It’s time to get to know the quadruplets of happiness: Dopamine, Serotonin, Oxytocin and Endorphin. Gain control of these fun foursome and you’ll gain control of your own happiness. Here, Health and Fitness Travel take a look at how each hormone works and recommend a wellness holiday to catalyse them into action and boost your happy hormones.

When we’re armed with the simple knowledge of how our neurotransmitters and hormones function, we can develop some simple lifestyle hacks that will get the happiness flowing naturally – no need for medication. In fact, all we sometimes need is the movement of our body, a bit of sunshine and some sensible goal setting. Luckily, we’ve got just the selection of inspiring and uplifting wellness holidays to lift you out of those depressive dumps and into the happy hormone heavens.

Dopamine:

Dopamine is effectively the body’s compass of ambition – it rewards us when we’ve reached our targets and goals, but stays locked away if we’re way off the mark. The best thing is, dopamine actually seeks out these goals and pushes us towards them. Thus, the answer to a dopamine high is simple: set realistic goals.

Boost Dopamine on a Weight Loss Holiday: Greece – Divani Apollon Weight Loss

The greatest athletes on earth have Athens to thank for their Olympian prowess – and that’s exactly where we’re sending you to transform your body. Perched on the banks of the Athenian Riviera, just 25 mins out of the city centre, Divani Apollon Palace and Thalasso offers guests a focused and realistically personalised fitness plan. Combining private weight loss consultations with daily personal training from a fitness expert, experience a weight loss holiday which is tailored to correctly push your limits without exhausting your hopes.

Serotonin:

Serotonin regulates our mood – too little of it and we can feel depressed, too much of it and we can feel anxious. But, it’s a two-way conversation: serotonin affects our mood, and our mood affects our serotonin level. The simplest key to boost your happy hormones and control a healthy level of serotonin is through exercise and getting out in the sunlight.

Boost Serotonin with Daily Personal Training: St Lucia – The BodyHoliday Fusion Fitness

The place to go to get some sunshine on your skin, escape to St Lucia to boost your happy hormones on a wellness holiday in paradise. To boost your happy hormones, combine a mix of cardio, strength, sport, mind, body and renewal wellness activities on a tailor-made holiday that is personalised to help you reach your fitness goals. With a variety of activities both on land and water, guests will find themselves doing anything from hiking and kayaking, to yoga and Tai Chi, before rejuvenating with spa treatments to boost those happy hormones.

Oxytocin:

Oxytocin is all about love – it increases when we do loving things like cuddling, or simply spending time with dear friends. Social interaction is the key player to boost your happy hormones and the more we give the more we get. Our social web becomes a tangible measurement of value and we see the importance of loving each other through the reward of happiness.

Boost Oxytocin on a Group Retreat: Ibiza – The Body Camp

Bask in the oxytocin gained through the group harmonics of a bootcamp holiday with fellow travellers in sunny Ibiza. Join in with a variety of fitness classes including circuit training, running, dancing, and even cookery, to help boost your happy hormones naturally. All this group interaction will then translate to inner-happiness during silent walks, yoga classes and lifestyle coaching sessions. There’s also an included massage treatment and a great nutrition plan, full of superfood shots and organic produce. Experience a life-changing wellness holiday that will transform the energy of a group retreat into happy hormones, boosting your positive lifestyle change.

Endorphins:

Endorphins come into action when we get moving – acting as a natural remedy to the pains of exercise, endorphins act as a rewards mechanism, helping us to enjoy getting fit. What’s fascinating is that we don’t have to engage in overtly strenuous activity to get these benefits – gentle yoga and even laughing can produce an endorphin release!

Boost Endorphins with Laughter Yoga: India – SwaSwara Rejuvenation and Yoga

Retreat to India and reach the roots of your endorphins on a holistic yoga holiday which will boost your happy hormones as you rejuvenate your body, mind and soul. This extensive yoga holiday includes classes in laughter yoga, hatha yoga, yoga Nidra, Pranayama and even mandala meditation. Guests will also receive private yoga sessions and a consultation with an Ayurvedic doctor to really get those happy hormones going.  Weaving numerous Ayurvedic components into your stay, boost your happy hormones with everything from holistic massages to Ayurvedic cooking classes.

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

Health and Fitness Travel, the leading specialists in healthy holidays worldwide, co-founder Paul Joseph looks at how holidays can have an impact on our health beyond a tan that fades and how our well-being is generated by a holiday to increase our longevity.

Finally, the perfect excuse we all need to escape on holiday more often – scientific research now says that holidays are good for our health! As co-founder of Health and Fitness Travel, I find that sometimes a break away from my everyday routine can be exactly what the doctor ordered. Whether boosting our happiness, looking after our ticker or inspiring us to make healthy lifestyle changes, the right choice of holiday can help us to live longer.

