I'm not opposed to retreats or seminars, and actually when I was first diagnosed had done extensive research and planning on one in Hawaii that featured prominent adjunctive therapy proponents of visualization, mediation etc. The idea of being surrounded by cancer survivors who understood what I went through and doing yoga, pilates, tai chi, qi-gong etc on a beautiful beach seemed just the ticket. I even posted here on OCF asking if anybody had done this or something similar but got almost no replies and none about the Hawaii site. So if you have a local place that you are comfortable with, by all means go - you certainly deserve a break.
I ended up not doing any of them however once I realized that the majority of the participants were almost all breast, prostate or skin cancer survivors with none of the same quality of life issues I had about swallowing, eating, trismus, phlegm,dry mouth etc. Plus my lovely wife/caregiver gently reminded me just how much I hate being on a group schedule and how I chafed at even the minor restrictions on cruise outings. The final factor was rereading the agenda and seeing the underlaying thread that this cancer was now to be seen as somehow life enhancing and requiring me to rise above it all. Guess I am just one of those people that one "Cancer made me better than ever" gurus denounced in Psychology Today as "Cancer is just wasted on some people". Your spirits do deserve to be lifted, I was just concerned about the vulnerability I remember all too well and the fear of recurrence and hoping for some miracle (we lit candles in what seemed like every Church in Rome last year - now that was a "retreat" that did invigorate me). It is important to eat right, exercise and keep a very positive mental attitude - but there is no easy solution nor magic diet nor any guarantees in our struggle.