Detox Tips For The New Year

A Happy, relaxing and healthy New Year to everyone!!! Have you also enjoyed the Christmas and New Years parties as much as we did? Then you probably feel the same as we do… But don´t worry we came across some very useful Detox tips to start the New Year healthy and clean! It is easy and effective!

Psychologically it’s the start of a fresh new year, and physically it follows a period of over-indulgence and, probably, an amount of unhealthy eating and drinking. So start the New Year by giving your body the chance to make the most of the opportunities ahead. Detoxing has many benefits – it can enhance your energy levels, aid weight loss, clear the skin and improve digestion. Ilona Wesle is a nutritionist and co-founder of MyDetoxDiet, and she suggests following these detox tips for seven days…

1) Avoid black tea, coffee and alcohol. Instead drink herbal tea, for example nettle is great at supporting the kidneys

2) Drink at least 1 litre of water per day – ideally more. Keep a bottle by your desk and sip regularly – you’ll be amazed how easy it is if you drink little and often.

3) Drink fresh juices, e.g. carrot, beetroot, apple and cucumber as they are fantastically nourishing and cleansing

4) Avoid processed foods e.g. ready meals, savory snacks and biscuits. Instead eat food in its natural state. Cook it by steaming, lightly boiling or poaching – this way you will keep most of the goodness in the food (and retain the full flavour)

5) Chose organic food in order to minimize your intake of toxic pesticides. Even if you can’t make every item organic, do the best you can – it will make a difference

6) Eat at least five portions of fruit and vegetables per day – ideally more. At lunchtime and for dinner, aim to cover at least 60% of your plate with vegetables and eat as much variety as possible

7) Reduce your consumption of animal products. Avoid dairy and replace milk with soya or nut milks. Lentils, beans, quinoa, seeds and nuts are good protein alternatives

8) And finally, you can support the Detox process by getting a good night’s sleep, trying Yoga or Pilates, treating yourself to a massage or infrared dome session (in order to sweat out the toxins) and exercising regularly

By looking after your body at the start of the year you will give yourself the best chance to stay healthy in the cold months ahead and enjoy life to the full. And if you feel you need a more intense detox under supervision, then we would be more than happy to help you finding a fantastic and highly effective detox holiday. Please have a look at our Detox Holidays

Spa Trends 2012

And this year again Spa Industry Expert Susie Ellis at Spa Finder has released the Spa Finder trend projection, this time for 2012! She forecasts global trends and ideas that will influence the spa and wellness industry in 2012. In this BLOG we tell you about those 10 Spa trends.

1. Healthy Feet Treatments - The delicate human foot contains 33 joints, 26 bones, and 126 muscles, ligaments, and nerves – which women regularly squeeze into high heels. Add the fact that the average person spends four hours a day on their feet, and it’s no wonder there is a national epidemic of foot problems like bunions, hammertoes, arthritis, and worse. Spa-goers can now take care of their troubled tootsies with a variety of treatments and classes.

2. Cold and Ice Are Hot - From saunas to steam rooms to hot stone massages, spas have traditionally turned up the heat. But while heat promotes relaxation and detoxification, the benefits of icy therapies – including better circulation and reduced inflammation of muscles and joints – are finally getting their due. Infrared saunas, which direct radiant heat into the body without heating the air, are becoming more widespread, and more extreme cold and hot/cold-contrast treatments are on the rise.

3. Wellness and Beauty Coaching - Health coach. Sleep coach. Eyebrow coach. Coaching is gathering steam at spas, and with good reason. While isolated treatments have their benefits, spas are in a unique position to help people make the kind of lifestyle changes that lead to long-term health and well-being. With the word “spa” increasingly evoking an entire lifestyle, it is only logical that coaching will become a fundamental part of the spa philosophy.

4. Online Wellness Gaming - Half a billion people worldwide play online games for at least an hour a day, and gaming’s addictive features – points, challenges, rewards, social interaction – are uniquely suited to making healthy lifestyle changes stick. Pioneers in the wellness gaming space include early entries like the meditation game Leela, from mind-body guru Deepak Chopra, and MindBloom’s Life Game, which rewards members for achieving well-being goals and has the backing of insurance giant Aetna.

5. Pairing Fine Dining and Spa-ing - While many hotels and resorts have long offered both very fine food and very fine spa, the two weren’t traditionally paired together as a package. That’s changing in a big way, as fine dining and spa-ing are being aggressively paired, packaged, curated, marketed, and savored together as never before. Creative culinary-plus-spa experiences have become a massive trend because they’re massively appealing: a logical, sensory, “lifestyle” combo for both pleasure seekers and true connoisseurs.

6. Vibration, Sound, Music, Light, and Color Therapies - Spas have long used sound and light as ambient accessories. Now, new scientific evidence revealing the physical and emotional benefits of frequencies and vibrations has inspired an explosion of approaches based on the idea that various systems in our bodies vibrate at different frequencies, and disruptions can affect our health.

Perhaps the most exciting aspect of the trend is an explosion of blended, multi-sensory “good vibrations” approaches, including new saunas, steam capsules, lounge chairs, massage tables, tubs, and experiential pods that weave light, color, sound, and music/rhythm together for sensory bliss.

7. The Glam Factor - The intensity, frequency, and sheer whimsicality with which people are now getting “glammed up” is exploding worldwide. The spa and beauty industry is working overtime to invent ways for beauty-seekers on a budget to more quickly, more cheaply, and more often change up their looks and hair with high-impact little beauty “fixes” and frills. “Blingy beauty” is hot – from funky and flashy manicures like those with Swarovski crystals or holograms, to creative hair flair: intricate braids, ornate feathers, ribbons, crystals, and colorful extensions.

