
1. Sense of mental & physical achievement
You will be forced to push your boundaries, making you realize how strong you are and have the potential to be. On a week-long yoga retreat in Antigua, you may finally manage to hold and maintain that Half Lotus Crow or Hummingbird. On a boot camp fitness retreat in St Lucia, you may realise after your 10th press up that you are no longer finding them such an impossibility anymore. The added bonus of a motivational group environment and personal instructors on hand will encourage you to persevere and reach inside of you for a strength you would not have ordinarily had the chance to discover in the sterile gym or too-often-pounded pavement of your everyday life. This chance to reconnect with your inner strength will stick with you long after the challenges you faced on your break are over. You will find that to un-cover this inner strength on a daily basis becomes something you strive for and can easily connect with, allowing you to say goodbye to the rut of repetitive lethargy which your fitness routine can easily become when it’s just one of the bullet points on your ever increasing to-do list.
2. You’ll develop a new passion
Be it cycling, rowing, or Tai Chi, you will likely develop a passion for an activity which you wouldn’t ordinarily have had the chance to experience. Combined with the harmonizing climate of your surroundings, this activity will likely leave an even more favorable impression on you than if you had first tried it in your home environment. This will infuse you with a passion for the activity or sport which drives you to commit to it when you’re back at home, combining it into your routine in any way you can. The fact that you discovered this sport in Hawaii or Bali, for example, will automatically connect this activity with the place in which you experienced it. As a result, your new passion provides you with a portal in which to reconnect with the freshening breeze and translucent seas of some far away destination. The result? You effortlessly maintain your fitness.
3. A chance to reconnect with nature (and yourself)
Modern day lifestyles have resulted in many of us becoming confined to the fluorescently lit office cubicles and underground tubes we frequent every day. With a full time job in the middle of the city, it becomes near impossible to maintain this connection with nature which we all intrinsically possess. Having the chance to be surrounded with nature again is a part of the healing process which is crucial to our overall health. It detoxifies your soul of all the static build up which accumulates in a stressful working environment, naturally relieves stress, raises our spirits and reminds us how important it is to be in cadence with the environment Just as we must cleanse the body of toxins, we must also cleanse the soul. By losing yourself in your beautiful surroundings, you realise that your physiological health is just as important as your physical health.
The chance to experience an entirely new culture and destination withdraws your mind from the everyday circles which we can become caught up in, and which oppress our spirits. An inevitable result of experiencing a new destination is gaining a new perspective and greater appreciation for life. When you are confined to only one tiny segment of our planet, you can easily forget that you are part of a greater whole. A healthy holiday provides you with the chance to reconnect with your inner self and nature. You will become more in tune with your body, and gain a new appreciation and respect for it and what it is capable of. You will likely return home with an eased spirit, stronger limbs and a peaceful mind. When you focus simply on your health and fitness for an extended amount of time, your exertions will reward you ten-fold when you return to your everyday life.