Well-being

Whether you simply want to take a healthy break or feel severely burnt out, escaping your daily life for a while will work wonders for your well-being. Enjoy the beautiful sunset during a romantic evening spent in the mountains or fall asleep to the calming sounds of the purling ocean waves and find out what works best for you to unwind and de-stress.

While holidays are meant to be an escape from your stressful life, they can easily turn into an exhausting journey if you don’t consider a few points. So let us help you ease into it as we share our six best tips to make the most of your relaxing getaway.

Following decades of changing ideas of the perfect female form, it has become increasingly difficult for women to feel confident in their own bodies. Now in an era where women of all body types are working with what god gave them, more women are now turning to fitness holidays to achieve their individual body goals. From defining your abs on a SUP Morocco break to full body toning on a Pilates bootcamp in Thailand, work with what you've got and target your individual body goals on a fitness holiday in dream destinations worldwide.

Cleanse your body inside-out and release some built up toxins with our top exotic detox retreats that are most definitely worth the air-miles. Purify your body with ayurvedic herbal detox formulas in Koh Samui and cleanse your skin with Lucian lime and ginger scrubs in St Lucia to leave your skin feeling smooth and soft. Give yourself a mental break with some yoga and meditation sessions before a treatment or three in the luxurious spas. Whatever your desires may be, these seven exotic retreats are bound to have something for every wellness lover’s desires.

Em Esslemont is a physiotherapist, personal trainer, wellbeing blogger, co-founder of Nourishment Bowl and founder of Wellbeing Worldwide. As you can probably tell she is a self-confessed fitness and food fanatic with a passion for living a healthy lifestyle and helping others to do so too. Wellbeing Worldwide is an online database of all things healthy that came to fruition amongst the frustration of searching for a gym of any kind in a small Mexican surf town. Em decided to create an ultimate guide to help everyone live a little healthier wherever they go and today she is sharing her top tips on staying healthy on holidays.

Stress is inevitable. It is an essential part of our lives, but this doesn’t mean that we have to tolerate the stress of our daily lives. It is true that negative emotions can affect our health so keep in mind that we are in control of our own thoughts, and if we are able to let it enter our minds, then we are capable to let it back out. By practicing these very simple yet effective methods can help reduce our everyday stress:

by: Qantas Assure

Having a great holiday invariably depends on how well you’ve planned your trip, packed your bags – and attended to all the little things that can make a big difference later. Here we share 7 of the top things to consider before you go on holiday to help avoid potential disasters.

Arrive at your destination rejuvenated...

Awaken your senses and strengthen those muscles on our Fusion Fitness™ retreats in Europe. With a wide range of action-packed activities to choose from and renowned fitness and wellness facilities, these superb retreats have something for everyone. Give yourself a physical challenge with these tailor-made activities and enjoy personalised one to one activities and treatments for the ultimate fitness escape. From strength training in Croatia to golfing in Italy, you don’t have to travel far to find your ideal fitness getaway and create lasting memories whilst you’re at it.

Yoga is still very new in our society. However, India has been reaping the benefits of this practice for over 5000 years. Drawing inspiration from nature and animals, yoga has been adapted to maximise our bodies’ potential for overall emotional, physical and spiritual balance. Whether you’re a veteran or beginner, we are sharing some of the health benefits behind this practice you have grown to love.

With new wellness products, yoga studios and health retreats launching on the daily, the wellness world is booming like never before. A simple scroll on Instagram will have you bombarded with turmeric lattes, fitness junkies and intricate yoga poses fuelling the wellness revolution and encouraging you to jump on the bandwagon. The notion of wellness includes a wide array of different aspects with everything from eating healthily and practicing yoga to meditation and exercising.

At Health and Fitness Travel, we embrace the wonderful world of wellness and strongly believe that our healthy holidays reflect this ethos. We advocate that the holistic approach to life is not a diet, but rather, a lifestyle and are so pleased to see that it has caught the attention of so many celebrities. From actresses such as Cameron Diaz and Jennifer Aniston, to rappers like Drake and Iggy Azalea, the wellness trend is flourishing and here to stay. So, keep on scrolling to discover the 8 most influential celebrities who are steering the wellness revolution.

