Call it a long weekend, a mini-vacation or a short sabbatical. Most people simply say, “I just need a break from it all.” Fitness retreats come in all varieties like Caribbean cruises with a CrossFit theme to weight loss, addiction recovery, survival, and gender specific agendas. Faith & Fitness Magazine can help you develop a Worship Weekend or Fitness Retreat that is the perfect mix of physical engagement and spiritual reflection. Discover how easy it is to get away and refocus on you and God. Fitness retreats should be an important part of everyone’s fitness lifestyle. Don’t back away from planning yours. There are many good reasons why a fitness retreat is a must-do activity.
PAIN – Anxiety, depression, and insomnia contribute to chronic pain, which can cause feelings of anger, hopelessness, and sadness affecting attention and memory. Faith centered fitness retreats provide opportunities expressly designed to help you learn to relax and strengthen your ability to meditate.
YOUR WORKOUT ISN’T WORKING – When you hit a plateau and your not making advances toward your goals it’s likely your muscles have adapt to your routine. Beyond the muscles your brain may be suffering from boredom. Fitness retreats introduce you to new and adventurous physical activities (just what your muscles need) and release the neurotransmitter dopamine (jus what your brain needs) for healthy excitement and joy.
COMPROMISED HEALTH – Are you staying inside too much? Fatigue, changes in appetite, and a weekend immune system are all effects of not getting out enough. A faith centered fitness retreat gets you in natural sunlight boosting serotonin levels and helping your body process vitamin D better. Moreover fresh air has been found to improve your blood pressure and heart rate, it helps your digestion and gives you more energy.
NOT ENOUGH TIME – If you lack the time for a fitness retreat you may find you’re also saying you just can’t seem to find enough time for personal devotions with God, healthier home prepared meals, sleep and family. That adds stress in your life and steals precious moments to shape eternity that you never get again. Fitness retreats are tools to help you disconnect from technology, shift attention, and quite the noise of your life. By doing a manual shutdown you allow God to upgrade your personal operating system thus improving performance and giving you more time.
WHAT IS A FITNESS RETREAT AND WORSHIP WEEKEND?
If you’re visualizing a group of 30 energetic teenagers doing a church lock-in all weekend long singing every Christian praise song known to man then think again. That may be the classic youth group experience but this Worship Weekend is all about being physically active and also getting alone with God.
A PARK NEAR YOU
Since one of the big driving concepts of a fitness retreat is to be in a different place with a change of scenery we recommend you consider public or private parks. You can find something as close and simple as the urban park in your city or something as grand and distant as a national park. We recommend you do both.
Something small and local can help you get from “this is a good idea” to making your fitness retreat a reality. It can be an easy and more affordable baby step to help cast vision for something more. Limits with budget and time as well as concerns about distance are often some of the factors that people give for not going to the more significant and typically more remote national park destinations. So a retreat that is closer, shorter and more affordable can help establish a positive and successful beginning that acquaints people with what a retreat can be. This in turn helps them become more familiar and comfortable with retreats, which can help set the stage for retreats that offer and deliver more.
Initiative and vision are in fact two of the biggest drivers to strengthen as you work to achieve good participation in any fitness retreat. Doing this goes way beyond creating a successful fitness retreat. The fruit of having vision and taking initiative is exactly what is need to improve and stay committed to better physical fitness, diet, self-improvement, spiritual growth and compassion for others. So instead of categorizing the fitness retreat as a rare event opportunity it is better to adopt an attitude that fitness retreats are mileposts regularly taken throughout the annual cycle of a fitness ministry to evaluate, celebrate and reboot.
What does a Worship Weekend Fitness Retreat look like at a national park? One model that Faith & Fitness Magazine has crafted is a very simple design. The destination for this example is Shenandoah National Park in Virginia. Participants travel about two hours to get to the park entrance. Too long? Not all all. Use that as the transition time – the last chance to send emails, post to social media and “shut off” the busyness of life.
As the transition progresses conversations begin. This shifts attention away from what we do to being distracted by what we rarely encounter. In fact, ideally with time, retreat participants discover a profound truth: our agenda-driven lifestyle IS the distraction – the impediment from the more empowering influence and affect that invited encounters with God can deliver.
The Worship Weekend is often designed to give participants a generous amount of solitary time. Registration is always limited to assure a small group experience for gathered times of conversation and eating.
WHAT WILL WE DO?
