A Crochet Retreat at Breathing Space ❤️

Are you a PRODUCTIVE person?

Are you working SMART?

Do you have good TIME MANAGEMENT?

If you can answer yes to all these questions, YAY!!

That’s a good thing – right?

These are the things that drive us and help us stay on top of our goals and ‘to do lists’.

If you put in the hours and work hard you’ll hit your targets and be rewarded with: (tick the appropriate answer/s)

• Financial gain
• Approval from others
• A great product
• A smug sense of satisfaction

And –  we don’t just want to hit our targets – we want to SMASH them – or CRUSH them – so our time management systems ensure every minute is productive and accounted for in our war against time and our battle for productivity.

But what if all of that just sounds a bit exhausting- and not very much fun?

(OK, yes, this IS autobiographical – I’m just hoping you can relate here..….)

Personal anxieties around productivity can show up in the form of burn out, depression or simply a sense of disconnection – signalling that it’s time for a metaphorical, or actual, SAVASANA ; that’s The Corpse Pose in Yoga.

Playing dead may feel like an easy option when things become too much, but a Savasana isn’t a passive pose- in fact it’s viewed by many as the most difficult āsana in yoga as it  requires full relaxation without actually falling asleep. The desire to retreat from the transactional demands of life in a post modern world has resulted in a collective yearning for a restorative Savasana to both calm the mind and allow our life force energy to flow freely.

I waited 3 years to run another retreat but when I eventually wrote Crochet Retreat on the calendar I was finally putting relaxation, rest and social interaction on my ‘to do’ list and I made it happen this summer!

My crochet retreats, unsurprisingly, include lots of crochet  – but I know that many people choose to go on a retreat for lots of other, different, reasons. We might tell ourselves that ‘we deserve it’ or ‘we’ve earned it’ but the truth is for many of us – we need it.

• We need to unwind and undo to heal ourselves.
• We need to shed the load to make space for creativity.
• We need to replace work driven productivity with instinctive and intuitive play.
• We need to put systems of happiness and wellbeing in place and recognise that this is an unselfish act – personal joy benefits everyone around us.

These are the reasons why I wanted to hold my retreats at Breathing Space in the beautiful Norfolk Broads – it’s not just a venue with some nice rooms – it’s  a space to breath out, be held, nurtured and nourished on every level and Mags Sorrell is the woman behind the vision.

Mags is the most delightful host, she welcomes everyone with open arms  and ensures everyone feels comfortable in her beautiful ‘home from home’.

“In 2007 Mags had a vision to create a holistic retreat for women, offering them breathing space from their hectic lives: peace, tranquility, dark skies, open fires and good food, complemented with holistic healing therapies and shared with like-minded people. A space to gather, talk, heal, connect, eat, sleep, laugh and share.” https://www.breathingspacenorfolk.com/about-us

Therapies were offered over the weekend by Paulina who invited us to morning meditations where she guided us intuitively through imaginative landscapes to meet our creative souls. Later in the afternoon her extraordinary  Sound Baths dissolved all sense of time and place and created a deep sense of emotional wellbeing.

We were extremely well fed throughout the weekend by Gill and Jop, with help from Mags, as they prepared the most delicious healthy meals with many ingredients grown on site as they work towards self sufficiency at Breathing Space.

My fabulous assistant Jess was also with us all weekend offering technical crochet support, replenishing cups of tea and just generally being completely indispensable.

 

Oh – and we did actually make time to do some crochet! I’ve been working on a new design and this was an opportunity to try out some new crochet patterns and explore their design potential.

It was a joy to see how these were received and I loved how everyone had their own approach to this new concept – it’s always so exciting for me when people can visualise their own interpretations and design solutions.

The 13 guests who joined me on this retreat brought with them a curiosity, an open mind and a desire to connect with others, and I loved their enthusiasm as they launched themselves into the project.

This weekend wasn’t about fitting in – it was about feeling included.

And it wasn’t about escape- it was about integration.

I’m not sure we were especially productive – this wasn’t a product driven weekend. We didn’t have any particular targets and  our time management felt more like a natural rhythm than a strict agenda – but I’m so grateful to everyone who made this such a wonderful weekend.

I can’t wait to do it all again this Autumn – and I’m already making plans for next year……I’ll let you know when I have some new dates and perhaps you’ll be able to join me next time.

Oh- and PS…if you know of the perfect location for a weekend of relaxation and gentle creativity – let’s start talking!