IN THE BAG

COMO Shambhala Estate in Bali is hosting a five-day Pilates retreat with Amy Buck, Head of Pilates and Fitness at the Estate. The course will include daily Pilates classes that focus on restoring the body’s natural symmetry and strength, as well as one-on-one digital postural analysis sessions in which each guest will receive tailored advice to help correct musculoskeletal imbalances.

This retreat is a fully immersive wellness experience. Guests will be served COMO Shambhala Cuisine throughout their stay. Designed by expert nutritionists, this menu offers dishes that boost concentration and energy, and balance blood-sugar levels. Living enzymes are retained during preparation in order to cleanse the body from the inside out. There will also be plenty of time to appreciate the beauty of the lush jungle setting, with treks and excursions to the surrounding rice fields and temples.

This course will be running from October 19th to October 25th 2017. Prices for the retreat, including five days of Pilates and six nights of full board accommodation, will be US$5,584 per person or US$8,040 for two people sharing a double. For more information, please contact +62 361 972 448 or email res.CSestate@comohotels.com.

A FULL POSTURAL RESET AT COMO SHAMBHALA ESTATE

Andrea and I are very close. We both have a passion for teaching and for practicing yoga as a means to live healthy, inspired lives. We studied with many of the same teachers and so naturally gravitated towards a similar style. I’d say Andrea (being the middle child) is more nurturing than I am. I’m the youngest, and I tend to challenge people more. This works as a good balance for the retreats. Andrea’s also the visionary.

I tend to think of the bigger picture, whereas Christina is much more practical. She is also a straighttalker and keeps things on task, whereas I’m more relaxed.

During the retreats, one of us will teach the class, demonstrating a particular position or sequence, while the other will go around the room and offer adjustments and any individual help that a participant may need. In this way, people get very individualised attention. It also makes our retreats suitable for people at various stages in life – whether they’ve been practicing yoga for 30 years, are a complete beginner, seven months pregnant, or have just had a knee replacement.

With two of us in the room, one of us is always free to make those handson adjustments – physically helping participants to go

SISTERS ARE DOING IT FOR THEMSELVES IN CONVERSATION WITH THE CURRY SISTERS

Acupuncture is one of the oldest forms of healing in the world, for relieving pain, improving skin conditions, helping with asthma, fertility problems, headaches and insomnia. But whilst it originated in China, acupuncture has been a practice in Japan for more than 14 centuries, says Ayako Kato, one of two Japanese acupuncturists at COMO Metropolitan London; “What people don’t realise is that Japanese acupuncture is totally different from Chinese acupuncture,” says Kato; “The Japanese technique is also pain-free, which is why the popularity of Japanese acupuncture is growing so quickly.”

The smaller, finer needles, inserted with a guiding tube – now a standard in the acupuncture field, first developed in Japan in the seventeenth century – are very gentle. And while Chinese acupuncturists tend to manipulate the needles once inserted, this is something not practiced by their Japanese counterparts. “It’s a subtle difference, but with Chinese acupuncture, the patient must feel the qi flowing through their body, but with Japanese it is the practitioner who feels the qi. This is why Japanese acupuncture is seen as gentler and more relaxing.”

ACUPUNCTURE TURNING JAPANESE

To book a 60-minute session with COMO Metropolitan London’s Japanese acupuncturists, please contact met.lon@comoshambhala.com or call +44 20 7447 5750.

SUNDÃRI means ‘beautiful woman’ in Sanskrit. This distinctive collection of skincare products, blending modern science with ancient botanical wisdom, adheres to the Ayurvedic principles that health and wellness depend on a delicate balance between the mind, body, and spirit.

SUNDÃRI WHAT’S THE STORY?

The main ingredients in SUNDÃRI products – Neem, Aloe Vera, Gotu Kola and Amla – have been used for centuries for their medicinal, health and beauty benefits. Neem – pioneered in the western world by SUNDÃRI – is a medicinal oil with numerous health advantages, from anti-aging to antiseptic. Aloe Vera, containing over 20 different amino acids, has been used medicinally for over 3,000 years as a skin softener. Gotu Kola, an oil that stimulates collagen production, is believed to provide firming and anti-wrinkle benefits to the skin, as well as prevent cellulite from forming, while Amla, a fruit extract, contains one of the highest concentrations of Vitamin C found in nature.

