Planning A Cozy Winter Retreat

The holidays have long been past us and the new year is in full swing. Now that things have gone back to normal, It’s a great time to take some “you” time. Doing a cozy winter retreat is a fun way to take some time off to reset yourself.

Whether stress from the holidays still has you reeling, sickness has plagued your new year and you need a reset, or something else entirely, a winter retreat could be your answer. I’m here to help you plan one.

Planning A Cozy Winter Retreat

Step 1: Pick Your Date

Picking a random weekend, week, etc. is not the way to go about this cozy winter retreat. For the best experience you want to choose a time period that has no time conflicts or during any busy times.

It’s a great idea to get the calendar out and view your commitments. You may also want to think of school or work and plan for a time where it makes sense or is during a slower period. Doing this will ensure you pick an optimal time period that doesn’t conflict with your daily commitments and won’t leave you coming back to a lot of stress.

Step 2: Determine Why You Want To Do A Winter Retreat And What You Want To Get From It

There are many reasons why someone may want to do a winter retreat. In this step you have a chance to figure out what your reason is. Once you figure out what your reason is, the rest of the steps should build on top of it.

Then you are going to take it a step further and figure out what you want to get from your time off. This will give you a goal/intention to zero in on. 

This step can look something like the following:

Why: “I want a break from the busyness I’ve had lately” – and – What I’ll Get From It: Some time to relax and let off some steam

Why: “I have a big idea/project I want to focus on” – and – What I’ll Get From It: Structured, un-interrupted time to develop my idea/project 

Why: “I haven’t been able to connect with family/friends lately. I’d like to have some intentional time to do that.” – and – What I’ll Get From It: To create more memories and deeper relationships with those I love.

Step 3: Figure Out How Detailed You Want To Be

There are three ways you can go about planning what you want to do during your cozy winter retreat. You can be generalized and just list the things you might want to do, be structured and create an itinerary for what you’ll do, or you can do a mix of both. In my opinion a mix of both is a great way to have balance during a retreat.

 Let’s take a look at what each one would look like. For this purpose we will be exploring the idea of hosting a cozy winter reading retreat. 

Make A List Of Activities You Want To Do

If you want to take a more relaxed approach while planning your retreat all you really need to do is make a list of activities you want to happen in the time period of your retreat. If we are talking about a reading retreat your list may look something like this:

• 24-hour readathon
• Create bookmarks
• Visit a bookstore
• Make Blind Dates With a Book and trade them
• Bedazzle a book
• Make a meal/recipe featured in a book
• Discuss a book club book
• Watch a movie that was inspired by a book

As you can see this list isn’t divided by day or time. It doesn’t have to go in order either. It’s just a general guide of what the retreat might look like. This allows you to plan what you need to get and/or bring and let other attendees know what to expect.

Create An Itinerary For Your Retreat

For those that would like a little more structure, creating an itinerary would be the way to go. This helps you make sure you have plenty of time to do all that you want to do and also gives you a way to plan each activity to optimize the retreat.

Let’s say the reading retreat you are planning is a three day long weekend retreat. Here is an example of what a day 2 itinerary would look like.

• 8am-9am: Breakfast
• 10am-11:30pm: Reading/Chill Time
• 12:00pm: Get Lunch Out And Visit A Bookstore
• 2:00pm: Bedazzle A Book Session
• 4:00pm: Reading/Chill Time
• 5:30pm: Cook A Book Inspired Dinner
• 7:00pm: Movie Night

Step 4: Prepare Your Workload

Since you know when your cozy winter retreat will be, now it’s time to prepare. You can either try to get some projects/work done ahead of time, or prepare yourself to be busy when you get back.

Work with your boss/professor/etc. to see if some deadlines can be shifted, things can be completed early, and anything else that will take your mind off of work/school during your retreat.

Step 5: Let People Know

Nothing is worse than planning time off and being interrupted the whole time. To prevent this make sure any family, friends, co-workers, etc. Know not to disturb you, unless it’s an emergency.

You could even plan to make your cozy winter retreat an unplugged one. So put your phone on do-not-disturb and enjoy the peace of uninterrupted cozy time.

Step 6: Gather Supplies And Anything Else You Need

It’s almost the time you’ve been waiting for. Before you get too excited, it’s time to gather what you’ll need for the time you will be away/unplugged.

Whether that’s supplies for art projects, books for reading time, a new notebook for journaling/reflecting, food, or anything else you may need. It’s best to make a list of what you need and review it a few times so that you are less likely to forget anything.

Step 7: Get Into A Retreat Mindset

The worst thing you can do during your cozy winter retreat is have your mind be preoccupied the whole time, keeping you from being in the present moment. To prevent this from happening you want to clear your mind from anything that has it weighed down.

A great way to do this is to do a brain dump a few days before your retreat begins. This gives you time to tie up any loose ends or problems that come up during your brain dump. This way you can eliminate any worry or unresolved situations. Then, you can simply just focus on all the cozy vibes and what you are on the winter retreat for.

Step 8: Enjoy Your Cozy Winter Retreat!

Now that you have everything prepped and planned, and you are in the right mindset, your cozy winter retreat can begin. You can rest easy knowing you planned well and only have to focus on what you want to get out of the retreat. I hope you get everything you want out of this cozy winter retreat and you end it feeling refreshed.

Final Thoughts on Planning a Cozy Winter Retreat

I can’t wait to start planning my cozy winter retreat. Is this something you plan to do before winter ends? Let me know what type of cozy winter retreat you want to do.

About the Author

---