The At-Home Self Care Retreat gives you one day to claim a well-deserved reset. Self-care retreats are trendy for mental health, meditation, personal growth and wellness.
Before you shell out the big bucks, add this DIY self-love retreat into your self care plan.
Our wellness retreat provides an hour by hour self-love retreat template along with tips to prepare yourself and your environment.
at-home self-care retreat
Why Are Self-Care Retreats Important?
While spending a day just on yourself seems easy enough, the challenging part is truly scheduling it in.
Marking time off the calendar to only focus on self-love is harder than it sounds! That’s why we created a 1-day self-care template to help you block out the day with no distractions.
Within our self-care retreat, you’ll give your body and mind time to renew itself, set intentions for the season, become more mindful with your body’s needs, detox your body and mind, and get inspired.
Retreats are incredibly important, no matter when, where, or why you do them.
The “why” is the keyword here because a DIY self-care retreat at home gives you the freedom to customize your schedule and build in the activities you need to feel rejuvenated.
We suggest following our self-love retreat plan template once a season and keep your notes from each retreat. That way, you can build yearly theme into your self-guided retreat.
Schedule your self care retreat into your mobile to-do list and incorporate the goals from that list into our 1-day self care template.
Preparing For Your Self-Love Retreat
This 1-day self-love retreat plan was designed as a mental detox and mindfulness retreat.
Follow the plan template alone or with your significant other. However, set boundaries and expectations of the at-home wellness retreat with yourself and your partner.
Side note: If you’re with your significant other during this retreat, also schedule time for our ‘1-Day DIY Marriage Retreat At Home.’
We recommend that you make a plan beforehand by customizing and writing out your schedule in advance (because no electronics are allowed!) Also, decide what healthy meals you’ll be eating and have the groceries already in the fridge.
Plus, lay out what books or journals you want to read or write in. Taking the night before to prepare will help the day run smoothly.
We also recommend not drinking alcohol the night before to allow yourself a full night of restful sleep because we don’t want you waking up to an alarm clock (BONUS!)
If others in your household aren’t participating in your at-home self-care retreat, ask them to make other plans and not to disturb you in a specific part of the house, like the bedroom.
For us, there’s no better reason to have the kids at a sleepover or to hire a babysitter for the day. That’s money very well-spent!
Finally, the DIY self-love retreat is designed so it can be tailored to your needs. As we mention above, we want you to wake up without an alarm clock. This, we realize, can throw your tightly scheduled calendar for a loop but that’s the point.
Keep it easy and keep it flexible. The goal is for you to feel restful, relaxed, and renewed by the following day.
The Self-Care Plan
Firstly, this DIY personal retreat is highly focused on sleep.
Sleep debt numbers are higher than ever and getting a good night’s sleep is a priority. Plus, any diets or exercise that you try won’t be as effective without sleep. You can read our personal story about the importance of sleep if you need any more convincing.
Secondly, note that this DIY self-care retreat includes three healthy meals within an 8-hour window. This is a typical intermittent fasting (IF) window, which will help improve focus and boost energy levels.
Thirdly, there are two short workouts included: 30-minutes of restorative yoga and 30-minutes of active stretching.
These workouts are available for free with a free trial to Beachbody On Demand. Whatever you do, don’t skip these and follow the instructors. They were hand-selected for our self-care retreat plan because of the methods they use to focus on recovery.
Finally, we’ve recommended personal development books to allow self-growth. Any personal development book will do, and we give a suggestion below.
While you can choose any book on your reading list, we recommend that you take this opportunity to select a self-help or personal development book. These can range from mindfulness to minimalism to nutrition.
Read more: Our Data-Driven Review Of Beachbody On Demand Workouts
at-home self-care retreat template
7:30 – 9:00 AM
Wake up without an alarm and lounge in bed (turn off your phone the night before and continue to keep it off all day). Have a book by the bedside table in case you wake up before 9:00 AM
9:00 – 9:45 AM
Drink a big glass of water and start restorative yoga (try Beachbody On Demand Yoga Studio: 3 Week Yoga Retreat, Day 3: Balance, 28 minutes)
9:45 – 10:00 AM
Put on your bathrobe (for him, for her) and make a digestive pre-breakfast infusion (our favorite is with hot water, a capful of apple cider vinegar, a lemon slice, and a dash of cinnamon)
10:00 – 10:30 AM
Sitting meditation and setting your daily intention
10:30 – 11:15 AM
Cook a healthy breakfast (try oatmeal with raisins, cinnamon, and a banana with a cup of coffee flavored with almond milk)
11:15 – 12:30 PM
Inspirational reading (try Declutter Your Mind: How to Stop Worrying, Relieve Anxiety, and Eliminate Negative Thinking) from our Duo Life Book Club
12:30 – 1:30 PM
Walking, hiking, or jogging meditation outside (yes, rain or shine!)
1:30 – 2:30 PM
Lunch (try a simple tofu stir fry with green beans, carrots, and broccoli over brown rice)
2:30 – 3:30 PM
Journaling, writing, puzzling, or another creative hobby like painting
3:30 – 5:15 PM
Inspirational reading or watch a MasterClass
5:15 – 6:00 PM
Light stretching. Try Beachbody On Demand: Clean Week Active Flex, 30 minutes). Or practice these 23 couple’s yoga positions.
6:00 – 7:00 PM
Dinner (try a spinach salad with strawberries, goat cheese, walnuts, and balsamic/olive oil dressing with fresh sourdough bread)
7:30 – 8:30 PM
Hot bath and hydrate, hydrate, hydrate with cucumber water. Save some cool cucumbers for your eyes as well!
8:30 – 9:00 PM
Spend time pampering yourself and relaxing with a face mask while tidying and “closing down” before bed
9:00 – 9:30 PM
Silent meditation focused on what you are grateful for. Finish with a journal entry about what you liked about the day and ideas for a future DIY personal retreat or your plans to declutter your home
9:30 PM
Sleep
Next Steps
An at-home self-care retreat is a wonderful way to hit the pause button to reflect on your year so far and how you want to transform the rest of it.
Let us know your thoughts in the comments below and how you customized this 1-day self-love retreat plan! Next, commit to our 30-Day Gratitude Challenge to bring more happiness into your day.
To stay accountable to your self-care routine going forward, download our Self-Care Checklist, including examples and a printable PDF.
Download The Self-Care Checklist PDF
Including our list of self-care ideas along with printable daily and weekly self-care checklists.
Fill in your checklist, take action, and master your life!
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Absolutely love this. Intuitively perfect. Retired but recovering from 3 years of intense caregiving for husband after spinal cord injury; I’m all about this starting tomorrow. Will try following the ease of it many days a week. Thankyou so much!
Dear Dr. Seno,
Caregiving is a beautiful, important, but challenging task, and I’m sure so appreciated! We hope that you were able to have some peaceful relaxation with our self-care retreat schedule!