8. Spa Evidence: Showing the Science Behind Spa - Will a massage boost immunity? Can time in a sauna cure cold symptoms? Does acupressure relieve lower back pain?  The answers to those questions can be found at SpaEvidence.com. Launched in 2011, the site is the web’s most comprehensive resource on the hard science behind popular spa and wellness therapies like massage, foot reflexology, aromatherapy, yoga, and meditation. It’s part of a growing trend toward holding alternative therapies up to scientific scrutiny – and the wealth of positive results has encouraged the medical community to adopt spa approaches, while providing an opportunity for the spa industry to link their menu of treatments to medical evidence.

9.  Spas Become a Family Affair - As more families travel with children to spas, the industry is evolving to accommodate the under-18 set – from opening kids-only spas to offering services focused on everything from childhood obesity to the development of lifelong wellness practices.

10. Spas Go for the “Wow” - Gone are the days of interchangeable spas with the same beige, Zen look. As seasoned spa-goers seek new experiences, spas are piling on the “wow” factor to differentiate themselves from the crowd.

There are wows for almost any budget. Big wows include celebrity partnerships or futuristic designs. Small wows include unexpected amenities a rocking massage table, which makes clients feel like they’re floating. Other spas have broken from the hushed, deadly-serious pack by lightening up, and a whole new species of “amusement park” spas are on the rise.

A touch of India in Mallorca!

Sorry, again a Blog about Ayuveda, but we just can´t help it; Ayurveda is HOT!  This from origin Indian philosophy is gaining popularity in our Western world. More and more people discover this ¨Science of life¨, because that is what Ayurveda means, Ayur stands for ¨Long Life¨ and Veda for ¨Science¨. Ayurveda has been used over 5000 years, making it the oldest health care system in the world!

In these hectic modern times we see an increasingly demand for Ayurveda.  This is due to the natural and proven effectiveness of Ayurveda. You can of travel all the way to India or Sri Lanka, but also in Spain there are more and more good places where you can find a complete Ayurveda cure or where you can go for just a single Ayurvedic treatment.

Simply said, Ayurveda is a holistic philosophy that helps us towards a healthier and more balanced lifestyle. In Ayurveda, each person is seen as an individual. It focuses on nutrition, lifestyle, treatments, yoga and herbal remedies that are all adapted to our individual needs.

Ayurveda says that the world consists of the five elements earth, water, fire, air and space, and these are all reflected in our body. The connections between these elements create 3 different  constitutions, which are called Doshas; Vata, Pitta and Kapha. In order to maintain our health, these Doshas should always be in balance.

Ayurveda considers each person as a unique blend of the three Doshas. If any of the Doshas shows out of balance, Ayurveda will make suggestions with reference to changing eating habits. As well there will be put together a specific treatment plan focused on getting the Doshas back in balance.

If you choose for an Ayurveda themed wellness holiday you can choose to go ¨All the Way¨ with an intensive Ayurveda cure including Ayurvedic Dosha determination, a personalized diet, yoga and treatments. But you can also just go for the wonderful treatments, because besides being very effective, they are also very relaxing and a real treat!

During Ayurveda treatments the therapists often use an abundance of hot oil. The Shirodhara treatment where during the duration of the treatment a stream of warm oil runs over the forehead is an excellent example. But also during the Abhyanga massage, often referred to as being the ¨Queen of all Oil massages¨,  the therapists use hot oil of the highest quality. It energizes and purifies the skin like no other massage!

Ayurveda and Spain seem to be two extremes, but in fact the two are a perfect match. The mild climate makes Spain a perfect destination for Ayurveda. You do not have to fly for 10 hours to find the same quality. The number of good Ayurveda places is growing rapidly in Spain!

For example, Mallorca, the island that is part of the Spanish Balearics is slowly developing as a true ¨Ayurveda island¨. The island is rich of some very good Ayurveda places, which we would like to explain briefly.

Ayurveda Finca Elefantorre  Who can better explain you about this thousands of years old Indian philosophy than the people from Sri Lanka. And that is exactly what they do at Elefantorre Ayurveda Finca. Here you will be looked after by a professional team from Sri Lanka and be pampered the authentic Ayurveda way. Here you come to go ¨All the way¨, for example for the Panchakarma Cure, which is Ayurveda’s primary purification and detoxification treatment, for which you need at least 2 weeks. More info

Sa Bassa Rotja Hotel Rural  Ayurveda in an old Mallorcan finca. Besides a lot of history and charm you’ll find a very professional Ayurveda Center where they are specialized in making people enthusiastic about Ayurveda. This is the perfect place for a relaxing holiday combined with an introduction to Ayurveda. More info

Es Ratxo Hotel & Spa  If you are looking for an Ayurvedic cure in a luxurious environment, Es Ratxo is a perfect option. An oasis of tranquility in a beautiful valley at the foot of the Tramuntana mountains.  Ayurveda treatments combined with yoga and delicious (Ayurvedic) food. Guided by a highly qualified Ayurveda doctor you can be sure you will get the best out of your Ayurveda experience! More info

Blau Porto Petro Beach Resort  A luxury 5 star Beach resort located in an idyllic spot right at the Mediterranean sea. The spa is run by an Ayurvedic doctor. Together with his team, they will make sure you enjoy the most fantastic Ayurvedic treatments. You can choose a single treatment, but you can also go for a more intensive six-day program, which includes Dosha determination. More info