Looking for a place to recharge as part of your vacation plan for 2012? Look no further!  I am pleased to report that Gwinganna Lifestyle Retreat is a wonderful option to add to your hit list with accommodation choices and programs to suit everyone, ranging from two night spa weekends through to seven night detox programs and the new men’s retreats. I met people from all walks of life, small groups and those traveling solo. Located in Queensland’s Tallebudgera Valley on more than 500 acres of Gold Coast hinterland you can find this gem just 30 mins from Gold Coast airport or about 1.5 hours out of Brisbane.

My mornings began with Qi Gong, a restorative moving meditation, while you either watch the sun rise over the rolling green hills or in the pavilion. Now, I am not one for tai chi style exercises, but there is something lovely about starting your day like this. After Qi Gong each day we were offered a choice of three activities; normally a challenging walk, an easier walk or something such as yoga. The choice allows you to take it easy or really challenge yourself.  After this came breakfast time for a full hour, then a stretch class and another movement class before morning tea. These are designed with a yin and yang approach to movement. The yin is the more inwardly focused activities such as yoga and dance. And the yang is more outwardly focused to increase the heart rate. Every afternoon at Gwinganna is devoted to “Dreamtime” which can be simply explained as being an afternoon of relaxation after a morning of activity. After lunch guests are invited to indulge in the spa, or read a book by either of the pools, sit under a tree on the expansive lawns or wander off to their rooms for a snooze. This is your time to relax and reflect and I couldn’t think of a better way to divide and spend my days. My journey went like this:

Day 1
Today I arrived at Gwinganna around 2pm to check in. After an intro about the property I was whisked off to my room on a little golf buggy. Once I was unpacked I went to the Wellness Centre to meet with one of the Dreamtime advisors to plan and confirm my treatments for the duration of my stay. Then it was off to the gym to fill in my health questionnaire and meet with one of the team for a wellness and physical assessment and don’t stress, this didn’t include jumping on the scales or running on a treadmill until I passed out, but some simple core and stretching exercises to understand my overall physical state. It was also a good opportunity to discuss any injuries and have any questions about activities answered.
By the time I had finished the business side of things, it was conveniently Dreamtime. After my flight and the busy couple of weeks leading up to my getaway, I had 80 minute Intuitive Bodywork massage that is a part of the specialty therapies menu waiting for me. On arrival at the spa I popped on my robe before being escorted to my treatment room by Josh. What a way to start my stay! Josh’s hands were amazing and this treatment that is custom-designed to each person was exactly what I needed. Face down on the massage bed Josh began to wash away the tensions of life with long strokes and warm body oil before applying hot stones to my back. Ahhhhh massage with a capital-M! Keeping my groans to myself and as the hot stones rubbed up and down my body, I realized I had slipped into a state of total relaxation. The words “ time to rollover” slipped out of Josh’s mouth much sooner than I would have liked and I could have easily turned the 80 minute session into a double.

On my way out of the spa I grabbed a bite of raw date and almond slice for afternoon tea and floated back to my room, wiping crumbs from my face. Then it was off to the Welcome Orientation held in the Clubhouse. Here we were greeted by Sonja, Spa Manager, who welcomed us all as a group and talked to us about the philosophies, program and answered any questions we had. After we were all acquainted with one another it was off to dinner…

Tonight we started with 3 bites for entrée – mushroom pate, ceviche fish and chilled cucumber soup with prawn salsa. Now if that didn’t get our mouths watering, the main certainly did! The chermoula crusted fish on a warm potato and fennel salad was truly delicious and I don’t think I was expecting food this great. With a sweet and naughty dessert obviously not on the menu, I was quite surprised to find the herbal tea that followed dinner sweet enough to kill that craving. To our surprise it was basically a pot of hot water with apple and cinnamon inside to taste. Something simple that was so yummy and definitely something that could be done on return home.
With no bar or club in sight, it was off to bed. Not that I minded, I felt completely satisfied and sleepy after a long day and with my 5.30am wake up call in waiting I wasn’t going to set myself up for fail!

