Has our modern, fast-paced world left you feeling disconnected from your true self? JASSMIN PETER heads off in pursuit of the region's top health and wellness centres offering a synergistic wellness experience to help you achieve optimal wellbeing, reconnect with yourself and leave you refreshed and inspired.
Absolute Sanctuary, Koh Samui
This Moroccan-inspired boutique health and wellness resort successfully weaves lux accommodation with detox and yoga programmes. Catering to those seeking a journey back to balance, rejuvenation and wellness, its programmes have reportedly attracted the likes of supermodel Elle "The Body" McPherson.
Absolute Sanctuary specialises in a repertoire of detox programmes catering to various requirements. Try the Modified Detox - part colonics, part manual lymphatic drainage massage - for something less intense. The Juice fast is ideal if you want to detox with the support of nutritious vegetable juices and for the hard core seasoned detoxer, the 20-day Detoxer's Delight is the programme of choice. It comes complete with pre and post programme guidance and a host of complementary therapies. All sessions combine colon hydrotherapy, detox drinks, herbal supplements, nutritious meals - unless you're fasting - yoga and the optional massage.
Absolute Sanctuary also offers an anti-stress and burnout package. Part of the package includes stress management sessions where in-house consultants help you explore your stress triggers and develop coping techniques you can incorporate into your daily routine. All holistic and detox packages are available in five, seven or 10 day programmes.
The Spa centre features both indoor and outdoor treatment rooms and treatments are performed with a healing element to them. The Spa cuisine restaurant boasts organic, vegetarian and non-vegetarian dishes which are both nutritious and delicious. Special menus have been crafted to support the detox programmes including favourites such as the faster's salad made up of green vegetables and purple cabbage served with olive oil and apple cider vinegar, and the smooth move salad of green apples and raisin salad tossed with fresh orange juice. There are even guilt-free dessert options! Choose from delectable coconut panacotta, dara's apple strudel in fillo pastry or the mango and yoghurt mousse.
The resort features 38 stylish and enchanting rooms with modern amenities plus a beautiful infinity-edge pool. With its good energy, exquisite nutritious cuisine and healing body therapies you can rest assure you'll check out refreshed, revitalised and rejuvenated. Tel: +6683 199 5596, www.absolutesanctuary.com, Email: Claire@absolutesanctuary.com
Dubbed a retreat for change, COMO Shambhala Estate provides a 360-degree wellness experience to mend your mind, body and spirit. Shambhala means peace in Sanskrit and this essence is manifested throughout the residential health retreat which sits on an extraordinary 23-acre jungle-covered riverbank known as The Source - a natural spring locally revered for its healing properties and used in all facilities and treatments. Pairing an elevated level of care with extreme luxury, COMO's philosophy is to help you find a sense of peace through the process of learning and rebalancing, specific knowledge and healing therapies. So, unlike the conventional destination spa which focuses on pampering, COMO adopts a proactive approach to change your mind-set, teach new skills and help set new perspectives. Through treatments and bodyworks, specialist staff guide you out of your comfort zone towards higher goals, unrealised depths, new strengths and a greater sense of equilibrium. Fashion Mogul Donna Karan is one of the many high-profile guests who comes here for some respite.
Check into a luxurious standalone villa or a garden suite and opt for a three, five or seven-day wellness programme. Your journey starts with a consultation to help you identify your issues and aspirations. A dynamic package is then created according to personal requirements, such as to get fit, detoxify or manage stress and post-pregnancy weight loss. Specific treatments are recommended, in conjunction with the fixed daily activities.
While endowed with state-of-the-art health facilities - nine treatment rooms, an outdoor hydrotherapy area, swimming pool, yoga and Pilates studio, sauna, gym and a Water Garden made up of a steam, hot tub, and four pavilions - COMO places great value on its passionate and highly experienced team of resident teachers with expertise in fitness, yoga, Pilates, tai chi and other martial arts. And because of its proximity to an abundant landscape encompassing mountains, volcanoes, rivers and valleys, daily activities include mountain biking, hiking, climbing, white-water rafting, outdoor circuit training and special cultural excursions.
Therapists at COMO deliver a myriad of hands-on healing, recommended according to your objective. Treatments can help relieve a lymphatic issue, muscular problems, deep-set stress or emotional difficulties. Traditional Eastern techniques include Thai, Indonesian, Shiatsu and Ayurvedic massage. Other areas of expertise include hot stone and deep tissue massage. There's also a reflexologist and body-care specialist for skin and non-surgical anti-ageing treatments, including aromatherapy facials.
