8 reasons why attending wellness retreats help you to find peace in a modern world
What happens to our phones and computers when we use it all day? What happens to our browsers when we open too many tabs? What happens to our car when it runs out of fuel? What happens to animals and trees in the winter time?
Everything that exists in nature or even in the man-made world must recharge in it’s own natural rhythm in order to continue it’s life cycle. This is important so that it can function at it’s most optimal level, otherwise, it runs out of energy.
So why is it that as human beings, many leave themselves out of the equation and how can we change this? If you have been considering attending a wellness retreat, this is your sign you’re ready for it.
From notifications buzzing on our phones, to emails, texts, and keeping up with the latest trends; our human civilization has become busier, more plugged in, and moving more quickly than ever before. Meditation and mindfulness has become increasingly popular for those seeking solitude and peace while wellness retreats become the solution. Retreats are unique because they are immersive and allow you to truly unplug, while harmonizing your wellbeing back to it’s natural rhythm. Here are 8 reasons why attending wellness retreats help you to find peace in a modern world.
#1: Retreats offer you a unique opportunity to detach from your daily routines and responsibilities.
Did you know that from age 0-6, we record and store what we witness from our environment like a video camera and by age 35, 95-99% of your thoughts, words and actions are dictated by the habitual programming of the unconscious mind? Through the years, we memorize certain behavioral patterns, emotional reactions, and we react to our present reality based on that programming that run the background of the mind— similar to the way we leave apps running in the background of our phones. Brain scientists report that we process 60-80,000 thoughts a day while 98% of them are identical to yesterday’s thoughts.
Leading edge scientist, Dr. Bruce Lipton explains that 98% of our daily routines are operated from the unconscious programming of the mind. This concludes that human beings are creatures of habit!
The problem is when we repeat these habitual routines from the unconscious programming of the mind, we start to believe or accept the less desirable as our reality without feeling that we have the capacity to change it. If your daily routine involves engaging in work, relationships, responsibilities, behaviors and patterns that drain your energy; contemplate what would happen if you were able to detach from the stressful environment for a moment.
When you give yourself the space to retreat, you are giving yourself permission to take full responsibility for our own life and not anyone else’s for a few days. Within those days, you learn new behaviors and patterns that show you how it’s possible to transform your own life and turn your current reality into one of your deepest driving desires.
#2: Retreats offer you a safe environment to breathe.
Are you holding your breath? Pay attention to what happens with your breathing when you are scrolling through your favorite social media apps or working on tasks. Are your breaths full and deep? Do they feel refreshing? Do you feel like you have more energy afterwards? If the answer is no, what I share next may give you more insight. The majority of adults have learned overtime to breathe from their chest as a response to environmental stressors. When we are breathing from the chest, we limit our lungs capacity to intake more oxygen into our bodies. Long term shallow breathing can lead to panic attacks, anxiety and even dementia. The way we breathe directly effects the short and long term processing of the brain as shared in this research.
At a well-rounded holistic retreat, you’re given the environment along with facilitated guided breathing exercises.
Try this: take one deep breath now and notice how it feels in your body.
Now imagine breathing deeply for hours. How can that change our physiological and psychological processes? In what ways will it benefit the brain and body?
#3. Retreats offer you space to reflect and contemplate on your life.
How many times have you wished you could have more space to yourself for a moment? Taking space for ourselves is necessary to maintain healthy relationships, better decision making with our work in the world, and for our mind/body/spirit well-being. When we are moving about quickly in our normal routines, it’s like we plug ourselves into it and once we’re in, we feel trapped.
Space gives you time with your own thoughts, wisdom, and energy to reflect on what’s important to you while contemplating deeply about some of the most profound questions of life.
What is important to you? Are you happy? Do you engage in meaningful work? Do you feel connected? Do you enjoy your life? Are you fully living your life or someone’s life plan for you?
Who am I?
Where have I come from?
Why am I here?
These are questions that too often get ignored when we are too busy sprinting from one task to the next. Right now it may be easier for you to pay attention to the words on this page because there are spaces between each word and each sentence. What would happen if there was no space? It would be a jumbled mess that would require more time to process. You would expend more unnecessary energy just to try to understand what is written.
