De-stress Holidays

Many of us battle with balancing our hectic daily schedules and home life. Between work-related issues, personal problems and struggling to find the time to catch up with yourself, it becomes increasingly easy to fall into a trap of feeling burnt-out, exhausted and stressed. In fact it is so common that in 2012, around 428,000 people suffered from work-related stress. Chronic stress is not only bad for your emotional state, but also for your physical health and well-being in general. Symptoms can include a lack of focus, irritability, migraines, and a cycle of poor nutrition and sleepless nights.

The thought of beginning the New Year flying solo can be daunting, but why not revel in the opportunity of having no ties and do something that you really want to do on one of our healthy singles holiday. From a surfing break in Morocco to an anti-stress retreat in Spain, begin your next chapter as you mean to go on, feeling relaxed and re-energised. With a variety of group activities and fitness classes, combine meeting like-minded singles with enjoying some quality ‘me-time’ when you indulge with luxury spa treatments and therapies to enhance your well-being.

When you look in the mirror, how youthful is the face staring back? Proving that age really is nothing but a number, in recent years there has been a growing focus on what our biological age, rather than our chronological age, can tell us about our overall health and longevity. Determined by lifestyle approaches to stress, diet, exercise and sleep; recent studies reveal that one in five people in the UK were found to have a biological age more than eight years older than their chronological age , effectively losing almost a decade of their life.

Letting you in on the biological longevity secret, Health and Fitness Travel, the leading experts in healthy holidays worldwide, take a look at how health and fitness can help to turn back the clock in the battle of biology vs. chronology. Whether pressing pause on ageing by learning to let go of stress or sweating your way to a more youthful you, reducing your biological age is the new mantra of the ‘ageing gracefully’ gurus.

De-stress to stop the clock

Whether it is linked to work, family or money, we all get stressed and anxious. Unfortunately, in addition to sleepless nights and unwanted worry lines, stress can also increase our biological age dramatically by shortening the telomeres in our bodies. Reduce this effect by escaping on an educational stress management holiday where healthy lifestyle practices such as mediation and mindfulness will smooth away those frown lines.

Top 3 De-Stress Holidays: SHA Anti-Stress (Spain), Ananda Stress Management (India), Kamalaya De-Stress Asian Bliss (Thailand)

Sweat your way to a youthful you

With the power to take years off your biological age, sweat your way to a more youthful you whilst improving your skin tone with the post-exercise face flush. As well as maintaining good cardiovascular health, boosting your metabolism and improving your memory, exercise also slows down our cells basic ageing process. Through the emerging science of DNA fitness testing, pre-arrival DNA analysis can reveal an insight into your genetic makeup, allowing fitness holiday programmes to be tailored with the appropriate training response for your body.

Top 3 Fitness Holidays: The BodyHoliday Body Science (St Lucia), Phuket Cleanse Detox & Fitness (Thailand), The Body Camp (Ibiza)

Sleep to turn back time

As well as being an enjoyable way to stay cosy in winter, spending an extra hour in bed can actually increase your lifespan. Our bodies need sleep to carry out vital cell repair, so we awake the next morning fresh and re-energised. Without the recommended 7-8 hours, our bodies are not able to complete this repair, meaning that over time the cells break down faster. Sleep also lowers the stress hormone cortisol, which is a significant barrier to achieving youthful longevity. If you struggle to fall asleep, learn to banish insomnia on a sleep retreat and wake up with youthful energy.

Top 3 Sleep Retreats: Absolute Sanctuary Sleep Well (Thailand), SHA Sleep Well (Spain), Kamalaya Sleep Enhancement (Thailand)

Reduce ageing with healthy nutrition

Processed foods encourage the formation of free radicals, which will have your biological age soaring above your chronological one. Get a radiant complexion by eliminating these foods and replacing them with nutrient packed fresh fruits and vegetables, which will cleanse and detox your body, lowering the risk of diabetes and heart disease. With nutrition experts and educational cooking classes, learn about healthy nutrition on holiday to make changes to your diet which will reward you with a lasting feeling of youth and vitality.

Top 3 Healthy Ageing Nutrition Holidays: SHA Healthy Ageing Women (Spain), The Farm Healthy Ageing (Philippines), Longevity Anti-Ageing (Portugal)

Learn healthier habits to feel younger

The first step towards biological longevity is swapping bad habits which damage your body for healthy habits that nourish it. It needn’t be all at once, make small and lasting changes and notice how your body begins to defy your chronological age. Discover healthier habits on a healthy learning holiday where wellness experts will introduce you to practical lifestyle changes and how to maintain what you’ve learnt long-term, for a healthier and more youthful you.

Top 3 Healthy Learning Holidays: Kamalaya Embracing Change (Thailand), Shreyas Silent Retreat (India), Grantley Hall Fitness & Wellness (UK)

Laugh away the years

There is a good reason that laughter is often known as nature’s best medicine. Prompting a flood of serotonin into the body, laughter can boost your mood, relieve pain and release tension. Releasing positive energy through a smile or laugh can not only have a healing effect, but can also make you look younger as it lights up your face and brings a glow to your skin. Discover the healing benefits of laughter yoga on a yoga retreat and feel the years disappear as you laugh away your stress and worries.