With holidays becoming an increasingly important factor in leading a healthy lifestyle, more of us are choosing wellness escapes for a healthy glow that long outlasts our quickly fading tan. So when the relentless rat-race is getting you down and a fly-and-flop holiday just doesn’t cut it, a healthy holiday presents the perfect solution.  Increasingly fewer people want to spend their entire holiday lazing by a pool, competing for sunbeds with first-light towel runs. For me, sunrise yoga classes, rejuvenating spa treatments and well-being activities are much more appealing (and my body loves me better for it).

So get your holiday request forms at the ready as I let you in on the some of the secrets to how holidays can help us live longer.

Because I’m Happy

I am a great believer in the power of the holiday feel good factor to improve our future health and now tried and tested research is supporting the theory that happy people do live longer.

Our emotional well-being can influence a number of aspects in our daily lives, including our ability to recover from stress, quality of sleep and even weight-loss. According to Australian research, holidays could even soon be prescribed as an aid in beating depression. However, a fly-and-flop holiday lounging on the beach where our minds are free to return to the worries of home may not be the best solution to banishing emotional strains.

Holidays can be a great opportunity to boost happiness hormone serotonin through meaningful experiences, whether embarking on a spiritual journey on a meditation retreat or gaining a new skill during a learning holiday.

Healthy Heart, Healthy You

Having the free-time to concentrate on my fitness and give my number-one organ a work out is a great reward of going on a healthy holiday. I love to get my heart-pumping, whether I’m exploring my new surroundings on a hike or by bike, taking a TRX class in the fitness centre or a kickboxing lesson on the beach.

As well as improving my physical health (both inside and out), a breakaway also allows me to look after my heart through a much needed dose of relaxation. Escaping the stresses and strains of modern lifestyles can help to lower blood pressure and reduce the production of fat-storage hormone cortisol, decreasing the risk of diabetes, strokes and heart disease.

Our hearts take a few knocks throughout our lives and if a healthy holiday gives me the opportunity to live heart healthy and gain a longer life, I’m all for it.

A Chance to Change

When stuck in a rut of unhealthy habits a holiday away can give us the perspective we need to make changes to our hectic lifestyles back home. In a report by WTW, 40% of those surveyed were found to have made a life-changing decision whilst on holiday.

A detox break or activity holiday can be a great weight-loss kick-start, whilst other wellness holidays can offer a gentler initiation in to living a healthier lifestyle and making changes to improve our lives long-term. Take the time to invest in yourself, whether having your diet reviewed during a nutritionist consultation or learning a new repertoire of guilt-free recipes you can recreate at home during a healthy cooking lesson.

To live longer, we need to start living better. So, if the mutterings of “I need a break” are doing the office rounds, plan a healthy holiday knowing that the reward is not only an escape but the chance to live life longer.

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

When travelling for business, the disruption of your daily routine can leave many neglecting their usual health and fitness practices. With studies revealing the benefits of exercise for increased concentration and productivity, together with reduced stress levels and insomnia, maintaining your fitness can offer great perks when on a business trip or corporate wellness retreat.

Helping you to perform at your peak, Paul Joseph, co-founder of Health and Fitness Travel, the leading specialists in wellness holidays worldwide, shares his 8 tips on how to stay fit in both body and mind whilst travelling for business.

Don’t forget your workout wear

It may seem obvious, but this is rule number one, so that you don’t use the fact that you don’t have your trainers or swimsuit as an excuse not to exercise.

Exercise your body to boost your brain

With many resorts now complete with high-tech gym facilities, take some time to focus on your fitness. Exercise will help to increase your energy levels and reduce stress, meaning that you’ll be able to concentrate more and perform better in meetings.

Swim for success

Swimming is full of health benefits and is a holiday staple when in a hot country, so make the most of this activity and fit in a few swift lengths in the pool or ocean before breakfast. Get your heart pumping and benefit from the relaxing effects of being in the water.

Active exploration

When free from business meetings, the easiest way to explore the surroundings and maintain your fitness, is to go for a jog or a walk around the area. Ask the concierge for the most picturesque route and discover the beautiful scenery whilst upping your heart rate.

Keep things interesting

Try something new to keep your body and your mind alert, with many retreats now offering a wide range of fitness classes. Experience everything from spinning and kickboxing to yoga and Tai Chi, for a physical and mental health boost. 

Fuel your body and mind with nutritious food

Where better to embrace healthy eating than at a wellness retreat, where trained chefs can whip up both delicious and nutritious culinary delights. By fuelling your body and mind with the right nutrition, you’ll be able to perform to your best in important meetings.

