How The New Soneva Soul Is Putting The Maldives On The Map For Wellness

Stretched throughout you, the myriad tones of blue are merely dazzling – turquoise, cyan and peacock all swirling into one countless expanse of ocean. However ‘blue’ is the very last thing you’re feeling right here – for, earlier than you’ve even been greeted by your spa host, you might be in an upbeat temper. The wood boardwalk, which takes you to the tree-top ‘village’ is sun-baked and sizzling, sizzling, sizzling in your naked toes – you discarded your flip flops a very long time in the past – so, you hop and skip, in gleeful, child-like trend, till you get to the shade.

Soneva Jani is discovered within the Maldives’ Noonu Atoll. It is likely one of the final resorts within the Maldives’ islands, which sit within the Indian Ocean like a string of pearls. It’s situated on the furthest reaches of the nation – head north and the following cease is India, north east and also you’ll attain Sri Lanka. It feels distant and otherworldly. It is distant and otherworldly.

Jutting out over the cobalt-kaleidoscopic waters, the brand new Soneva Soul Island Spa is the beating coronary heart of the resort. Discovered on the east of the island, this mini village is all about elevating your wellness expertise in additional methods than one. Bodily, you might be lifted up among the many timber by raised walkways, that are dotted with rustic-looking therapy huts; soulfully, you possibly can anticipate to have a wellbeing expertise which has been stretched to new ranges and leaves you feeling naturally ‘excessive’.

Providing deeper and extra complicated well being options than simply the facials and massages often present in tropical resorts, the idea of Soneva Soul is, in truth, the end result of 26 years in hospitality.

Again in 1995, when Sonu Shivdasani and his Swedish spouse Eva based their first Maldivian resort – Soneva Fushi, within the distant Baa Atoll UNESCO Biosphere Reserve – they have been already one step forward of the remainder of the hospitality world.

Not solely did the duo virtually invent the idea of ‘barefoot luxurious’ – visitors actually kick off their footwear on arrival (an thought which most resorts within the Maldives have now adopted) and are then taken care of by ‘barefoot butlers’ – however they have been additionally pioneers in accountable tourism. Their ethos of providing visitors the SLOW LIFE (Sustainable, Native, Natural, Wellness, Studying, Enjoyable, Experiences) was – and nonetheless is – woven by means of each facet of the resort.

When the second property – Soneva Jani – opened in 2016, a brief 15-minute sea-plane journey away from Fushi, it additionally adopted the identical ethos, this time honed to perfection. From the unforgettable experiences on provide to the stellar delicacies; from the intense marine conservation programme to the formation of the Soneva Basis, which funds a variety of worldwide initiatives which have a optimistic environmental, social and financial impression – Soneva is a grasp in providing an built-in, holistic and 360° expertise.

Soneva Soul is the most recent modern evolution, which is being rolled out at each properties. It faucets into the rising quest by travellers for clever and preventative wellness. The therapies and therapies on provide, due to this fact, have severe credentials behind every one, and mix the most recent in trendy science and drugs with hundreds of years’ data of historical therapeutic.

There’s no ‘one repair for all’ strategy right here. As a substitute, it’s personalised and multi-stranded – with visitors in a position to pattern from a smorgasbord of distinctive wellness choices. What’s extra, with each resorts present in idyllic, untouched settings, there’s no higher place to reach in case you are in want of a reset – whether or not it’s bodily or psychological.

“Wellness permeates all that we do at Soneva: our sustainable, barefoot philosophy that reconnects our visitors to the earth; our life-affirming pure areas; our scrumptious but health-focused delicacies; and our life-changing visitor experiences,” says Sonu Shivdasani. “Soneva Soul is the end result of every thing we’ve got discovered since we launched our spa at Soneva Fushi in 1995, the very first resort spa within the Maldives. Very similar to Soneva, at Soneva Soul we’re pioneering an strategy that mixes obvious opposites to supply our visitors a transformative and personalised wellbeing expertise.”

