fullness

Optimal times: On an inhale retention; at noon and sunset; during the full moon; at summer solstice; during waxing solar sandhyas (spring equinox or Belane); any time you are sustaining a challenging project in your life.

Cycles of Letting Go—Honoring Completion, Death, and Shadow Work

Optimal times: On an exhale; at sunset and nighttime, during the wanting period three days before the new moon; at Samhain (last six weeks of the year); any time you are completing a process or working with shadow healing, death, or letting go.

Sacred Space—Tending Your Home Altar

Tending your inner fire is an important aspect of cultivating the sacred space of your retreat, and this process is reflected in your home altar. Your personal altar is a great nexus—a navel that connects your inner and outer worlds—a conduit for your prayers, and a reflection of your inner space and what is stirring within your heart.

Every altar has a central focus—a primary symbol—which can take any form: an image, a sculpture, a natural object such as a stone or feather, or anything else that you find meaningful. Throughout our lifetimes, various symbols come to us; sometimes they are given to us, sometimes we find them, and sometimes we must search for them. Often, they come our way before we are fully ready to understand their meaning. So remain open to the possibilities.