Drake

Not only is Drake committed to the gym and big on mental health but the ‘Hotline Bling’ singer has also just invested in MatchaBar. Matcha is green tea that has been finely grounded and powdered. This magical powder gives a natural energy boost which is comparable to that of caffeine. Drake’s MatchaBar takes this nutritional powder and turns it into an energy drink to give you an all-natural energy boost that might just convince you swap to out the morning coffee. Further to his superfood endeavours, Drake also revealed back in March that he’s ditched meat and even suggested he’s vegan, captioning an Instagram post with; ‘if two vegans are angry at each other…is it beef?’. We’re proud of Drake for joining in the wellness revolution and using his platform to truly “Take Care” of himself and others.

Jennifer Aniston

People often view celebrity diets as overly restrictive and far too extreme for anyone in the real world to even consider taking on board. But this is not the case with Jennifer Aniston who ever since her role as Rachel Green on Friends has been hailed for her amazing figure. So, what’s her secret? Well, Aniston’s diet is surprising accessible and involves the kind of habits that anyone could adopt. Following a wholesome diet, she keeps her sugar low and cuts out processed food to keep her insides sparkling. More importantly, she is a long-term yogi devotee and claims her yoga sessions with celebrity trainer and friend Mandy Ingber are the reason for her healthy mind, body and soul!

Zayn Malik

The ex-one direction singer has openly expressed the importance of men to open up about their mental health. He is a long-term sufferer of anxiety which got the better of him in 2016 when he had to pull out of Capital’s Summertime Ball due to nerves. His brave move has provided a beacon of light for many anxiety sufferers who can identify with Zayn and his struggles. The recent #ITSOKAYTOTALK campaign has prompted awareness of the sad reality that we have a male mental health crisis on our hands with the single biggest killer of men under 45 being suicide. Many celebrities including Ricky Gervais, Matthew Lewis and Harley Bonner are taking part in the campaign to give men the confidence to talk about their mental wellness.

Kate Hudson

Kate Hudson is incredibly passionate when it comes to inspiring others to lead happy and healthy lifestyles. In 2013 she started her own line of athletic wear called Fabletics and it has well and truly taken off! With her stunning workout sets and amazing Instagrams of her cardio and Pilates routines, it’s no surprise that Kate has inspired both men and women to take their fitness more seriously. She’s also been known to emphasise the importance of a skin workout too, stating that she loves a facial massage and toner to keep her skin looking fresh and rejuvenated.

Russell Brand

With Russell Brands’ loud personality and flamboyant wardrobe, it’s hard to imagine him in a moment of serious quietness. After years of struggling with drug addictions he realised in a rehab facility that in order to recover, he needed to dig deeper within and confront the side of himself that he’d been trying so hard to cover up. With the help of meditation and finding a deeper connection with his spirituality, he was able to make peace with his past. The stand-up comedian, actor and now author of ‘Recovery: Freedom from Our Addictions’, is keen to help others through their addiction struggles by sharing his story and promoting the David Lynch Foundation which provides transcendental meditation classes to people in at-risk communities.

Cameron Diaz

Cameron Diaz is a strong advocate for the natural process of aging, stating that beauty is not just about your face, or your lack of grey hairs, but rather, it is about how you take care of your whole body. Her thoughts are particularly clearly expressed in her two books, ‘The Body Book’ and ‘The Longevity Book’ which when combined, offer a wellness bible for not only how to look well but also how to feel well. Diaz aims to encourage us to see our bodies and beauty in a more holistic light stating that sleep for example, should be seen less as a by-product of being awake, and more as a necessary body-healing process. Her wholesome and all-loving approach to aging is truly refreshing, especially in today’s society where women are constantly pressured to keep themselves looking young. So, keep doing what you’re doing, Cameron!

Maria Sharapova

International tennis champion, Maria Sharapova’s job has had her spending hours in the sunshine since she moved to Florida at the age of 7 to pursue her tennis career. During this time, her mother would always stress the importance of wearing sun cream, encouraging her to apply it daily to keep her protected from the sun. Naturally, Sharapova has grown up with a great awareness about the effects of the sun on our skin, and rightly so. Skin cancer is one of the most preventable cancers out there and in 2016, Cancer Research revealed that there are around 2400 melanoma skin cancer deaths in the UK every year. This equates to more than 6 every day! It is statistics like this which inspired Sharapova to become the co-owner of the sun-cream brand Supergoop to encourage others to take her mother’s advice and let everyone know that no matter how old or young you are, the time to start wearing sun cream is now!

