High-end Maldivian resort operator Soneva has launched a ‘radically holistic’ wellness concept called Soneva Soul, which combines traditional remedies with intravenous vitamin drips and biomodulation therapies. Jenny Southan reports
Usually, wellness resorts and medical spas favour either nature-based or scientific and high-tech approaches to personal improvement but Soneva Soul is setting out to be radically holistic.
The website says that its treatment menu “unites two apparent opposites”. On the one hand it offers traditional healing therapies rooted in Ayurveda, traditional Chinese medicine, medicinal mushrooms and herbalism; while on the other, cutting-edge IV vitamin therapy, heart rate variability testing, PCP therapy, and “therapeutic biomodulation” sessions such as cryotherapy, hyperbaric oxygen therapy and ozone therapy.
Guided by the principle of “lifestyle evolution”, tailoring multi-disciplinary care plans to help guests “realise their utmost potential and achieve their long-term wellness goals”, Soneva Soul is the result of Soneva’s experience at the forefront of the luxury hospitality and wellbeing industry over the last 26 years. (Soneva’s first spa resort, Soneva Fushi, opened in 1995.)
Encompassing spas, an all-natural line of wellness and skincare products, and a global network of acclaimed wellness specialists, Soneva Soul will offer guests a “personalised, evidence-informed pathway to health, happiness and personal fulfilment”.Each Soneva Soul spa will have a permanent in-house team that includes an Ayurvedic doctor, traditional Chinese medicine practitioner, integrative medicine specialist and highly trained therapists.
Working in partnership with each guest, Soneva Soul’s wellness experts will co-curate a wellness journey that supports every aspect of their life, which Soneva terms the “Ten Key Elements of Wellness”.
These include exercise and movement; rest and recovery; eating well; mindful living; being in nature; self-care; relationships and community; work-life balance; spirituality; and posture and ergonomics.
Led by master fitness trainers and bodywork experts, the Soneva Soul Movement Programme balances functional gym-based fitness, with natural free movement techniques and experiential fitness, surrounded by nature – such as jungle gyms and deep-water aquatic fitness sessions.
Sonu Shivdasani, CEO and co-founder of Soneva, says: “Wellness permeates all that we do at Soneva: our sustainable, barefoot philosophy that reconnects our guests to the earth; our life-affirming natural locations; our delicious yet health-focused cuisine; and our life-changing guest experiences.
“Soneva Soul is the culmination of everything we have learned since we launched our spa at Soneva Fushi in 1995, the very first resort spa in the Maldives.
“Much like Soneva, at Soneva Soul we are pioneering an approach that combines apparent opposites to offer our guests a transformative and personalised wellbeing experience.”
Soneva Soul overview
Soneva Soul Resort Spas
Exceptional spa and wellness facilities built in harmony with their exquisite natural locations set the scene for life-changing wellness experiences.
Therapies and Treatments
From ancient healing rituals to cutting-edge diagnostics and biomodulation therapies, each treatment pathway is tailored to guests’ individual needs.
Movement Programme
A state-of-the-art gym is complemented by free movement programmes and experiential fitness that reconnects guests with the natural world.
Yoga and Mindfulness Programme
Led by highly experienced Yoga masters, one-on-one or group sessions reinforce the spiritual and physical connection between mind, body and soul.
Sleep Programme
Expert-developed, personalised sleep programmes are paired with a variety of take-home sleep aids, designed to create healthier long-term sleeping habits.
Wellness Specialists
Longer-term residencies from a global network of eminent specialists from across the wellness spectrum, from healing and spirituality to bodywork and fitness.
Skincare and Wellness Products
A core range of all-natural, organic and cruelty free skincare, inspired by Ayurvedic doshas, supplements, medicinal mushroom blends and wellness products.
Cuisine and Nutrition
Delicious, wholesome menus that support guests’ wellness goals, with an emphasis on plant-based cuisine and adaptogenic foods that rebalance and restore.
Where can I book a Soneva Soul experience?
There is a new Soneva Soul Island Spa at Soneva Jani (pictured) in the Maldives, where raised walkways wind among the trees. Complementing the existing over-water Spa at the Gathering, it includes open-air treatment rooms, consultation suites, therapeutic biomodulation rooms, a state-of-the-art gym and juice bar.
A yoga pavilion and meditation platform sit high above the tree line, offering 360-degree views across the turquoise private lagoon.
Soneva Soul Spas are also operational across Soneva’s other resorts: Soneva Fushi in the Maldives’ Baa Atoll and Soneva Kiri in Thailand. There will also be Soneva Soul resort wellness centre at Soneva Fushi.
In the longer term, Soneva will also “work with like-minded partners to launch one-of-a-kind wellness destinations across the world”.