Day 2
Surprisingly, I awoke about 2 minutes before the cheery “good morning” and a tap on the door came promptly at 5.30am. Then I remembered that I’d gone to bed earlier and slept the same amount of time, so it was probably a better use of time than watching late night TV about Brad Pitt and the Kardashians and therefore rising later. I was quite excited to start my day and with the birds chirping and sun shining it couldn’t have started any better.
I assembled with the 38 other retreaters all dressed to go in our tracksuits and gym shorts and we were briefed on the day’s activities. After Chi Qong I opted for the challenging walk, being my first day at it. About 15 of us branched off with Jason heading up into the bush land. The hills were quite steep and half way into it I was of course puffing and trying to crack jokes that I was going to cark it and after a pause too long of no laughter I figured either no one thought I was funny or out of breath themselves. The latter I hoped! It was a beautiful walk, with the kookaburras singing and with the sunshine peeking through the trees I took as many deep breaths as I could to soak in the fresh air. The view from the Yoga Deck was amazing, we could see out to South Stradbroke and Surfers Paradise. I had started to appreciate where I was and the beautiful surroundings.

After the walk back down it was time for breakfast. On the way in we were all given a shot of apple cider vinegar which would form part of our morning routine and said to kick start the metabolism. Anything to kick start my metabolism, bottoms-up I say! I opted for the poached eggs, spinach and tomato on gluten free toast, yum! We all gobbled down our food and chit-chatted for an hour. The environment was very casual and it was great to just stop, relax and enjoy the moment without having to rush off like we normally would in the business of life.

After the stretch class it was off to another activity. For me it was mat pilates which was held under the Pavilion. The instructor was top notch and I couldn’t think of anywhere better to do pilates than here in such beautiful surroundings and like-minded people around me.  Today’s talk was entitled “Feast of Nutrition” by Caroline Scott (www.carolinenutrition.com) who was excellent in delivery and extremely interesting. She discussed the benefits of eating real food ie foods as close to their form in nature as possible, good digestion, sugar cravings, the role of fat in the diet and antioxidants and anti-ageing. Boy was I going to have to fine-tune my diet when I got home! While I was slurping down my banana and almond smoothie with spirulina and flaxseed oil, Caroline gave us real examples of foods we should and shouldn’t eat. I had heard some of it before, however she went into health benefits of foods too and not just weight loss aspects which was really interesting. Ever heard your mother tell you when you were little to chew your food and pause between mouthfuls? I got it all the time when I was younger, but I always thought that was just a way to stop me from talking. It actually plays a big part in digestion. I walked away with loads of tips and a page full of notes and ready to clean out the food cupboards when I got home.

Lunch is always shared family-style and today we had cauliflower and brazil nut soup, prawn on cornbread with avocado, orange and fennel salad, quinoa, lentil, celery & tomato and a rainbow garden salad. Honestly, no one would go hungry around here and the food was so yummy and fresh!
Dreamtime today for me was over in the spa for Rockupuncture which is from the Eastern Therapies menu. Rockupuncture is best described as being a mix of subtle Japanese style acupuncture with hot stone therapy. Sounds great, right!? I was met in Reception by a beautiful therapist called Keri who actually created the treatment and once we were in my treatment room we discussed my busy lifestyle and where I carry the stresses. As I snuggled down onto the bed, the hot stones warmed me and then Kerry started the acupuncture. I have had acupuncture before, but this is much different. With soft music playing and warm stones applied it was calming and soothing and I could feel the tension starting to disappear. The warmth of the hot stones relieves muscle tension and stimulates the lymphatic system. I certainly left feeling rested and restored. I must admit that needles, regardless of what size, aren’t my favorite thing, so while I had nothing to be nervous about I found myself chit-chatting to Keri throughout most of the therapy. She was so lovely and we discussed many things about the treatment and how it has worked for many people for all different types of illness and ailments. After I had finished with Keri, it was time to go back to my villa for an hour or so and soak up the last of the afternoon sunshine with a good book.

The 3 bites for entrée at dinner tonight were quinoa sushi, sweet corn and zucchini chowder and oyster with Asian cucumber pickle. I sat with my new friends Carolyn, Nicole and about six others including two Aussie men who travelled solo to Gwinganna. We all chatted about the day’s events and how good we were all starting to feel. Main course for me was grilled reef fish on zucchini fettuccini. Yum yum yum.

Day 3
Today I sprung out of bed and felt so good, wide eyed and ready to tackle the day ahead of me. While I admit I had a slight headache, probably a part of the elimination of coffee and alcohol since checking in at Gwinganna, I was determined to focus on the benefits my body would be reaping. I could only imagine how my neighbor Frank was holding up who came to the retreat for wellness of course, but also to quit ciggies.

