Shake off the cobwebs from winter and REVITALIZE your Body Mind and Spirit!
Drench your senses and dance with nature for 5 days of renewal and fun at Rio Caliente Resort and Hot Springs which is nestled in an ancient volcanic valley surrounded by the natural beauty of the forest and the mountains. We’ll hike every day in the beautiful surrounding forest plus do yoga, chi gong and NIA (a beautiful movement practice.) We’ll also jump start your Spring with health and fitness discussions, life coaching practices and FUN!! And we’ll do all of this and more at the beautiful Rio Caliente Resort and Spa where we’ll enjoy delicious vegetarian meals, mud wraps and massage which are all included. It is time to refresh and renew your spirit!

THIS RETREAT WILL PAMPER YOU: You’ll wake every morning to the songs of the many birds that surround us. We’ll start each day with morning yoga and chi gong followed by journaling and/or guided visualizations to move you forward into the day ahead inspired and connected. We’ll enjoy wonderful healthy breakfasts and then go hiking to explore the exotic birds, amazing flowers and breathtaking waterfalls of the Primavera State Park. After lunch we will have free time to relax and rejuvenate around the natural pools and enjoy massage, mud wraps or time to yourself to pamper and revitalize body and your spirit. Late afternoon we will regroup for dinner and share the evenings with talks and programs designed to empower you to create the life you deserve and love.

Your guides for this enlivening, fun-filled adventure are Colleen Cannon, founder of Women’s Quest and the infamous goddess of fun, laughter and play and Helen Attridge Green, Womens Quest Life Coach extraordinaire. The combination of Colleen and Helen’s backgrounds and spirits with their energy and enthusiasm for life will provide you will all the jump start you need to create a life filled with adventure, laughter, lightness, play and the excitement that comes from living the life of your dreams. This program is a pilot program for Women’s Quest’s new Health & Wellness Series to be launched in 2009, so we’re are going to make sure you have a blast!

Focusing on building health and fitness from the inside out, here are just a few body, mind and spirit treats you’ll have in store.
PROGRAM DETAILS:
Your Spring Renewal Retreat includes:
• 4 nights (5 days) accommodation at the beautiful Rio Caliente Spa & Hot Springs in Mexico. (cost based on shared room double occupancy, we can pair you with a roommate or let us know if you prefer a single room and we will do our best to accommodate you)
• Daily yoga and chi gong
• Eco-exploring hikes daily in the beautiful primavera valley, amazing views, natural waterfalls on trails and over a hundred different varieties of birds
• NIA dance to enliven body, mind and spirit
• One massage
• One mud wrap
• Delicious healthy vegetarian meals designed to help your body cleanse and detoxify from the winter months
• Beautiful primeval volcanic hot springs to relax in with a mineral content that is highly beneficial for health
• Natural steam room to assist in your bodies cleansing process
• Daily journaling, visioning and life coaching will be woven throughout our daily activities
• Evening programs will include: how to design and create a map to a happy healthy you, exploring and removing any beliefs that block you from being your best self and what you need to know to remain vital and healthy while growing older and more beautiful with every year
• You will have free time every afternoon to enjoy the steam room, hot springs, massages and wide variety of services offered at the spa, including manicures, pedicures, facials
• Instructional booklet, journal and creative materials.
• Goodies from our sponsors.

Transportation to and from the retreat is not included

What Our Sponsors Provide:
• Women's Quest Tee Shirt
• Smartwool socks
• Healthy snacks by Barbara's Bakery and Lara Bars
• Specialized water bottle and bike gloves
• Nourishing face products by Semeli natural skin care

Our home for the week RIO CALIENTE: A Classic Spa

Historically, many cultures have acknowledged the benefits of taking an annual rest at a healing place. In modern days, the spa holiday has grown to include pampering, weight loss, aerobic exercises, jacuzzis, etc. in largely artificial settings using high-tech machinery, chlorinated water and calorie counts.

Rio Caliente is one of the few spas that offers a regenerative holiday - reuniting you with all that's natural, from primeval volcanic hot springs, fresh food and energy-building exercise. During your free time you will get massage and soak and rest in the hot springs: This forgotten art is indispensable to health and one of Rio Caliente's most subtle and powerful gifts. Pushing ourselves to keep up with today's hectic pace causes damage to the immune and other body systems. So we will have long uninterrupted hot spring soaking time.. Yes!!!

