• Facebook
  • Twitter
  • LinkedIn
  • Youtube
  • Instagram
  • 0Shopping Cart
Renee Trudeau
  • About
  • Speaking
  • Blog
  • Events
  • Self Renewal Groups
  • Books & Audio
  • Contact
  • Menu Menu

4 ways to schedule time for reflection

Self-Care, Women's Retreats

IMG_0340

Our outer world is a reflection of our inner world … what are you doing to nurture your inner life?

I relish this time of year: my birthday is Jan. 7th (I’m excited to celebrate my big 5-0!), winter beckons us to nest, hibernate and slow down, I love the rich spiritual tapestry of the holy season and of course, we’re given the opportunity to begin anew; to start over again with a fresh clean slate. Everything about this time calls us to turn our gaze inward, reflect and connect with our Wise Selves (read more).

As essential as it is to connect with our inner world, we’re moving so fast, this doesn’t naturally occur. We have to consciously schedule it.

Here are four ideas to help you create space in your life for contemplation right now:

1. Plan to spend a day in nature devoted completely to reflection: hike, walk, journal, draw, sit, daydream in the great outdoors. Nature is the top way many of us connect to the sacred and our intuition.
2. Book a retreat. Get clear on what you most want from a retreat experience. Then, think about what natural setting most calls to you (mountains, desert, ocean), if you want expanses of unstructured time or you want to be in a facilitated/guided environment and how much time you can dedicate—a day, weekend or longer. Read 5 Reasons I Take Retreats and check out my Jan. 8th and Jan. 29-31 women’s retreats.
3. Schedule an extended meditation in the morning, perhaps dedicating one day to releasing “the old” and another to envisioning what you want to experience in the new year. (I also like to keep a journal/pen next to my bed, especially this time of year, for capturing potent dreams or intuitive “nudges” I get upon waking.) Consider picking up a copy of my book Nurturing the Soul of Your Family: 10 Ways to Reconnect and Find Peace in Everyday Life-it’s chock-full of powerful exercises and tools to help you look at what’s working, what’s not and envision your best life.
4. Attend a conscious movement class or workshop (try yoga, qi gong, Nia dance) dedicated to letting 2015 go and reflecting on where you feel called to focus your energy/attention next. (Google to find a studio in your community.) The issues are in the tissues.

Most of us have an easier time getting perspective on our lives—where we’ve been and where we want to go—when we step outside of our everyday setting.

If the idea of belly-button gazing sounds daunting, be easy on yourself  and don’t be afraid to tap resources for inspiration (here’s a recommended reading list  to  jump start the process). For some, reflection may feel unnatural or uncomfortable—but it’s so worth the effort and one of the best investments you can make in yourself. Over time, you’ll find the more you create space in your life for pausing and inviting in inquiry, the easier it becomes and the more you’ll crave this. “From stillness comes discernment.” Let me know how it goes and don’t hesitate to email me at info at reneetrudeau dot com with questions!

JANUARY RETREATS~ONLY A FEW SPOTS LEFT: Are you craving time for reflection and the opportunity to gain clarity/focus on your next steps? Join me in an empowering, nurturing, supportive environment with like-minded women: Jan. 8th New Way of Being: Women’s Self-Renewal Retreat in Austin, TX and Jan. 29-31st New Way of Being: Women’s Self-Renewal Retreat at Kripalu Center for Yoga & Health (MA).

Subscribe here to Live Inside Out, a weekly blog written by life balance teacher/coach/self-care evangelist and Career Strategists president, Renée Peterson Trudeau. Offering custom life balance workshops, women’s retreats, training/certification, books/telecourses and individual career coaching, her work has appeared in The New York Times, Good Housekeeping, Spirituality & Health and more. Thousands of women in ten countries are becoming RTA-Certified Facilitators and leading/joining self-care groups based on her award-winning curriculum.  She is the author of The Mother’s Guide to Self-Renewal and Nurturing the Soul of Your Family: 10 Ways to Reconnect and Find Peace in Everyday Life. She lives in Austin, Texas, with her husband and 13 year-old son. More on her background here.

Photo: One of my favorite spots on planet earth for soulful reflection and big ah-has: Big Bend National Park.  If you’re visiting for your first time, try and stay in the Chisos Basin and snag one of the stone cottages built by the Civilian Conservation Corp. Priceless!

