5 spiritual formation lessons Learned after My Home Retreat
A meditative walk.
Angela walking around the Riverfront in Glastonbury, CT on a 20-minute meditative walk in silence.
During My Home Retreat, I was drawn to the practice of a meditative walk. For five days, I walked slowly on a twenty-minute meditative walk around the Riverfront in Glastonbury. My gait was steady and intentional. I was not walking to lose weight and beat the clock but to be in the presence of God.
I entered into a silence without the mind chatter. I’m the type of person who is always thinking, planning, and making mental moves. I walked and felt the gravel under my feet. The sun warmed my face as the wind cast a cool breeze on my neck. After the walk, I sat in my car with a 10-minute guided meditation and then journaled.
I’d grown so used to the silence that when my husband and I took a walk together, I invited him into it. He focused on the word “resistance” as we walked. Resisting the temptation to talk.
Last month, when I met with my Wednesday Small Group, I shared this experience. Their sacred response revealed that I had incorporated “silence into my daily living,” even one hour a day, and there was “silence in the doing.” One cohort even shared the image of “praying without ceasing.” The power of a small group spiritual direction session is the encouragement of others and the movements of God that you don’t really notice yourself. I left that session ready for a one or two-day silent retreat away from home.
And the five spiritual formation lessons I learned from My Home Retreat:
It takes time to incorporate silence into daily living and doing.
To create a playdate needs to be intentional, sometimes spontaneous, and other times planned. You have to carve and crave time just to be. After my meditative walk, I found a cafe MexicoPho and delighted, silently, in a burrito bowl.
A social media break will help you forget how much time you actually spend on Facebook, Twitter, TikTok, Linked In, Instagram, or any other social media platform. When you return, you will not browse as long or at all.
Regularly throughout the day: stop, pause, breathe, and pray.
Show up and hush. Slow down and listen. Just be.
Remember, your heart matters.
Angela