The rooms Every bedroom at Rio Caliente is a private retreat. Guests stay in handsome cottages that are a charming mix of handmade ceramic tiles, hand-crafted furniture and pretty woven fabrics, with their own fireplace and private tiled bathroom with shower and often with a tub as well. Laundry and pressing services are available. We will have rooms with double occupancy and we can accommodate single rooms for an additional price.

The Hot Springs
Taking the Waters. Older cultures believe in the efficacy of "taking the waters". At Rio Caliente, the source of the healing waters is an underground volcanic lake. It supplies numerous springs and waterfalls along the river that bounds three sides of the spa. The waters rise at temperatures as high as 157° Fahrenheit and have been tapped to provide pure thermal waters for the spa's four pools, natural steam room and all the bedrooms. Their mineral content is a particularly beneficial (and odorless) combination of salts and minerals, including lithium, while their alkalinity is highly beneficial to health in general.

Arrival and Departure info:
Please plan to arrive at the airport by 1:00 pm on Wednesday April 9th
Plan to depart by 3:00 pm from the airport or anytime that you wish on Sunday April 13th

Which airport should we fly into? Guadalajara, Mexico

What airlines fly to Guadalajara? Most U.S. and Canadian airlines connect to Guadalajara International Airport * AeroMexico * Alaska * American Airlines * ATA * Continental * Delta * Frontier * Mexicana * US Airways/America West

Do I need a passport? Yes!!! so make sure it is current

How do I get to Rio Caliente? Find the taxi kiosks as you exit and - for the best rate - pay the fare (about US $45 for up to three people) in pesos. A government-supervised taxi takes you on the 45 minute trip from Guadalajara, through the village of Primavera and the Primavera Forest to Rio Caliente Spa. We will all be arriving by 1:00 pm so that we can carpool

Because Rio Caliente is located in a remote pine forest, they must welcome you by 10 PM. If you arrive in Guadalajara after 9 PM, please make arrangements to stay in the city that night. We recommend these hotels: Fenix (a Best Western), Mendoza, downtown, Camino Real (Westin), uptown, or the Casa Grande at the airport.

What should I bring? We are extremely informal; bring casual pants, shorts, comfortable shoes and sneakers, boots or trail shoes for rugged hiking, rain slicker just in case, sweater, flashlight, yoga type pants and tops, sunscreen and swimsuit! The voltage is the same as stateside, so your electrical items will work. Satellite TV with DVD & VCR plus DSL computer are available for public use in our Palapa lounge.

An Ideal Climate All Year Around In winter, with daytime temperatures in the comfortable 70's, the climate is a welcome, soothing respite from bone-chilling winters up north. Sun and more Sun… Yes! To see the weather at Rio Caliente each month, click here.

No wonder National Geographic Magazine rates Guadalajara as having one of the most desirable climates in the world!

Doing or Being Women’s Quest will allow you to set your own level of activity for the kind of renewal you need. You will have the opportunity to choose from activities as dynamic as hiking, horseback riding, yoga, chi gong,swimming and dance, or as serene as a massage, a mud wrap, a soak in the pool or just sitting in the sun with a good book.

Eco-Exploring - Let’s Go Rio Caliente is surrounded and sheltered by the Sierra La Primavera, part of a magnificent belt of long extinct volcanic mountains. From deep underground comes the hot river, cradling Rio Caliente in a wide horseshoe. We will explore the varied ecology of the region -- over 100 varieties of birds including the exotic Motmot, Orioles, the Squirrel-Tailed Cuckoo and Hummingbirds and plants including Montezuma Pine, tropical Palm and Bougainvillea. The local geological deposits of Rio Caliente tell the story of numerous volcanic eruptions -- deposits of ash flow, pumice, obsidian and caldera-lake sediments reveal the dramatic events which gave shape to Rio Caliente.

At Rio Caliente, we will have countless trails to explore, some much more demanding than others so we will break you into groups based on ability levels. From the high ridges, the vistas are spectacular. Equally interesting are the hikes along the river to its sources. Hikes generally vary in length from 1 hour to 3-1/2 hours as well as in degree of difficulty.

Phone, Fax and Email for Rio Caliente They have a public telephone, FAX service and email access on site. For emergencies, the telephone and fax number is from US 011 52 333 151-0887

Reservation and cancellation policy:
There is a $500 non-refundable deposit due at the time of registration. Balance due 90 days prior to camp. Your camp fee is nonrefundable within 90 days of the camp. Please note that injury or illness does not disqualify you from the cancellation policy and we are unable to transfer deposits and/or payments from one year to the next so we highly recommend trip insurance which you can obtain through your travel agent for a nominal cost.
You must sign a liability release form to participate in camp, and payment does not include airfare.