Deplar Farm, a remote retreat in north Iceland, has teamed up with adventure specialists Eleven Life to offer a ‘boundary-pushing wellness programme’.

The underlying idea is that guests will test their physical and mental limits to come up with a series of personalised, small incremental lifestyle adjustments to help improve their overall health.

More than a holistic spa break, Eleven Life offers a thrilling menu of outdoor adventures – think adrenalin-pumping snow-mobile races, axe throwing and torch-free night walks under the Northern Lights. These are then complemented with a big dose of hygge in the form of yoga, spa therapies, sleep-inducing gong baths and Viking sauna sessions combining drumming, breathing techniques and hot and cold plunges to stimulate the immune system.

Just shy of the Arctic Circle, Deplar Farm is a prime example of the appeal of ‘polar tourism’ which we explore deeper on p52.

Spa therapies are combined with thrilling adventures

Retreat leader Christine Badoux

Affordable wellness resort Civana is running a women-only equine, writing and meditation retreat in November.

It’s teamed up with the nearby Tierra Madre Horse and Human Sanctuary to offer Equine Assisted Learning sessions where a horse’s reactions are used to provide an “honest insight… and a deeper understanding” of guests’ emotional wellbeing and improve their quality of life.

The event will be led by Christine Badoux, founder of Equine Experiential Coaching, and supplemented with meditation and journal writing in the presence of horses.

Badoux says: “As prey animals, horses live in the present moment, are guided by their intuition and senses and are masters of non-verbal communication.

“As you spend time with them, they not only teach these skills but they also help reveal your thoughts, feelings, history, belief systems and behavioural patterns.”

To find out more about equine therapy, read Spa Business, issue 1, 2019, p70.

Horses are used to tap into guests’ emotional wellbeing

The Devarana Spa at Dusit Thani Maldives has launched free self-care classes for guests to discover the healing benefits of its Thai massage and Thai stretching treatments and to learn the techniques for themselves.

Every Wednesday, therapists lead a 45-minute session on the spa’s Thai yoga massage which includes elements of yoga, meditation, acupressure and assisted stretching to relieve physical and emotional tension.

Every Saturday, classes are held on traditional Thai stretching postures based the ancient Rusie Dotton method, also known as the Hermit’s Body Twist. These exercises are designed to promote flexibility, improve circulation, reduce stress, and boost concentration.

Therapists teach guests Thai stretching and massage techniques

Robert Thurman, father of actress Uma Thurman and the first known westerner to be ordained as a Tibetan monk by the Dalai Lama, led a shamanic retreat at the Menla Tibetan destination spa and retreat near New York in October.

Shamans and Siddhas explored the historical encounters between Hinduism and Buddhism and offered a spiritual retreat, based on meditation, exposure to nature and a philosophical approach.

Thurman is a well-known Tibetan scholar and his wife Nena is managing director of Menla, which has its own Tibetan focused spa. Dewa Spa specialises in eastern treatments such as herbal baths and the kunye massage, a method derived from Tibetan medical texts using traditional Tibetan herbal oils such as sesame, juniper and sandalwood.

Thurman has been ordained as a Tibetan monk by the Dalai Lama

Spa consultant Peter Droessel created the concept

Spa consultant Peter Droessel has created a 24-hour wellness concept for Capella’s Breidenbacher Hof hotel in Düsseldorf, in partnership with Dior.

The concept, CitySpa Cocoon, offers tailored treatments in one of four noiseless, circular cocoon rooms designed to avoid overstimulation and create a relaxing atmosphere.

Droessel and his team of therapists will manage the spa and take reservations for treatments until 11pm. After this, guests contact a hotline, which connects to a Cocoon holistic therapist.

Droessel, who’s run major European spas such as those at Brenners Park and Bad Ragaz, says: “Guests will benefit from the 24-hour concept, especially if they’re travelling from different time zones.”

The spa focuses on Dior Homme System treatments and products because the hotel attracts many men on business travel. The signature treatment is a 2-hour full-body sleep ritual.

