7 Things About Wellness Retreats You Didn’t Know
When people think about wellness retreats, often the first thing they think is “I don’t want to be in a group.” I understand why, especially with the type of clientele I work with. You see, change-makers, ambitious women, people who tend to do a lot on their own, are often turned off by the idea of a group trip.
This is probably the most common turn off about wellness retreats that I have experienced and being frank, I feel the same way about booking a retreat for myself.
The key difference about wellness retreats with me
What my retreats do is actually bring a group of like-minded women (sometimes a mixed group) together where they can actually create new meaningful connections. This happens as a result of the work we do together, the fun we have, the moments we share.
The best part about wellness retreats that I host are the relationships that are created as a result of attending. In this post, I’m sharing some of the other misconceptions about wellness retreats and how attending one may benefit your life.
7 Misconceptions About Wellness Retreats
1. YOU HAVE A STRICT SCHEDULE
The most common testimonial I receive about my wellness retreats is that I pay a lot of attention to detail. I’m innately like this, I’m the same in my personal life. But when a client is paying to be on a retreat, it’s even more important that I provide them with a memorable experience before we even add the transformation they will have.
Whilst there is an itinerary, it is designed for you to not need to do anything. The most important aspect about wellness retreats with me is that you get time for yourself and essentially, that I take care of everything, so you don’t have to.
2. YOU HAVE TO PARTICIPATE IN EVERYTHING
The retreat is designed to flow into a transformative journey for all attendees. However, we are human and life happens. Whilst you’re at a retreat, you may realise you need more sleep. You may realise that you’re not ready to open up. Or you may realise that you need more solitude. Whatever happens, I make it very clear about wellness retreats with me that you’ll gain the most benefit from attending and participating in everything but that if you can’t, that’s also ok.
One of the biggest turn offs for me in the past about wellness retreats is being forced to attend everything on an itinerary. I attended a yoga retreat once and the teacher was awful to me because I chose not to attend a couple of morning yoga classes. She didn’t understand that I was processing, so she berated me. I will NEVER do that.
3. YOU HAVE TO BE COMPLETELY VULNERABLE
One of the main surprises about wellness retreats with me is how comfortable and easy it is to open up. You’ll be amazed at how sharing with each other not only brings you closer to yourself but also closer to others. Oftentimes, this is the most sacred and special aspect about wellness retreats that gets everyone engaged and excited to learn more about themselves and others.
However, it’s not for everyone from the get-go. Sometimes it may take you a few days to open up and that’s perfectly ok. You must honour yourself but at the same time, you must also try to let go a bit so that you can see what magic can occur. “Magic” is one of the most common testimonials about wellness retreats of mine that I love to hear!
4. YOU HAVE TO LIKE EVERYONE
This is absolutely not true. Whilst you might want to like everyone, that’s not realistic in life. You may like everyone for different reasons. Perhaps you like certain qualities of a few and not so much for others.
If the main feature about wellness retreats for you to attend is meeting new people then being open to making those new connections will make it a lot easier for you.
5. YOU HAVE TO BE SERIOUS ABOUT WELLNESS RETREATS
Whilst the purpose of my wellness retreats is for you to transform parts of your life, it is also very much about joy. You can be serious and you can have fun at the same time.
6. YOU WON’T DISCONNECT
I love this one. Almost everyone worries whether they will be able to truly disconnect on a wellness retreat. Whilst I don’t take away anyone’s phone, I do encourage not checking it unless you’re calling kids or partners. To be honest, the only people you need to check in with are your kids. Everyone else is a grown up and needs to respect your boundary for this time for yourself.
At first hearing this, most people have a mild panic but after only a few hours, they are able to disconnect and it’s one of the best things about wellness retreats with me. Because I’ve taken care of nearly all of your needs, you can actually relax and disconnect from the moment you arrive.
7. YOU WON’T ACHIEVE ANYTHING
Whilst it’s true that many other retreats on the market are very basic and indeed, you won’t achieve anything from them, it’s not the case with mine. Even though there’s a group, I attend to everyone individually. Each activity is curated to support everyone whilst also accommodating for the individual. You have to look for these qualities in your retreat host and it’s another key reason about wellness retreats that I host, which have clients returning again and again.
The biggest worry about wellness retreats
Aside from being on a trip with a group of strangers, guilt, self-doubt and fear are the most common reasons that people are reluctant to join a trip. They will show up as excuses. If you are drawn to a wellness retreat, it’s because something is speaking to you. Because you don’t regularly put yourself first, your mind will then start to ‘rationalise’ why you shouldn’t go. This looks like, I can’t leave the kids, I don’t have the money, I can’t make the date just in case of something else etc etc.
All three of these barriers are related to self-worth. If you don’t think you’re worthy of time alone for yourself, working on yourself, then you will feel guilty. When you think that you can’t achieve anything for yourself, your life is as it is, then you will doubt yourself. You might think that you should be putting everything else before yourself like kids, partners and bills, in this case, you will be scared about attending a wellness retreat.
Navigating these feelings about wellness retreats
All of these feelings are valid and extremely common. I do it too, before I make a big purchase or do something just for myself. If you do feel all these things, work through them by asking yourself, why you want to attend the retreat. That’s enough of a reason to go ahead and book it. You’ll be able to figure out the rest of your challenges because you now know why you want to attend. That reason is most likely going to be big enough for you to do what you need to do, to make it happen.
I’m Puja McClymont. I specialise in coaching individuals and organisations to expand the possibilities of their potential through self-leadership, creating further growth and meaningful impact.
Through my distinctive approach which combines ancient wisdom with modern psychology, clients enable every facet of their lives to thrive.
