In 2012, Joelene Ranby started running retreats as a side-interest, during weekends and while on leave as a Financial Accountant at a large corporation. The health retreats became her passion especially when her guests achieved great results and told her how inspired they felt at the end of their stay.
In 2015, once the demand for retreats exceeded what she could manage part time, Joelene made the decision to focus on the business full time and ran retreats for seven years exclusively from the Bay of Plenty before outgrowing the venue and, in 2019, moved to a purpose built estate next to Lake Karapiro. Resolution Retreats Lakeside Health & Wellness Centre is now a multi-award winning, 5-star retreat centre providing world-class programmes exclusively for women and is comparable with some of the world’s top retreats, such as Gwinganna in Australia.
I’m lucky to have enjoyed two different retreat packages – one under the Resolution Retreats brand, the other under Resilience Retreats – and can attest to Joelene’s passion, attention to detail and caring attitude to every woman who visits the retreats. She has a passionate team working alongside her and all work together helping guests look at their health and happiness differently, and helping them work through and move past challenges.
I asked Joelene what aspects of the retreats have changed over the years:
Joelene:
We’ve had a number of trends come and go over the years but these are the areas where we put emphasis on:
MORE SELF-COMPASSION
We’re definitely seeing a trend where younger guests are kinder to themselves when trying to achieve their wellness goals. Previous generations tend to be harder on themselves and expect their bodies to operate more like a machine than a human being. The older generation often get caught up in what I call the ‘Stuff It Effect’ — fall off the ‘wagon’ (which everybody does now and then), then really beat themselves up, and eventually think ‘stuff it” – a classic negative cycle.
Self-compassion is an important health topic which runs across all our retreat programs and workshops and our guests are embracing it more and more; for the better. Sometimes we need to step back and remember we’re trying to undo decades of bad habits and ways of thinking – and that’s not always easy. Being kind to yourself and focusing on progress, not perfection is where real transformations happen.
‘HEALTHY’ PERCEPTIONS
Gluten-free, sugar-free, dairy-free, excluding food groups and more — these were seldom-requested food restrictions when Resolution Retreats first started helping women in 2012. Sadly, it seems some don’t even know why they have excluded large food groups, except they’ve heard they should.
I’ve found that what constitutes ‘healthy’ has become more muddled and overwhelming because you don’t necessarily need to exclude large food groups to be healthier. We’re trying to encourage participants across all our programs to be focused less on extreme trends and more on prioritising the basics.
INVESTING IN YOURSELF
Ten years ago, most guests came to Resolution Retreats for a once-in-a-lifetime health reset. Today, more women are returning annually as a reminder of their investment in themselves. They feel great when they leave and want to feel that way more often. It’s great that personal health and happiness are moving further up the priority list and it’s wonderful to see our guests coming back with friends or family so, once they go home, they can share what they’ve learned and hold each other accountable on the wellbeing front.
MENTAL HEALTH
Internal and external mental pressure has increased over the past ten years but more so since the pandemic. As a result, we are seeing more and more guests who are on their knees in terms of needing to prioritise their mental health. People from all walks of life are affected – no one is immune.
In 2021, realising that mental health was something people were in desperate need of we launched the resilience-training brand Resilience Retreats. It’s a bespoke three-day programme for men and women that includes resilience strategies, tools for recognising burnout and the opportunity to reset. We know we will have to open up more spots for this package as there are so many men and women who need support into the future.
Resolution Retreats has also run a variety of other special edition retreats including a mothers and daughter’s retreat last year, a perimenopause and menopause retreat and a fasting retreat.
“We’re not standing on our laurels. We’re continuously tweaking things to ensure we deliver the best possible support to people on their wellbeing journey. We’re getting prepared and ready for another ten years.” – Joelene Ranby
In her late 30s, Joelene isn’t finished with her passion project. She’s proud to be part of a team who have changed so many lives over the past decade and continue to have such a powerful impact on hundreds more each year.
Find out what packages and dates are planned for this year.
And, here’s a link to some of the many testimonials.