De-stress and find Peace: How to Plan a Trip for Self-Discovery

Are you feeling stressed, in need of a way to de-stress and find peace? Are you feeling lost without direction or running endlessly on the treadmill of life? Then a trip for self-discovery is just what you need! These tips are for you. You can go to self-development or self-discovery workshops, or you can discover more about yourself than you even imagined, just in one week on your own.

Whether you are feeling disconnected, without clear purpose, or just too stressed to go on, these tips will help you settle down, reconnect with yourself, and find an inner peace to better manage the stress life throws your way.

Where to go

When you plan your vacation of self-discovery and de-stress, the first question, is where to go!

While you can do these tips at home in a staycation style, it can be helpful to get out into nature or into a new environment. This can be whatever calls to you, and you can easily organize. The point of a trip for self-discovery, is to start to re-connect with yourself. That means this is all about you!

If you love the beach and can manage, go to the beach. If you feel energized in the mountains, see if you can get into the mountains. For these particular exercises, it is better to be connected to nature, so save the big city trip for another time.

If your budget is tight, you can rent a cabin in a state or national park, or even consider a house-swap with a friend living in a different part of the city or country.

How long you need for your trip for self-discovery

While you can even take a weekend and gain profound benefits, a weeklong self-discovery and de-stressing holiday can be life transforming and self-affirming. See what you can manage.

Even a day while your husband or partner takes the kids somewhere is better than no trip at all!

What to do

This self-discovery is not about just throwing off stress, it is about strengthening your core belief in yourself in order to better handle what life throws your way. These are the steps to locate your inner strength.

Un-pack and make it your own

When you arrive in your new place of self-discovery, the first step is to unpack and make the place your own. Bring something from home that reminds you of a time you had great strength, but that doesn’t trigger negative emotions.

If you don’t have anything like that, pick up a few fresh flowers, a potted plant, or some beautiful framed photos to add to your new self-discovery space.

1. Walk

Once you have arrived and settled into your new space for self-discovery, it is time to get out in nature and walk. Depending on your fitness level, this can be a long hike or a half-hour stroll. The point here is using exercise to quiet your mind.

Don’t listen to any music or take any calls. Feel how your body feels moving in nature. Observe what you see around you. Do you hear the birds singing? How many birds? Are the trees familiar or unfamiliar? Are there many types or are they all the same? Do you see or hear any animals?

Let yourself easily connect with all of nature around you, bringing your attention from time to time back to your own body and mind. Don’t push it, just easily observe.

2. Listen

After your walk, take somewhere to sit and hear what your inner voice is telling you. You can close your eyes, or sit looking at nature. Respectfully ask, “Oh higher Self of (say your name here if you want), what do you want me to know? And then really listen.

This is your heart speaking your own truth. This is your chance to listen as an impartial, benevolent observer. Just listen without judging.

3. Journal

Each day, make some time to write in a journal or diary. Write whatever you feel that comes up. Each day, also use these four prompts to help you:

1. My higher self is…
2. When I am peace I am…
3. The greatest moment of my day was…
4. Today I feel my life purpose is…

Write as much as you can. Don’t worry about punctuation, grammar, or make judgments—just let it flow out of you.

4. Rest

After you finish your journal, take some time to rest. Plan for 15 minutes to lie down quietly, but if you fall asleep, let yourself catch up. You can lie in a hammock, on your bed, or out on the grass. You can start in Chetan Asana, but if you feel sleepy or uncomfortable, move into any position you are comfortable in.

The purpose of this time is just to rest your body and mind. After taking the time to begin to feel your higher self and experience self-discovery it is time to rest to absorb that experience and just let it go. Don’t try to hold onto anything you’ve gained. Just rest easily.

5. Listen Again

Later in the day, perhaps after lunch, take another time to sit and listen to your inner feelings. Quietly sit, without judgment and see what you feel. If can be helpful to name the feelings as they come up. “I feel apprehension”, “I feel sad”, “I feel peace” “I feel worried”, “I feel alone” etc.

This process of feeling and naming the feelings begins to diffuse their power. After 5-10 minutes, again ask for guidance from your own inner wisdom. You can say or think, “Oh higher Self of (say your name here if you want), what do you want me to know?” And then really listen.

6. Appreciate

At some time each day, dedicate 20-30 minutes to appreciating life. Yes, that seems like a long time, but you will be surprised how much you will start to find when you know you need to appreciate.

Nothing is off-limits here. The nature around you, your health, your loved one or friends, any moments of fortune in your life are all good starting points. If you want, write down these points in your journal each evening.

7. Explore

As each day progresses, push yourself a little further. If you only walked for half an hour the first day, walk for 45 minutes. If all your could feel was sad on the first day, see how it feels to say out loud, “I feel happy”.

This is your time to play. There is no right and no wrong. There is not only one path. That is why it is called self-discovery. Take the time to see what feels right to you.

But give each step its fair chance. Believe in your higher self and your wisdom. Believe in your inner guide to help you de-stress and find peace.

8. Enjoy

Make sure you plan activities you enjoy into each day. This can be outdoor activities like paddle boarding, boating, biking, or swimming. It can also be simple relaxing activities like reading a good book, or taking a long soak in the bathtub.

This is your time to really pamper yourself. Consider purchasing some essential oils such as lavender, rose, rose geranium, and/or ylang ylang to uplift your senses you open your heart. Bring some oils and give yourself a foot massage. Bring some clay and make a healing mask. The point is to feel deeply and pamper yourself.

Trip for Self-Discovery Recap

Each day, you will incorporate a mixture of these 8 steps throughout you day.

A sample routine might have you doing the first three steps in the morning for about 1.5 hours (or more). Then after lunch, you can do steps 4-6 of rest, listen again and appreciate.  Finally, you can leave the late afternoon or evening free for the final steps to explore and enjoy. Take this time to pamper yourself and really listen.

These steps seem deceptively simple, but you will be amazed at the amount of self-discovery and de-stressing that can happen with the power of your attention. It is time to unleash that power to discover your own inner peace.

Cheers!

Kimberly

p.s. If you want to know more in-depth or need additional guidance, please feel free to email me: Kimberly@pannalitravels.com. 

p.p.s. If you want to incorporate meditation into this process, I recommend Transcendental Meditation as the most effective and scientifically verified form of meditation for the mind, body, and spirituality. You can see more at www.TM.org.

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