Living Well

It’s time to let go of stress and truly pamper yourself with incredible retreats and treatments for pure relaxation.

WATER WONDER

With 10 treatment rooms and an impressively extensive range of spa treatments on offer, Millbrook Resort’s award-winning The Spa really is the perfect place to kick back and indulge in some serious pampering. And with a complimentary shuttle service from central Queenstown and Arrowtown, visiting the spa is incredibly easy. While there’s a wide array of tempting beauty and body treatments to pick from, if it’s a one-of-a-kind spa treatment that you’re looking for, The Spa at Millbrook Resort is one of only a handful of spas in New Zealand to offer the sensational Vichy Hydro Bliss treatment ($140 for 45 minutes). Touted by many as the ultimate spa experience, the amazing Vichy treatment features both water therapy and a full-body massage – which are performed simultaneously by your massage therapist. Your therapist will control the pattern, placement and temperature of the jets to achieve a blissful water massage. Not only will the treatment put you into relaxation mode, but it’s also great for circulation, skin hydration and restoring overall balance to your body. millbrook.co.nz/spa

ADVENTURE FOR THE SOUL Immerse yourself in a journey that will help you reconnect to what’s really important with this exciting New-Zealand-first wellness retreat.

A touch of the USA is coming to New Zealand this October, with one of the Southern Hemisphere’s most sustainable camping grounds, Camp Glenorchy, hosting its first Women’s Soulful Adventures in Paradise.

While it’s the first time that the retreat has been offered in New Zealand, Seattle native Debbi Brainerd – co-founder of the environmentally minded camp – has hosted the same retreat in the US many times before.

“The Women’s Soulful Adventures in Paradise was inspired by a workshop that I hosted in Seattle, where I brought Sarsha Hope from NZ and paired her with a nutritional therapist, Diane Rohrbach, whom I’d worked with in Seattle,” she explains. “These two women are very gifted in their respective fields of wellness and understanding the inner awareness that we all have, to help us connect with ourselves.”

Passionate yoga and mindfulness teacher Hope will lead the retreat. She will be joined by Rohrbach, as well as New Zealand’s own Debbie Crompton – who will talk about making delicious, healthy food – and Pat Wasley, who will focus on creative inspiration with Brainerd herself.

Brainerd believes that those who will benefit the most from the retreat are women who are looking to rest and recharge, and learn new ways to care for themselves while juggling a busy schedule. The delicate act of balancing a career, a family and personal wellbeing has become a challenge for many women, and as a result, we’re searching for ways to switch off from technology and the hustle and bustle so we can reconnect with what is really important in life. The Women’s Soulful Adventures in Paradise, which will run from 13-18 October, 2019, offers women a chance to push pause, explains Brainerd. “By joining a group of women who are focusing on giving themselves a gift of personal attention, you can leave technology behind in your external world and focus on your internal world, creating balance and long-term personal wellness,” she explains.

The modern-day ‘information overload’ that we are faced with on a daily basis often makes it hard to figure out fact from fiction when it comes to wellbeing – and especially when it comes to food. “Rohrbach is a gifted nutritional therapist and works to help people understand how to optimise brain function,” explains Brainerd. Lectures on the retreat will include topics such as the gut-brain connection, and foods to stimulate optimal thinking; healthy eating in a toxic environment; connecting eating with emotions; and balancing blood sugar for optimal weight.

Brainerd and her team have taken a totally holistic approach to wellbeing, and as well as a nutrition component, each day will include mindfulness, yoga and creativity.

“The great news about creativity is anyone can do it,” Brainerd says. She admits that she and Walsey – who will run the creative elements of the workshop – didn’t study art at university, but were exposed to creativity and the positive impact it has on the brain over many years. “I have had several brain surgeries and have used art therapy to bring myself back to my old self, and have also seen how it is like a meditation of sorts, and have learned how it can lead to a more positive state of mind,” Brainerd explains.

While the retreat itself will give guests the opportunity to push pause, Brainerd believes everyone will get something different out of their week away. “But the overall benefit for most women will be an increased personal energy, and a greater self-awareness of what they need to build on to retain a healthy body and mind,” she says. But what she really hopes her guests will take away is the sense of community.

“One of my favourite benefits from attending retreats like this is gaining new relationships with likeminded women, who we can become connected with in our future lives. And we know that building a strong community is now associated with creating stronger immune systems to help us deal with the stresses of everyday life.”

To find out more or book your spot on the very first Women’s Soulful Adventures in Paradise, simply head to theheadwaters.co.nz

YOGA RETREAT

After a successful launch in March, a second date has now been released for The Yoga Retreat at Gwinganna Lifestyle Retreat on Queensland’s Gold Coast. Designed to bring balance to your body and stillness to your mind as you immerse yourself in the ancient practice of yoga, The Yoga Retreat (from 8-11 December, 2019), is led by a team of passionate, experienced instructors. Mornings start with pranayama – breathing exercises – followed by a range of yoga classes. Each day includes asana practices such as iyengar, hatha and yin-based rituals, including restorative yoga and more. Then you can enjoy afternoons of rest on the beautiful 200-hectare Australian bushland retreat, and experience the stunning Spa Sanctuary. gwinganna.com

SLEEP EASY

Kamalaya Wellness Sanctuary & Holistic Spa, the multi-award-winning resort located on the Thai island of Koh Samui, has developed an innovative Foot Soak Ritual harnessing the deeply therapeutic and healing powers of Thai herbs. It includes a foot massage, which works on specific pressure points to activate the nerve reflexes, thereby stimulating all body organs and tissues to improve overall wellbeing. Guests can experience the relaxing Foot Soak Ritual as part of Kamalaya’s Sleep Enhancement Wellness Programme. This five-, seven-, or nine-night retreat re-establishes restful sleep through a combination of core treatments and therapies that draw from naturopathy, traditional Chinese medicine, massage therapy and mind-body balance. Some other treatments included in the programme incorporate Royal Ayurvedic massage, acupuncture, nutritional advice and yoga – as well as mentoring to deal with any lifestyle factors and personal issues that might be influencing an individual’s sleep patterns. kamalaya.com