Self-care and relaxation activities are increasingly popular as people feel stressed and isolated working from home.

Retreats are a positive experience for attendees, with the right activities helping people unwind. For example, if you’re hosting a spiritual workshop, you don’t want to include activities focusing on improving productivity. To create a successful and enjoyable program for everyone, you must schedule the right mix of retreat activities.

Looking for spiritual retreat ideas? We’ll show you how to create a successful spiritual retreat by mixing structured and non-structured activities.

How do you run a spiritual retreat?

Running a spiritual retreat is much like running any event. You’ll choose a theme, reserve a venue, select talent (like a spiritual leader), and handle many other details. But organising a spiritual retreat presents challenges too. Discover how spiritual retreats can offer something unique and important considerations for planning one.

  • Choose a theme: This should appeal to your target audience and will depend on the message delivered by the spiritual leader, who should embrace the theme.
  • Reserve a venue: Find somewhere peaceful where attendees can clear their minds. Think a park, or for a multi-day event, be more ambitious and head for the desert, mountains, or beach.
  • Select a spiritual leader: You may have already partnered with a church, temple, or other spiritual organisation. The leader should be engaging and personable, eliciting trust and confidence.
  • Logistics: How will attendees get to the venue? Will there need to be parking? What about food and water? Bathrooms? Like any other event, logistics are critical.
  • Costs: How is the event going to be paid for? Will there be an admission price? Have a separate bank account to pay vendors and suppliers and deposit receipts.

What do retreats offer attendees?

The activities you choose should reflect what you want attendees to take away. For example, if you want participants to get away from modern life, don’t show yoga sessions on a smart TV. Have participants get involved in hosted classes with other retreat participants.

Retreats offer attendees a variety of benefits, including:

  • An escape from modern life and a chance to unplug.
  • Spiritual activities that let participants connect with nature – great for healing the mind.
  • Ways to reduce stress and opportunities to vary their daily routine, remove emotional baggage, and improve mental wellbeing.
  • Connecting with others through group activities, communicating, and building trust.

What kinds of retreats are there?

Retreats aren’t one-type-fits-all programs. The type of retreat determines what participants get out of it. The activities you choose must reflect the type of retreat. Some types of popular retreats are:

  • Spiritual retreats focusing on mindfulness and physical harmony.
  • Religious retreats bringing attendees closer to their beliefs.
  • Nature retreats reminding participants of nature’s beauty and how a stroll can help destress and feel less isolated.
  • Youth retreats focusing on helping young people become productive, responsible, and caring adults.
  • Yoga retreats emphasising combining physical and spiritual expansion.
  • Wellness retreats centering on health, nutrition, and increasing knowledge.
  • Detox retreats devoted to treating alcohol, narcotics, and other addictions.

While you want to offer a range of activities for solo and group participants, you want to stay on topic. For instance, leave any religious activities off the list if you’re creating a nature retreat.

What makes a successful retreat?

To ensure your spiritual retreat attracts – and inspires – a crowd, know why you’re hosting it. What do you hope to accomplish? It’s hard to measure success if you aren’t sure what success means.

Be considerate about when you host your retreat. Certain times of year offer themes to embrace. Spring combines pleasant weather with ideas of fresh starts and renewal. Winter encourages topics around closeness and survival. Be aware that certain holiday seasons may curtail participation by some of your audience.

Finally, how you host your event can affect how valuable it will be. Offer the best experience possible by providing comfortable accommodations and plenty of healthy food. A professionally run event means fewer distractions and greater impact.

Ideas for retreat activities

Here are some spiritual retreat activity ideas to combine with overnight and weekend workshops.

Mindfulness meditation

Breathing exercises and guided visualisations allow participants to relax mentally and physically while remaining engaged with the present. Attendees can begin to connect with their spiritual selves.

Meditation and silent reflection are positive recollection activities, helping people better understand who they are, what they can be, and how their beliefs fit into their lives.

Physical activities

Spiritual retreat activities stimulate the mind and body. Yoga and Pilates classes combine rhythmic breathing with exercises that strengthen and tone muscles – yoga by stressing stillness and holding positions, and Pilates by prioritising physical movement. These low-impact exercises are adaptable to almost everyone, regardless of fitness level.

Exercising before discussion groups is an excellent way to get rid of everyone’s nervous energy.

Arts and crafts

There’s no shortage of fun spiritual workshop ideas regarding arts and crafts. For example, encourage people to gather pinecones and create decorations or even small feeders for local wildlife.

