Healing Holidays is designing long-stay wellness retreats around the world for burnt-out professionals looking to rejuvenate themselves. Olivia Palamountain reports
The Covid pandemic has heightened fears and anxieties for many of people, which affects both our health and emotional happiness. As a result, the demand for soothing retreats and wellness experiences is soaring, says Healing Holidays, with immersive, extended stays a top priority.
Why? Travel in the age of Covid is a logistical nightmare – and is expected to stay that way for the foreseeable future. This means that it is likely people will take fewer trips, for longer periods away that offer depth of experience and value.
With wellness trips hoped to affect real and lasting change for people (something that is not always possible during a seven-night stay) many spas and retreats are now offering long-stay programmes to cater to this new breed of spa traveller.
Additionally, we are now well adjusted to WFA (working from anywhere), which combined with a focus on health, equals something of a “wellness workation” for the digital nomad generation.
Here are six long-stay wellness retreats from Healing Holidays to book around the world…
1. SEN WELLNESS SANCTUARY, SRI LANKA
28-day personalised programme from £2,850pp
Located on an unspoilt stretch of Sri Lankan coastline, Sen Wellness Sanctuary was founded by renowned Osteopath Sam Kankanamge. It offers a unique blend of self-empowering yoga practice and osteopathic healing designed to promote spiritual growth and physical health.
2. ABSOLUTE SANCTUARY, THAILAND
30-day Lifestyle Change programme from £5,269pp
Ideal for a wellness and fitness reboot, Absolute takes a holistic approach to health, delivering transformative results with long-lasting effects.
3. VIVAMAYR ALTAUSSEE, AUSTRIA
21-night Classic programme from £6,899pp
Situated on the shores of Lake Altaussee, this medical spa teaches the “Mayr cure”, an approach to wellbeing that is based on fostering good gut health .
28-night Detox programme from £13,425pp
This cutting-edge medical spa in Spaid is a results-driven haven offering macrobiotic dining, professional diagnostics, and detox and weight-loss programmes.
5. AYURVEDA PARKSCHLOSSCHEN, GERMANY
34-night Panchakarma from £14,375pp
Located in Germany’s Black Forest, this family-run retreat specialises in traditional Ayurvedic healing.
6. VANA, INDIA
28-night personalised programme from £6,349pp or 90-night personalised programme from £19,095pp
A stay at Vana can be life-changing, with objective-based programmes rooted in Western or Eastern medicine, or both. Expect yoga several times a day, as well as purging Ayurveda, Tibetan healing, Chinese medicine and Buddhist teachings. (Note that laptops are banned.)
Wellness workations
Globetrender has previously reported on how the pandemic has been a catalyst for digital nomadism, a trend which shows no signs of slowing, despite a percentage of workers returning to the office once they have received the Covid vaccine.
In Globetrender’s Travel Trend Forecast 2021, the trend for “Utopian Workations” is identified something that will shape the travel industry in the near future. This year, we will see more travel brands and destinations tailor their offerings to attract remote workers looking to escape their own four walls and experience somewhere new.
For digital nomads seeking to combine work and wellbeing, Balance Holidays is running a series of curated wellness workations that let digital nomads stay as long as they want at partner properties in Europe and the UK.
A booking platform for sustainable wellbeing retreats across the continent, Balance Holidays has pivoted its business model to cater for remote workers who want to be kinder to themselves.
Balance Holidays says: “People want to work in safe, peaceful, private locations that are naturally conducive to wellbeing. With abundant space to move around in nature during their free time. There is a strong need to combine wellbeing and work to preserve our mental health during these uncertain times.”