Top 3 Yoga Retreats: SwaSwara Rejuvenation & Yoga (India), Absolute Sanctuary Yoga (Thailand), Paradis Plage Yoga (Morocco)

Talk to one of our travel specialists today on 0203 397 8891 or contact us here to discuss your tailor made healthy ageing holiday

With the daunting task of wedding planning creating a nerve-wracking experience for even the most clear minded bride-to-be, Health and Fitness Travel, the leading specialists in healthy holidays worldwide, offer to save your sanity with their top 5 pre-wedding health retreats for stressed brides-to-be. From Switzerland to St Lucia, banish bridezilla through a personalised health retreat of sleep enhancing spa treatments, healthy nutrition and energy boosting fitness classes. Get back on the wedding planning wagon after a healthy dose of R&R, as you re-connect with yourself in these healthy hideaways and rediscover your bridal glow.

Reach Optimal Health in Portugal: Longevity Wellness Booster

Let your wedding worries float away as you reach optimal health at this specialist medical spa, set upon Portugal’s idyllic Algarve coastline. Following initial medical consultations with wellness experts, experience a personalised health retreat of medical spa treatments and ocean inspired thalassa therapies, guaranteed to revitalise any bride. With complimentary mindfulness and healthy living workshops, gain the tools you need to reach your wedding day at your peak. Boost your pre-wedding well-being with an array of group fitness classes, from yoga to cardio boost and SLIM circuit, to return home a healthier and happier you.

Health and Fitness Travel (0203 397 8891 healthandfitnesstravel.com) offers 5 nights at Longevity from £2,250pp or £1,980 for single occupancy. Price includes half board, a wellness programme, return flights and transfers.

Renew your Bridal Glow in Thailand: Kamalaya Relax & Renew

Escape the pressures of wedding planning and rediscover your bridal glow in the tropical paradise of Thailand. Begin your stay with an insightful wellness consultation, before immersing yourself in a variety of holistic activities and revitalising spa therapies, drawn from ancient healing traditions. Unwind with Asian inspired treatments, including an Indian head massage and traditional Thai massage, and join in with group classes from meditation to aqua aerobics. Ideal for yogi loving brides-to-be, transport your body and mind to a sanctuary of wellness with group Hatha, Yin, Flow and Power yoga classes.

Health and Fitness Travel (0203 397 8891 healthandfitnesstravel.com) offers 7 nights at Kamalaya from £2,502pp or £2,915 for single occupancy. Price includes full board, a wellness programme, return flights and transfers.

Banish Bridezilla in Spain: SHA Anti-Stress

Revitalise your wedding well-being as you banish bridezilla on this stress management retreat in the South of Spain, surrounded by idyllic views of mountain and ocean scenery. Ease the inevitable pre-wedding tension as medical and nutrition experts treat you to a personalised anti-stress health retreat, designed to reduce stress and rebalance your mind and body in time for the wedding. From aqua relax sessions, to healthy cooking lectures, mindful therapy sessions and soothing body wraps, return home with the knowledge to manage stress, improve your quality of sleep and lead a healthier lifestyle.

Health and Fitness Travel (0203 397 8891 healthandfitnesstravel.com) offers 7 nights at SHA from £3,120pp or £3,560 for single occupancy. Price includes full board, a wellness programme, return flights and transfers.

Beauty Sleep Top Up in St. Lucia: The BodyHoliday Optimal Wellness

Tone up and top up on your beauty sleep at this luxury all-inclusive health retreat, nestled upon a secluded bay of St Lucia. Reap the benefits of an all-encompassing wellness experience with specialist sleep enhancing spa treatments, one-to-one fitness sessions, nutritional and lifestyle consultations. Tone up with a series of personal training sessions, alleviate body tension with personal Pilates and clear your mind with private yoga and meditation sessions. With a complimentary skin consultation, return home from the Caribbean having recaptured your bridal glow.

Health and Fitness Travel (0203 397 8891 healthandfitnesstravel.com) offers 7 nights at The BodyHoliday from £2,990pp for single or double occupancy. Price is all-inclusive, with a wellness programme, return flights and transfers.

Holistic Healing in Switzerland: Alpina Gstaad Sense of Ayurveda

Rebalance your life as you discover the holistic healing powers of Ayurveda on this pre-wedding health retreat, set in the breath-taking Swiss Alps. Begin your stay with a private consultation with an Ayurvedic doctor who will evaluate your physical composition or ‘dosha’ and provide you with advice on treatments. Benefit from therapies ranging from a salt massage to an Ayurveda steam bath, sure to reduce stress and fight the signs of ageing. Enhance your well-being with complimentary classes, including yoga, Pilates, Tai Chi and meditation, leaving you fully prepared to walk down the aisle.

Health and Fitness Travel (0203 397 8891 healthandfitnesstravel.com) offers 7 nights at Alpina Gstaad from £3,080pp or £3,835 for single occupancy. Price includes breakfast, a wellness programme and return flights.

