How to Find Peace When You Feel Stressed: Retreat!

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Reflections

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Posted On May 31, 2025

Gong! Gong!

Sounds from the bell tower echo across the Kentucky knobs, breaking the stillness at 3:00 a.m. The tolling summons me to vigils at 3:15. I slip into a sweater and sandals, joining the quiet procession toward the chapel where the monks’ white cowls glow in the candlelight.

The chanting begins—slow and rhythmic, voices rising and falling as one. The words of ancient Psalms carry generations of longing.

As my soul joins the chorus, the hum of prayer fills my body. The veil between heaven and earth becomes ever so thin.

An annual retreat at the Abbey of Gethsemani has become a pilgrimage to my soul. Each visit resets me, helping release the clutter that builds up throughout the year.

The structured rhythm of prayer and silence clears restless thoughts, making space to hear God—not as a booming command, but as a quiet, steady presence beneath the noise.

In the stillness of the Abbey’s rolling hills, I sense God not in dramatic revelations but in rustling leaves, tolling bells, and the hush of sacred silence.

It’s a reminder God is always here—I just need to be still and listen.

After a dozen years of making this annual retreat, one of the monks invited me to visit Thomas Merton’s hermitage. There I sat in awe at Merton’s desk and worked on writing my next book.

Going on an annual retreat—like one at the Abbey of Gethsemani—offers benefits for mind, body, and spirit.

These include:

Inner Renewal

Retreats provide uninterrupted time for reflection, prayer, and contemplation, allowing you to reconnect with your true self and God.
They create space to let go of daily distractions and listen to the Divine.

Emotional and Mental Clarity

Stepping away from the noise of everyday life helps gain perspective on challenges and emotions.
The silence lets the mind slow down and rest.

Spiritual Growth

A retreat deepens your faith and strengthens your connection to divine flow.
Retreats help integrate spiritual insights into daily life, fostering inner growth.

Inner Peace. Reduced Stress.

The slower pace, restful atmosphere, and mindful practices of a retreat gently ease the mind and body into stillness.
As external noise fades, inner peace begins to surface. Meditation, chanting, and quiet walks in nature help slow the breath, regulate the nervous system, and bring you back to center.

In this sacred slowing, stress melts away, making space for calm, clarity, and deep spiritual renewal.

Letting Go of Self-Defeating Patterns

Retreats create space to work through inner struggles, like self-doubt, shame, or grief, in a supportive, sacred environment.
They offer a chance to surrender control and let grace work in your life.\

Reordering Your Life

Retreats mirror the pattern of Order → Disorder → Reorder, where you step away, confront inner turmoil, and return with a renewed sense of purpose. After a retreat, you often bring back insights shaping how you live, love, and serve.

Reconnection to Community

Even in silence, being in a monastic community reminds you that spirituality is both a solo journey and a shared path of belonging.
The presence of others walking alongside you affirms your journey.

An Invitation

Consider scheduling and taking an annual retreat, a pilgrimage to your soul.
Whether it’s a retreat center, a quiet walk in nature, or a sacred space where you feel God’s presence, it does your spirit good.

The bell will toll again tomorrow, calling you back to the quiet assurance that God is already there, deep within your soul.

You only have to take time to be still and listen.

– brian j. plachta
brianplachta.com

? Your Personal Retreat Planning Guide

A simple tool to help you step away, slow down, and return to your soul.

?️ 1. Choose Your Intention

What is your soul longing for right now?

Rest & Renewal
Clarity & Discernment
Grief & Healing
Silence & Solitude
Creative Reconnection with God

? Tip: Journal or pray about your retreat theme before choosing your location.

? 2. Pick a Time

Start with 2–4 days annually
Choose a season that naturally invites reflection (e.g., Lent, Advent, early fall)
Block it on your calendar like a sacred appointment—with yourself and God

? 3. Select a Retreat Location

Here are trusted spiritual retreat centers that honor silence, simplicity, and soul care:

?️ Monastic & Silent Retreat Centers (U.S.)

Abbey of Gethsemani – Kentucky
Home of Thomas Merton. Offers silent, self-guided retreats in a monastic setting.
New Camaldoli Hermitage – Big Sur, CA
Stunning coastal silence. Private hermitages and Eucharist with monks.
Holy Cross Monastery – NY
Episcopal Benedictine community. Individual retreats with optional spiritual direction.
Snowmass Monastery, St. Benedict’s – CO
Cistercian monks welcome retreatants in peaceful mountain solitude.
Dominican Center at Marywood, Grand Rapids, MI
Offers annual Journey into Silence Retreats.

✍️ 4. Prepare to Go Inward

Bring only what you need. Leave space for stillness.
Ideas to pack:

Journal and pen
A spiritual book or Scripture
Comfortable clothes
An open heart

? 5. Return With Intention

Before you leave your retreat:

Reflect on what you’ve received. What you’ve learned
Write down one or two gentle shifts you’ll carry into daily life
Consider scheduling your next retreat before you return to your normal rhythm

?️ Bonus Tip: Add a recurring reminder on your calendar: “Schedule next year’s retreat.”

Even God rested. Your soul is worth it.

Are you seeking more inner peace, wisdom, and balance in your life?

Finding Flow: Spiritual Practices to Reclaim Inner Peace, Balance, and Wholeness has helped countless readers reconnect with their true center—and now, you can experience its soulful guidance in a whole new way.

This heartfelt audiobook brings the words to life, inviting you to pause, breathe, and return to the Divine Flow that’s always within reach. Whether you’re on the go or resting in stillness, let it be your companion on the journey back to wholeness.

Click the link below to listen for a free sample and download your copy today.

Your path to peace begins with a single, sacred yes. Let’s walk it—together.

Click Here to Get Your Finding Flow Audiobook

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Written by Brian J. Plachta

Following the Breadcrumbs God Leaves Along Our Path

What if God is speaking through ordinary moments more often than we realize?

A conversation that stays with us. A door that closes. A quiet nudge we can’t quite explain. An unexpected invitation that seems to come at just the right time.

The challenge is learning to notice these moments before we have any idea where they’re leading, and trusting the next step.

Over time, we may begin to see that God’s guidance doesn’t always come as an answer. Sometimes, it comes as a trail.

What to Do When God Seems Silent

Has silence ever made you feel like God is far away? When we feel this way, it’s easy to start looking for answers or waiting for a clear sign. But prayer can also be as simple as slowing down and noticing what’s already here. The breeze. The waves. Your breath. The quiet. God’s presence doesn’t always come through words. Sometimes we just need to be still enough to notice.

Let God Alone Define You

Ever have someone’s words get stuck in your head?
Maybe they criticized you, misunderstood you, or told a story about you that doesn’t feel true. And before long, you’re holding a courtroom in your mind—defending yourself, replaying the conversation, wondering if maybe they’re right.

There’s another way.

Bring it into the quiet with God.

Ask: Is there something here I need to learn? Is there something I need to own? And what was never mine to carry in the first place?

We can stay humble enough to receive the truth without letting someone else’s opinion become our identity.

Because in the end, God alone defines you.

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