This is what happens when we do not give ourselves space.
We expend more energy outwards than necessary. When we attend retreats, we give ourselves the space to direct our energy inwards, recharging and restoring ourselves along the way.
#4. Retreats help you shift to a more self-aware way of living.
When you attend an immersive, well-rounded and holistic retreat; you are experiencing all kinds of modalities that help you to become more self-aware of your thoughts, words and actions. From meditation, to yoga, qi gong, Ayurveda, to breathing exercises, you actively practice how to become more aware of what thoughts you’re thinking, how you’re eating, how you’re nourishing yourself and how you’re living your life.
Self-awareness is key to lasting transformation. Without it, we can easily resort to repeating the same patterns like a hamster in a wheel.
We become more conscious of our own energy and how we contributing or not to the environment around us.
#5. Retreats invite you into an environment that’s often surrounded by nature.
Just like animals, trees and plants operate in a natural cycle; we are no different. The only difference is we’ve become so busy, we’ve forgotten how to honor our own unique rhythm. Spending more time in nature reminds us of this truth. Nature provides us the opportunity to recover from stress, decompress our mind and body, while restoring our energy. Many retreats are in or near nature helping us to reconnect to the healing elements of nature.
The more we deprive ourselves from nature and spend more time in front of the screens, the more we increase the chances of mental and physical dis-ease. Researchers showed that the more green in your life, the better you’ll feel. Studies show that people who spend more time outdoors (or have more green plants and windows in their indoor environment) have better moods, creative thinking, and find more meaning in life than those who stay cooped up inside.
#6. Retreats give you time to unplug from devices and just be so you can better your decision making.
Many people attend retreats because they are seeking some kind of clarity on their life’s path. Mental clarity is often blurred on a daily basis when we fill our time up with too much digital stimulation and too many tasks which lead to poorer decision making. In the age of always being plugged in, it can be easy to unconsciously train the brain to multi-task. Switching one task to the next or skipping between multiple browsers at a time. The truth is, multi-tasking is an illusion. In order to complete multiple tasks at a time, the brain jumps back and forth depleting the adrenaline system. According to a neuroscientist at MIT named Earl Miller, multitasking has 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. This causes mental fogginess and creates scattered thinking.
When we unplug and learn techniques like meditation, we teach our brain the exact opposite; how to mono -task and focus on one thing at a time.
This helps you to increase mentality clarity. 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 considering a retreat to allow you to unwind and reclaim the joy of life.
#7: Learn new techniques that stay with you for life.
At retreats, you’ll walk away with tools and techniques that help you to better your life. These techniques help you to soften the body, gain strength and confidence in your ability to transform yourself.
Imagine going back home to the same environment with a new perspective. You wouldn’t be reacting to it like you used to.
Your mind/body isn’t triggered. It stays in a relaxed mode, it slows down and it responds to its environment in a wise manner.
From breathing, meditation, yoga, chanting, singing, dancing— you’ll learn a variety of ways to optimize your own well-being for the mind, body and Spirit.
#8. Access to study with experts, professionals and practitioners who have direct experience with the work.
For a few days, you’ll receive access to work and practice closely with experts and professionals in the mind/body field. You’ll be able to receive guided instructions and facilitations by them. Your form, breathing and posture will be corrected with careful guidance. You’ll receive one to one personalized attention where you can ask questions unique to you. You’ll walk away with simple tools you can practice daily that will transform your life even after the retreat is over.
The average cost of a vacation is between $4000-$8000 yet remains only a short and sweet escape from reality. Retreats while typically involves a high overall investment, offers benefits beyond your attendance alone. It’s not just a vacation, it’s a once in a lifetime healing and transformative experience.
What is a life changing experience worth for you? Only you know the answer to this.
If you’ve been considering booking a wellness retreat, I hope this article gives you enough information to make a decision that supports your overall well-being.
I invite you to join for the upcoming Royal Glow Meditation Retreat in Sarasota, Florida that I’m hosting this fall! Where I facilitate the ultimate experience for mind/body wellbeing.