What is a wellness retreat?

What is a wellness retreat, really? By definition, it's travel for the purpose of promoting health and wellbeing through physical, psychological, or spiritual activities. For me, it means stepping back from the busyness of day-to-day life and slowing down, relaxing, and unwinding in solitude. 

A well-planned wellness retreat will include challenging activities that energize and empower you and also balance the experience with relaxing, introspective downtime. Find the missing element with the natural setting and the ability disconnect from your day to day routine.

Spending time at a wellbeing retreat gives individuals the chance to recharge their batteries and adopt healthy living in a supportive environment. ... Wellbeing retreats also benefit people with certain health problems such as obesity, diabetes, chronic back pain and arthritis.

From delicious healthy meals, healing therapies, counseling, meditation, yoga and much more, retreats offer a healthy alternative to a regular holiday break. They are unique as they allow you to truly unplug, harmonize your body and mental wellbeing, getting your natural rhythms back on track.

What are the benefits of wellness retreats?

1.TIME TO REFLECT, RENEW AND RESTORE
A retreat can be life changing, as it provides you with time for yourself to reconnect, to bring back the zest, the joy of life, and to gain clarity to make more meaningful decisions in life. According to a research study published in Translational Psychiatry (Nature), regular holidays only bring about short-term improvements in well-being; whereas going on a week's yoga and meditation retreat can improve metabolism for the long-run.

Jiddu Krishnamurti, a famous spiritual leader and philosopher explains it clearly: "I think it is essential sometimes to go into retreat, to stop everything that you have been doing, to stop your beliefs and experiences completely and look at them anew, not keep on repeating like machines whether you believe or don’t believe. You would let fresh air into your minds."
 
2.AWAY FROM YOUR HOME AND DAILY ROUTINE
Wellness retreats are usually situated in serene locations close to nature, offering you the perfect setting and space to forget about the hustles of life and to unwind. At the same time if you are curious to explore the surroundings and new cultures, excursions are also offered in the program.

3.A SHIFT TO A HEALTHIER AND MORE CONSCIOUS WAY OF LIFE
A holistic approach to retreats, combining healing therapies, yoga, meditation, healthy meals and a soothing environment tend to shift people towards a more conscious and healthier approach to life. After a Retreat, participants tend to return to their busy, demanding lives with a sense of renewal, empowerment and clarity. The experience gained helps them make a more conscious decision in in life. They learn to factor in healthy practices without feeling guilty about taking time out for themselves.

4.NATURE ALLOWS YOU TO UNWIND
As human beings we are part of natural ecosystems and depend on them for their survival. According to a recent study, in a rapidly changing environment and with increasing urbanization, this dependence is challenged. Natural environments affect human health and well-being both directly and indirectly. Nature provides opportunities for stress recovery and physical activity. One of the great advantages of going on a retreat is that it offers you proximity to nature allowing to reconnect with the healing elements of nature.

5. ACCESS TO EXPERT ADVICE
Retreats include yoga , meditation, healing treatments, or counseling sessions by professionals who support you to find the balance and the sense of wellbeing. These sessions are personalized based on your needs, your condition helping you improve, but also provide you with simple tools and practices to take home with you to integrate into your daily routine.
 
6. UNPLUG FOR IMPROVED DECISION MAKING
Did you know that multitasking, the addiction to digital stimulation lead to poor decision-making? In an era of email, text messages, social media, we often find ourselves doing several things at once, however this continuous multitasking can have a negative impact on us. According to Earl Miller, a neuroscientist at MIT the constant external stimulation, multitasking have been found to increase the production of the stress hormone cortisol as well as the fight-or-flight hormone adrenaline, which can overstimulate your brain and cause mental fog or scrambled thinking. Mindfulness, meditation are exactly the opposite; it’s the act of dedicating conscious time to your actions so you make good decisions.

A retreat allows you to unplug, in addition to practicing mindfulness through meditation and yoga, your decision making skills are enhanced. So, for your next holiday, how about a retreat to allow you to unwind and reclaim the joy of life.