As we stood on the hill in the sunshine for Qi Gong, I really focused on my breathing while paying attention to movement and the words Donna was speaking. Donna, our Program Manager, has such a great outlook on life who really embodies the philosophies of Gwinganna. She spoke about stopping to listen to the innate wisdom of your body and familiarity versus comfortable and finishes the classes by reminding us to have gratitude. After just a couple of days I already started to feel that Qi Gong really assists with helping let go of life’s worries and is a wonderful way to start the morning.

After Qi Gong, I opted to continue my morning activities with Donna and a small group of us joined her for Iyenga Yoga in the church. The 19th century church is stunning with beautiful stained glass windows that was recycled from demolition at Tweed Heads. Iyenga emphasizes precision and alignment, planned sequencing, timing and the use of props. For us, we had chairs and bands and followed her instruction on some seemingly simple poses that gave us great stretches. The class was excellent and I will definitely be looking into these classes on return home.

Today I was starving, so I opted for the vegetable frittata with tomato jam for breakfast and then also snuck over to the cold buffet (which is supposed to be instead of, not aswell as) and sampled the delicious sheep yoghurt on offer with fresh fruit compote).

After breakfast it was time for our stretch class and then I opted for a pilates class which was washed down with a citrus and avocado smoothie. The morning talk was by Karen Coates about “Optimum Wellness”. Dr Coates is highly regarded in her field, and I hear very hard to get an appointment with, so I felt privileged to sit in on one of her seminars. Here we spent some time discussing a number of topics including genetics, organic foods, the role the environment plays, food choices, stress hormones and an extremely interesting section about combating terminal illness.

Lunch today was minestrone soup, followed by a range of salads and Spanish calamari, prawns and vegetables. Then it was off for Dreamtime where I visited the Wellness Centre for my Essential Wellbeing package. This included a live blood analysis and iridology which I was quite excited about as I had never had this done before. I was totally amazed that the examination of just one drop of blood could show so much. Up on the big screen with “garbage collectors”, “detectives” and what seemed like a mini world living in my bloodstream I was so intrigued. Next came my iridology session and was again blown away by the amount of information my iris gave. This is a technique whereby colors, patterns and other characteristics of the iris are examined to determine health information. Here we were able to tell signs of organs that are overactive, inflamed, distressed and even susceptibility towards certain illness, past medical problems and possible later health problems. With my eye as a “window” into my body’s state of health there was nothing I could hide here, not even personality traits. With a full printout given to me to take home along with a customized meal plan I left bursting with information.
The later part of my afternoon was spent reading under a big eucalyptus tree. What a perfect way to end a lovely day. I strolled around the gardens for a while and then returned to my villa for a hot steam and shower before rolling up at dinner. Tonight we had 3 delicious first bites and for main I chose the grilled chicken on soft polenta and ratatouille. After dinner I was struggling to stay awake and fell asleep with the full moon beaming down at me and the cool breeze off the billabong streaming in.

Day 4
This morning I was awake before the tap on my door came but didn’t spring out of bed so fast. I was quite content with my thoughts and contemplated snoozing for a while longer. Worried I’d miss out on something I hopped to it and joined the group just in time for Qi Gong.

After Qi Gong we were given our choice of morning activities and with intrigue I chose the silent meditation walk with Sam who practices Buddhism and who we were meeting for the first time. Now, those who know me will say that the only time I am not talking is when I am sleeping, so this was going to be a challenge for me. But I was willing to be mature and considerate of others and give this a go. Sam spoke to us about the benefits of breathing and explained that the walk was about awareness and mindfulness, he asked us to concentrate and be aware of our surroundings. The walk was really stunning and took us out west overlooking the Tallebudgera Valley. It was a really different experience for me as when I go for a walk its always for fitness so it was lovely to slow down and consider what Sam had to say. I couldn’t make eye contact with my new friend Carolyn, as I knew I would burst into laughter if I did, however just before the half way mark when our single file passed a pair of kickers hanging from a tree branch I couldn’t help but let out a giggle. Of course there was no late night shenanigans the night before and was obviously just someone’s washing, however a pair of knickers hanging from a branch during a silent walk is probably the funniest thing on earth when you’re in the moment. We finished with a labyrinth ritual and were asked to consider why we were at Gwinganna while entering and walking the labyrinth and at the end letting go. This really was a deep form of mediation that I really appreciated and an interesting way to end the experience.

