Give your body a holiday
If you’re looking for a total mind-body reset and a fun, relaxing vacation without giving up all the comforts and pleasures of life, then BodyHoliday in St Lucia is a pretty amazing choice
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BodyHoliday offers a simple but powerful promise to each and every one of its guests: Give us your body for a week, and we’ll give you back your mind. And boy does it deliver.
This sunny spot in dreamy St Lucia occupies its own secluded stretch of coast with a glorious sandy beach looking out over the turquoise waters of the Caribbean.
All the resort accommodation, facilities and restaurants arch around the shoreline and surrounding tropical gardens to give you spectacular daytime views and sunsets every night.
This idyllic setting — which takes your breath away every time you wake up or whip your iPhone out for a quick Instagram snap — is the backdrop to a carefully-curated and extensive programme of health and fitness activities.
Yes, there’s yoga every morning and early evening, plus breath-work sessions and meditation, but there’s so much more. BodyHoliday is a place where you can learn (all as part of your stay package) literally any new skill you want from sailing, scuba diving and windsurfing to golf, tennis or beach volleyball. You name it, they probably do it. Or, if you just want to lay by the pool, or go for a nice stroll, you can do that too — head to the meditation temple, not far past the golfing area, if you really want to unplug for some quiet time.
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Health pioneers
And they do it really well. Part of Sunswept Resorts, BodyHoliday is actually a bit of a pioneer, established as an overseas destination spa more than 30 years ago and renowned for its unique approach to health, fitness and general wellbeing.
All that experience shows in the extensive events programme that runs like clockwork every day, to the incredibly friendly, fun BodyHoliday team who will stop at nothing to make sure you have a great time during your stay.
Experiences at BodyHoliday are designed by guests with personalisation taken to another level. It can be a haven of serenity or a hive of activity, all with the same goal in mind – to change lives.
This is not a hardcore detox wellness retreat — unless you want it to be. You can live clean here (people come back year after year to do so) but the ethos is all about balance, so that means it’s okay to include some of life’s little luxuries too, like morning coffee or wine with dinner.
Some nights there are parties too, including a spectacular sunset cruise where the music and rum punch is arguably as memorable as the sunsets. It’s quite possible that no one blends health and hedonism as effortlessly and splendidly as BodyHoliday.
Wellness retreat
If you’re in search of a relaxed yoga and wellness holiday though, then this is a place where you will feel at home. At BodyHoliday, the range of activities and approaches on offer reflect the ebbs and flows of life, allowing for a real shift in perspective for people to incorporate into their lives back home.
You’ll find a balance and choice, from strict weight-loss diets to indulgent fine[1]dining, high intensity workouts with Olympic athletes to sleep-inducing Ayurvedic massages. The spa itself — which includes a dedicated Ayurveda pavilion — is one of the major attractions here, with daily treatments offered to all guests as part of their package.
Perched on top of a hill overlooking the resort, the 33-treatment room wellness centre combines knowledge from the west and wisdom from the east, offering everything from world-leading medically[1]endorsed preventative therapies, through to Ayurveda, beauty and pampering treatments.
The yoga offer is similarly varied and each year there is a dedicated yoga month if you’re looking for more of an immersion. This year, it runs from 2nd October to 27th October and headed by Finlay Wilson aka the Kilted Yogi from Scotland. The month-long programme of activities offers limitless lessons from sunrise to sunset including Hatha, Ashtanga, Shanti and Katti Yoga along with meditation classes. Unique massages, therapeutic treatments at the Wellness Centre and a special yogic food menu will also be served.
Needless to say, anywhere you take a yoga class here, the setting is something else, whether up on the hill, near to the spa area, or on the Hibiscus Deck right by the sea.
Clean eating
Whatever you choose to do (or not do!) here, you’ll be staying in first-class accommodation with a range of luxurious rooms, suites and private villas to pick from, all with amazing views and facilities.
The food here is pretty special as well, with a huge range of choice on offer at the various restaurants and cafes. That includes the vibrant and sophisticated Tao restaurant, offering cuisine with influences from both east and west, to the Wellness Cafe by the beach, ideal for health-conscious snacks and plant-based alternatives.
Set further back, tucked behind Coubaril Valley, is I-TAL restaurant (which stands for ‘Vital’ in the Rastafarian culture) with its organic garden, offering a plant-based dining experience with an emphasis on delivering maximum health and energy, as well as sublime taste.
There are plenty of choices for drinks before or after dinner as well, including The Piano Bar, with its notorious promise that it doesn’t close until the last guests leave for the night! The blue piano inside is pretty cool and once attracted the late Amy Winehouse, who used to visit here.
BodyHoliday is all things to all people. It can be a yoga retreat if that’s what you’re after, or it can be a sociable holiday for groups, couples and even solo travellers, a growing market the resort is keen to encourage more of. But it does it all so well that you can’t really go wrong. With daily spa treatments, plus the sunshine, clean salty air of the sea, and laidback Caribbean vibe, you’ll feel the uplift in body, mind and spirit almost straight away. It combines the pleasures of an active beach vacation with a nearly endless array of activities, body treatments and opportunities to explore, discover and gain insights that last a lifetime. Give your body to BodyHoliday for a week — and reclaim your mind!
Rates start from $385pp per night on all inclusive basis, including various fitness activities, a daily spa treatment, all meals (some dishes and the I-TAL conscious eating experience at a supplement), drinks including premium brand bar drinks and champagne by the glass, personal instruction and tuition available for all sports, motorised and non-motorised watersports, nightly entertainment.  Visit: bodyholiday.com or take a look on social media @thebodyholiday
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First published in November 2009, OM Yoga magazine has become the most popular yoga title in the UK. Available from all major supermarkets, independents and newsstands across the UK. Also available on all digital platforms.