Personalised journeys begin with consultations with in-house and visiting consultants. The everlasting staff embody an Ayurvedic physician, Conventional Chinese language Drugs practitioner, integrative drugs physician in addition to extremely skilled therapists. After a complete session with a number of of the consultants (contemporary juice in hand from the tree-top juice bar), a full wellness journey is devised which helps each facet of your life. This consists of relaxation, restoration and regeneration in addition to cleansing, motion, and optimisation, following rules comparable to steadiness, conscious residing and self-care.

“In contrast to different resorts, our wellness programmes are usually not stand-alone from every thing else,” says Aurélie Denoueix, director of Soneva Soul. “Soneva is all about balancing thoughts, physique and soul, so wellness is just one thing that’s built-in inside your complete expertise. Whether or not it’s the natural or vegan eating, with substances sourced from our personal gardens, or the Ayurvedic tinctures you’ll find alongside the eggs at breakfast – every thing has been designed to be good for you. It’s why our visitors are made up of 70% return guests – there’s no the place else prefer it. What’s extra, we will tailor every thing relying on the place you might be in your individual private ‘journey’ – whether or not that’s eager to kick-start a more healthy way of life or heal following an sickness; enhance your health or just learn to loosen up higher.”

Whereas the Ayurvedic and Conventional Chinese language Drugs medical doctors faucet into historical knowledge and herbalism to curate a spectrum of therapies, Soneva Soul additionally champions cutting-edge expertise. On provide, due to this fact, are: coronary heart fee variability testing, platelet-rich plasma (PRP remedy), nutrient IV remedy, cryotherapy, ozone remedy and hyperbaric oxygen remedy. It’s like a tropical model of what you’d discover in probably the most superior spa in LA.

Quickly to launch are all-encompassing retreats – the place visitors can keep and be ‘enveloped’ for weeks at a time. These will even see worldwide consultants arriving to showcase their specialisms. In the meantime, bringing a brand new dimension to health, the Soneva Soul Motion Programme champions pure free motion methods and experiential health surrounded by nature – comparable to jungle gyms and deep-water aquatic health classes. Whereas yoga, Pranayama respiratory and meditation reinforce the hyperlink between thoughts, physique and soul, with resident yoga masters and famend visiting consultants.

You possibly can have therapies in rooms that are open to the Pacific Ocean breeze, overlooking the lagoon, or inside little, conventional spa huts. Lined with recycled rubber tiles, they vaguely resemble hornets’ nests. However, step inside and, as a substitute of being stung, you might be immediately soothed. The rounded, naked cream plaster partitions are cosseting and womb-like. The white enshrined mattress is like an altar to pampering.

For many who have travelled a protracted option to get right here, the sleep programme is an efficient place to begin. Scalp rituals with natural compresses; meditation, sound remedy and conventional Shirodhara – an Ayurvedic apply which sees oil dripped on to your brow –are all a part of the providing. Physique scans and pores and skin evaluation, culminating in a deeply stress-free Residing Magnificence Facial, by the German Alpine model Amala, may also be added on.

If Soneva Jani is immersed within the deep blue, then Soneva Fushi – with its jungle setting – is all in regards to the earth. Right here, the Soneva Soul providing feels extra intimate and primal, by some means.

Within the spa, hand-carved doorways open out to swimming pools of water, which you cross through stepping stones. Scent pods – you place your head in them and breathe in fragranced air, comparable to lemon or lavender – enhance your temper earlier than your therapy.

Right here, you possibly can have an Ayuvedic Abhanga therapeutic massage in a conventional Champa – or beachside hut. Because the therapist, soothes your physique with long-strokes, you possibly can hear the wind whisper within the palms, the waves lap and the native Koveli birds squawk to one another. It’s simply what nature meant.

Charges for Soneva Fushi begin from £1,000 per villa per night time based mostly on two folks sharing a one-bedroom Crusoe villa with pool. Charges at Soneva Jani begin from £1,339 per villa per night time based mostly on two folks sharing a one-bedroom water retreat. soneva.com