We believe in Wellness Retreats. And we’ll tell you why. Then we’ll tell you some wheres.
Before we go too far down the road, we want to make sure you know we’ve been into taking time to get in touch with ‘ME’ since, well, forever. Our belief in what are now being called and created as Wellness Retreats is not at all new. It is part of our inherent and collective being here at Sleep Club.
Fair?
Good.
Why Wellness Retreats?
We tend to burn the midnight oil quite often but we do that knowing we’ll give ourselves the benefit of time for decompressing — whether it’s meditating for a few minutes, taking a walk around the block, or going away for a few weeks to a place completely and totally devoid of everything except those things that will bring us comfort.
Just to be clear, what comfort is for me may not be the same for you. The bright lights and high energy of some place like Las Vegas or SoBe may be just what you need after a crazy week or super busy few months. Or it may be a yoga retreat in the Himalayas, completely cut off from the outside world and where silence is golden. Whatever and wherever it is, one thing is clear: The reason you need it is because your mental, physical, emotional, or, yes, spiritual self needs nourishment and deep care. You feel out of sorts, off kilter, even broken at times. How do you get back to you when you’ve lost touch or grown apart from your essential self?
Yes, I know. How very existential and self-helpy of us, right? But when the shit hits the fan, no matter what form it takes, getting back to a place of wellness takes different forms for each of us, but no matter the case, it’s important that you give yourself the time, the space and the care you need to feel whole again.
And that’s ‘WHY’ a Wellness Retreat. Some folks need a type of therapy that goes outside of traditional counseling and self-help groups. They need a respite to completely release the toxic situation — physical, mental, emotional and, yep, spiritual — that is blocking and hurting them. They need a place where the only purpose is to nurture and do for them what they need in the way they need with focused attention over a committed period of time — and not in an institution.
Wellness Retreats are sensory rather than intellectual explorations meant to bring you closer to yourself.
Make sense?
Okay, so where do you find such things? We’re going to share four different places that range across different categories: Mental and Emotional Well-Being, Physical Well-Being, Spiritual Well-Being and Pure Escapism.
Mental & Emotional Awakening
Kamalaya Wellness Sanctuary and Holistic Spa Resort is just one of the many incredible escapes focused on helping you relax, release, and revive after being challenged by a myriad of mental and emotional roadblocks. Located on Thailand’s tropical coast in Koh Samui, this gorgeous paradise once served as the meditation and spiritual sanctuary for Buddhist monks. The lush beauty of Kamalaya’s surroundings reinforce their focus on enhancing and supporting your mental and emotional well-being as well as physical health — they offer Sleep Enhancement as part of their Healthy Lifestyle package… hmmm... Choose from one of their packages or consult with one of their experts to create a customized plan. Either way, Kamalaya is a haven for awakening your connection to your mind and heart.
Let’s get physically aligned
Mind, body and soul work best when they are all fed and nurtured properly. It’s why every single wellness resort you go to, even if they have a specialty, has a little something for everything. With The Travel Yogi, however, you get to experience that full-body and mind revitalization in a variety of locations. There is a heavy emphasis on yoga — hence the name, of course — but you’ll find yourself jumping on bikes, taking long walks, hiking and more across the globe depending on where The Travel Yogi is hosting next. These pioneers in the “wellness adventure travel” business have the goal of creating an excursion combined with incredible opportunities to push — and rejuvenate — yourself physically. The locations are stunning and the experience life-changing.
Opening your inner eye
Soooo… we’ve taken you on some luxury wellness getaways, but now we bring you a bit more down to earth with this foray into spiritual awakening. The San Francisco-based Green Gulch Farm Zen Center is part of the San Francisco Zen Center and offers Buddhist teachings of Zen meditation, philosophy and work while taking in the Pacific Coast. It is built on the Japanese Soto zen style and the rooms are created for minimal distraction while the garden is pure organic heaven. As they mention on their website, “The mission of Green Gulch is to awaken the bodhisattva spirit — the spirit of kindness and realistic helpfulness — as a living enactment of Buddha's Way.” Breathtaking views of the ocean and a feeling of pure enlightenment combine to offer a truly inspired — and pocketbook friendly — walk along your life’s existential path.
All I want to do is escape
Imagine, for one moment, you’re not just resting and relaxing in a villa on the water but one that’s actually in the water. Emerald Maldives Resort Spa in the — yep — Maldives is a startlingly beautiful, strikingly enchanting and total escapist resort that is mindblowing. There are no rooms, per se, only your own individual oasis — some with private pools — and set on and in the water surrounding Fasmendhoo Island on the Raa Atoll. The all inclusive resort has 120 villas — 60 on the island and 60 on the ocean. This pure escapist retreat is both family and adult friendly, with plenty of activities for little ones and tons of privacy for romance. Now, we’ve never been there. Nope. And we’re not actually espousing the virtues of one spa over another — we’ll dig deeper into unique, escapist retreats in a few months. When we found Emerald Maldives Resort Spa, however, we were struck by it’s fully eco-friendly flexibility and how it allows you to be as hedonistic as you like or completely holistic. The entire island is at your disposal and created to bring you and your mate, you alone, or you and your family as much or as little activity as you like while pampering you as much as you deserve.
Being good to ‘ME’
Looking after ourselves tends to be such a backburner thing that by the time we look into such experiences as Wellness Retreats — we feel a deep need to proper noun this — we’re almost at the end of our rope. That’s probably not the best way to care for our well-being but at least it’s a start, right? You can make your own Wellness Retreats by creating a haven for yourself in your own home, (we have an article coming up on that soon… yay!) as well as taking some me time throughout the day — a walk around the block, meditating, whatever. Sure, we’ve shown you four all inclusive experiences that will help you clear the cobwebs and feel refreshed, but aren’t we worth this everyday? Aren’t you worth giving yourself your best you all the time?
We don’t think so.
We know so.
