1-Hour Retreat: Winter
Everything you need for 1 hour of magic!
That’s me about to start my Winter 1-Hour Retreat. I’m sitting in our trailer on the driveway with a favorite Valentine’s Day mug and a hot cuppa tea. I have a selection of poems nearby.
Dust of Snow
By Robert Frost
The way a crow
Shook down on me
The dust of snow
From a hemlock tree
Has given my heart
A change of mood
And saved some part
Of a day I had rued.What you don’t know is that I also have a splitting headache, but that won’t deter me because I am excited for a moment of reading, writing, and reflection in its purest form—just for me without worrying about an audience.
In the past, I’ve had great intentions of taking myself on multi-day reading and writing retreats in lovely locations, but I find they never happen due to time scarcity and financial constraints. When I read about Pocket Retreats by Kortney Garrison and Solo Retreats by Charlotte Donlon, I was thrilled to make this practice a part of my life’s routine and rhythm with a few tweaks to make it my own.
I’ve decided to do a 1-Hour Retreat every month in 2025. I can easily spare an hour and I’ll do them at my home so the cost is zero! (Unless I need to purchase a book for the retreat which is necessary for living well so my magical book finance logic applies and the cost is still zero!)
I’m a theme girl so the readings for each retreat will swirl around one emotion, concept, or season. This month it’s WINTER.
And I’m offering it to you with step-by-step instructions! Scroll down for links to printable resources and readings mentioned for this retreat. I hope you take yourself on a 1-Hour Retreat, too!
Resources and Links for Printing
Winter Retreat Directions PDF (just like the page you see above).
Mixed Emotions Deck. This is an illustrated deck of cards with all the emotions. It’s so helpful when I want to know how I’m feeling beyond happy, sad, or mad. I love sorting through the deck and making two piles. One for how I’m feeling right now and another for how I want to feel at the end of my 1-Hour Retreat.
Alternatively, and much cheaper, you can Google and print an emotions wheel. I purchased a sticker that I attached to the inside cover of my retreat journal when I don’t want to carry around the Mixed Emotions cards (which are still my first choice).
Readings:
“Snow Day” by Billy Collins
“Dust of Snow” by Robert Frost
“White-Eyes” by Mary Oliver
Light Rains Sometimes Fall by Lev Parikian: A British Year Through Japan’s 72 Seasons. This book is organized by weeks in the year. I chose the week of February 9-13, but you can turn to any date depending upon when you do your retreat. This book is a gem and I turn to it over and over again. I also suggest the author’s Substack. He lives in England and is a conductor who is also obsessed with birds!
Retreat Tips
Like all creative endeavors, you gotta make 1-Hour Retreats your own. Maybe it’s a 30-Minute Retreat? Maybe there is no writing at all, but sketching. knitting, gardening, or cooking. Do what suits you, fabulous you!
My plan is to have one journal for a year’s worth of retreats, but it’s up to you. Write in whatever you like. Don’t be too precious and try to make it pretty and perfect. Selecting journals is a personal choice, but my favorites are these two:
If you’d like a visual of the retreat structure that works for me, here ya go!
Please put any questions in the comments. Let me know your tweaks as these are a work in progress for me, too! I hope you find a place, time, and mental space for your very own 1-Hour Winter Retreat.