Completing the holistic approach is COMO's emphasis on healthy cuisine. The Estate does not stipulate calorie-counting diets, but encourages you to enjoy eating while establishing and maintaining a lifelong interest in good nutrition. Ingredients are organic and locally sourced, and the menu features meat, fish and vegetables prepared in a range of cuisines including Balinese, South Indian and Italian. Dishes use less salt and replace sugar with raw unprocessed honey. Raw fruit and vegetables also hold a prime spot on the menu as they are richer in living enzymes. The extensive juice and vegetable extract menu is favoured by those on detoxification programmes. Tel: +62 361 978 888, cse.comoshambhala.bz, Email: info@cse.comoshambhala.bz
Kamalaya sits within lush tropical vegetation, ancient boulders, cascading streams and overlooks an idyllic lagoon and white sandy beaches. At the heart of the resort is a cave that once served as a place of meditation and spiritual retreat by Buddhist monks.
Kamalaya's focus is not on individual services, but on how the different treatments, therapies, activities, environmental aspects, cuisine and people come together to create a synergistic wellness experience. This holistic spa integrates healing therapies from Eastern and Western traditions. Its menu of more than 70 treatments includes Ayurveda, traditional Chinese medicine, naturopathy and homeopathy. There are also other holistic services such as cranio-sacral therapy and sound healing, and fitness classes which include Pilates, yoga, chi gong, meditation, adventure hikes and core fitness.
Medically-based programmes address detox, stress and burnout or weight management. Kamalaya also offers monthly signature retreats in detox and yoga if you prefer to discover wellness in a supportive group environment. And if you're uncertain about which programme suites you best, a wellness practitioner is available to craft a personalised programme for you.
Kamalaya's Shakti fitness centre, herbal steam cavern together with the relaxation and swimming pools, offer additional facilities to nurture your body, mind and spirit. Inspired by the traditional bathing areas of Nepal and India, the pool area is fitted with ghat stone steps - a stair leading down to a water body - and is set among flowering lotus ponds, waterfalls, and smaller multi-level pools accessed by stone walkways. The overall effect is of a welcoming, refreshing oasis.
The Dheva Spa and Wellness Centre, Chiang Mai
At a palatial 3,100 square metres and modelled after a 19th Century Mandalay palace, The Dheva Spa and Wellness Centre is a destination spa and retreat built on the foundations of wellness. Here you'll enjoy impeccable service and a range of treatments with origins dating back 4,000 years.
You'll first be taken through a consultation using diagnostic technology with focuses on healing root-causes of illness, prevention of disease and longevity. A concise and personalised health plan is then developed to suit your dosha (body type) needs and combines the use of natural herbs, spices, therapeutic massage and techniques, aromatherapy, colour therapy, music and meditation. Choose to stay from one to 21 days or enrol in retreats which last up to six weeks.
The Spa's tranquil treatment rooms feature an inspirational décor of Thai silk, polished teak and marble tiles, punctuated with authentic Asian antiques. The 18 rooms and suites are designed to offer a soothing refuge from urban stress. Features include the Watsu Pool, soothing Vichy showers, elegant Hammams and giant rain showers beautifully fitted among the Spa's dark wood panel chambers. The purposely built Ayurvedic suite provides a wide range of time-tested treatments and therapies. Other facilities include an outdoor exercise area, yoga and tai chi classes, while the herbal garden produces organic herbs for use in treatments and as fresh ingredients in meals. Tel: +66 53 888 888, www.mandarinoriental.com/chiangmai, Email: mocnx-reservations@mohg.com
Offering all the staples of a modern-day holistic centre, and then some, V Integrated Wellness (VIW) encourages you to live a life with a sense of purpose, cultivate your life force or chi and remain in tune with your spirit, nature and the community. The core of VIW's programme is inspired by the 'Tree of Life' - an ancient metaphor for interconnectedness between all life elements and a road map to help you explore all aspects of your inner and outer self as you follow the spiritual path to wholeness.
Located at The Andaman, a Luxury Collection Resort in a foliage-shrouded bay of this Malaysian island, VIW offers five-day, wellness packages which target particular areas such as detox, anti-aging, deep relaxation, vitality and soul connection. Internationally recognised gurus lead these retreats. For instance, the detox retreat is overlooked by Nepali-born Gajurel who counts musical icon Sting as one of his many high-profile clients. His retreats include a holistic lifestyle assessment and a digestive cleanse routine which includes daily dry body brushing and coffee enema. Yoga is also a fundamental element of the regimen. You start and end your day with a session - sometimes using the beach as a platform. The positions assumed are focused on enhancing your detoxification process, stimulating the intestines or lymphatic system to aid elimination of waste products from
the body.
On the resort's fourth floor sits V Fitness, a 400-square-metre fitness facility offering a slew of activities such as spinning, abs express, fit ball workout, resistance tubing, foam roller workout and glide and burn. If you're looking to soak up some fresh air, turn up for a sunrise or sunset guided nature walk where you can get up close and personal with Langkawi's wildlife.
