What is a Wellness Yoga Holiday?
January 24, 2020
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What’s your criterion for choosing a yoga retreat? Maybe it’s the skill level, a destination you want to visit, a special time of the year when you want to travel, or it could be certain cultural activities you want to engage in.
It can also be the duration of the retreat, the budget you have, or if it’s combined with another activity such as surfing. But is there anything else you should be considering when planning your next yoga vacation?
Yes, there is! A yoga and wellness retreat is the kind of vacation you’re missing out on! Along with the opportunity to improve your practice while visiting amazing places, during a yoga and wellness retreat you’ll also get to pamper yourself with exquisite well-being activities such as aqua healing, Acupuncture or Reiki, just to mention few.
Want to know more about it? Keep reading to find out which of these 7 wellness activities is tailored to your needs.
Aqua healing
Since the beginning of time, water has been a big deal for humankind and has always been considered an essential element for life. So much that the Book of Genesis thought of it as the origin of cosmos; or the Greek mathematician, Thales of Miletus, believed it to be the essence of all matter.
Over time, men also discovered the huge healing power of water. Egyptians and Israelites used to plunge themselves in the sacred waters of the Nile and Jordan, and Hindus still do it in the Ganges river. Nowadays, we’ve put together all this mysticism surrounding water to create aqua healing.
But how do an aqua yoga retreat and a regular yoga retreat differ from one another? During an aqua yoga holiday, you’ll practice yoga either in the sea or in a mineral water pool. If you’re struggling with some asanas, you’re going to love it because water greatly improves your range of motion. Due to the relative density of water, you’ll also be able to stretch more, increase your static balance and relieve body tension in a remarkable way!
Some aqua yoga retreats also offer specific aqua healing therapies such as watsu, floating theta brainwave therapy, floating meditation, water dance and conscious water massage.
Ayurveda
Ayurveda Medicine is one of the oldest holistic healing systems in the world. It was developed in India more than 3,000 years ago and it’s based on the belief that, in order to be healthy, the mind, body and spirit need to be balanced and in harmony with the universe.
According to it, a person is made of five basic elements: air, fire, space, earth and water. When they mix in the human body, they form three different energies known as doshas. Pitta dosha (fire and water), Vata dosha (space and air) and Kapha dosha (water and earth).
When your doshas are out of balance you can get sick, be anxious or feel weak. Although everyone has at least a little of each dosha, normally one or two of them predominate in the body. Therefore, an Ayurvedic treatment has to be specifically designed for each person.
Since Ayurveda is believed to be yoga’s sister science, you’ll find plenty of yoga retreats that include Ayurvedic treatments, workshops to design your Ayurvedic eating plan, herbal medicine and massage therapy.
During a yoga and Ayurveda retreat, you’ll boost your energy levels and improve your overall health by indulging in a balanced Ayurvedic diet, which means that all your meals will be specially prepared based on your dosha. As for your practice on the mat, the sequences will also be specifically designed to fulfill your particular needs.
Acupuncture
Acupuncture is a branch of traditional Chinese medicine that consists of an organized system of diagnosis and treatment. It’s based on the belief that disease is caused by disruptions to the flow of energy in the body (qi). The main goal of Acupuncture treatment is to release the qi that’s accumulated in certain points of the body by introducing needles on and under the skin.
There are incredible results that you can get from combining your yoga practice with this powerful healing tool. Like relieving body pain, reducing stress, helping with digestive disorders, improving your immune system, increasing your energy and enhancing your mental clarity. What better place to get all its benefits than in a yoga and Acupuncture holiday?
Reiki
Reiki is an alternative medicine therapy developed in Japan in 1922. It’s based on the belief that universal energy flows through us and, when it’s low, the person tends to get sick and feel stressed. In order to elevate that life force energy, Reiki practitioners use a technique called palm healing that transfers the universal energy to the patient’s body.
During a Reiki and yoga retreat, you’ll learn more about energy, chakras and spirituality. With the help of Reiki sessions, you’ll restore the harmony between your body, mind and spirit. You’ll also get other significant benefits like stress reduction and the activation of your natural healing power. In other words, after a few days of being on one of these holidays, you’ll naturally feel lighter and happier!
Detox
As a result of environmental pollution, chemicals in water, food additives, lack of exercise, unhealthy diets and stress, your body accumulates toxins. And, unless you become a hermit, you’ll find it impossible to stay away from them. The good news is that you can always compensate for it by going on a yoga and detox holiday at least once a year.
A typical program on a yoga and detox holiday is all about flushing toxins and stress from your body by eating fresh fruits and vegetables, organic grains, beans, nuts and seeds, drinking special juice and tea, and sometimes fasting. Combined with daily sessions of yoga, the results are incredible!
The benefits are abundant: you’ll strengthen the immune system, normalize your body functions, rejuvenate your organism and increase your energy levels. After a yoga and detox holiday, you’ll feel lighter, joyful, peaceful and in harmony.
Think of it as a kickstart to healthier lifestyle; you’ll also learn about healthy habits and nutritive diets that you can implement once you get back home.
Life Coaching Retreats
Image credit: Amodini Body & Mind Coaching
The practice of life coaching began in the early nineties, but thanks to the people’s desire to improve their habits, it has rapidly grown since then.
A yoga and life coaching retreat will have incredible long-term effects on your life. With the help of properly trained professional coaches, you’ll find answers to your life’s problems and get on the right track to achieve your goals.
Combined with yoga sessions, delicious food and beautiful sceneries, a vacation like this is the perfect occasion for you to gain awareness and a brighter perspective of where you are and where you want to be.
Want to focus even more on the well-being activities? Go on a wellness retreat!