At COMO Shambhala Retreats and Urban Escapes worldwide, SUNDÃRI products are used. For 2017, COMO Maalifushi and COMO Cocoa Island in the Maldives, and COMO Parrot Cay in the Turks and Caicos Islands, introduce three new SUNDÃRI treatments:

has been developed specifically to provide tone and firmness to slack areas of skin. The treatment starts with a nourishing oil application and Abhyanga back massage, followed by a full body enzyme scrub and firming, peptide-infused body mask to exfoliate and detoxify the skin. The treatment concludes with a vigorous contouring massage using Sacred Lotus lotion.

begins with an Indonesian massage. A body scrub with aromatic mixed spices is applied to the body to exfoliate the skin, followed by the application of cooling yoghurt and a relaxing bath. This treatment concludes with a soothing body lotion gently massaged into the skin.

offers face and body care designed to soothe excessive sun exposure. This treatment nourishes the skin while reducing heat and redness. Holistic ingredients such as Aloe Vera and Apricot Kernel Oil work to protect, heal and comfort damaged skin.

For more information on any of our SUNDÃRI treatments, please contact one of the COMO Shambhala Retreats or Urban Escapes.

Jody Shield holds monthly ‘LifeTonic’ sessions at COMO Metropolitan London, to cleanse minds, soothe souls and heal lives damaged by stress. It is a problem she knows well. She spent a decade working in advertising. “I was a square peg in a round hole”, Jody says. “After ten years in the industry, I needed time out. Quitting my job was the most empowering thing I’ve ever done.”

Booking a one-way ticket to South America, Jody began her soulsearching by living with an indigenous tribe in Peru. She also spent time learning from other healers around the globe. “I became absorbed in understanding mental, emotional and physical health,” she says.

In 2013, Jody returned to London and began work as an intuitive healer. Soon, LifeTonic was born. Her company offers group-based, threehour-long healing sessions, now held monthly at COMO Metropolitan London, which aim to unlock feelings of emotion and pain tied up in childhood memories, helping clients to deal with anxiety, depression, relationships, money and eating disorders.

“The only thing ever holding you back is yourself — your own fears and limiting beliefs,” Jody says. “Clear these away and nothing will stand in your way.”

Jody’s LifeTonic sessions are available monthly at COMO Metropolitan London. Jody’s book, ‘LifeTonic - A Modern Toolbox to Heal Your

Life and Soothe Your Soul’ is available from April 2017. For more information, please contact met.lon@comoshambhala.com or call +44 20 7447 5750.

Toby Maguire runs monthly stress-reduction and meditation workshops in COMO Metropolitan London’s White Room. He also works as a visiting specialist at London’s COMO Shambhala Urban Escape, offering one-on-one stress management consultations, utilising a combination of massage, acupuncture, life coaching, meditation and hypnotherapy, with clients including Olympic and Paralympic gold medal athletes, professional rugby and football players, and Hollywood actors.

Toby’s journey began in his early twenties, where he taught himself to meditate as a way of coping with his London lifestyle. In 1998, he moved to South East Asia, where he ended up living for the next 12 years, studying Thai Massage, Qigong and Reiki in Thailand, travelling to China and Malaysia to learn Tai’Chi and acupuncture, before returning to the West to work. “When I gave ‘Managing Stress’ talks every week, I was surprised to see how uneducated clients were about the impact of stress on the body and mind,” says Toby.

With this in mind, Toby developed a Corporate Wellness programme and in 2016, set up his company Living In Balance, with regular sessions taking place at COMO Metropolitan London.

“We don’t need to suffer with stress,” says Toby. “Our fate is in our hands, and if we have the knowledge to live skilfully – recognising the symptoms of stress – we can make positive and permanent changes to our lives.”

To attend one of Toby’s ‘Stress Free Success’ or ‘Meditation for Busy People’ sessions at COMO Metropolitan London, or for more information, please email met.lon@comoshambhala.com or call +44 20 7447 5750. One-on-one consultations are also available.

Dr Aashly studied physiotherapy, exercise therapy, acupuncture, yoga and naturopathy at the prestigious Rajeev Gandhi University of Health Sciences in Bangalore, India. He then continued his professional development as a medical consultant and acupuncturist at two respected Indian hospitals. Dr Aashly’s group and private yoga sessions emphasise traditional Hatha yoga, whilst also incorporating Iyengar posture and alignment techniques. By combining modern technology and science-based practices, Dr Aashly focuses on the prevention and reversal of chronic degenerative diseases, as well as stress management.

60-minute private yoga sessions, meditation sessions, pranayama sessions or ‘core connection’ sessions are available. Please contact maalifushi@comoshambhala.com or call +960 678 0008 for more details.