Chapter XXIII

In today’s world, we thrive on performance, competition and perfection, which leads to a surreptitious increase in stress. We are bogged down with pressures of day-to-day living and trying to create a balance between our work, personal and family life. For the millennials, detoxification is not about drinking green tea, an hour of strenuous Zumba or a gym workout. It is more about clearing the brain fog, improving daily fitness regimen and adding a natural, therapeutic approach in life. That is where wellness holidays come in. Wellness holidays are fitness and self-serving holidays intended to break your schedule, get you back on track and leave you feeling rejuvenated.

Difference between Medical and Wellness Tourism

Wellness tourism is associated with the pursuit of enhancing one’s personal well-being. It places you on a long-term schedule that reprioritises the essential aspects of life: food, sleep, exercise and connection with oneself. It is often confused with medical tourism which is specifically undertaken by the traveller when he has to undergo a treatment of a diagnosed illness or ailment. Wellness tourism solely focuses on travels that nourish and enhance our holistic health.

Wellness Tourism in India

According to the US-based non-profit Global Wellness Institute, wellness tourism is not merely restricted to destination and activities, rather it is an extension of the lifestyle of the traveller. In a country like ours, holistic health is not new. It has been in the lifestyle of its people for centuries.

India has been a true spiritual home where practices of Ayurveda, yoga, meditation, acupuncture, naturopathy, panchakarma and holistic health are being used since ancient times. These experiences are much sought after by wellness travellers all over the world and bring them to our wonderful country. Global yoga accounts for USD 80 billion and because of its popularity most hotels, resorts and wellness retreats include it in their wellness programme.

With Ayurveda as its USP, Kerala holds a vital place as a wellness tourist destination. The backwaters are one of the popular wellness retreats. The Kairali Ayurvedic village in Palakkad offers tailored Ayurveda and yoga treatments. Immersed in nature, the stunning location creates a serene and timeless space, where guests can meditate and relax in the lap of modern holistic luxury. Guests leave feeling rejuvenated to embrace their daily life again.

Serene surroundings and sound weather invites travellers from all over the world to throng at Rishikesh. The award-winning luxury spa resort – Ananda, situated at the Himalayan foothills integrates traditional Ayurveda, Yoga and Vedanta with food and fitness. The retreat commences with an Ayurvedic consultation to evaluate your dosha, which therein determines your treatments. Nutritional support and a bespoke wellness menu at the resort restore balance and harmonize energy.

My Wellness Experience At Jindal Naturecure

My personal experience involves my visit to the Jindal Naturecure Institute situated 20 km from Bengaluru city on Tumkur road, away from the cacophony of town life. The property is sprawled across 175 acres and offers all sorts of accommodation- luxury, premium and deluxe that exist in isolation while providing an immersive experience of an unadulterated nature all around. A typical day starts with a walk much before sunrise followed by a series of yoga asanas. There are various forms of therapies offered like naturopathy, physiotherapy, acupuncture, yoga and a healthy-diet oriented therapy. Talking on the cell phone is not allowed and one has to call it day by 10 pm.

It’s a lifestyle and detox naturopathy hospital that believes in toxic clean-up by teaching basic ethics of leading a stress-free life which needs to be followed throughout the year as toxins that get accumulated over the years cannot be flushed in a few days. Prince Charles, Nobel laureate Archbishop Desmond Tutu and Hollywood actor Emma Thompson are among some of the high profile international guests that the Jindal Nature Cure Institute hosts. This has made Bengaluru a destination for foreign visitors who are in search of relaxation, therapeutic care, advanced treatments and health resorts detoxification treatments.

Soaking In Wellness Experiences

Plenty of people take a pilgrimage to the Holy Land of Israel to float in the Dead Sea. They have indulged in ancient baths in Rome and natural hot springs across Asia. All around the world, more people are incorporating elements of health, prevention, self-actualisation, experience and mindfulness into their daily lives. The greatest aspect of wellness tourism is that you have a handful of choices available. Be it either the Grand Resort Bad Ragaz in Switzerland which is known for its thermal spring water-based therapies whose source was discovered 778 years ago or the Japanese inspired Shou Sugi Ban House in New York City which magazines call “a lavish modernist barn on the sea”, these healing homes facilitate to the resetting of old behaviours and rejuvenate you for the year.

Wellness tourism goes beyond daily spa and thermal therapies. When selecting a break, tourists now choose destinations that are one-stop shops for internal well-being and merrymaking. Guests nowadays indulge in a number of exciting family events aimed at bringing together multicultural communities to bond together through exclusive moments of fun and frolic.

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