work-life balance

enjoy meditations, therapy, and self care.

“Leading retreats has helped reinforce the importance of having alone time and setting boundaries for that,” Chewning said. “Even just 10 minutes of alone time helps, and taking a day off at the end of the retreat allows us to process, rest, and rejuvenate ourselves.”

Chewning and Parmley have created rituals for themselves that help with the process of resetting, both after a retreat as well as during busy or stressful moments during a regular work week.

“It can often feel nice to lie flat on the earth,” Chewning said. “I realize that taking deep breaths at work because of stressful moments can be a signal to take space and pause in stillness. I love being in the sun, in nature, in the woods, I can tune everything out and just be. Even a few minutes can really make a difference.”

“Sometimes I take a bath or a shower to literally wash off the emotions,” Parmley said. “I notice changes in my body like tension and headaches or taking deep breaths with my shoulders moving upward, and then take moments to stretch, walk my dogs in nature, or sing in the car.

I’ve always loved humming, and recently learned that it’s likely because humming and singing can help regulate the vagus nerve, which can help regulate your entire nervous system in general. I wish I would’ve learned that in school.”

Spiritually, the friends have realized how important it is to have a spiritual community as well as cultivate a spiritual home within themselves. They began to question themselves and their beliefs, and realized that their beliefs are malleable and can always change. They feel that as society has moved toward science and away from spirituality, there is a need to reconnect the two. Having an appreciation for and seeing the magic of what is instead of trying to understand everything reflects what spirituality is all about for them. They have found the most important things to maintain proper balance are to slow down big time, taking breaks often. Burnout can still happen in a job you love, and it can become something you resent. Allowing time to pause and be with yourself helps to keep the balance in check; you still need space to reset and just be.

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Heather Parmley and Lindsay Chewning are co-owners of Awaken Wellness Retreats. Learn more at AwakenWellnessRetreats.com.