5 Signs You Need to Reconnect with Your Higher Self

Hi, I’m Sara Intonato and today’s topic is called the Joy Generation Project. Let’s look at five top signs that you, yes you, deserve and NEED a yoga retreat, even if it’s a small one that you create for yourself at home. It’s time to ditch the burnout you are probably wearing as a badge of honor and reconnect to the joy in your life.

Sign #1: You used to be consistent and you fell of the wagon

Maybe you WANT to be consistent in your self care but haven’t figured out where to start. Maybe you had a nice groove going and then life got in the way. This happens to almost everybody at some point on their yogic journey and it usually starts with a good reason. A relative has been sick and you need to care for them, or you were injured and had to take some time off. Sometimes it occurs for no reason in general, you’ve just been busy and let life get in the way. It doesn’t matter how you ended up here, but here you are. You’re frustrated. You’re ready for this rut to be over. You know you need to move on. You know you need something to hold you accountable but you don’t know how to find it.

Sign #2: You KNOW you need a retreat and a dose of rejuvenation when you have been putting everyone else’s needs before yours.

It’s the old “when/then” syndrome. You know you have needs. You keep saying,
“when summer vacation comes THEN I’ll take care of myself”
“When the kids go to camp, THEN I’ll take care of myself”
“When I have more money, THEN I’ll take care of myself”
“When my health improves, THEN I’ll take care of myself”
“When work calms down, THEN I’ll take care of myself”

This is a dangerous, future based thinking. It reveals your attachment to the way things are and the way you think things are “supposed to be”. It shows the deeply rooted belief that you feel you’re not good enough to take action now. You do this because on some level you don’t think you deserve to have what you want in this moment.

You think that you have to wait for some outside thing to prepare you or make you worthy of taking that vacation, getting back to your yoga practice, or getting more sleep. Spoiler alert: you don’t. You don’t have to be perfect. You are ALREADY worthy. You simply have to start where you are, right now, in this moment. Giving yourself a little retreat, even an at home retreat, can do this for you.

Sign #3 You know you’re in need of some spiritual juice when your relationships are suffering, even in the smallest way.

Maybe your spouse has told you you’ve been cranky lately. Maybe you find yourself snapping at your employees. Maybe you’ve had a short fuse with your children for no reason. Maybe you just have a little bit of agitation inside, low grade anxiety, for no apparent reason.

You don’t know why it’s there, you don’t know how to get rid of it, but you know you don’t like it. This is something which happens to almost everyone and it’s something we can take action on, but we MUST act. It isn’t enough to notice it or think about it. We have to DECIDE we’re not going to accept the status quo, and do something about it.

Sign #4: You know you’re in need of a little retreat for yourself because you’ve lost your inspiration.

You used to be so excited to do yoga and now you aren’t. You used to have a lot of energy for reading spiritual books, writing in your journal, meditating, and beyond. These things are NOT happening right now. If they are, you aren’t approaching any aspects of your practice with your usual gusto. You need a reconnection to the love and eagerness you used to have for your practice. These traits are actually discussed in the Yoga Sutras, (sutra I.14 to be exact). If we practice for a long time without interruption, with positive attitude and eagerness towards what we’re doing, we will achieve the benefits of yoga. So, if your eagerness has been lacking, it’s time to reinvigorate it.

This sutra also tells the yogic journey is a long-term process. Sometimes during that long-term process you lose your energy and need to take steps to bring it back. If you want to reap the benefits of yoga for the long haul, you can’t just do this as an item on your to-do list. If you do, I guarantee you won’t have the positive attitude piece in place. Without it you won’t want to maintain this practice for a lifetime. It’s too much energy to go about it half assed. It takes too much faith.

It’s up to you to take action and make your practice priority number one in order to give yourself the boost you need to FINALLY return to your practice with excitement.

Sign #5: The last signal that you’re in need of a little boost, is, you just lost the pep in your step, both on the mat and off.

You know what it feels like to walk through your life with confidence, with your shoulders back, with a smile on your face, feeling good about who you are in the world, feeling conscious of doing your best every single day. You also know when you’re NOT feeling this way. You know when you’re going through the motions and you’re getting the things done, but there’s a sense of drudgery about it. Maybe there’s even a sense of boredom deep within. Maybe that low grade anxiety we mentioned above is hanging around again. These are all signs it’s time for you to give back to YOU.

The good news is you can reconnect to yourself right now. Today! Yes, you certainly can make it a fancy yoga retreat experience and jet off to a beautiful destination, but it doesn’t have to be that way. You can care for yourself and reset your system in the quiet of your own home or a nearby space. It’s time to get yourself back on the wagon. I’m going to tell you how. All you have to do is click the link below for my top steps to create your own private yoga retreat to rejuvenate every cell of your being.