Scott Simons challenges travel advisors to reclaim their health

For an industry built around helping others navigate journeys, travel advisors often spend their own days moving at a relentless pace: managing clients, responding to disruptions, solving last-minute issues, and staying constantly connected.

In a profession where long hours, stress and screen time have become part of daily reality, taking care of personal well-being can easily move to the bottom of the list.

That was exactly the challenge addressed during From Reactive to Proactive in 61 Minutes, a live health and wellness webcast led by expert Scott Simons on May 14 and offered free to travel professionals across Canada, regardless of affiliation, by Transat Distribution Canada (TDC) as part of Global Travel Advisor Month.

The webcast marked the second consecutive year TDC has offered a professional development session as a gift to the travel industry, reinforcing its commitment to supporting advisors beyond business performance and sales metrics.

The initiative was announced on Travel Advisor Day on May 6 and positioned as an opportunity for advisors to invest in themselves.

Opening the event, Marc Pelletier, senior director of marketing, communications and events at TDC, emphasized that recognition and support for travel advisors are central to TDC's values.

“Recognizing the essential contribution of travel advisors is a core value at TDC,” Pelletier said. “We're offering you today an energy stopover, a moment to equip you with tools to better take care of yourself.”

What followed was anything but a traditional webinar.

Simons – a health and wellness educator with more than two decades of experience, over 500 presentations and thousands of hours of training — transformed the session into an interactive experience.

He encouraged participants to turn on cameras, raise their hands, stand up, move, breathe and engage.

The cost of comfort

One of the session's recurring themes was the hidden cost of modern convenience and inactivity.

Simons pointed to the growing amount of time people spend sitting, scrolling and staying within familiar routines.

“It's riskier in 2025 and 2026 to stay in your comfort zone than to get out of your comfort zone,” he said.

“The solutions to what's going on the planet at the moment, the chaos that's going on, individually, collectively, geopolitically, will be found outside of our comfort zones.”

For travel professionals, whose workdays often involve long hours in front of screens and responding to client demands in real time, the message resonated.

Simons highlighted the broader consequences of inactivity, citing statistics around movement, social media use and sedentary lifestyles. But rather than focus solely on physical health, he framed the issue as something bigger: a growing disconnect from our own bodies and from proactive living.

“Health, individual and collective health, will be found outside of our comfort zones,” he said.

Taking ownership

Throughout the webcast, Simons repeatedly returned to the concept of personal responsibility.

At one point, he issued a challenge to participants.

“Out of the 1,440 minutes in a day, every single day, I will take responsibility for my health,” he said.

“We are all adults here, your health is your responsibility. Your nervous system, your brain, your reactions, your stress, your anxiety, your joy, your love, your enthusiasm is your responsibility.”

For an audience accustomed to caring for clients' needs first, it was a reminder that self-care cannot simply be postponed indefinitely.

Simons argued that even small actions can create meaningful change.

“If you take responsibility out of the 1,440 minutes a day, 30 minutes is two per cent of your day,” he said.

The power of conscious breathing

Among the many wellness tools Simons discussed, breathing emerged as the foundation for everything else.

He described conscious breathing not merely as a relaxation technique, but as a way to influence the nervous system, manage stress and move from reaction to intention.

“Conscious breathing is the foundation of your optimal health,” he told attendees.

“It's at the foundation of transforming a reactive life into a proactive [one].”

One central takeaway? “Breath management is brain management.”

Simons explained that people take roughly 20,000 breaths a day and therefore have thousands of opportunities to reset stress responses and reconnect with the present moment.

“The remote control for your nervous system is the breath,” he explained. “Three breaths instantly connect you back through the sophistication, and the wisdom of the body.”

Beyond wellness theory

Part of what gave the webcast emotional weight was Simons' willingness to speak openly about his own challenges.

He shared that at age 19 he entered drug rehabilitation and later experienced multiple periods of depression.

“I've also been through five different depressions, especially in my 30s and early 40s,” he said.

He admitted feeling hesitant about discussing those experiences publicly but said doing so had become important because of the growing mental health challenges facing people today.

“Health and wellness is the best drug in the world,” he said. “It leads to independence and interdependence.”

Five pillars of health

Simons ultimately organized his approach around five core pillars that he believes require daily attention: conscious breathing, along with proper hydration, nutrition, movement and relaxation.

“Your health is your responsibility,” he reiterated. “These are the five you must take care of.”

Some recommendations were simple and immediately actionable: drink more water, move every 20 to 30 minutes, take short breaks from screens, and consciously recharge during the day.

His approach emphasized consistency rather than perfection.

“We don't need more information,” he said. “We need more action, more pro action.”

The “five-second” challenge

Near the end of the session, Simons introduced attendees to what he called the “five-second rule,” a concept intended to overcome hesitation and inertia.

According to Simons, people have only a few seconds before excuses and resistance begin taking over.

“We have five seconds to take action before the avalanche of excuses, resistance, the friction…” he said.

As a practical takeaway, he proposed a 22-day challenge: three times a day, take three conscious breaths. Which ammounts to just nine intentional breaths daily.

A small commitment, but one designed to create momentum.

As the webcast wrapped up, Pelletier returned to thank attendees and reflect on the session's purpose.

“I hope this energizing stopover was good for you, and most importantly, that Scott gave you the impulse to start moving your body more often today, with small, repeated, conscious actions,” he said.

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