Which Spa Break Is Best: Full Detox or Soft Landing?
When you feel in need of a reset, a spa retreat can be a shortcut to bliss. The key question is, which sort of spa should you sign up with? Should you go hardcore for maximum effect, quitting coffee and sugar and rising before dawn every day? Or would you be better off taking the easy option – plenty of pampering and at day’s end a glass of wine?
There’s no one right answer: it depends on what you need. Two Tonic team members make their case for their preferred option.
Marina: Bring on the cold turkey
I am one of those people who only start to listen to their body when it nears breaking point. That was where I found myself a while ago after a whirlwind year of saying yes to everyone who needed my time. I had overloaded and so decided to step back and disappear for a few days.
I wanted to go somewhere where I had no option but to focus on my health. My research led me to the four-day Sugar, Stress, Sleep program at Queensland’s Gwinganna Lifestyle Retreat in the Gold Coast hinterland. The website sold me a structured world where I would be going cold turkey on personal technology, coffee and sugar, but loading up on yoga, hikes and organic vegetables. All of that was non-negotiable which was how I needed it; I knew that, given the choice, I would have spent my days drinking coffee and responding to emails. The only way that I was ever going to get some real downtime and allow myself to seriously relax was if it was enforced.
Gwinganna delivered. At 4.30 every morning, someone would knock on my door loudly and cheerily call, “Good morning, Marina!” I would then assemble in the dark with everyone else in the program and begin qi gong exercises on the lawn as the sun rose before our eyes. It was a spectacular way to start the day. From that point on the day was regimented into hour slots of various forms of physical activity, breakfast, more physical activity, lunch, spa time, health lectures, dinner, before a collapse into bed (hours earlier than usual, for me).
Unless you had dietary needs, breakfast, lunch and dinner was prescribed. There was no menu, which seemed to bother some, but not me. I was delighted to discover that all I had to do was turn up to be well-fed and watered throughout the day. I wanted to give my mind and body a break from my usual life and that included not having to make decisions wherever possible. The only real choice that I had to make was which spa treatments to choose, but I was able to make those decisions prior to arrival leaving almost nothing to decide once in the relaxation zone.
I felt incredible as I left for the airport at the end of the program: light and relaxed. I was ready to again charge the mountain, which was just as well because about 400 emails had accumulated in my inbox during my break.
I highly recommend it if you can allow yourself to truly let go of being in control. There are benefits to going with the flow, if only for four days at a time.
““Nothing is compulsory, everything is optional. You are provided with three delicious, nutritious meals a day. Beyond that, how your day unfolds is up to you.””
Ute: Easy does it
It was the yoga classes that sold me on Gaia Retreat & Spa. Well, no, that’s not quite true. I was already sold on Gaia, the spa retreat in the hills behind Byron Bay founded by, among others, Olivia Newton-John. But when I heard that it offers not one but two morning yoga classes – one for the early risers, one for those who like a sleep-in – I knew I was heading to the right place.
I’m actually an early riser but occasionally I enjoy the sensation of starting my day slowly, instead of getting up and running at it full tilt. Every so often I want to savour a more languid morning. Knowing that I could fit in a morning yoga session no matter how early I did, or didn’t, get showered and dressed was exactly what I wanted from my spa sojourn.
When I head to a spa, I want a break. I want to remove myself from the daily demands of my life – the deadlines, the to-do lists, the endless emails needing responses. I want to spend a few days finding my own rhythm, free from other people’s timelines.
That’s why I love the Gaia approach. Nothing is compulsory, everything is optional. You are provided with three delicious, nutritious meals a day. Beyond that, how your day unfolds is up to you.
You might opt for a Pilates lesson or a cooking demonstration, head to the gym for a workout or take a hike through the 24-acre property. Me, I spend a lot of time in the spa, letting the world-class therapists weave their magic. I also spend a surprising amount of time doing nothing at all – something that never happens in my normal life.
Gaia treats its guests like grown-ups who know what they need. Organic wine is available with dinner, if that’s what you want, but I notice that remarkably few people take advantage of it. Certainly I never feel the need for a glass. The coffee, now – that’s another story.
In fact, if the yoga classes hadn’t convinced me, the coffee – or rather, the fact that they serve it – would have. I have no desire to quit coffee, especially not while I’m on a break. I can’t imagine there is anything relaxing about withdrawal headaches.
My first visit to Gaia proved it’s the right speed for me. I’ve since been back, rejoicing in the fact that there are really only two commitments I need to make. Once I’ve decided how long I’m staying, and which treatments I want to book, I can go with whatever mood takes me – and that’s the most relaxing thing of all.
Words_ Marina Go + Ute Junker
Photos_ Gaia Retreat & Spa