Description
BEGIN AGAIN: Your End-of-Year Retreat Guide
Permission to start fresh. Again.
Each year, I seem to stumble and fall into the space between Christmas and New Year. I’m exhausted. I’m over family gatherings. Even the thought of another thing to tick off the task list brings out my rolling-eyes emoji. But during this stumbling season, I’ve learned to make space for an afternoon with myself. I retreat.
Away from my family, away from social media, I step towards possibility. I find a café, order coffee and a slice of cake, and I breathe. I walk the beach and pray softly, thanking God for the year that has passed, and I start to let go of disappointment.
That’s what this workbook is for.
Begin Again is your companion for a self-guided personal retreat—whether you take a full day, an afternoon, or even just a few stolen hours between Christmas and New Year. It’s 60 pages of journaling questions and creative exercises designed to help you reset your season and find focus for the future. Because to begin again is the essence of a life lived well.
This isn’t about erasing your past or pretending this year didn’t happen. It’s about giving yourself permission to start fresh—without guilt, without shame, without needing to have it all figured out. It’s about finding answers to the questions that keep you contained and stepping into the coming season with renewed vision.
$24.95 includes free standard shipping in Australia
International orders here: BUY AMAZON
WHAT’S INSIDE:
60 pages of creative exercises and journaling prompts, including:
Release & Reset:
– Questions to help you identify what you’re ready to release
– Exercises for letting go of patterns, commitments, and beliefs that no longer serve you
– Creative prompts for naming what’s keeping you contained
– Space to acknowledge the year without being defined by it
Vision & Fresh Start:
– Goal-setting that actually honours who you are (not who you think you should be)
– Dream exploration exercises that help you reconnect with genuine desires
– Questions to uncover your vision for the coming season
– Creative visioning activities focused on possibility and potential
Focus & Framework:
– Practical exercises to translate vision into action
– Tools for identifying your priorities and protecting them
– Questions to help you set boundaries around your fresh start
– Space to create a framework for living aligned with your values
Creative & Contemplative Practices:
– Guided prompts for prayer, meditation, and spiritual reflection
– Exercises for gratitude, wonder, and noticing what brings you alive
– Artistic and imaginative prompts that engage your creativity
– Space for connection—with yourself, with God, with what matters most
THE PHILOSOPHY:
A retreat is defined as “a period of time set aside to reflect, pray, meditate or study.” To begin again isn’t about pretending the past didn’t happen. It’s about refusing to let the past define what’s possible next. You don’t need permission to start over. You don’t need to wait until you’ve healed perfectly or figured everything out. You can begin again right now—right here—in this messy middle of your life.
This workbook was created over 20 years of Amanda asking herself the same questions every December—and refined across 7 years of publication. Thousands of people worldwide now use this end-of-year retreat process to create their own sacred pause before the calendar flips to January 1st.
It’s not about doing the year “right.” It’s about permitting yourself to try again. To dream again. To hope again. To show up for yourself with a fresh vision and renewed commitment.
WHO THIS IS FOR:
Begin Again is for you if:
• You’re ready to release what’s been holding you back
• You need a reset, but don’t know where to start
• You want to enter the new year with vision instead of vague wishes
• You’re tired of feeling stuck in the same patterns year after year
• You crave a retreat experience but can’t get away for a week
• You’re ready to begin again—with courage, with hope, with fresh possibility
HOW TO USE THIS RETREAT GUIDE:
The Full Retreat Experience (Recommended):
1. Block off 4-6 hours to retreat
2. Go somewhere that feels like a retreat—a café, the beach, a quiet park, your favourite chair with the door closed
3. Bring this workbook, your favourite pen, and a drink that feels nourishing
4. Turn off your phone (seriously—this is sacred time)
5. Work through the prompts at your own pace, following your intuition about what needs attention
6. End with a commitment to your fresh start
7. Close with a prayer, a walk, or simply sitting in silence
The Shorter Version:
If you can’t carve out a full day, take 2-3 hours. Even 90 minutes matters. Quality of presence beats quantity of time.
If you need Amanda to come alongside you for $127, you can have a private coaching hour with Amanda to help you use these tools with accountability.
The Ongoing Version:
Some people return to sections of this workbook throughout January and throughout the year, or even into spring, when they need to reconnect with their vision. There’s no wrong way to use it.
Join the Community:
Use the hashtag #futureretreating to connect with others taking a day this season to retreat. Share your favourite café spot, your insights, or simply the fact that you showed up for yourself.
- 60 pages of journaling questions and space to write.
WHAT OTHERS ARE SAYING:
“During the past few Christmas and festive seasons, I’ve taken the time to work through several of Amanda’s workbooks. This year, Seeking Clarity has allowed me to take time out, reflect and reset for the New Year. December can be a challenging time when I can feel overwhelmed and exhausted by running a small business, and the responsibilities of having young children can be demanding. With Clarity, I’ve been able to see all I have achieved this year and refocus on what’s really important.”
—Brooke Whitmore
“I purchased one of the end-of-year workbooks, not really understanding how significant an impact going through the workbook would be for me. The highlight of the purchase, though, was Amanda offering a 1-hour online session for 6 weeks to meet with her and other people who purchased the workbook, and to go through it together, page by page, helping me, encouraging me to reflect on my year and notice what I have learnt about myself…..good and bad! To have a go at journaling and assuring me there is no right or wrong way to write what comes out; it’s my story!”
— Jenny Hastings
“Amanda – thank you for this sacred and beautiful space you create for each of us to enter into as we close each year.
2024 has been a year, so I was initially apprehensive about reflecting on it, but it was such a beautiful and hopeful time.
Thank you”
— Jac Wraight
“Amanda, this resource is such a gift. Thank you for making and distributing a reflective tool that gently brings to account the season we have been in as well as plans for the season to come. I love that this journal is one that I can continue to pick up and add to as time, events & circumstances arise. I loved the reflecting sheets as they were great for processing what took place last year. Your creativity is such a blessing.”
— Kate Green
Amanda Viviers is an accredited Journal Therapy Coach, award-winning communications leader, and author of 15 books. After 25 years helping organisations tell their stories—including leading 160+ staff at Compassion Australasia—she now creates retreat spaces where women discover their own. Currently completing her Master of Arts in Divinity, Amanda believes the pen is both a healing tool and an act of reclamation. She facilitates retreats internationally and co-founded the Kinwomen radio program.
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