A Health Retreat Like No Other
WORDS: CHYKA KEEBAUGH
IMAGES : gwinganna.com
I was incredibly lucky to last week enjoy some beautiful time at Gwinganna.
This health retreat is in the hinterlands of the Gold Coast and is an extraordinary place to go and rest, restore and rejuvenate. I've been fortunate enough to come to Gwinganna before and know how incredible you feel after just five days of eating well, sleeping well, exercising and discovering new treatments for your mind, body and soul.
The great thing about going to a retreat like this is how quickly you can go from feeling tired and exhausted to refreshed and energised. The whole ethos of Gwinganna is to look after you and only you! A health retreat isn't for everyone, but everyone should do one! We all think we want to eat and drink and let ourselves go, but for me, right now, after the year that was and a foot operation, this was precisely what I needed. I could sit and write forever the things I learnt last week, but there were three take-home lessons that, to me, were really important.
3 Take-home lessons I learnt
Yes, we all want to lose weight and feel our best, but sometimes some things get in our way and stop that from happening. I hadn’t realised that feeling stressed and not getting enough sleep was an absolute barrier in helping you lose weight. Learning to reduce your stress and doing just a few small things to calm you down before you go to sleep does help you go to that happy place.
‘Movement’ was another word that was constantly used last week, and I don’t mean just exercise. As human beings, our body is meant to move in all different ways, not just the routine of how we do everything daily like walking, the exercise we do at the gym, sitting in chairs for too long etc. It’s about dancing like no one is watching. Squatting and using your hips in different ways, moving your neck, arms and even feet. I know that even though I exercise, my body has become so rigid with what we do that my body just isn’t working the way it’s meant to, and as a result, we break down. Time to shake it up! Literally.
Learn to take time out just for you. Reading a book, having a beautiful facial, walking in nature and personally, for me, drinking a lot more water. We know we should be doing it; we read about it, we post quotes about it - but do we do it? Do we factor it into our busy lifestyles? It's time to start prioritising our' me time'.
It’s incredible how all of this can make you feel so good. Of course, the food was also fantastic, and with no alcohol or coffee and an abundance of seasonal vegetables, eating less meat but more fish, you feel better in your mind and body. This is not new information; it’s no special diet - it is something we all know, but as we get older, our lives change, our focus changes, and somewhere along the line, priorities get skewed, so having classes to re-learn and inspire change was just what I needed.
Unfortunately, we can’t all live at Gwinganna forever so I am grateful to come home with a few new rituals up my sleeve, all with the intention of making my day a little better.
For me, I am now going to wake up half an hour earlier every day, make a peppermint tea and sit outside and watch the day begin. This is such a beautiful way to start your day, be in touch with nature, and give your mind the space it needs to think of the day ahead. I’m definitely not giving up coffee, but I have it before lunchtime and only one a day!
Walking as much as possible, incidental exercise also helps those endorphins run through your body and make you feel good. Even better if you can get outside and be surrounded by trees and flowers, and nature.
I usually try and exercise every day, but I’m now going to change it up and start my morning with a quick dance! Turn that music up and dance with the kids before school drop off or work; this makes you smile, and it’s a great way to set you up for the day ahead.
Lastly, try and turn off those devices at the end of every day. Constant scrolling is detrimental for your brain, and if sleep is a problem for you, it can be because of your screen. Are you used to relaxing in bed on your phone before you sleep? Time to kick the habit! The idea of pouring a beautiful bath, turning off overhead lights, lighting a few candles and listening to beautiful music or even reading a book can be all the help you need.
Like everything, it’s one small step at a time. Introducing change all at once can lead to failure so let’s take it small and slow. Not punish ourselves if we fall off the wagon now and then and know that the bigger picture- health and happiness is a state we need to work on. Daily.
For more information on Gwinganna Lifestyle retreat head to their website.