I must admit that Carolyn and I gigged half way to breakfast re-telling the story of the knickers and carried on over breakfast. Not a fan of baked beans, even if they were homemade, I opted for the cold buffet. Here I had a wide selection of fruit, cow and sheep yoghurt that I topped with fruit compote, muesli and mixed nuts and fruit.

After breakfast came the stretch class and the most amazing session of Tribal Dancing. I am definitely not the sort of person who can shake it in front of anyone, nor can I be in a dance room with mirrors and pretend I can’t see myself and not look at others. However, with two left feet I joined the group and can honestly say this experience is truly special and something I had never experienced before. Run by Stephen at Tribal Dance Australia (www.tribalcorporateevents.com), you begin in a gentle but powerful way where you are moving out of your head and into your body, if that makes sense. You move with loosely choreographed movement and I can tell you now that you will soon find yourself moving and grooving like never before. Stephen has designed this in a way where you leave your inhibitions at the door and by the end of the class you are throwing your life problems into the middle and the release you experience is truly amazing. The passion Stephen brings to the room and the carefully selected music really makes it so unique. Most will say they shed a tear at some point in the class and some will say it was the pinnacle of their stay at Gwinganna. Its sort of like your life and experiences at Gwinganna colliding and having clarity, if only for a moment in time. No, its not a hocus pocus or strange class where people chant. But it is something that happens without you even realizing and you will remember it for a long time. The one quote that was reminiscent for me during this experience was “Dance as though no one is watching you. Love as though you have never been hurt before. Sing as though no one can hear you. Live as though Heaven is on earth”. Because this is exactly how you feel as you walk out of the room and you will be grateful you took the time out to join in.

After a thoroughly wonderful morning, we moved into the Clubhouse for Karl Ostrowski’s seminar on “Movement”. Karl discussed the results from our assessment taken at the gym on arrival and spoke about posture, flexibility, stability breathing and nutrition. It was a really interesting talk and I hadn’t given much thought to breathing, however I promised to be more aware when I got home.

After a delicious poolside barbeque for lunch, it was Dreamtime. Today I joined Jan for an organic Deep Cleansing Facial with PHYT’S products. This was an 80 minute treatment and I enjoyed every minute. First we started with skin cleansing and exfoliation followed by a masque. Then it was time to tone and have eye serum applied. Jan then gave me a hand massage before it was time to cleanse again, a face massage and another masque. I think I feel asleep around about this time as Jan gave me a head massage before applying eye and day cream. We chatted about skin, harmful effects of the environment and products as I drifted in and out of sleep and woke myself up with a little snore. Jan was a true delight and this facial was really great. I walked away feeling refreshed; and not just because she told my skin looked 4-5 years younger than my actual age!

After an hour or so lounging around the spa I was off to my villa for a quick nap before dinner. After entrée, I indulged in filet steak with red wine jus and vegetable rosti, shitake mushroom and kumera risotto, spinach and cashew cheese. Every meal is seriously like dining in a restaurant. Today was such a satisfying day and I was so glad that I’d decided to come to this place. I finished off with a breathing class in the church before kangaroo spotting on my way home and climbing under my fluffy dooner for the best sleep I have had in a long time.

Day 5
With my headache gone, I hopped out of bed for a piping hot shower before a bit of a drizzly day on the hill for Qi Gong. Feeling quite proud of myself for almost mastering the movement which we now did in time to a poem, I was off to the Pavillion for a re-alignment class. This was based on the principles of pressure in stillness and aimed to adjust the body and restore symmetry to major joint junctions. It is obviously used in conjunction with exercise and complimentary to clinical pilates and Iyengar Yoga. First, we had to identify which side of our bodies was harboring injury and worked on the healthier side first in order to promote a model for correct adjustment. With our neck, for example, we turned from left to right while observing the freer direction. Using the same hand as the direction we were facing as a resistive force, we put our thumb into our jawbone and fingertips to the temple. Then we used 3 reps of 4 second phases of resistive stillness and then re-evaluated. We did similar exercises for different parts of our body. We were also given postural principals for daily activity and a handout so we could remember how to re-align ourselves when we got home. These were great techniques that I was definitely going to take away with me.
After my scrambled eggs with mushrooms and greens on gluten free bread I was off to the stretch class before some aqua pilates. This was held in the outdoor heated pool by the gym and was mostly completed on noodles or against the wall where our core strength was tested. As the rain began to pour the seriousness began to wash away and it turned into an hour of half-hearted effort but a really good laugh. It was a lot of fun to mess around with the group which turned into a bit of a pool party by the end. The staff were great and didn’t frown upon us, who could take us seriously with a fit of the giggles and rain falling down on us anyway. After a crowded sauna session it was off to the Clubhouse for our final seminar.

