SHA Wellness Clinic
WELLNESS JUNKIES HAVE A NEW ESCAPE NEAR THE SHORES OF THE MEDITERRANEAN IN SPAIN. SHA WELLNESS CLINIC FUSES HOLISTIC EASTERN PRACTISES AND THE LATEST IN WESTERN MEDICINE — AND LEAVES ZANETA CHENG FEELING RENEWED
Breathe in, breathe out,” I’m told, as I sit in a room surrounded by AEoor-to-ceiling windows and stare at lush green trees growing in a small garden outside. I’m also told to “empty my mind” and “set my intentions”. These are familiar mantras to those who seek peace and solitude or wish to recharge and recover# indeed, it’s doubtless all familiar to wellness junkies in general – or at least to the point when I head out for my next appointment with a licensed therapist, with whom I’ve booked three stress-management sessions – but not before a neuroscientist rigs me up to a brainwave scanner and measures my breathing against a counter to check anxiety and brain-energy levels.
All this is commonplace at SHA Wellness Clinic, a stark, white, multi-level spaceship of a complex hidden in the residential foothills of >alencia in Spain. The resort’s “360-degree method” of integrated medical and holistic wellness is familiar to guests who AEock to sign up for programmes that last anywhere from seven days to a month or more – which is why the resort also has residences for long-term stays. 8opular health programmes include Detox, Weight Loss, Stress Management, Sleep Recovery, Life Reset, Anti-Tobacco and Fitness.
SHA guests are asked to choose a programme in advance of their arrival, each a blend of -astern philosophy and cutting-edge Western science, and ranging from Transcranial Current Stimulation co-developed by Nasa and Harvard Medical School to acupuncture with the Chinese Traditional Medicine specialist to Tibetan-bowl sound massage to facials and deep-tissue massage.
Celebrities and socialites are prominent among the resort’s clientele – a supermodel sits beside me in the restaurant and, as I’m waiting for a consultation, one of the world’s most famous footballers saunters past. At lunch, an elderly couple – he a fisheries magnate and she a countess from her second marriage – tell me that oligarchs recovering from particularly rough kidnappings have been known to check in here.
After accumulating serious jetlag from countless AEights, I’ve chosen the Discovery programme, which is skewed towards sleep recovery and o ٺ ers guests the opportunity to sample a little from other, more focused, plans. My schedule at SHA Wellness Clinic reads like a school timetable. My days are all planned to the half hour in an app on my phone that I carry with me at all times.
7n my first day, I barely make it through the whirlwind of consultations, during which nurses, doctors, experts and nutritionists all enthusiastically recommend supplements, blood tests, sleep tests, stress tests, colonics and more. I choose the sleep test on the recommendation of the resort’s most renowned doctor of sleep, but I’m to hook the appliance up to myself the next evening when the device becomes free to see how much I snore and whether or not I have apnoea – medical tests sell like hot cakes here.
At the end of the day, I meet with my nutritionist, who’s the most important figure in any SHA stay. Founder
Alfredo Bataller 8arietti’s vision for his wellness clinic was not only to fuse -astern and Western practises but also to make use of food to balance the body. There are three meal plans at the resort, one of which is assigned by a nutritionist to each guest based on the latter’s body. As I’m looking to shed a few pounds, I optimistically opt for Biolight, the intermediate menu in which fish and vegetables form the bulk of the ingredients.
For those who like a good seafood risotto this is Spain, after all and don’t mind the calories, the SHA menu is a gourmet treat. The Kushi menu, on the other hand, is for those on a strict and restrictive diet. It’s health on a plate, with algae, raw vegetables and miso spearheading the dishes. Little salt is added, while oil, baked AEour, nuts, pasta and oats are all omitted. Mid-afternoon tea and snacks are also prescribed, though ca ٺ eine is strictly prohibited.
In between meals, I run from a personal-training class one morning to an aquatic tai chi class. After lunch, it’s a facial and an underwater massage, which involves using a high-intensity hose to spray water at my muscles. 8ostdinner are movie screenings, but there’s something about the place that makes me want to get a good night’s sleep. 8erhaps it’s the fact that, like the rest of the guests, I wander to most of my appointments – stress management, soundbowl therapy, Indiba therapy – in just the SHA robe.
What surprises and pleases me is that three days into the plan, the bloat is gone and I can actively feel the inner machinery working much more cheerfully and easily. I happily run out of my large living room on to my massive balcony overlooking the mountains in, what only a few days earlier, was a much-too-tight swimsuit, then sit in the jacuzzi, take in the sunset and wonder whether the key to a stress-free life is just simply to eat well and sleep well. Not to mention having a few doctors and therapists on hand, plus an underwater massage now and then, as well as the odd mindfulness class or three°