BalanceOctober2016 - 42

RETREAT SLEEP
TO

Ever thought of jumping on a plane in search
of some much-needed rest? Mauritius offers
seductive slumber-inducing therapies
Words by LEA NNE B R AC EY

T

hese days I'm in need of some
sleep. Not just six hours of
relatively OK shut-eye, but some
serious rest. Since becoming
a freelance writer, I go through phases
of waking in the night worrying about
some impending deadline, always around
3am, it seems. It's exhausting.
What I need is a place to get away to,
somewhere I can fully recharge and
get some restful sleep... but Mauritius
may seem like an extreme option.
Granted, it's a gruelling 11-hour flight,
but with the time difference being just
three hours, it's easy to adjust. So
why travel all this way to get a
good night's sleep? I'm here
to try the 'Sleep Retreat'
at the Shanti Maurice
Hotel, a peaceful
and relaxing villastyle 'resort' in the
relatively unspoilt
south of the island.
It sits on a beautiful
lagoon bay and,

42

with only 61 villas and junior suites, it's
totally quiet and private.

SNO OZ E-INDUCING
TREATM ENTS
The experience begins with a private
consultation in the villa-style Nira
Spa, carried out by an Ayurvedic doctor,
who asks you about yourself, from your
diet to personality traits.
I discovered my Ayurvedic 'Dosha', or
body/personality type, is a combination of
'Pitta' and 'Kapha'. This means I need to eat
less hot food, spices and red meat to help
bring my bodily inflammation down.
The doctor prescribed me a daily dose
of breathing exercises (Pranayama),
yoga and holistic treatments.
The Shirodhara Ayurvedic
treatment induced an 11-hour
sleep, something unheard of
for me even at a weekend. A
heady oil (with spicy peanut
notes) was lightly applied
to my body, before being
poured in a very slow stream

BALANCE October 2016

between
my brows, on
to my 'third eye'.
The sensation was
almost impossible to
detect, but the effect was
soporific and I felt a shift in my perceptual
consciousness. Next, covered in oil, I sat
in an invigorating steam room as the oils
penetrated into my skin before being
washed off with a natural scrub.
Another must is the Magnesium therapy,
a two-hour relaxing massage in which the
therapist grinds a magnesium capsule, to
aid muscle relaxation and improve sleep,
into oil before rubbing it onto your body.
A few hours later, I felt the drowsiest I
have ever been.

BREATHE WELL
Anil, my Hatha Yoga teacher, Reiki master
and Pranayama specialist, exuded a calm,
centred spirituality thanks to his years
of daily practice. The yoga class took
place in a large, incensed-filled tent in
the centre of the spa.



Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of BalanceOctober2016

BalanceOctober2016 - 1
BalanceOctober2016 - 2
BalanceOctober2016 - 3
BalanceOctober2016 - 4
BalanceOctober2016 - 5
BalanceOctober2016 - 6
BalanceOctober2016 - 7
BalanceOctober2016 - 8
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