The seminar today was again held by Dr Karen Coates on “Optimal Resilience”. This was an extremely worthwhile discussion about stress, its detrimental affects and strategies including medical, alternative and other strategies such as breathing, meditation and massage. Dr Coates gave us great insight into perception of situations and thought processing.

As I walked to lunch with the rain clearing and the sun peeking through the clouds, I had 4 kangaroos hop along not too far behind me. Can you get much more gorgeous than this? Lunch today was red lentil broth, chicken san choi bow and a mixture of vegetables and salads. As Dreamtime rolled in I realized it was my last full day at Gwinganna and started to consider if I should either extend my trip or simply move there. I was feeling very comfortable, relaxed and nurtured.

Dreamtime today was with Steve for Integrated Massage which is highly beneficial for the release of long term stress, tension, anger and grief. It combines remedial and deep tissue massage with acupressure, reflexology, polarity energy healing and breathing techniques. This was another amazing experience and goes well beyond the word “massage”. A word needs to be invented that describes these treatments as they definitely don’t fit in the “massage” category. Steve started with long, firm strokes and a variety of specific massage techniques. I could feel him discovering the sore spots which he soon came back to with some deep tissue massage. During all the pushing and knot unwinding, I could feel Steve adding pressure on certain points, rocking me and then slowing down the movement before starting up again. I think I was receiving a bit of his energy healing. I concentrated on my breathing during the treatment and found Steve breathing with me, sort of like coaching from the sideline. Steve has been a therapist for 30 years and clearly understands how the body functions at both a physical and energetic level. A thoroughly enjoyable experience which left me wondering why on earth we throw away our pennies on mediocre massage when a trip to Steve is worth 10 massages we’d normally receive elsewhere.
After 3 tasty bites for entrée, I tucked into my plate of roast lamb with beetroot glaze on sweet potato mash for dinner. To our surprise, this was accompanied by a lovely glass of organic wine for sipping in celebration of our final night. While my neighbor Frank and I discussed that it probably wasn’t appropriate to open up the middle doors that joined our villa and invite everyone back for a party, we did decide that we’d see if Carolyn and Nicole wanted to hang out for a while. After a session of meditation in the church, we walked back huddled under umbrellas from the rain and sat up chatting and laughing until after midnight. It was great fun to laugh and share more time with my new friends who I really connected with and would miss after this amazing experience and I knew they felt the same way.

Day 6
When the 5.30am knock came to my front door I sung out in the most non-tired voice I could muster and cuddled back under my dooner feeling very naughty for missing Qi Gong. The guilt only lasted a couple of minutes when I remembered all I had achieved and snoozed for a little while longer. I caught up with the others shortly after and joined in the pilates class for a good stretch before heading off to breakfast.
After breakfast I checked-out of my room and then joined in the Complete Body Conditioning class in the gym which was really great. This was put together on the basis of interval training and combined pushups, situps, lunges, squats, weights and planking. This is my normal preference when it comes to exercise so I thoroughly enjoyed it, but did not regret choosing walks and more yoga-type classes during my stay as these were classes I wouldn’t normally do.

After a spot more sunshine and mindless chatter by the pool with the girls, its was time for a cooking class with chef Hermann. Here we learned how to whip up some amazing salads and make sushi, all with beautiful organic ingredients of course.

Our final lunch consisted of Asian flavored pumpkin soup, Thai beef salad and variety of other salads that were topped off by a raw cheesecake. We were all given snack packs to take for the journey how with included a few things including Gwinganna’s famous Tahini Balls.

It was so sad to say goodbye to all my new friends. Carolyn, Nicole and Frank swapped contact information with me and promised to keep in touch. After sharing such an amazing experience together I knew we would too. We all vowed that we would lay off the caffeine for as long as possible and calculated that a bought latte every day equated to the cost of a retreat at Gwinganna once per year. I think that’s the best plan I’ve ever come up with and will be back as soon as I can.

Gwinganna Lifestyle Retreat
192 Syndicate Road,
Tallebudgera Valley,
Queensland,
Australia
Telephone: +617 5589 5000
Email: info@gwinganna.com
Website: www.gwinganna.com