Why the Active Retreat is the PERFECT Stress Reliever
I’m going to open up with a bold claim…
If you leave the Active Retreat as stressed as you were when you arrive, I’ll give you your money back.
That’s how confident I am that the Active Retreat is the perfect stress reliever.
So let’s talk about that word and why we’re so good at removing it from your life on the Active Retreat…
Stress. A small word, but it’s so powerful.
I’ve felt it. You’ve felt it. Most of the people you know have felt it.
We live in a world of ever increasing stress. An estimated 1 in 3 of us now describes ourselves as living under extreme stress and that has dramatic consequences for our lives – stress affects our health, our relationships, our productivity, our decision making.
There is no area of your life that is left untouched by stress. It’s tentacles are far-reaching and unless you take steps to reduce or remove it, stress will be a devastating companion that you didn’t invite into your life and you don’t want to stick around.
Work stress is the big one…
Office politics, ever-increasing targets, dreamed up by egotistical bosses with scant appreciation for markets, competition and the wider economy.
Why businesses think they’ve got a god-given right to grow annually is beyond me. Then they compound that unnecessary stress by piling pressure on staff to hit their imagined targets.
Then there’s shifting policies and procedures, your daily 250 emails to read, tight deadlines and finally, the commute. Oh yes, the joys of rush hour travel in the UK.
Yay, work!
Family pressures add to the burden…
If you’ve got kids, there’s a good chance your sleep patterns are all over the place. You’ve then got to logistically manage school, after-school clubs, sports and activities, their homework calendar, childcare during school holidays, remembering when they need some money for non-uniform day/charity bake sale/PTA fund raisers/anything else.
You’ve got school performance, their social circles, their health and wellbeing to be concerned about too.
Oh, and then your responsibilities to your husband/wife/partner/extended family to keep up with as well.
Social stress is a big deal too…
It can be stressful trying to find the time to hold down good friendships despite long working hours and rushing around after the kids.
Wanting to be a supportive friend to people who are struggling, despite having your own stresses to deal with. Looking forward to a night out, but having to plan babysitters, work and general family logistics around the whole thing can mean it’s a mission before you’ve even left the house.
And this is supposed to be your enjoyable, social time!
Your stress reliving tactics leave you feeling worse…
The antidote to busy is to sit down and relax with the TV, some naughty foods and a bottle of wine eh? The problem is that doesn’t help.
You sit and watch miserable people on soaps, eating junk food and getting slightly pissed, then you wonder why you’re heavier than you were last year and despite the best intentions, watching yet another peak time TV crime drama (the 8th one this year, which follows a similar plot line to the others you’ve already watched) whilst eating crisps hasn’t made you feel any better.
You’d be forgiven for believing the 1993 Blur album title… ‘Modern Life is Rubbish’.
It’s not though. Honestly, it’s not. You can relive stress and the Active Retreat is a literal, shining example of how to do it. How to make your life better. How to take a week out of that world and look at it differently. Your habits, your activities, your food and your environment are dramatically altered during the week you spend with us on the Active Retreat.
From start to finish, it’s designed to remove stress from your life.
How the Active Retreat is a PERFECT Stress Reliever
So far we’ve identified what stress is and I’ve highlighted why the common ways to combat it don’t work, but that’s not helpful to anyone. You already know you’re stressed, you need an idea to help get rid of the problem. One of the best and most effective ways to remove stress from your life is to go on holiday. Logically, it’s hard to be stressed when you’re having a great time.
That’s not enough though. Going on holiday is too short-term a solution. It doesn’t help anyone in the long term. It’s putting a plaster on a gaping wound. The holiday has to be transformational – in your state, in your health, in your thinking.
It’s what we do.
Here Are 9 Reasons Why The Active Retreat is THE BEST Stress Reliever…
We Change Your Environment
This is the first and perhaps most important one of all. We take your out of the lions den and into a completely different environment.
If you’re a city-dweller, used to 24 hour traffic, emergency services vehicles flying by at all hours of the night, the relentless noise, round-the-clock busy streets and polluted air, then the Active Retreat is the polar opposite. We’re in the quiet surf village of Lajares. There’s no light pollution, ‘rush hour’ is a handful of cars. It’s quiet, serene and tranquil.
It’s sunny, it’s warm and it’s welcoming.
We take pressure away from you
When you come to stay with us on the Active Retreat, from the moment you arrive to the moment you leave, we take care of things. When you land, you’re collected from the airport and taken back to the retreat – no need to worry about transfers. We’ve arranged the food, the activities, the transport.
This may seem like a small detail, but knowing that everything has been taken care of is incredibly reassuring.
You won’t have to work out where you need to be, how you get to places, what you need to do, what you need to pack, how to split your time, where you’re going to eat etc. We’ve done all the hard work, you get to enjoy the fruits of our labour!
You just sit back and enjoy it.
