Ben's First Fitness Retreat, Here’s why he loved it!

Ben, a senior Executive from Melbourne took part in a Basic Optimal Fitness retreat at Kamalaya over a 7 night stay, joined by his wife and a good friend the trio all took part in different programs but enjoyed dining and relaxing together around their scheduled activities and treatments. When asked if he would book this type of trip in the future, he says, “Absolutely”

“Life-changing and life-improving are the two ways I would describe my Kamalaya Experience. I left feeling fitter and healthier with tools I could take into my day-to-day life” Ben adds.

We got to talk to him more about his experience and here’s what he has to say:

What made you decide on a wellness focused holiday?

A short two years ago I weighed 116 kgs and was incredibly unfit. Work had taken priority for me and all of my choices were bad for my health but good for my career. Holidays back then were about blowing off steam and trying to forget about stress. I didn't realise that I was actually making it much worse for myself. This holiday is part of a larger change I have made to focus on my health, physical and mental.

Did you have a specific goal in mind? Such as kick start fitness / Maintain / Train for an event or something else)

I chose the optimal fitness program in part to improve my fitness while on retreat, but also for the physical assessment and specific advice for myself and my circumstances. I travel a lot for work and personally so I needed to learn exercises and programs that I could do with minimal equipment from anywhere.

Did you learn anything about yourself or new skills/tools to bring home to help you have a healthier life after your retreat?

"What I learned about myself was that I am most comfortable in an environment where I am working towards a goal and have articulated my actions towards that goal.”

What I learned about myself was that I am most comfortable in an environment where I am working towards a goal and have articulated my actions towards that goal. Where I derail myself is when I have a desire but have not stated my goal or actions. The team also taught me a lot of body-weight training exercises, helped me understand specific weaknesses in my body and helped me understand what I needed to do structurally, like improving my posture for example. 

Did you have any reservations about going on a wellness holiday?

I can't pretend I wasn't nervous. I have never been particularly fit and embarking on a program with the title fitness was daunting. But everything was catered to my level of fitness, the team helped me every step of the way. I was pushed but not too far. I worked hard but was never crashing into bed exhausted. I felt refreshed, relaxed and well exercised at the end. 

Will you book another wellness retreat in the future?

Yes, I will definitely be making wellness travel a regular part of my holiday plans and I would love to discover other retreats as awesome as Kamalaya was for me, and I would absolutely return there, highly recommended.