Fitness retreats mix together a variety of experiences that the organizer customizes specifically for the group attending. The attention to the details doesn’t just make for a special and memorable experience, it is key to a powerful spiritual journey. Take a look at some of the features that can be built into a fitness retreat:
SPA SERVICES – Few things minister to the depths of a person’s spirit like the one-of-a-kind physical care and attention of spa treatments. They are both invigoration and relaxing. Done by a licensed professional who can also naturally add silent prayer and Christian compassion can be spiritually transformational. It’s not uncommon for people receiving spa treatments to enter into a state of release and rest that in some instances can unlock emotions, tears and opportunities for rich prayer.
SHARED LEARNING AND CONVERSATIONS – These gatherings feature special speakers and guests that create the powerful times of dialogue and insight that retreat goers will cherish. One session may be a feature presentation by an anticipated author or expert while another is simply a remarkably intimate time for those in the group to share their life stories. Inclusion of learning resources that participants keep along with the Bible makes for a good mix of reading material.
MUSIC, MEDITATION AND CELEBRATION – Acoustical worship is powerful. We think it’s best done both in a group setting led by a single musician or small band and in the participants’ solitary time by making use of a customized playlist. Participants should always be directed to also intentionally listen for and focus on the pure sounds of remote natural settings. From these experiences the fitness retreat can provide unique meditative encounters that combine physical and spiritual worship to God. Ultimately these retreat features enable participants to discover and practice new and vibrant ways to celebrate their faith.
PHYSICAL ACTIVITIES – We again recommend that a retreat offer the balance of both group and individual physical exercise and recreation. These experiences are unique to each destination but can include hiking, kayaking, bicycling, group exercise, meditation activities, stretching, gym time, runs, adventure activities and much more. A great retreat typically offers both familiar experiences and never before done novel encounters. Obviously the physical needs and limitations of participants is considered when planning these activities.
EXCLUSIVE AND HEARTY NUTRITION – Great fitness retreats are punctuated by meals that engage the senses, satisfy the extra calories being burned, demonstrate gourmet plating, and underscore that food is truly a celebration and communion with each other and God. Sure all of the many usual details factor into the consideration of retreat meals like vegetarian, low-fat, paleo diet, organic, high-fiber, locally sourced and more. But – the experience is what sets retreats apart from ordinary meals including the option for participants to join together in meal preparation.
PRAYER – Paramount to faith centered fitness retreats is the journey of prayer in all it’s phases and expressions. Ultimately, we know that the most incredible encounters that begin at retreats are the ones each individual has directly with God. So, like every other aspect of these worshipful retreats the prayer component is thoughtfully crafted to assist participants to move beyond routine, cliche and uninspired to real, passionate and deep engagement. for many it is their single most challenging venture leading to their most spectacular and rewarding destinations.
PLAN NOW – GO FOR IT – THEN REPEAT REGULARLY
If you are a church leader, gym owner or manager, a school instructor, a healthcare provider a fitness entrepreneur or a group leader you need to learn more about how a fitness retreat can better help you grow your business and serve your customers better. If you are the customer then get looking now for fitness retreat opportunities AND your fitness leadership reading this article so they too can get started.
Plan well by doing research. Allow at least six months lead time before the retreat. Fitness retreats are more affordable when you make them part of your regular monthly budget. Gyms, churches and businesses offering fitness retreats ideally offer ways for monthly payments to be made.
Don’t plan for forever. Get doing it. If you’ve never done a fitness retreat before you’ll likely have some apprehensions, concerns and anxieties. Pray and ask for God’s help to keep with your commitment to do this. After you do it once you’ll find that the preparation for each subsequent fitness retreat will be more familiar and less challenging.
We think you’re going to love this. There’s no end to the different experiences you can have with each fitness retreat. We recommend that businesses offer two fitness retreats per year. Some people will participate in both while others will go less frequently. Once fitness retreats become part of your company culture you find members will anticipate them. Get ready for an incredible aspect of fitness that delivers a perfect mix of fun, rest, fellowship, food and spiritual encouragement.
LEARN MORE AND CONNECT WITH OUR TEAM OF FITNESS RETREAT SPECIALISTS
The Spa & Fitness Retreat team of Faith & Fitness Magazine provides direct support as you learn about fitness retreats and explore the full scope of fitness retreat options. They offer insight, instruction and support in fitness retreats. We know you have questions that need answers. In all likelihood there are questions you haven’t even considered. We’ll help you dig into all the details.
