While the world swirls around us with messages about achieving our 2024 goals and making huge strides and taking big swings, here at KIM+ONO, we’re in hibernation mode. Don’t get us wrong, we love a goal and a to-do list. We love the feeling of accomplishment that comes from setting your sights high and achieving those big, lofty dreams. There is nothing more satisfying than going for a big dream and reaching it! But we also know that there is a season for everything. There is a time to rest and there is a time to push. For us, January and the post-holiday winter months are a time to rest.
The reason rest is so important to us is because of those big dreams and goals. We’re not robots who can push day in and day out without refilling our tanks. We are humans, who need rest and care; we need intervals of downtime and introspection. Part of the reason we love our handcrafted flower kimono robes is because of the time it takes to make them. Each women’s silk robe in our Handpainted Silk Kimono Robe Collection takes 7 days to craft from start to finish. Every step is intentional, and you can feel it when you slip into those women’s silk robes. Rest and time are beautiful things, necessary for human beings who want to express themselves at their fullest and highest potential. So with that in mind, today in the journal we’re going to explore how to give yourself an at-home self-care retreat. Instead of charging into 2024 with power and gusto, we invite you to take a lighter approach. Walk into this year with intention and clarity, focusing on your needs, your self care, and your trust that there is more than enough time to accomplish the dreams in your heart.
An at-home self-care retreat can take as long as a full week or as short as an afternoon. But the first step in giving yourself an at-home retreat is to set the timing boundaries. This is important because the timing will let others in your household know what to expect. If you’re taking three hours in your at-home office, you’ll be much more likely to stay focused and centered if people aren’t constantly knocking on your door. If you live by yourself, it’s still important to set the timing! While you may think you can simply slip into your luxury silk robe and start the retreat whenever you want, we find it’s more powerful to set a clear intention for yourself. Block off the time, delineate it in your calendar, and keep the date with yourself. This kind of inner integrity is a crucial component of self care — it helps you trust that you’ll take care of yourself when you say you will.
Decide how you want to feel at the end of your at-home retreat, and then reverse engineer it to make it so. For instance, if you want to feel lighter and more clarity in your mind, you may make meditation part of your at-home retreat. Perhaps you drape your luxury silk robe around your shoulders, pull out your meditation pillow, and use a sound bowl to bring you into the space and help your mind quiet down. Or perhaps you want to feel energized and refreshed. So in that scenario, you might want to pull out your favorite gua sha tool so help invigorate your skin, and help your blood to circulate more. Maybe you do a few yoga flows and end by taking savasana in your flower kimono robe to bring you an extra sense of sealing in the energetic practice. Whatever you choose to do, focus on how you want to feel — not what you should do during an at-home retreat. There are no wrong answers.
During a retreat, you may want to quiet your mind and slow down to give you a sense of peace, but you may also want to stimulate your mind in new ways. Novelty for the human brain is a refresher. It helps us to see the world differently, opens up our perspectives, and instills a sense of optimism. A quick way to bring novelty to your at-home retreat is to choose something to learn. Whether that’s a new workout, a new meditation, or reading a book on a new topic that’s of interest to you, learning gives your brain a chance to both reset and re-energize. Slip into your luxury silk robe, grab your e-reader, and find deep enjoyment in expanding your mind as you rest.
If you’re like us, you may be used to filling up your schedule from morning to night. And that may be your impulse when planning your at-home retreat. But we suggest creating some blank space. If you are taking three hours or three days, make sure you allow at least 10-15% of your time for nothing. You may end up filling that time, but let your intuition guide you. Perhaps you are creating blank space after your gua sha tool routine and that blank space allows for meditation. Perhaps you slip into your women’s silk robe and sit down for a meditation and the blank space you give yourself after meditating turns into a bout of creativity where you’re jotting ideas down left and right. You never know what can come up, and that’s the beauty of the blank space. Let your intuition do the talking while your mind does the resting.
No matter when or how you get yourself an at-home self-care retreat, January is a wonderful month to prioritize rest and rejuvenation. You’ve worked hard, you’ve zipped through the holidays, before charging into the next accomplishment and productive to-do, take some time to get reconnected with yourself. That small reset will give you all the energy you need for the year to come. And future you will thank you.