You’ll be outside all day
Research has proven that being outdoors works wonders for our mental health, so much so that ‘nature’ is now being prescribed by doctors to help patients with mental health issues.
On the Active Retreat, we’re outside daily. Almost all day, every day.
Being in the wide open spaces, feeling the warm air on your skin, being exposed to the natural light and hearing the sounds of nature, rather than the constant traffic all help to ease stress. We take you to the beach, to the top of volcanoes, in the sea, out in the sand dunes. We don’t just ‘see’ the outdoors, we play in it.
You’ll make new friends and social connections
One of the most important keys to happiness is social connections, being part of a group. On the Active Retreat, you’re going to meet new, like-minded friends. You already have one thing in common – holiday tastes!
Beyond the obvious personality alignment, there’s bonding over shared experiences too, so you’ll develop deeper friendships than you otherwise would. An expanded social circle, mixed with the fact that these are new people who are here to have fun means you’ll leave much of your stress at home, focussing on the enjoyment of being on holiday.
You’ll exercise every day
The old adage ‘healthy body, healthy mind’ is steeped in truth. Exercise releases endorphins, the ‘feel good’ chemicals in our brains, which gives us a natural high and helps keep stress at bay.
We exercise daily on the Active Retreat, so you’ll producing abundant endorphins and will feel fantastic as a result!
There is no better stress reliever than exercise and significant bodies of research back this up. We also mix up the exercise we do, so nothing gets stale or stagnant. We mix the higher-intensity work with more relaxing yoga styles, giving your body the movement it craves but the variety it requires.
We use nature as our gym too, when we ride off-road, run up the sand dunes, train outdoors and surf in the ocean. Combining the outdoors with exercise is a double win for stress relief.
You’ll eat well
If you’re used to living on a diet of crisps and chocolate, washed down with a bottle of coke, you’re probably deficient in all kinds of nutrients. That will be addressed on the Active Retreat, where your meals are cooked using fresh, healthy ingredients. You’ll be eating better here than you do at home.
The food you put into your body can have a dramatic effect on your mental state, your energy levels and your motivation to exercise and enjoy life. It’s the reason we place so much emphasis on the nutritional aspect of the Active Retreat.
Our food is a fresh, healthy, well-cooked and tastes great. You’ll be nourishing your body and the effect on your health, both physical and mental, will be dramatic.
You’ll have some sun exposure
Winter in the UK is daaaaark! Thousands of people suffer from Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD), caused by a lack of exposure to natural light. You can see why this happens – in the depths of winter, the UK may only see 9 hours of daylight.
There’s also the reduced Vitamin D production because there is both less sunlight, but also when the sun is out, the chances are the temperature is too cold to expose any skin to it.
The temperatures during the Active Retreat are usually around 25-32 degrees Celsius, with sunshine expected every day. We make the very most of this, ensuring we get out on the beach and into the fresh air. You’ll be topping up those vitamin D levels and seeing plenty of natural light. If you do suffer from SAD, you’ll be kicking it into touch with the amount of sunshine and daylight you’ll see.
You’ll be surrounded by positivity
People who exercise regularly are generally speaking, far more positive. With regular endorphin release, a better state of health, a healthier mind and (typically) a more active social life, active people are less likely to suffer from mental health issues and more likely to view the world positively.
You’re also on holiday and it’s really tough to have a bad time on holiday – especially one where everything is geared towards making your week as relaxed and enjoyable as possible.
Surrounding yourself with this level of positivity can help you to shake off a stressed, negative mind set.
You’ll have time for self-reflection
With life rushing by at 100 miles per hour, when do you take the time to just stop, and ‘be’?
It’s during these times that we can self-reflect, question decisions we’ve made and paths we’ve chosen. During times of self-reflection we can relax deeply and view our lives through a slightly different lens. We can make choices from a place of calm, not stress. It’s only with a calm head that we can make effective decisions.
With so much time to relax, be still and practice a version of mindfulness that suits you, life will appear different. You’ll see your life differently, look at problems you’ve struggled with from an alternative viewpoint. You’ll learn about yourself, spend time thinking what you really want from your life.
An old personal training client of mine used to take up to 6 holidays per year and always told me he did his best work whilst he was away, because it was where his head was clear and he could make better decisions, which helped his business even more.
The Active Retreat, the PERFECT Stress-Reliever
There are lots of reasons why people join us on the Active Retreat – some of them just want an active holiday, others want a kick start to their health, but mostly people come to relax and unwind, to escape from the stress of their ‘ordinary’ lives.
With so many past guests having done this so successfully, we’ve honed the art of stress relief. From the day you arrive to the day you leave us, we’ll be working hard to make sure you have the best time possible on the Active Retreat.
If you’re thinking of coming along, feel free to browse our website further, or contact us on enquiries@theactiveretreat.net, where we can answer any of your questions or if you’d prefer, get you booked straight on to our next retreat!