A retreat is a time to come in.
A time to care for self.
A pause in the mundane.
A nod to the sacred.
A few moments to say, this is for me and me alone.
An intention to decrease outside stimulus that you may turn your attention inward.
These interviews are perfect for this. They are self-honoring that you may have more juice and juju for all the roles you play and hats that you wear.
Following are my suggestions for how to structure this retreat (and of course you may listen However and Whenever you so desire!!):
Scheduling
I suggest you let this retreat be a 10 week long adventure.
Not only is this easier to handle in your schedule, it provides one of the most important things that this work requires, which is Remembering. By stretching it out, you come Home every week for almost 3 months. That is superb precedence setting.
And, you know You best. If you’d rather make this a 1-week retreat, by all means, do that.
Action
Two hours per week — preferably same time slot each week.
For ex. 9-11am on Saturday mornings. 7-9pm on Wednesday evenings.
Two hours ought to be about enough time to settle in, listen to an hour long interview, do the exercise, and consider that speaker’s tool.
Clarify your retreat time container
Make that time slot a Sacred Space time container for you.
This means that you determine what’s allowed and what’s not allowed during this session. For ex.:
Yes — cup of coffee, favorite journal and pen, comfy chair
No — disruptions by others (let them know ahead of time that you’ll be busy), beeping/ringing phones (put in airplane mode), other digital things (turn off everything except for what you need to listen)
Get organized
While I don’t recommend printing out the entire handbook (it’s almost 70 pages long!), there are a few pages that I suggest printing + you may decide to print some of the tools + you’ll probably have plenty of ideas popping into mind while listening, etc.
You know the papers are coming… so let’s get you prepared!
Action
Reminders
Compassion and right timing is Much More important than sticking with a schedule. In others words, if things come up and you get away from the sched for a couple of weeks, that’s fine! Just go back to “Scheduling” above and pick up where you left off.