European spa retreats are drawing on the ancient healing tradition of Ayurveda (meaning the “science of life” in Sanskrit) to inform their wellness programmes. Originating in India around 5,000 years ago, Ayurveda focuses on the underlying belief that everything is connected and health and wellness relies on the body being balanced in order to avoid disease. Panchkarma is the detoxification process used to rid the body of harmful toxins through herbalised oils, body treatments like massage, steam therapy and enema therapy, among others.
Engel Ayurpura, Italy
“Relaaaax! Relaaaaaaaax!” intoned Dr Vaidya Swami Nath Mishra hypnotically. He was leading the nightly meditation, for which he suggested lying flat instead of getting backache sitting cross-legged. Then, in the consultation to diagnose my doshas – (elements impacting the body and mind), he said: “Everyone is stressed. Everyone does too much. So, have the Ayurvedic treatments. Eat the Ayurvedic meals. Perhaps a short walk. Otherwise, rest. Read. Do nothing. That is vital.” This sanctioned laziness was my idea of heaven. Besides daily yoga at 7.30am and 8.30am, there may have been a Finnish sauna, a simple arts room with paper and pastels, a small library (with most books in German) and weekly cooking classes if I liked, but, otherwise, there was little but the view and a crackling fire to distract me. I visited in winter, when snowfall turned this new glass-walled 15-room mountain spa high in Italy’s Dolomites into something enchanted. The underlit outdoor pool glowed a ghostly turquoise and, across the valley, the densely forested mountainside brooded. Treatment schedules typically occupied an undemanding 90 minutes a day and, with the delicious vegetarian supper starting at 6.30pm, I could be in bed by 8pm. My favourite therapy was the marma treatment: a massage that stimulated energy points. But my biggest Ayurveda inspiration was Engel Ayurpura’s founder, Carmen Kohler – with her perfect skin and hair. I couldn’t believe she was 56 (no tweaks, she swore, but a routine that includes daily -early-morning walks). Fifteen years ago, with her cholesterol ominously high, she underwent a -panchakarma detox at Somatheeram in Kerala, which cured her. She’s just hired Dr Parth, a practitioner from that clinic, to focus on how Ayurveda can transform mental health. Watch this space. – Adriaane Pielou
Healing Holidays can arrange a five-night Ayurveda Fountain of Youth programme from $2,876 per person, including transfers and accommodation; healingholidays.com/condenast
Ayurveda Resort Mandira, Austria
Having always headed to India for panchakarma, it was a surprise to find effective Ayurvedic-style detox in Bad Waltersdorf, a tiny thermal spa hamlet 90 minutes drive from Vienna. Breathing in the meadow-sweet air on the terrace of my chalet, with its amethyst-crystal-themed decor, I was already decompressing. My 60-minute consultation with the medical Ayurveda specialist and owner, Christina Mauracher, included diagnostic pulse reading and a bioresonance scan, which snapshots the organs. She advised a gentle detox. Mauracher’s approach is broadly traditional, but modern wellness is woven into yogic wisdom by a crack team of Indian and European Ayurvedic and holistic specialists. Jürgen Lassinger offered a wizard-like blend of osteo release and Indian marma moves that melted my frozen shoulder. Dr Alexandra Koller made IV infusions painless, as I lounged in the peaceful Ganesha’s Garden, wearing trippy colour-therapy glasses while listening to a mantra by Ayurvedic therapist Sebastian Anish, whose live Vedic chants infused stillness into his massages and yoga sessions. Even Dr Akhil Balachandran’s nasal oil baths were peaceful. Detox dining wasn’t too spartan: there are guests who don’t delve into Ayurveda. Most days I breakfasted on spelt porridge dotted with dates, rose petals, cinnamon and local honey. Golden kitchari and coconut pudding were nectar after a purge day of rice soup. Braving the mixed naked sauna – in a low-lit labyrinth of heat, salt, cool, steam and thermal pools – raised my body confidence. Private shamanic meditations with a visiting practitioner, the agelessly glowing actress Gabrielle Scharnitzky, lightened my emotional baggage, and Malini Häuslmeier, a psychotherapist and Ayurvedic doctor, gave me a new, quasi-cosmic perspective on nutrition. I left with my Agni (metabolic health) reignited after only six days – and with no jet lag to contend with.