Saint Lucia will host “Elevate Yourself” the 2nd Annual Health & Wellness Retreat, October 4 – 7, 2012. Leading experts, including actress and best-selling author Lindsay Wagner and Today Show nutrition and health expert Joy Bauer, will offer tips and advice during wellness seminars, beachside fitness clinics, healthy cooking demonstrations and even sunrise mediations.

With ample time built-in for relaxation, the four-day retreat will take place in locales across the picturesque Caribbean island, from Pigeon Island National Park near the capital of Castries to the UNESCO World Heritage Pitons in the southwestern town of Soufriere.

Priced at US $750 per person, daily spa treatments, classes, receptions and transportation from select hotels are included. Several area resorts are also offering specially priced packages starting at US $75 per night. For a complete schedule and more information visit www.stlucianew.com/hw

“Saint Lucia has a reputation as a tranquil, rejuvenating and even spiritual destination, with a number of resorts widely recognized for their world-class spa and wellness programs,” said Louis Lewis, Director of Tourism for the Saint Lucia Tourist Board. “The Health & Wellness Retreat is a natural fit and the quality of this year’s expert guests speaks to the growing stature of the event. We’re truly honored to welcome such a renowned group to Saint Lucia.”

The diverse program will be led by renowned experts in the wellness field including:

• Joy Bauer, nutrition and health expert for The Today Show, will present her top ten tips for “Losing weight and keeping it off’” and share information on how to find the fountain of youth in your grocery cart.
• Lindsay Wagner, actress and best-selling co-author of The High Road to Health, will lead a sunrise group meditation and teach how to “Quiet the Mind & Open the Heart” by releasing thoughts, attitudes, and beliefs of negative emotions.
• John Schumacher, founder and director of Unity Woods Yoga Center and one of only 13 certified advanced lyengar yoga teachers in the U.S., will lead daily yoga sessions on the basic postures and breathing exercises that energize and center the body.
• Dr. Stephen Brewer, medical director at Canyon Ranch Health Resorts in Tucson, AZ, will speak about the “Optimal Wellness” -achieving health through exercise, nutrition, behavioral modification and mental awareness.
• Dani Devaux, creator of Blood, Sweat and Tears fitness program, will lead multiple sunset beach boot camps based on her high intensity interval training program, designed for all fitness levels.

Each day guests will find a choice of seminars, activities such as guided Rain Forest hikes, beachside Tai Chi and Yoga, and healthy cooking demonstrations. Also included are daily spa treatments at participating resorts, including the newly relaunched Body Holiday – Le Sport among others, as well as the opportunity to indulge in the natural therapeutic benefits of Soufriere’s mineral and mud baths.