Healing holidays – prioritise your wellness

From complementary therapies to meditation retreats, people are travelling the globe for alternative ways to rest and reset.

Holidays are evolving. When life is busy with long working hours, business travel, family and social commitments or work functions, and high amounts of stress, the thought of going on holiday to simplify life and focus just on wellness suddenly becomes incredibly enticing.

It is part of a global trend for people to prioritise health and wellbeing during their work, rest, and play. Increasingly we are spending more money on wellness travel, with the sector expected to reach $1.1 trillion in 2025, according to a report by Global Wellness Industry¹.

The reason is clear – we need help prioritising our wellness. “It is very easy for our own wellbeing to slip down our list of priorities in daily life and to fall out of routine,” says Dr Robin Clark, Medical Director for Bupa Global & UK. “A holiday is a great time to reset and practice wellness – particularly if you are taking a holiday in an environment where practicing these ‘good behaviours’ is easier, such as where a hotel only serves nutritious food, or where you are in an environment where the people around you are also practicing the same good behaviours and hence there is mutual positive reinforcement.”

Stress is a big reason that many people are seeking out healing holidays, with retreats that are based on lifestyle and complementary medicine becoming more popular.

These retreats provide an opportunity to examine habits that may not be serving us well and to discover better health and wellbeing choices. For many, it’s the normal habits that we build living a fast-paced, modern lifestyle. For others, a change of scene can help improve their mental health.

“Doing morning exercise or taking time for mindfulness is easier when it doesn’t have to compete for your body and brain space with thoughts of other tasks you have to complete or the upcoming commute.” Dr Clark says.

The transformations do not end when we travel home. Holidays are a good time to set good intentions. Seeing changes in body and mind after just a week or two of ditching [bad] habits on holiday can be empowering.

“Annual leave is a time to get yourself recharged and refreshed so that you build up your physical and mental resilience,” says Dr Clark. “A holiday is about giving yourself enough time to make changes to your routine, but also having enough time to feel the positive benefits of those changes, that will make you more likely to continue these behaviours when you get home. It’s all about being able to set yourself up for success.”

Accessing wellness benefits

Busy individuals are now turning to personalised services such as Private Client by Bupa to seek support on their wellness needs. With the Ultimate Global Health Plan, members can utilise wellness benefits, such as acupuncture and reflexology, vitamin therapy and sports massage, while they’re on holiday.

The Ultimate Global Health Plan also comes with a uniquely valuable benefit – a Lifecare Concierge Manager – a dedicated person at the end of a phone or email who makes it their mission to help you look after your health and wellbeing; from managing wellness treatments and booking routine healthcare appointments, to arranging emergency medical care.

Private Client by Bupa offers premium private health insurance that goes beyond health cover. The Ultimate Global Health Plan provides a complete concierge service and award-winning medical cover at home or abroad provided by Bupa Global, with rich, proactive, preventive wellbeing benefits that are designed to be used.

For more information on Private Client by Bupa, visit bupaprivateclient.com or call 0371 346 0407.

Sources:

1. Global Wellness Institute – accessed October 2022

Private Client by Bupa is a concierge service providing personalised health and wellbeing services for the Ultimate Global Health Plan insured by Bupa Global.

Bupa Global is a trading name of Bupa Insurance Limited and Bupa Insurance Services Limited. Bupa Insurance Limited is authorised by the Prudential Regulation Authority and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority and the Prudential Regulation Authority. Bupa Insurance Services Limited is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority.