Why You Need To Reboot Your Body

Reboot. That’s what we do to our smartphone if it begins to lag or hang — we restart it. Not only does this erase the glitch, it improves the overall performance and speed, while significantly ramping up the battery life. Well, ditto for the human operating system. Daily wear and tear can lead to a series of glitches like hypertension, skin flare-ups, insomnia, Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS), chronic fatigue and anger outbursts, to name just a few. Our auto-reset feature, i.e. sleep function, doesn’t seem to be equipped to tackle the stress build-up from our modern digital lifestyles. We work hard, we play hard, we spend hard and we connect the hardest. The smartphone schedules our day; Twitter broadcasts our opinions across the planet; LinkedIn facilitates our career moves; Facebook suggests who we should choose as our friends; Instagram tells us what and where to eat, and essentially how to live our best life; Fitbit decides when we can put our feet up and relax, then hands things over to Netflix, which decides our entertainment; and whatever’s left is handled by the very able Alexa, or one of her equally efficient AI cousins. Everything seems sorted. Yet, we might wake up with discontent churning in our bellies, for no obvious reason. We’ve just landed that promotion we’ve been slaving for, our bodies have never looked better, and our relationships seem pretty on point. So, why the unease?

It’s simple. We’ve got so used to e-alerts from all of our devices that we’ve forgotten how to pick up any signals that are unaccompanied by a ring or a beep. Our body is constantly communicating with us; either via physical symptoms like hunger, perspiration and allergic reactions or through emotional indicators like joy, anger, stress or depression. Most of our responses today are automated, rather than natural responses to what our body is telling us. We mindlessly continue with what we’re used to, whether it’s our gym workout or our diet regimen — maybe because we’ve become dependent on machines to calibrate our wellness, and are deaf to the little pings from our very own bodies. Not happy with being ignored, the body eventually pulls out its trump card — pain. Why let things get that far when all we have to do is tune in, keep the communication channels open, and be responsive to the signs? Restlessness, inexplicable fatigue, or the gnawing pain in the stomach is probably telling you that your software is too outdated to handle the new bugs in your system. It’s time for a restart.

When searching for an upgrade, we are spoilt for choice right now. There are retreats in the hills, by the sea, in the forest — away from the noise and stress of la vie quotidienne — where one can reconnect to mother nature, the main power source.

If you look at any of the world’s leading wellness havens, they all have one thing in common. A philosophy that’s steeped in holistic healing — a programme that addresses wellness from a physical, mental, emotional and, often, a spiritual perspective. In India, yoga, naturopathy and Ayurveda are the life force of the flourishing wellness industry, offering us a slew of excellent local options. From the regal Ananda in the Himalayas to the luxurious Vana nestling in the foothills, Bengaluru’s Soukya International Holistic Health Centre, which carries a personal endorsement from Prince Charles no less, to the stunning new Pema Wellness in Vizag which is helping our local celebrities to get their zen on. Not to mention Kerala’s lush Neeleshwar Hermitage or The Beach House Goa. The wellness menu in each of these is uniquely curated to detox, destress and rejuvenate. Massage and scrub treatments that cleanse, relax and restore the body, a dietary purge that cleanses the build-up inside, yoga and physical therapies that boost the blood circulation to the internal organs and, finally, meditation and psychotherapy or hypnotherapy to help the mind shed its excess baggage.

Essentially, no matter where we choose to retreat to or which package we pick, what we can expect is to come back with a certain lightness of being, and the tools to live a more mindful life. So, ready to hit Ctr + Alt + Del yet?

International Wellness Retreats
Clinique La Prairie, Switzerland, www.laprairie.ch

Lefay Resort & Spa Lago di Garda, Italy, https://lagodigarda.lefayresorts.com/eng

Aro Hā Wellness Retreat, New Zealand, www.aro-ha.com

Sha Wellness Clinic, Spain, www.shawellnessclinic.com

The Retreat Costa Rica, www.theretreatcostarica.com

Como Shambhala Estate, Indonesia, www.comohotels.com/en/comoshambhalaestate

The Barai, Thailand, www.thebarai.com

Macdonald Monchique Resort & Spa, Portugal, www.monchiqueresort.com

Mii amo, USA, www.miiamo.com

Kamalaya Koh Samui, Thailand, www.kamalaya.com