Beyoncé

Back in January it was confirmed that Beyoncé would be headlining the much-anticipated Coachella festival this year. In preparation for the big event the ‘Single Ladies’ star went vegan, announcing the news on Instagram. The diet she followed was formulated by the 22 Days Nutrition meal planner, a programme which she co-founded with her husband, Jay Z and celebrity trainer Marco Borges. She revealed that the aim of the programme is to challenge both themselves and the general public to move towards a more plant-based lifestyle to benefit not only our own health, but also the health of the planet. With environmental awareness growing and the love for animals spreading, veganism has been hailed the single biggest way to reduce our environmental impact on the planet. Beyoncé’s new-found love for compassionate eating therefore could not have come at a better time and we wish her every success in her healthy endeavours.

Talk to one of our Travel Specialists on or contact us here to discuss tailor-making your perfect healthy holiday.

Your body is innately clever at keeping you functioning at your very best. If weight-loss and a functioning metabolism is a key goal in your health plan, we know just the tricks you need to get your body to work harder for you.

Escape the stresses of modern life and take the time to rejuvenate your mind, body and soul on one of our luxury sanctuary spa holidays in idyllic destinations worldwide. Treat yourself to a replenishing spa break while improving all aspects of your health and wellness with a vast range of luxury spa treatments and therapies, from an Ayurvedic massage to colonic hydrotherapy. With our wide variety of specialist spa holidays, from juice fasting to fitness, and weight-loss to sleep enhancement, compliment your indulgent wellness holiday with daily fitness classes, activities and healthy cuisine for your ideal sanctuary spa escape.

The 10^th to the 16^th of June marks . So whether you’re travelling alone, looking for some peace and quiet, or if you’ve got a fitness boot-camp in mind, we have you covered.

In a world of daily stress, anxieties and expectation, the human mind can often come under a lot of pressure which directly affects our mood, making us less positive and self assured. Meditation has a profound, rich and calming effect on the human body and is said to clear our minds and advocate feelings of peace and a sense of awareness. It is a chance to tap into an abundance of creative energy that is said to give a more meaningful experience of life that will enrich us permanently.

Having a good night's sleep is extremely important for us to feel refreshed and ready for the next day. Today, trouble sleeping is very common and can have bad effects on our health like weight gain and stress, but prolonged lack of sleep can also lead to more severe illnesses such as cancer, heart disease, diabetes and obesity.  A study by the Mental Health Foundation in 2011 revealed these statistics:

Losing weight can be difficult and many of us have felt like giving up on dieting and even considered surgery to get rid of that extra weight. We offer some tips on how to lose weight easier just by eating the right foods. There is no need to use weight-loss pills and slimming products, a healthy balanced diet will complement exercise and therefore help you lose those unwanted extra pounds. Don't reach for that chocolate bar; instead indulge in our top 8 foods to aid weight loss:

There's nothing worse than stress getting the better of you. The endless list of things to do always seems to leave your own needs last and evokes a war zone between your mind and body. The numerous work deadlines, career dilemmas, and personal commitments generate a tolerance for migraines, bitten fingernails and bad eating habits; finding yourself indulging in too many naughty snacks or sometimes not eating at all. But don't allow stress to become a regular occurrence in your daily life, or worse the cause of bad health and unhappiness.

Take your practice one step further with our top yoga holidays to add to your travel bucket list. These yogi escapes offer the perfect opportunity to lay the groundwork for a healthier and happier lifestyle. In combination with each of these stunning retreats is a range of luxury spa treatments to relax your muscles after a busy day of lotus positions and Kapotasana. Whether it be a body scrub in St Lucia or a Thai massage in Oman, we’ve got the run-down of the 8 best yoga retreats to check-off your list.

The latest developments at Chiva Som International Health Resort in Hua Hin, Thailand, are well underway with a complete overhaul to the Thai Pavilions, Emerald Room, Orchid Lounge, Library, Fitness Centre and Niranlada Medi-Spa.

Two words that are evolving rapidly in the English language are ‘detox’ and ‘cleanse’. Twenty years ago, a detox would have been used to describe the process of ridding the body of addictive substances (i.e. alcohol, heroin, prescription medications). While it still encompasses that today, it also has another meaning that is gaining ground. A detox is now seen to rid the body of multiple toxins, such as those brought in by pollutants and bad lifestyle habits. To achieve this, there is the positively promoted colon hydrotherapy or concoctions to ingest to help flush the digestive system. As detox establishments sprout up all over the globe, the number of people who are sceptical of such facilities are increasing.