It is best when going on retreat to begin before we begin, that is, not going full throttle in life, driving to the retreat and trying to completely switch gears on arrival. Slow down now, be present, sit when you can, be aware of nature, connect with your inner life, be alive in your inner world.
The first major step on any inner path is a liberation from the spell of the outer world, not a rejection, the realization that the bodily and material world is not where we can achieve anything real for ourselves, it cannot give us what we need. We know that but need to live the knowing. This actually makes life in the material world richer and three dimensional.
On a retreat such as we have in April we can go further and see from the inner world that we cannot do. All our trying and identification with self has to let go for this to come. With this something substantial can occur and seeing can become Seeing.