How to Take a Vacation Now, Even if You "Can't Get Away"

I hope you enjoyed Tuesday's blog post with the video of Tao Garden.  Now that you understand how vital a vacation is for maintaining and building your personal resilience, I can guess what you're probably thinking...

"Yeah, that's great... and I could probably take some time off work... but there's no way we can afford the Caribbean, much less jetting off to Thailand!" 

And you may be right.  Whether it's lack of time or lack of funds, maybe you can't get away right now, or at least not for long.  If that's the case, don't feel badly.  I couldn't manage a long vacation away right now either for various reasons, but that didn't stop us from taking a "mini-vacation" last week, and it was super!  Here's what we did...


First, I cleared most items off my calendar for two weeks - no speaking, no consulting, just some routine business tasks and time to think about the future.  Then I booked a day at a local spa called "Spa Nordik" (see the photo below), including massages for myself and my wife, as well as use of their amazing wet and dry saunas and hot and cold pools.  

Spa Nordik - two thumbs up!

Basically, this place is a paradise.  It's literally minutes away from the city, yet remote enough that you're not conscious of the city's hustle and bustle.  


Phase two of our plan was to do an overnight getaway at a local hotel, as well as taking in a movie and having dinner at a wonderful Italian restaurant.  So, although this has been mostly a stay-at-home vacation, it really has been a very relaxing holiday.  

Planning Your Own Stay-at-Home Vacation:

To do something similar for yourself, just review the vacation priorities I mentioned in the previous post.  If you look at them carefully, you'll realize you can in fact accomplish most of this without ever leaving home!  In fact, let's assume a "worst case" scenario where you can't get much if any time off work...


Step One: Arrange your affairs so you won't have to make any big decisions or worry about anything for a two-week period.  If there's something really stressing you out that's not going to go away, I would highly recommend using an energy-psychology method such as the Emotional Freedom Technique (EFT) to manage your stress, and perhaps talking it through with a trusted friend or counselor in advance, so your vacation is as worry-free as possible.  


Step Two: Book a massage at a local spa.  You'll probably want a "relaxation massage" or something similar.  Just make sure you don't get some idiot who's digging into your flesh as if you were at a sports medicine clinic.  That happened to me once - my wife, who was getting a massage in the same room at the time, said later, "I was sure you were going to flatten him!"  Well, I avoided bloodshed at the time, but the point is that you want your massage to relieve tension without causing you physical pain.  

Step 3: Plan a healthy menu for your vacation.  Many people think of vacation as a time to go binge drinking and discard all restraint.  Of course, what we have in mind is a vacation that builds your resilience instead of depleting it.


Step 4: This step is optional but very much worth considering - watch the video below, where Feng Shui expert Elizabeth Chamberlain shows you how to transform one room of your house into the perfect stay-at-home vacation spot:

Step 5: Plan your light exercise and fresh air for the week - perhaps long walks, walks to places you don't get to very often or a hike in the nearest wilderness area.  Swimming comes highly recommended as a vacation exercise, especially in summer.  


There's your blueprint.  I hope you've enjoyed learning about "resilience vacations" this week, why your body-mind organism desperately needs one and that you can take one very soon no matter what your financial or work situation.  I look forward to your comments and to hearing about your vacation!

~ Dr. Symeon Rodger

You NEED a Vacation More Than You Think...

You need a vacation.  In fact, there's a high probability you need a vacation now and you need it more than you think.  

Your body knows you need it.  Your subconscious mind knows you need it.  So then why is your rational mind so good at finding excuses not to take any holidays, even if those are paid holidays you have coming to you?


"I'll wait until flights are cheaper in the off-season."  "I just have this one project to get out of the way."  "The kids have too many activities for us to take time off."  "The office will fall apart without me."  And the list goes on...

So why do you desperately need a vacation?  Consider the following:

• You are under a lot more chronic stress than you're consciously aware of (and you probably know from experience the only way to verify this is to take a holiday from your regular responsibilities)
• You're under continual non-psychological stress from your environment and the way you treat your body-mind organism
• These stress factors are harming your nervous system, your energy system, probably your cardiovascular system and more on a daily basis
• Therefore, you need to rest and rebuild your health and immunity on a deep level
• And you need a time where you can relax and make no decisions at all

 
Vacation Myths:

It's often said, "A change is as good as a rest."  Nonsense!  It's not uncommon to find people whose vacation was a whirlwind tour of ten European capitals and who come home all excited... only to realize they're more exhausted than when they left. 


Don't get me wrong - it's great to go see the world... as long as you take a true vacation that's separate from that.  So I'm not saying you should cancel your flight to Frankfurt; just that the vacation you mind-body organism most needs, the one that will build your personal resilience instead of depleting it , is a little different.

The holiday you really need requires lots of fresh air and sunshine, light exercise, a healthy diet, some light detoxification, better quality sleep and probably a bit more of it, and deep relaxation.

An Ideal Vacation?

In the video below you'll see an example of a near perfect, resilience-building vacation.  Please note that the point here is not so much the place itself, nor the Qi Gong master who devised it (Mantak Chia), but the key resilience-building components of the experience.  Can you pick them out?

Design Your Vacation Today:

[NOTE: The following advice is for people in a state of overall good health.  If you have particular health challenges or preexisting conditions, you should consult your health care practitioner before undertaking some elements of the following]

So now that I've persuaded you to take that long overdue vacation (!), here are some of the things you might want to consider:


First, you need time off work.  So tell the office to take a hike for at least a week and preferably no less than two weeks.

Second, make sure that at least part of your vacation involves a change of surroundings for at least a few days if possible.  You're looking for a calm and orderly environment, a place conducive to good sleep, fresh air, light exercise and a healthy diet.


Third, book yourself a few hours at a good spa, including at least one massage treatment of sixty minutes or more, plus use of the sauna and, if possible, swimming pool facilities.  This is the "light detoxification" I referred to above.  A good relaxation massage will help detoxify your body naturally, as will a sauna, especially if the sauna is followed by a dip in a cold-ish pool. 

Fourth, surround yourself with warm, optimistic and loving people.

Next time, I'll let you in on the secrets of how to construct a mini-vacation anytime, even when you can't really get away for long or at all.  That's what I did just last week ;-)


~ Dr. Symeon Rodger