Get some fresh air

If you have a free evening or afternoon, why not try out an outdoor activity to improve your fitness and unwind from stress. Play a game of tennis with work colleagues or go for a bike ride, which will also benefit your mind with fresh air and give you time to think.

Make day-to-day changes

These range from using the stairs rather than the elevator, to swapping a business meeting at the bar for a business meeting over a game of golf or tennis.

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

With stresses and strains often being caused by high flying and intense business environments, it’s important to take some time out so you can recuperate back to full capacity. Mixing business with leisure, Health and Fitness Travel, the leading experts in healthy holidays worldwide, share the best wellness retreats for bleisure trips.

Having fantastic facilities for work retreats, optimise the opportunity abroad to steam ahead in the business world and enhance your fitness and well-being at the same time. Taking a bleisure trip doesn’t always mean flying solo. Make your business assignment a memorable trip for two or for the entire family as you enjoy some time with your loved ones and make the most of your luxurious environment.

Miami: Metropolitan by COMO, Miami Beach

Located on the South Miami Beach, Metropolitan by COMO will not only give you the sensation of being in paradise, it also will satisfy your requirements for a business and leisure wellness holiday. With secluded dining areas that can host up to 24 guests inside or up to 70 outside, this wellness resort can hold large business groups and with the ability to specially plan group bonding activities or even your own food menu. Away from work, enjoy some chill time by utilising the hydrotherapy pool, letting off some steam in the gym or soothing your senses with yoga.

Croatia: Radisson Blu Resort & Spa Dubrovnik

With 8 different sized rooms that can accommodate up to 1000 people, Radisson Blu Resort is certainly more than capable of hosting large business groups on a bleisure trip. Decked out with high quality amenities like audio-visual equipment, enhance your business presentations and meetings in order to advance with company development whilst surrounded in scenic views of the Adriatic Sea and Mediterranean gardens. Enjoy paradise in a resort that emanates indulgence from the core all the way out as you optimise this great opportunity to bond with other colleagues in a variety of group activities or in the luxury spa. 

Dubai: The Ritz-Carlton Dubai

Famous for its incredible healthy holiday experiences and impressive facilities ranging from 5 swimming pools to squash courts, and 5 unique dining experiences, escape to the Ritz-Carlton in Dubai to provide you with complete business and leisure necessities. With flexible meeting venues, varied catering, state of the art tech features and efficient in-house planners, tailor make your wellness work retreat to ensure meetings run smoothly during the day, before bonding with your co-workers over a game of tennis, fitness activities or relaxing in the luxury holistic spa. 

Turkey: Kempinski Barbaros Bay

Surrounded by unspoilt natural beauty, the stunning Kempinski resort overlooks the Aegean Sea from the hillside above. This wellness holiday boasts activities like scuba diving, cultural tours or a sailing regatta for in-between business meetings. Choose from a variety of business style rooms, from theatres to banquet rooms and make the most of a different environment to work in. Enjoy cultural tours, olive picking, trekking, or turn it into a golf holiday with fellow businessmen. Reap the rewards of a corporate wellness retreat by getting to know your work colleagues in a different environment and even stay a few days extra to holiday with your partner.

Italy: Lefay Resort & SPA Lago di Garda

Located on the magical Lake Garda, Lefay’s wellness retreat offers mesmerising woodland views and adopts an eco-friendly approach to their luxury resort. Featuring different sized conference rooms including the Goethe room which can accommodate up to 80 people, and activities designed for team building activities, set off on a corporate retreat and encourage your colleagues to work together to create a loyal and positive team, developing camaraderie and synergy in business. Relieve any stress with an evening spa session or enjoy an aromatic body wrap at the wellness spa. 

Portugal: Epic Sana

Embark on a corporate wellness retreat for business and leisure to Epic Sana, located in the stunning southern Algarve coast and help boost strong work ethic amongst your colleagues. With a theatre accommodating 1,028 people, and a U shape room accommodating 102 people, the flexibility at Epic Sana allows you to host different types and sizes of events. Enhance your wellness whilst you’re there with optimum use of the Sayanna Wellness Centre and enjoy fitness coaching and a tailored diet plan to ensure you stay healthy back at work.

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

About Paul Joseph:

Wellness Travel Specialist and Entrepreneur, Paul Joseph, is the co-founder of Health and Fitness Travel, a global leader in wellness holidays worldwide. Always ahead of the curve in pioneering new health programmes that revive the soul, boost fitness or address serious health issues, the worldwide wellness tourism industry has now become a multi-billion sector, growing faster than travel in general. Paul has a wealth of PR, Marketing, Sales and Management experience in the health and tourism industry, consulting leading hotels on their wellness strategy and contributing regularly to broadcast and media interviews.