Relax, I’m glowing all the way
JUST four days to achieve a state of total relaxation? I wouldn’t have believed it was possible until I visited a health spa with a difference. SHA Wellness Clinic is just a 40-minute drive from Alicante, close to the Sierra Helada mountain and minutes from a bay that’s home to the quiet towns of Altea and Albir.
It overlooks the valley, with stunning views in every direction and sunny climate throughout the year.
My suite is decorated in cool calm whites and greys with a huge and comfortable bed and a terrace with views that stretch down to the distant beach and across to the mountains.
The clinic’s philosophy fuses ancient Oriental techniques with the most up to date western medicine to rebalance the body, mind and spirit, offering guests a tailor-made daily programme of diet, exercise, classes and therapeutic treatments.
And key to this is the macrobiotic diet that the restaurant provides.
The food, which blends Mediterranean and Japanese traditions, is delicious, filling and so beautifully presented that it looks like art.
The focus is on cutting out meat and poultry, dairy, eggs, salt, sugar and refined processed food and increasing wholegrains, vegetables, beans and sea vegetables.
Food is just one element of the SHA experience. The centre offers a huge range of therapeutic and clinical treatments in their spacious Wellness Clinic.
The treatments I try out begin with the spa’s signature SHA aromatherapy massage, which is the perfect antidote to a 4am start and the after-effects of the journey.
The following day is my chance to experience more unusual forms of massage. The first is a detox treatment using the cupping system popularised by stars such as Gwyneth Paltrow and Jennifer Aniston.
It’s a strange sensation at first as the cups, which are attached to a machine providing suction, are applied to my back and followed by the therapist’s hands, pressing hard in their wake.
The next treatment is rather less relaxing but I’m told that it’s one of the best methods possible for targeting stubborn fat and cellulite.
The lipomassage machine uses its suction system and two rollers to give the skin and subcutaneous tissue a deep massage.
The following day begins with a brisk 8am walk along the beachfront in Altea before the heat of the day takes hold, followed by a session with a personal trainer.
The afternoon is rather more relaxing.
A deep-tissue massage is the ideal way to recover from the morning’s