MENTAL HEALTH & WELLBEING
Retreat to reset By Samantha Tennent
A luxury resort in Waikato is giving rural women a safe haven where they can go to rest, recharge and gain the tools to make changes in their lives.
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truggling with her physical appearance and the pressures of juggling work and personal life, Joelene Ranby had a snap moment when she knew something had to change. But she needed to find where to start. Nearly 10 years later she is helping hundreds of women every year learn how to make those changes through Resolution Retreats, a luxury health and wellness resort in Waikato for women. “When I was on my own journey it was slow going, I didn’t have the skills to change overnight so needed to learn the basics and adapt what would fit my lifestyle,” Ranby says. “But I focused on one thing at a time and chipped away at it, if I had tried to do everything at once I don’t think I would have succeeded, it’s just too hard to change that much that quick.” The retreat offers the space, support and tools for women to uncover what they are lacking or need to change in their own lives and how to go about it. It came off the back of her own journey when, realising the process could be faster and easier for others, she wanted to share her knowledge to help. “If something like this existed back when I was getting started it would have made a huge difference and that’s what we focus on now, inspiring people to make changes in their lives to help them feel better and give them some tools to reduce the pressures they’re facing,” says Ranby. During her journey, she was working as a financial accountant but she felt incomplete. She also began studying nutrition and started sharing what she was learning with others. This grew and as a hobby, she started holding weight-loss and health retreats, where she shared her knowledge of health and wellness. But the juggling of full-time work, study and the hobby mounted and she
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Juggling work, personal life and her physical appearance, Joelene Ranby snapped and made some major life changes. She started Resolution Retreat to help others who find themselves struggling.
“Rural people lead very busy and sometimes isolated lifestyles and we think both types of retreats have a lot to offer for the rural community.” Joelene Ranby
made the call to leave employment and let her hobby take over. This was the birth of Resolution Retreats, which has proven to be a great success.
“I felt a lot of self-doubt at the time but it really has paid off. What we’re doing here and what we offer is really fulfilling, I love helping others find their light,” she says. The retreat offers a number of packages and women from all backgrounds come to get the space to reflect and uncover what they need to change in their lives and learn how the tools to make the changes. “The environment at the retreat takes those pressures away, allowing women to reflect on how they can make changes for themselves. “Although, for most people, those pressures they arrived with will still be
DAIRY FARMER
August 2022
