Quitting smoking is incredibly difficult, so you may need some help beyond the usual pills, patches, gums, and lozenges if you’re looking to get rid of your addiction. A popular path toward freedom from nicotine is escaping the day-to-day so you can truly focus on creating change in your life. If you need more than a kick in the pants to break the habit, here are some luxurious retreats that will help you quit smoking — in paradise.
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These Retreats Will Help You Quit Smoking in Paradise
1. SHA Wellness Clinic — Alicante, Spain
Photo: SHA/Facebook
This renowned medical spa combines western and eastern medical practices with wellness therapies to help guests quit nicotine. After an initial consultation and medical tests, an individualized program is built based on the specific physical and emotional issues that need to be addressed. This can include everything from acupuncture and laser therapy to phytotherapy and magnet therapy. Once balanced health is achieved, the program helps patients learn healthy habits and provides the motivation to stick with them. While working through the program, patients can enjoy lazing by the pool or the beach, spa treatments, hydrotherapy, sailing, diving, and horseback riding — pretty much anything to keep your mind off the cravings.
2. Kurotel Longevity Medical Center & Spa — Gramado, Brazil
Photo: Kurotel – Centro Médico de Longevidade e Spa/Facebook
The program here focuses primarily on two things: your mind and your lungs. After consulting with a doctor for the physiological issues, patients move right into psychotherapy to get the mind work going. While there is a spa and a broad range of activities to choose from while working through the program, there are also scheduled sessions with nutritionists, physiotherapists, dermatologists, and even a dentist. Respiratory physiotherapy and inhalation treatments combined with massages help relax and alleviate the stresses that usually get folks on the smoking path in the first place. After this whole-body treatment, a final medical evaluation is given, and ideally, progress is made, and follow-up nursing and clinical support is provided to ensure ongoing success.
3. Serenity Vista — Boquete, Panama
Photo: Serenity Vista/Facebook
A holistic addiction treatment center in the mountain highlands of Panama, Serenity Vista bases its recovery programs on the “Minnesota Model” developed by the Hazelden Betty Ford Treatment Center. This treats addiction as a disease and helps people overcome nicotine addiction through the 12-step model, spirituality, and self-discovery. Serenity Vista only accepts six patients at a time, which means you’ll get focused care here — not only to quit smoking but to prevent starting again. Additional inspiration comes from the jungle itself — the center is surrounded by gardens frequented by hummingbirds, butterflies, and all manner of nature’s beauty.
4. Fresh Start Health Retreat Center — Vancouver Island, British Columbia, Canada
Photo: Fresh Start-Health Retreat/Facebook
Located on the shores of Vancouver Island, this treatment center offers 14 to 21-day healthy habits retreats using a trademarked “Habit RePatterning” therapy. Guests enjoy luxurious, eco-friendly housing while working through their smoking addiction by exploring healthy lifestyle choices, emotional well-being, and the underlying issues that cause their specific addiction. A whole body detox diet, hydrotherapy, meditation, yoga, and fitness classes round out the treatment.
5. Rainforest Recovery Center — San Juan del Norte, Nicaragua
Photo: PixieMe/Shutterstock
Billed as a “quit vacation,” this seven-day smoking cessation program kicks off with a jungle boat ride through the rainforests of Costa Rica to a luxury lodge in southern Nicaragua. Participants quit smoking by keeping busy and by experiencing the joys of life without being constrained by nicotine. Activities include swimming in the lodge’s infinity pool, fishing, kayaking, hiking, and visits to local villages. Personalized therapy includes discussion around triggers, smoking risks, and quit motivation, as well as mediation for stress reduction and techniques to replace using nicotine as a self-soothing habit.
6. Sedona Quit Smoking Retreat, Los Abrigados Resort & Spa — Sedona, Arizona
“Move a muscle, change a thought” is the motivator behind this program in Sedona, Arizona. The idea is that one can take the misery out of quitting by pampering oneself. In addition to meetings with counselors to discover and treat the underlying causes of nicotine addiction, participants keep busy with activities such as yoga, pilates, arts and crafts, and guided meditation. Spa time is encouraged to accelerate detox and reiki/shamanic energy healing sessions are scheduled during the first few days to help overcome cravings. 