If there's one thing 2020 -- and the first weeks of 2021 -- have taught us, it's the need for resilience. But that doesn't mean we couldn't all use a little help to get through.
So as travelers begin to venture back out in the world, wellness-focused resorts are increasingly developing programs to help them deal with the fallout.
Last week, Rosewood Hotels & Resorts announced a new Journey to Resilience series of multiday wellness programs to help guests recover and adapt to the stresses the past year has wrought.
And BodyHoliday St. Lucia unveiled four programs to address the fallout from the Covid-19 pandemic, be it anxiety and stress from the lockdown, relationship issues, work fatigue or physical effects of the virus.
"Consciously and unconsciously, resilience is becoming more important in our day-to-day lives, especially due to the global pandemic," said Niamh O'Connell, group vice president of wellness and brand experience at the Rosewood Hotel Group. "Each Journey to Resilience retreat is designed to assist guests in recognizing areas of their lives they'd like to restructure or enhance, providing the tools and support they need to make these changes. Whether through physical therapies or authentic healing treatments for the mind and emotions, this process enables individuals to adopt an enhanced and more resilient lifestyle, resulting in a complete sense of self-acceptance."
Building on Rosewood's "A Sense of Place" philosophy, the holistic retreats being offered at 14 of the luxury properties will incorporate local wellness practices and traditions as well as the resorts' natural surroundings.
The two-to-four-night programs are designed, the company said, to enhance physical and mental balance by focusing on four main behavioral elements to resilience: positivism, purpose, resourcefulness and compassion.
In California, for instance, Rosewood Miramar Beach has partnered with Stacy J. Shymansky, founder and CEO of Medicine Women Health Consulting, to offer a series of alternative healing treatments, including sleep rejuvenation programs, aromatherapy sessions and CBD massages.
Rosewood Mayakoba's program focuses on boosting immunity with ancient and revitalizing practices from Mexico's Riviera Maya. Guests will begin with a personal meeting with visiting ayurveda and aromatherapy clinician David Seymour to design a custom program. Therapies include a lymphatic drainage massage using 11 essential oils to remove toxins from the body, a Prana Ritual focused on balancing emotion and energy and vibration therapy using sounds of nature to elevate consciousness and encourage full body meditation.
A yoga- and meditation-focused retreat is being offered at Las Ventanas al Paraiso, a Rosewood Resort in Los Cabos. The program is designed to balance mind and body through both physical and mental practices.
In the Caribbean, Rosewood Little Dix Bay offers grounding practices, including sunrise meditation at Virgin Gorda's famed white-sand Baths.
And Rosewood Bermuda is offering a Guide to Self-Discovery that includes sunrise "open heart emotional yoga" and a vagus nerve facial that targets the longest cranial nerve in the body to help regulate sleep and balance emotions.
The new wellness retreats are also offered at Asaya at the Rosewood Hong Kong; Rosewood Bangkok; Rosewood Castiglion del Bosco in Italy's Tuscany region; Rosewood Beijing, Rosewood Guangzhou and Rosewood Sanya in China; Hotel de Crillon, a Rosewood Hotel in Paris; Rosewood London; and Rosewood Phnom Penh in Cambodia.
BodyHoliday's retreats start at five days and include a full 360-degree wellness rehabilitation program focused on fitness, nutrition, restoration and relaxation; a Covid convalesce retreat for people recovering from mild cases of the virus; an immunity boosting program; and personalized retreats for burned-out corporate executives.
The programs were designed by the resort's newly appointed senior practitioner Alison Stone, who has a Ph.D in metaphysics, specializing in holistic approaches to well-being.