DIY Writing Retreat Toolkit: Wellbeing & Community

The importance of wellbeing and community

A writing retreat in which everyone works nonstop without communicating for eight hours would be...not very fun, right? At a retreat, getting work done is indeed the top priority, but this paradoxically means you need to allow time for things that aren't work—at least, not on the surface. This is why the sample itineraries provide regular short breaks as well as meal and wellbeing breaks.

When participants have chances to recharge and refresh, they get more out of the writing sessions. In this sense, strategically not working is crucial to productivity!

The key word above is 'strategically.' If participants feverishly catch up on emails during every break, that won't do anything but distract them from the day's purpose, tire their eyes, and stress them out—not really a 'break,' and certainly not strategic!

You might already have many ideas for how to imbue your retreat with a sense of wellbeing and community, but if not, we'll next explore some suggestions grouped into these themes: the social dimension, the creative dimension, and the physical dimension.

The social dimension

Retreats provide a unique opportunity to feel part of a community of fellow writers, so do take advantage of that and chat about your respective projects during the breaks! You'd be surprised what ideas or breakthroughs can arise from discussing our writing with others, even casually.

During a longer wellbeing break or after the day's work is finished, consider these options to add an extra layer of social connection:

• Play a game – Board or card games are a fun way to connect. Don't like competitive games? Try a cooperative game or jigsaw puzzle.
• Have a meal together – Bring your packed lunches to the park, visit a cafe, or host a potluck if retreat-ing at someone's home.
• Enjoy a pub quiz – The 'pub' part is optional: you can find tons of quiz websites and videos online to host your own quiz.
• Take a group walk – If the weather is nice, stroll together and enjoy the fresh air. Putting on a gentle 'office yoga' video is a good alternative if it's too cold or rainy to voyage outside.
• Icebreaker bingo – Make your own icebreaker bingo cards to encourage everyone attending to learn a bit more about one another during breaks.

The creative dimension

Adding a creative activity to your retreat provides at least three types of benefit. One, arts and crafts help people relax, which is ideal to combat any writing stress or anxiety. Two, tapping into our creativity and sense of play before/between writing sessions can reduce the risk of feeling 'blocked' or self-critical. Three...it's just plain fun! Here are some simple, low-cost crafts to consider:

• Colouring – Colouring sheets + coloured pencils or crayons = instant relaxation! Feel free to print out our colouring sheets for writing and study breaks (PDF), where you'll find 16 designs in a variety of styles, from motivational capybaras and otters to floral mandalas. You can also import the PDF to a design app on your tablet and colour in with a stylus.
• Collage – The only supplies needed for collage are scissors, glue sticks, base papers, and stuff to cut up (e.g. magazines, old calendars, catalogues, pamphlets, junk mail). Everyone can collage whatever they'd like or agree to individually follow a theme like 'motivation and inspiration' or 'a representation of my dissertation/thesis.' Alternately, collaborate on one big collage to commemorate the retreat.
• Friendship bracelets – This is an easy-to-learn craft that requires only scissors, cardboard (to make basic looms), and either yarn, thin cord, or embroidery floss. Search online for 'cardboard loom friendship bracelets' for simple tutorial videos.
• Leaf rubbings – This one invites everyone to act like kids again. You just need crayons, paper, and...access to leaves! Collect cool leaves from the ground, place leaves beneath paper, gently frisk your crayon across the paper, and voila: leaf print!
• 'BYOC' (bring your own craft) – If your participants all enjoy crafting but do different types, why not make it a BYOC wellbeing break? People can bring along their knitting, crochet, sketchpads, whittling, colouring: anything goes!

The physical dimension

By tending to your physical selves throughout the retreat, your mental performances will be better. Because all bodies are different in what they do and what they need, there is no 'one size fits all' approach when it comes to physical wellbeing at a retreat. Therefore, please treat the following as suggestions to be adapted rather than strict mandates! During breaks, consider ways to...

• Increase circulation – Take a brisk five-minute walk, do some calf raises or lunges, tap into your inner writing warrior and shadow box for a minute: whatever wakes up the body! If your retreat includes a longer wellbeing break, consider a group or solo walk through the Southampton Common, along the waterfront, through the city parks, etc.
• Stretch out – Do gentle stretches, paying particular attention to areas where discomfort may accrue from a lot of sitting and typing (i.e., neck, shoulders, lower back, wrists/forearms).

• Rest your eyes – Mindfully survey objects in the middle distance and far away, changing your eyes' focal distance to reduce the strain of staring closely at your laptop screens. Blink a bunch or even close your eyes to prevent dryness.
• Hydrate and refuel – Folks tend to drink a lot of coffee at writing retreats: please balance that out with water! During breaks, refill your water bottles and enjoy any snacks you've brought along.

A fuel for every tank

Finally, though retreats produce a delightful sense of community, we want to emphasize that 'community' needn't mean 'togetherness for every single second of the entire day.' Ideally, participants won't run away to be totally alone during every break, but it is perfectly valid to carve out moments in the itinerary for solo reflection and downtime. For example...

• One writer may enjoy having lunch with everyone else, but prefer to spend the wellbeing break taking a solo walk while listening to music: valid!
• Another writer may join the group for the wellbeing break, but then let their social battery recharge by dining on their own: valid!

Writing retreats can involve intense levels of cognitive work, so to keep energy levels high enough, everyone attending should be mindful of their own individual needs for mental restoration—and that includes striking the right balance between solo and group time.

So far, this guide has assumed everyone can meet in person for a writing retreat—but what if this isn't the case? The next page focuses on adapting retreats to digital environments so writers at a distance can still reap the benefits.