By its very meaning, a retreat is to withdraw to a quiet or secluded place. The Re:Qi Retreat by CulturedGen offers you just that and more, by leading you on a journey of mindful, conscious living right in our own backyard—a staycation alternative if you will—and this writer returned home with revelations about life, and a powerful tool in mindful breathing
So there I was sitting cross-legged on my yoga mat, within a semi-circle formation with six other people, all safely distanced. Anita Kapoor, the media personality and founder of audio project Shareyourvoice.world, sat facing everyone. She asked this question: “What have you learnt from this experience?”
We were at the tail-end of a two-day conscious and holistic wellness retreat Re:Qi, which was organised by cultural content and live experience creator CulturedGen. And this sharing circle was a safe space for everyone to express themselves and contemplate their lives more deeply, even more so now that we are living in a pandemic.
“I realise that I forget to breathe sometimes,” I blurted out and, before I knew it, got a bit teary-eyed. Who am I? And why was I on the verge of a full-on cry in front of people whom I’d just met the day before? However, I was comforted by the fact that everyone understood what I meant, especially after the displacement that we’ve collectively experienced in the past year.
You know that feeling of holding your breath—this long pause we are currently in—and how we are all waiting to heave that sigh of relief (hopefully soon). This realisation became so much clearer to me for the fact that each activity that we did throughout the retreat required us to inhale and exhale—and I became extremely conscious of this very act that gives us, well, life.
(Related: The Tatler 10: Asia’s Top Wellness Retreats)
Truth be told, as much as I’ve adapted to working from home as the default mode—and cannot fathom going back to working in the office (don’t tell my boss!)—I have to admit that I was getting a bit restless going between Zoom meetings and Microsoft Teams “events”, even though I was still going into the office or out for interviews and photo shoots at least two to three times a week.
So this is the objective of the Re:Qi Retreat: for guests to check out from the hustle and bustle of life—along with the many distractions that keep them from being present in the moment—and to simply reconnect with the inner self and taking time for self-care. And you don’t even need to hop on a plane to “get away”.
Fellow guest Adriel Rao, a consultant emergency physician, shares, “If I were to take an intentional trip overseas, I would have to carve time out of my schedule. With the Re:Qi Retreat, I didn’t have to re-adjust my schedule much as I’m just taking a short break.”
Furthermore, the grounds of boutique hotel Villa Samadhi, which is nestled within the lush surrounds of the Labrador Nature Reserve, and the lounge of its in-house Tamarind Hill restaurant, where most of the retreat activities took place, allows for an immersion in nature. You feel as though you are away from the city, even though it’s just a 10-minute drive away.
(Related: Exhausted While Working From Home? Try Taking a Microbreak)