The Italian school of life helped me renew my troubled mind

Until now, I have never thought that there is anything other than my body to detoxify. I consider my lifestyle very good. Busy, yes, depends on a lifelong addiction to work and the ability to thrive on “good stress”. I could eat less processed food and probably drink more, but I’m mostly here to try to gradually change the weight, not a mental mess.

However, the treatment offered at this luxurious spa hotel in the Dolomites aims to increase your “vitality index” – to rejuvenate the body, detoxify it and restore energy – and keep it healthy. There is also a mental aspect. Different programs can be followed, depending on your main goals, which are all listed in your folder – your Bible during your stay – there. every meeting, and your progress, is carefully recorded.

A hotel in a large park in Merano, northern Italy, is not the first place you would expect to find practitioners of traditional Chinese medicine. But for more than 20 years, this retreat has compared them to Western medical professionals, supported by a quiet, focused army of nutritionists and masseurs in white cotton and Crocs. It also combines all the ingredients of a luxury hotel stay – a beautiful, non-medical setting in a grand hotel, great food, music and culture – with high-class, appealing airline services on the side. My little vacation is different from the “wrap me” style of many other medi-spas.

Plans are now more accessible. Last year, SkyAlps launched direct flights between Bolzano’s regional airport, a 30-minute drive to the south, and London (from £310 return; skyalps.com). And now, unlike the traditional seven-day detox programs, Palace Merano has introduced short packages of only two nights, which is a surprise for American travelers who lack annual vacations but who seduced by its location, and visitors from the Middle East come. for a long week.

I was here for five nights, which seemed like a lot of time away from work, family and other animals, but when I arrived it didn’t seem like long enough.

Inside this magnificent palace, the air of luxury is gone – the rooms are spacious and luxurious, but they are old and, no doubt, simple, could do with a refreshing style. , new pillows and technological improvements. That said, at least turning the lights on and off is easy.

However, the spa was renovated in 2023 and has a futuristic feel – all white and white with an inspiring medical finish. In an effort to attract new health-conscious customers, it has also added a year-round whirlpool to the outdoor pool area and offers cryotherapy. It has an in-house laboratory, which means all test results – blood, urine, biometrics – are available within hours, not days.

According to traditional Chinese medicine, the energy flowing through the universe has five essential, eternal qualities, known as the elements: wood, fire, earth, metal and water. Each has its own characteristics, and each of us has something, which is what Palace Merano’s bespoke programs are based on. Naturopath Francesca Weber, all non-professional Italian with compassion and pragmatic, evaluates the structure of each patient, the structure, the structure of bones and the structure of energy through diagnostic analysis and electronic analysis of meridians. “My body is long” (short legs), “strong energy” (quick-tempered) and “tendency to collect fat on the side of the thigh” (no translation needed), as well as other tendencies – different aspects of health, they identified me as “wood”, or “green”. For my program, this means a morning ritual of aromatherapy baths, mud wraps to detoxify, hydrotherapy in the form of a ten-minute warm water bath, followed by a cold blast and massage. detoxification. courage. Guests are assigned the same masseur every day so they can work with your body’s changing needs. It’s my favorite part of the day.

Now there is a constant supply of prescribed treatments. In five days, I do a situational assessment. It turns out – after pacing back and forth in the room in my knickers, probably the lowest living space – that I’m on a wonk. Acupuncture, ozone replacement therapy (a treatment that connects to drops and delivers ozone gas to the body through drops to increase oxygen levels and strengthen the immune system – more relaxing than it sounds) and vitamin infusions combine to cleanse my poor. the body of the damage done by life – and my mind of the endless white noise of the day. I got a migraine on the second night of my stay and was sent another medicine but it seems to work in a capsule. And, thanks, a good migraine! It is a sign that I am successfully detoxifying. Maybe it’s a physical side effect of mental detoxification as well.

If you think this sounds woo-woo, well done. But there is something encouraging about its 70 percent returning guests. Most of them are social women who don’t expect (don’t eat) lunch, but also, unusually, there are couples and groups of friends too.

On my visit, the pre-fix, conservatory-like dining room was airless, but the addition of live music most nights – the best pianist or harpist in history – made up for it. that there may be a pleasant sound in the air. Combined with lots of food art and accompanying silver service, it makes you want to dress up for dinner. By this, I mean wearing something other than your outfit. Expensive parkas are the unspoken nightwear – a designer trainer here, a cashmere joggers there.

You eat well as part of the Recovery Process. The French writer François de la Rochefoucauld once said: “Eating is a necessity, but eating wisely is knowledge.” Nutritionist Claudia Arganini quotes him every week in her evening lectures. He also says to think before you eat: “This food will become part of me.” That’s the takeaway from my trip. The staff, including Arganini, is the program’s advertising. Many are local Italians, bursting with good looks, energy and a passion for the Mediterranean food they grew up with.

Despite the few calories, there are three meals a day – fruit at breakfast, three lunches and two dinners. Seasonal dishes, beautifully presented are exceptional, except for my first day, which seemed to be the day of spring cabbage. Three meals make you feel fuller than you are, and the order of the dishes is important: fruits to activate the digestive process, then salad to promote mastication, which prevents fast eating for a large course, so you generally eat less but you feel it. be more satisfied.

During the 15 meals there was only one cooking step – a pumpkin and sweet potato soup that tasted like dishwater no matter what spices I added to it. However, I often wanted to lick the plate, especially after the tapioca pearls with green apples and poppy. One night a roast sole was brought.

There are many things to tempt you out of the Royal Palace, and into the tall pine mountains that surround the narrow valley. In winter, it’s a walk along the River Passer and a furnace around the beautiful shopping streets of Merano. And in the summer, the hiking and the gardens beckon. Although the Palace has a gym, indoor and outdoor swimming pools and a spa, the program favors relaxation and gentle exercise for detoxers: walking, yoga , meditation and breathing.

No one likes health, so I won’t burden you with my results. I will say that 3kg is the average for women to lose in a week and I was losing “toxicity” with technology (which is to retain more water) and not fat, but leaving behind as much as paper. the weight felt good. Most importantly, I made promises to myself – not, as is often the case after detox, to live on dust forever. Instead, my decisions focus on living more in the moment, trying to make time for stress every day (no matter how much I convince myself I’m enjoying it). I’m also trying to follow Revital’s diet plan, and have cut back on cheese and processed foods. And although I am far north of the four glasses of “good” wine that Arganini recommends for women as a maximum per week, drinking the best wine has been nothing but joy.

In the so-called school of life, everything came together for me like a jigsaw, which helps me understand the overall picture of my life. I leave with a bag of supplements. And now, Dr. Mascadri, I understand that I was there not only to improve the condition of my body, but also of my mind – and it is an education that I suspect will bring the greatest benefit .
Claire Irvin was a guest at the Palace Merano, with all five nights from £1,660pp. A four-day Detox for Health Program costs from £2,540pp, including treatment and meals.palace.it). Fly to Bolzano

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