Until recently, the concept of rest and relaxation was focused exclusively on resorts, searching for that paradise destination with every modern comfort. However, as people continue to be more and more affected by the pace of everyday life and their struggle for material things, they are increasingly turning to alternatives that will not just guarantee physical renewal, but also mental and spiritual refreshment.
This has resulted in the emergence of holistic vacations, also known as therapeutic retreats that offer experiences, treatments and therapies aimed at restoring equilibrium for body, mind and spirit, while also leading their clients on a journey towards a deeper understanding of who they really are.
Even though this type of vacation is being presented as something new for the 21st century, people have been engaged in this type of experience throughout mankind’s history since earliest times. Where better to look for evidence than Moses’ retreat to Mt. Sinai, or the 40 days and nights that Jesus spent in the desert before beginning his public life? During the 1960s and 1970s, this type of activity was associated with the Hippy movement with its message of love and peace, a little bit of rye bread and a lot of marihuana.
Today, the variety of therapeutic retreats is limited only by the needs and tastes of those who seek them. However, they all have some things in common: relaxation and meditation, alternative therapies (yoga, Ayurveda, hydrotherapy, and other Oriental techniques), advice on natural nutrition and an essential integration with the natural world. After all, understanding the world around us is the first step to understanding the world within us.
These holistic vacations, result firstly in a feeling of relaxation and well being that slows down the physical, mental and emotional processes and leads to different ways of thinking and a re ordering of life’s real priorities.
The effect on health is to reduce stress, achieve balance in the central nervous system, boost the immune system and generally to increase well being, happiness and longevity.
These health benefits were illustrated by research carried out by Harvard University, demonstrating that 55% of women with fertility problems taking one of these retreats were able to conceive within 6 months after the end of the program. This compares with only 20% of such women who did not take a therapeutic retreat.
The specialists tell us that people affected by infertility suffer high levels of stress, similar to that experienced by people receiving treatment for cancer. The constant tension and anxiety can have a significant negative impact on the ability of such people to have children.
As mentioned above, there is a holistic vacation for every sort of person. One such example is offered by Nixi Pae in Peru, for those looking to the wisdom of our ancestors to achieve physical and spiritual health. This involves a period in the heart of the Peruvian Amazon, reconnecting with Mother Earth for a period of a week, including three ayahuasca ceremonies, a local treatment dating back some 5,000 years. (www.nixipae.com).
Other have a more spiritual, almost religious, focus, as is the case with the Vipassana Trust, a community which is active in Asia, the USA, Europe, Australia and Africa and is based on Vipassana meditation techniques as practiced in Buddhist temples. Guests spend ten days living in complete silence, joining in with community activities and engaging in private meditation to center the mind, body and spirit (www.dhamma.org). This emphasis is shared with the Tibetan Buddhist Monastery of Kagyu Samye Ling in the Scottish borders, where worship, prayer and communal work are combined with directed study, lectures, group meditation sessions and personal retreats (www.samyeling.org).
Finally, there are retreats that combine both spiritual and recreational activities, as is the case with the Sun Center in the South of France where you can enjoy personal development courses, yoga, Ayurveda and vegetarian cuisine, while also experiencing bicycle tours through beautiful countryside, horse riding and river bathing (www.thesuncentre.com).
One other recommended retreat is Skyros, a tiny refuge located on the Greek island of the same name, where visitors can enjoy more than 200 courses from traditional yoga sessions to learning new skills such as writing, sailing, pottery and even learning salsa (www.skyros.com). These “treatments” may seem rather unconventional to be classified as holistic vacations, but they do comply with the basic principle of this life style: leave your worries about the past or the future to one side, forget about sadness and allow yourself to be carried along easily and cheerfully in the flow of life. |
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