For advice, guidance and booking visit www.healthandfitnesstravel.com or call 0203 397 8891

Stress is the 21st Century version of a health epidemic. At its’ subtlest level, stress will ruin your day; but at its most harmful, it’ll ruin much more than that – your self-value, relationships, sleep, and health. The worst thing is, we often don’t notice how stress creeps up on us. So isn’t it about time to fight back and address it ourselves?

At Health and Fitness Travel, we offer fitness holidays suitable for everyone, including those dealing with chronic pain. It is recommended by theNHS tocombat chronic pain with enjoyable exercise activities such asYoga, Pilates, andwateraerobics, which can improve circulation, strength, and stamina. We offer all of this and ensure you have fun and relaxation while doing it. Our retreats providea holistic approach to pain management, integrating physical activity, nutrition, and massage therapy, targeting areas of pain and mindfulness practices in a supportive setting. Additionally, we offercustomised exercise retreats tailored to provide instant pain relief. Our fitness retreats are a powerful tool for chronic pain relief and improving overall wellness. 

Let’s face it - at times life can be stressful! That’s why it’s important to give yourself a break every so often to avoid burnout and extra stress. Our de-stress holidays are the perfect solution for the hard worker in need of rejuvenation! Health and Fitness travel offers a wide array of fabulous and soothing wellness retreats across the world, and here are five standouts that go above and beyond to make your relaxation experience unforgettable.  

"Health is a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease." The World Health Organisation

With our fast paced, digitally-induced lives leaving us little time to breathe, let alone think straight, it’s little wonder that stress is are becoming a modern day pandemic.

When we experience stress or anxiety, our sympathetic nervous systems are automatically triggered; our heart beats harder, our brow and palms perspire and adrenaline pumps around our bodies as we enter fight or flight mode – an innate, primal response to aid our survival.

It’s no secret that stress can take a hold on all of us from time to time, filling our minds with worries and negative thoughts. However, when stress builds up and maintains itself in our heads long-term, it can become unhealthy and lead to adverse long-term health effects such as mental health and depression. In fact, according to a medical review by The American Institute of Stress, 77% of people have experienced stress that affects their physical health, and 73% of people have experienced stress that affects their mental health. We worked with Dr. Vicente Mera of the SHA Wellness Clinic to learn more about stress and ageing, especially during their anti-ageing retreat. Let’s break down different causes and factors of stress and how they can affect our physical and mental health.

Shining the spotlight on the power of yoga to tackle stress, Mr. Sandeep Agarwalla, head of yoga in Ananda in the Himalayas, India, shares the benefits of taking up the practice of yoga.

For nutritionist, author and wellness coach Jessica Sepel, destination spa COMO Shambhala Estate is "a health retreat like no other". Read on for her complete review:

Do you have trouble sleeping or staying asleep? Perhaps you’ve even found this blog via a google search in the small hours.Asleep retreatmay offer the ideal solution to your problem. Keep reading to find out more about the benefits of a sleep-enhancement retreat.

Lucia van der Drift is a mindfulness and meditation teacher, working both with groups and one-to-one to support people developing their mindfulness practice and creating more clarity, resilience and focus in their lives.

Gardens aren’t just for green fingered folk, whether you’re a flower fanatic or just looking for a place to relax and unwind, holidaying amongst idyllic gardens and spectacular groves can provide the ultimate mindfulness break. The great outdoors provides the perfect escape from everyday stress and surrounding yourself with the beauty of the natural world can be incredibly beneficial for you both mentally and emotionally. Even taking ten minutes outside in a natural environment, particularly an aesthetic one, can have lasting calming effects and has been shown to drastically improve a person’s mood and reduce stress-related depression. 

Stress is not necessarily a bad thing.  After all, it’s because of this distinctive ability to feel stress that our species have survived for billions of years. It triggers our ‘fight or flight’ response whenever we’re under attack or in the brink of danger, keeping us safe from potential threats. However, when left unchecked, stress becomes overwhelming – leading to a host of mental and physical problems that may consequently be detrimental to our health.

Elena Taffuri, wellness manager at Ti Sana in Italy, shares with us the best ways to manage rising stress levels caused by the constant pressures of modern day, hectic lifestyles.

If you’ve been suffering from symptoms of stress, anxiety, or depression, the world can seem like an intimidating and isolating place. But there is no need to shut yourself away, as a wellness recovery holiday could be needed after suffering from stress-induced burnouts by offering a de-stressing escape in secluded and peaceful spa destinations worldwide.

With the pressures of modern day lifestyles causing many of us to compromise our own well-being, Dr. Sutthi Sawetsutthiphan, Medical Director at Thanyapura in Thailand, tells us about the influential relationship between stress and weight gain.

Start to relieve your stress one spa treatment at a time on one of the world’s top stress-relieving retreats, designed purely for absolute rejuvenation and as an exceptional escape from your busy lifestyle. Focus on some uninterrupted ‘me-time’ in a luxury spa destination, from a secluded private beach in Greece to the unspoiled tropics of Indonesia, choose the relaxation retreat you deserve.