How are Holidays and Yoga Retreats Good for You?
- Jan 4, 2024
- 5 min read
Updated: Jul 17, 2024
How many times have we heard people say they enjoy having a holiday to look forward to? Well studies have shown that simply booking a holiday is good for your brain because it causes a dopamine release. And going on the holiday itself is good for your overall health because it can reduce chronic stress. But there is also evidence for post-holiday blues. And the health benefits of a holiday often come to a stop when you return home. This is not the case with our Yoga retreats. Our Yoga retreats improve your health from the second you book, our Yoga retreats improve your health during your stay, and our Yoga retreats are designed for your health benefits to continue after you return home. We combine generations of knowledge from across the globe to give you the ultimate holiday. This article will explain how.
First, let’s talk about dopamine.
What is dopamine? Dopamine is a chemical used by the brain. It is used in many bodily functions such as maintaining your mood, allowing you to experience pleasure, and motivation levels. Dopamine is known as the “feel good” hormone. Activities such as eating chocolate and having sex are said to raise dopamine. And one might say that the actual feeling of excitement is the feeling of dopamine at work.
Studies have shown that booking a holiday causes our brains to produce a boost of dopamine.
If we simplify dopamine to represent the feeling of excitement, then it would be obvious why booking a holiday causes a rise in your dopamine, because booking a holiday is exciting.
The rise in dopamine caused by booking a holiday is said to cause health benefits because it helps reverse chronic stress. Most people are exposed to chronic stress. Having a full-time job, raising a family, having dependents, and generally having responsibilities all cause chronic stress. Studies have shown our bodies can struggle to release dopamine under chronic stress. When our bodies struggle to release dopamine, we often become anxious and irritable. Booking a holiday causes excitement, or a rise in dopamine, which is great for someone suffering from chronic stress. We all need a holiday from time to time.
Booking any holiday you are excited about can cause a rise in dopamine. And our Yoga retreats contain a lot to be excited about.
We have an Instagram worthy view from our doorstep, spacious accommodation, a rustic farmhouse setting, two local excursions – including a trip to the magical Carcassonne, all meals freshly prepared and included, daily yoga, daily workshops, country walks, and all of this is included in your ticket price. So booking one of our Yoga retreats provides you with more than the health benefits of a rise in dopamine.
As good as it sounds to reduce stress just by booking a holiday, you get the most health benefits of a holiday by actually going. But for your body to have a chance of reducing chronic stress you must have a break from the cause of the stress. At rejuvenation retreats, we have found the biggest obstacle to reducing symptoms and signs of chronic stress on holiday is being unable to get the cause of your chronic stress out of your mind. Continuing take work calls on holiday can limit the body’s ability to reduce chronic stress symptoms. For some people, avoiding the cause of chronic stress on a holiday may even mean going on holiday without their partner.
In terms of chronic stress, even a booze-cruise can help your body recover as long as your mind has a break from the stress’ cause.
But in the case of a booze-cruise you would be trading the detriments of chronic stress for other alcohol related ailments.
We have all had the feeling of needing a holiday to recover from a holiday!
We have designed our Yoga holidays to achieve the opposite of needing a holiday when you return home. Our Yoga holidays help re-charge your energy and provide a space to consider what to spend your energy on when you return. After a Yoga retreat with us, you will feel relaxed, rejuvenated, and re-focused.
One method we use to achieve this effect is meditation. Meditation is probably the best method to focus your mind. But meditation is not for everyone. Trying to meditate can be daunting or boring. Even people who enjoy meditation have to navigate the minefield of multiple methods and schools of thought.
A Yoga holiday with us does all of this for you.
Our Yoga retreats incorporate short mediation exercises within the daily Yoga practices. These short bouts of meditation are simple enough for anyone to try, and they part of your Yoga class the same way any yoga posture is. This teaches you a quick and easy way of incorporating meditation into your lifestyle, if you wish. Our Yoga holidays make meditation easy. And if you are interested in learning more about meditation, we offer a meditation workshop on the retreat. Now guess what this combination of Yoga, meditating and exposure to new ideas does for your mind whilst on a Yoga retreat with us? It focuses your mind away from the cause of your chronic stress back home. Thus, our Yoga holidays allow your body to begin reversing the detrimental impacts of stress. And simple meditation is just one example of how we achieve this.
We also know mediation isn’t for everyone. We all resonate with different approaches to relaxing. This is why our Yoga retreats provide daily workshops. The aim of our workshops is to introduce you to as many different methods of relaxing as possible, until you find the methods that resonate with you.
Relaxing properly is a skill.
And not only do our Yoga retreats teach this skill in our workshops, they encourage relaxation by their very structure and setting.
Other examples of how our Yoga retreat facilitates your body and mind to relax include preparing all your meals, the timing of your Yoga classes, and tailoring the exercises in each Yoga class. The fact we wait on you hand, foot, and finger helps to alleviate your symptoms of stress when you are on our Yoga retreat. And our workshops share ideas for you to maintain this relaxed feeling long after you return home, if you wish. A study conducted in Holland in 2010 stated: ‘Only vacationers on a ‘very relaxed’’ holiday trip benefit in terms of post-trip happiness’. Our Yoga retreats combine modern science with the ancient wisdom of Yoga to provide you with a holiday so relaxing the effects can be felt long after you return home.
In conclusion,
Most of us suffer from chronic stress. Feeling anxious can be a symptom of chronic stress. A holiday can reverse the symptoms of chronic stress, as long as your mind is given a break from the cause of your stress. Many holidays offer this distraction, but at a trade-off for other ailments. This trade-off can be recognized by feeling like you need a holiday to recover from a holiday. At rejuvenation retreats, we combine modern scientific research with the ancient wisdom of Yoga to provide you with the ultimate holiday. You will return from a Yoga holiday from us with your body full of energy, and your mind focused on how to spend this energy. Our Yoga retreats are relaxing by design and setting. And our Yoga retreats also provide you with a wealth of ideas to continue this feeling when you are home. You will leave a Yoga retreat with us feeling relaxed, rejuvenated, and refocused.
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