For a sustainable activity with a purpose, gather unused yarn from local crafts stores and hold a knitting class to make scarves for people in need.

Painting is another fun activity aligning with spiritual mindfulness. To increase participation, have group projects and an art show at the end of the program. Step-by-step art lessons could also be something attendees enjoy.

Journaling exercises

Structured journaling lets attendees examine their innermost feelings. It’s a therapeutic activity allowing individuals to explore old and new aspects of their spirituality. Start by having attendees write down why they’re there; it will help them relax. Remember to have prompts on hand to ensure structure.

Let attendees know from the outset that they should pack journals and pens — it’ll help them prepare mentally for the activity. You can even sell add-ons, like a keepsake journal to take home and cherish.

Music class or performance

Any retreat needs entertainment. An art show is a start, but offer something everyone wants to participate in.

Bringing in a local music group is one way to get attendees relaxed and ready to engage. Music can provide pure entertainment or serve as a tool for guided meditation. Offer attendees the option to learn a chant or self-affirmations set to music. It’s a skill they’ll be able to use long after the retreat ends.

Provide music classes for anyone interested, and ensure you have an instructor who understands the retreat’s purpose and goals.

An open mic poetry session is an engaging way for attendees to share spiritual or nature-focused thoughts.

Nature walks

Nature walks give attendees time for reflection, relaxation, and rediscovery. Encourage attendees to take some unstructured free time for themselves outside to experience nature’s healing powers. You can also structure group walks, allowing participants to connect in a serene and neutral setting.

An outdoor scavenger hunt is another fun way to get attendees out in nature and working as a team.

Small group conversations

Encourage attendees to break into small groups to share and communicate. People are often more reserved in large-group gatherings, so smaller groups enable greater intimacy.

Arrange seating in circles to emphasise equality and connectedness, and offer a prompt or theme to spark conversations. Both indoor and outdoor settings work well for small groups.

Cooking and juicing sessions

A healthy body and mind are essential parts of spiritual health. Sharing recipes and cooking techniques re-connects attendees to what they put in their bodies and how that affects their spiritual and mental health and physical wellbeing.

Bring plenty of fresh ingredients and go heavy on fruits and vegetables. Avoid processed food and drinks.

Sound healing

Bathe attendees with the rejuvenating sounds of crystal quartz and Himalayan bowls, Koshi chimes, tongue drums, and other sacred instruments. Guests can cover their eyes or immerse themselves in darkness to heighten the effect of the sounds.

Jamie Nicole of San Luis Obispo, California, even has guests lie prone in hammocks, so they float peacefully, enhancing the effect of the sounds on the mind and body.

Hypnotherapy

Change your guests’ mindsets by inducing hypnosis to improve motivation, behavior, and mindfulness. Hypnotherapy has been proven effective in various contexts, including treating psychological therapy, depression, anxiety, and more.

Some states have mandatory licensing requirements for hypnotherapists, so check your local regulations.

Sample program for a spiritual retreat

Here is a sample program designed for an overnight spiritual retreat. With a few changes, it can work for almost any type you want to create.

Day 1

  • 9am: Welcome breakfast
  • 10:30am: Getting-to-know-you activities
  • 11:30am: Short talk about mindfulness
  • 12pm: 30-minute guided meditation
  • 12:30pm: Lunch
  • 2:30pm: Guided nature walk (optional)
  • 4pm: Deep breathing techniques
  • 6pm: Dinner
  • 8pm: Musical entertainment

Day 2

  • 9am: Grab-and-go breakfast
  • 10am: Group yoga
  • 11am: Journaling techniques class
  • 12pm: Individual activities selection
  • 1pm: Lunch
  • 3pm: Massage techniques course
  • 4:30pm: Afternoon guided meditation
  • 6pm: Dinner
  • 8pm: Musical meditation workshop

Day 3

  • 9am: Grab-and-go breakfast
  • 10am: Group art project (collage)
  • 11am: Team scavenger hunt
  • 12:30pm: Lunch
  • 2:30pm: Group meditation
  • 3:30pm: Crystals course
  • 5pm: Event survey/feedback
  • 6pm: Closing dinner/banquet activities

Ready to plan your retreat activities?

With the right activities, your retreat will succeed and be valuable to attendees. When it’s time to start planning, Eventbrite has all the tools you need to manage the event and connect with attendees during retreat activities.