Happy National Relaxation Day to US readers. And the spirit of the holiday to all global readers. Maybe you’re observing Relaxation Week or even Month. Many people around the world take vacations during August.

I know not everyone is still on summer vacay. Some have returned to work, some are in the back-to-school mode already. Some of you in the Southern Hemisphere are mid-winter!

Yet the energy and collective longing of “getting away from it all” prevails. My feeds are full of retreat energy. Declarations of “I’m taking August off” appear daily.

And it matches my own intention. I use intention in the previous sentence because I intended to take August off as a personal retreat, yet here I am. It’s August 15 and I have one foot in and one foot out. And I’m not doing the hokey pokey… or am I?

There’s still a little over two weeks left in the month and then it’s Labor Day weekend here in the US. And lucky for me, I also have booked a trip to the Jersey shore a few days later. I return to Asheville on September 18, so I still can claim a month—if I hurry.

My wish for you is that you, too, claim some retreat time. Whether that looks like an hour or two stolen before everyone in the house awakens, a solitary afternoon or early evening walk in nature, or a full day, week, or month… I beg you, disconnect.

I’m not the only one who thinks so.

“Almost everything will work better if you unplug it for a few minutes, even you.” —Anne Lamott

You know it’s true 😉