December 30, 2015/by renee
Tags: women's retreats
Share this entry
  • Share on Facebook
  • Share on Twitter
  • Share on Pinterest
  • Share on LinkedIn
  • Share by Mail
https://reneetrudeau.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/IMG_0340-e1451430642826.jpg 255 340 renee https://reneetrudeau.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/renee_trudeau_logo_tagline.png renee2015-12-30 00:06:292019-05-13 11:23:304 ways to schedule time for reflection

Subscribe to my blog

 

 

Archives

Categories

Popular Blog Posts

Self-Care 101: Three Ways to Begin

This Is The Time to Take a Retreat (Here’s How)

6 Things to Do When The Going Gets Tough

Self-care is Not About Improving Yourself

Connection = Medicine. Are You Getting Your Daily Dose?

Pause. Are You Honoring Your Journey?

Feeling Out of Sorts? Start with Self-Compassion

Are You Nurturing Your Friendships (+Why You Should)?

Sign up and receive my meditation on How To Start Your Day Intentionally.

My inspiring Tuesday emails provide timely life balance tools to help you soar through your week, plus receive pre-invites to our sell-out events.

Sign up and receive my meditation on How To Start Your Day Intentionally.

My inspiring Tuesday emails provide timely life balance tools to help you soar through your week, plus receive pre-invites to our sell-out events.

Get In Touch

info@reneetrudeau.com

512-459-6700

Popular Blog Posts

Self-Care 101: Three Ways to Begin

This Is The Time to Take a Retreat (Here’s How)

6 Things to Do When The Going Gets Tough

Self-care is Not About Improving Yourself

Connection = Medicine. Are You Getting Your Daily Dose?

Pause. Are You Honoring Your Journey?

Feeling Out of Sorts? Start with Self-Compassion

Are You Nurturing Your Friendships (+Why You Should)?

Upcoming Events

March 1-31st ~ Wild Souls Nature Adventures (Blue Ridge Mountains, NC). New experiences are posted each week; keep checking back! Learn more.

April 14-16 ~ Awakening Your Wild Soul: A Women’s Self-Renewal Retreat at Kripalu Center for Yoga & Health (Berkshire Mountains, MA). Learn more/register.

May 2023 ~ FREE Self-Care Global Summit with Renee and other self-care authors, teachers, coaches, and experts in relationships, spirituality, health & wellness and more. Registration coming soon.

May – June ~ Spring 2023 Women’s Self-Renewal Group  Small group/in person. Brevard, NC. Email us at info at reneetrudeau dot com to receive an invitation.

October 13-15th ~ Awakening Your Wild Soul: A Women’s Self-Renewal Retreat at Kripalu Center for Yoga & Health (Berkshire Mountains, MA). Registration coming soon!

© 2023 Renée Trudeau. Privacy Policy + Terms of Use
  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • LinkedIn
  • Youtube
  • Instagram
  • About
  • Speaking
  • Blog
  • Events
  • Self Renewal Groups
  • Books & Audio
  • Contact
  • Facilitator Login
  • My Account
Scroll to top

This site uses cookies. By continuing to browse the site, you are agreeing to our use of cookies.

OKLearn more

Cookie and Privacy Settings



How we use cookies

We may request cookies to be set on your device. We use cookies to let us know when you visit our websites, how you interact with us, to enrich your user experience, and to customize your relationship with our website.

Click on the different category headings to find out more. You can also change some of your preferences. Note that blocking some types of cookies may impact your experience on our websites and the services we are able to offer.

Essential Website Cookies

These cookies are strictly necessary to provide you with services available through our website and to use some of its features.

Because these cookies are strictly necessary to deliver the website, refusing them will have impact how our site functions. You always can block or delete cookies by changing your browser settings and force blocking all cookies on this website. But this will always prompt you to accept/refuse cookies when revisiting our site.

We fully respect if you want to refuse cookies but to avoid asking you again and again kindly allow us to store a cookie for that. You are free to opt out any time or opt in for other cookies to get a better experience. If you refuse cookies we will remove all set cookies in our domain.

We provide you with a list of stored cookies on your computer in our domain so you can check what we stored. Due to security reasons we are not able to show or modify cookies from other domains. You can check these in your browser security settings.

Google Analytics Cookies

These cookies collect information that is used either in aggregate form to help us understand how our website is being used or how effective our marketing campaigns are, or to help us customize our website and application for you in order to enhance your experience.

If you do not want that we track your visit to our site you can disable tracking in your browser here:

Other external services

We also use different external services like Google Webfonts, Google Maps, and external Video providers. Since these providers may collect personal data like your IP address we allow you to block them here. Please be aware that this might heavily reduce the functionality and appearance of our site. Changes will take effect once you reload the page.

Google Webfont Settings:

Google Map Settings:

Google reCaptcha Settings:

Vimeo and Youtube video embeds:

Other cookies

The following cookies are also needed - You can choose if you want to allow them:

Privacy Policy

You can read about our cookies and privacy settings in detail on our Privacy Policy Page.

Privacy Policy
Accept settingsHide notification only