While a wellness retreat isn’t necessarily centred around improving your sex life, this is one of the many surprising side effects that personal wellness retreats can bring about. Wellness retreats are all about connecting with nature, grounding yourself, understanding your body and figuring out who you are and what you want from life. These aspects then all work together to allow you to take steps towards creating a life you love, ensuring positivity, connection and conscious action become part of your every day.
So, how can a wellness retreat work to improve your sex life? Read on to find out…
Wellness retreats combine yoga, meditation, nutrition, self-care routines and holistic therapies that allow you to re-centre and focus on the things that matter. This stilling of the mind then gives you the time and space you need to be able to release stress and tension and welcome in self-love and sexual desire.
Depression and a Lack of Desire
It is known that when you are living in a state of fight or flight (a mode that is switched on when stressed or living with depression), that your body chooses to prioritise things like blood flow and heart rate rather than things that it considers secondary, like libido. However, this loss of libido then adds to the feeling of anxiety which may keep you locked in the cycle of depression.
A study published in the British Medical Bulletin looked at the connection between depression and sexual dysfunction. It found that ‘In 132 patients with depressive disorders, loss of sexual interest, characterised by loss of libido or decrease of sexual desire or potency, was reported by 72% of patients with unipolar depression, and 77% of patients with bipolar depression.’
This clearly shows that your mental wellbeing can have a serious effect on your sexual activity. Spending time at a wellness retreat (with or without your partner) can give you the space and support you need to unravel your life experiences that have played a part in your depression and work towards making changes that will bring about positivity, self-confidence and, in turn, an improved sex life.
Meditation and Sexual Desire
Another feature of wellness retreats that can help to improve your sex life is meditation. A study published by the Journal of Sex & Marital Therapy explored the relationship between meditation and women’s sexual function and found that women who meditated regularly had higher scores for sexual function and desire. Not only is this because women who meditate more have more ‘mindful personalities’ and are likely to be more loving and caring towards their partners, but also because their moods were enhanced and their ‘arousal, lubrication, orgasm and desire’ increased after meditation.
Me Time Retreats work to create long-term positive self-care and wellbeing routines, so not only will you feel the benefits of meditation while on your retreat, but you will learn practices that you can bring into to your everyday life, ensuring that you continue to reap the benefits for months and years to come!
Exercise and Body Confidence
With our busy 21st Century lives it’s easy to put exercise to the back of our minds, thinking that because we are on the go all the time, we are doing enough exercise already. However, a study by WHO, the World Health Organisation, found that 1.4 billion adults globally are not getting enough exercise. A lack of exercise then often leads to weight gain which can increase feelings of stress, anxiety and depression.
Body image and low self-esteem are issues that many women deal with on a day-to-day basis and as such these are topics that are often covered in personal wellness retreats. Gentle exercise, connecting with your body and appreciating the amazing things that it can do are great ways to boost your self-esteem. Once you learn to love your body you are more likely to allow others to do the same. Consequently, your sexual desire and ability to enjoy sexual pleasure will increase.
Authentic Connection
Wellness retreats don’t have to be a solo endeavour though. In fact, you might just find that going on a couple’s wellness retreat is the best thing you’ve ever done for your relationship.
Retreats that focus on connection, open dialogue and vulnerability as well as those centred on tantra, allow you to cultivate deep, authentic relationships which leads to improved intimacy. Whether you enjoy couple’s massages together, work as a team to cook up a storm during a culinary class or simply give yourselves time to presently enjoy each other’s company, a couple’s wellness retreat can be an excellent way to add spark to your relationship.
Certain tantric retreats also aim to help you embody your Shiva (masculine) or Shakti (feminine) energy and learn how to connect these to improve your sex life.
So, there you have it, the top ways in which a wellness retreat can improve your sex life. It is proven that there is a Stress-Sex Connection and therefore, taking a wellness retreat which will, in turn, improve your sex life is a win-win situation. The more you focus on meditation and self-care, the more you desire to have sex, and the more you have sex, the more endorphins are released which lead to being a happier and more balanced person!
Let us know how any retreats you’ve been on have helped to improve your self-esteem, body confidence and even your sex life in the comments below.