Other spas Dior has collaborated with include Es Saadi in Marrakech and Plaza Athénée in France.

Amatara Wellness Resort in Phuket has collaborated with Six Spac, a Singaporean self-awareness and mindfulness company, to run a six-day Mindfulness Silent Retreat next June.

The retreat will focus on practical and theoretical aspects of meditation, using body and breath awareness training, yoga, and gentle stretching and movement sessions. Limited communication will be permitted, however, the majority of the retreat, including mealtimes, will be conducted in silence.

There will also be the opportunity to try traditional Thai treatments and medicine at the 2,000sq m onsite spa. Overall, the goal is to support long-lasting cognitive, emotional and behavioural changes and to foster peace, awareness and greater clarity of mind.

The new €25m Longevity Health & Wellness Hotel in Alvor, Portugal has opened with a two-storey clinic offering medical treatments and spa and wellness interventions side by side.

The philosophy is to help people “live longer and live better” and it specialises in anti-inflammation treatments which can help with common chronic illnesses such as heart disease, stroke, arthritis, IBS and asthma.

In a signature Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy Session, guests breathe in pure oxygen in a hyperbaric chambers under pressure two to three times higher than normal atmosphere. Under these conditions, blood can carry more oxygen to help fight bacteria and to stimulate substances called growth factors and stem cells, which promote healing.

The specialist wellness facility opened in October

Signature treatments are powerful tools, says Ugrin

Hotel Monte Mulini, a boutique hotel and spa in Rovinj, Croatia, has partnered with spa consultancy, Illyria Wellness, to create two massage rituals inspired by the region’s rich tradition of wine-making and gin distillation.

Its wine rejuvenation ritual, for example, combines dry brushing with detoxifying massage techniques and products derived from grapes and cold-pressed grape seed oil.

Meanwhile, Gin & Tonic on the Rocks is a 90-minute ritual that uses volcanic hot stones and herbal poultices, incorporating native herbs like juniper, rosemary, sage and thyme.

Gregory Ugrin, director and co-owner of Illyria Wellness, believes storytelling and signature spa treatments are powerful devices often underutilised in the industry. He says: “We believe every spa and wellness centre can and should leverage truly bespoke spa services to advance the brand narrative, serve as ‘on-ramps’ for first-time service buyers, earn word-of-mouth buzz to get on the ‘bucket list’ of future travellers, and, ultimately, improve business KPIs in the spa.”

Hotel Monte Mulini sits in a region known for its wine and gin distilleries

Group spa director Eleftheria Karapiperaki

Three Myconian Collection hotels in Mykonos, Greece have introduced a quirky treatment for couples that’s designed to engage all the senses.

Using Kurland’s Salve-In-Terra table, the intimate 25-minute experience begins with couples choosing their own scented oil mixture and personal music styles. They then lie down on a heated bed as a warm clay and oil mixture is applied to their bodies and a fragrant steam fills the room. The sense of sight is enhanced with a light system fitted with Swarovski crystals.

The bed rotates and sways during the treatment and just before the end, the sides of the bed fold up like a clam, creating a brief moment of intimacy… before a warm tropical rain shower cleanses the skin and brings the guests back to reality.

“Most treatments take place in a static position, but this revolutionary approach utilises gentle rocking to boost relaxation, absorption of products, oxytocin release and therapeutic results,” says Eleftheria Karapiperaki, group director of Myconian’s seven spas. “Salve-In-Terra allows us to enhance our exceptional anti-ageing, purifying, anti-stress and radiance results like never before.”

The Myconian Collection prides itself on thalassotherapy treatments, which are included in the room price of the nine hotels. Guests move between several seawater pools, from those filled with lavender and aloe vera oils to a therapeutic pool, and finally a jet pool. This offering get guests into the spas, where they’re often tempted by other treatments – one reason the spas have an impressive 70 per cent capture rate.

Warm clay is applied to the body and the bed rotates and sways