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These retreats make it easy to reset on the run.
Time, as they say, is money. If you can’t devote a week or more to recharging, these quick wellbeing programs will still do wonders—and are easy add-ons to longer trips in their respective regions.
Once written off as a stopover en route to Dubai, Doha has come into its own. There are attractions like the National Museum of Qatar (designed by Jean Nouvel); desert safaris to Khor Al Udayd, a turquoise inland sea; and in November Doha will take the global stage as host of soccer’s FIFA World Cup.
Lauded spa brand Chiva-Som just opened Zulal Wellness Resort, the Middle East’s largest retreat, on Qatar’s tip. The three-night Taste of Zulal gives you small hits of fitness, mind-body, and spa.
Consultation with your personal health and wellness adviser followed by the signature hamiz, a traditional Qatari massage that uses herb-infused oil and circular strokes to increase blood flow.
Morning Pilates followed by a detoxifying camel milk body mask and nutritional consult.
Learn exercises to help correct your slumped computer posture at a PT session, then head off-site to sandboard the nearby dunes.
This World Heritage spa town is surrounded by the Black Forest, lakes, and acres of pine-and-birch-covered hills. After fashion week, Victoria Beckham comes here to recharge on hiking trails like the challenging 9-mile Belchensteig Loop.
A three-day Immune Booster at Villa Stéphanie Spa & Wellbeing, the 5-floor, 15-room medi-spa annex of the town’s historic Brenners Park Hotel (part of the Oetker Collection), is just the thing before a flight home.
Medical consultation, blood test, and a multicourse vegetarian dinner at Fritz & Felix.
An oxygen inhalation session—after which your lungs will gather up to three times more oxygen on your hourlong trek in the Black Forest.
A workout with a personal trainer followed by an ozone therapy treatment and deep-tissue massage to keep inflammation at bay.
This bucolic wine region produces some of the best rieslings outside Europe. Have tastings at Dr. Konstantin Frank Winery and Fox Run Vineyards, dine at Michelin-starred chef Richard Reddington’s Redd, and explore the gorges of Watkins Glen State Park.
Inspired by the practice of metta meditation, the three-day Metta Retreat at the Inns of Aurora, a luxury boutique resort on Cayuga Lake, rids you of physical and emotional toxins. innsofaurora.com
Your lymphatic system is cleansed via an ayurvedic massage of warm oil and deep pressure, followed by a hydrotherapy circuit of sauna, steam, cold plunge, and contrast baths. At sunset head to the lake with paints and easels.
An a.m. reflexology session includes techniques to use back home. In the p.m. it’s a balancing treatment: You’re exfoliated head to toe with a dry brush, slathered with herbal oils, and cocooned in a warm blanket.
A class on movement for wellness is followed by a 2-hour detoxifying ritual: a sauna, an all-over handmade salt scrub, a clay body mask, and an herbal steam (to relax muscles and mind).
The city’s dynamic art scene includes the Zeitz MOCAA museum and the sculpture garden of the Norval Foundation. Cape Town is also a convenient jumping off point for safaris in Kruger National Park, day trips to the Constantia Winelands, and visits to the penguins around Cape Point, the tip of the continent.
Decompress with the Living Beauty Immersion, launching soon, at the new Future Found Sanctuary, a 9-bedroom retreat on seven acres in the foothills of Table Mountain.
A rasul spa treatment combining mineral-rich mud with heat and steam detoxifies the body, while yin yoga and a guided sleep meditation calm the mind.
An energy healing session, a midday botanical bath, and a post-hike sunset forest meditation guarantee relaxation.
Learn about biomimicry (the concept of nature-inspired innovation) on a morning mountain hike. Forest bathe, then join the closing tea ceremony.
Six Senses Shaharut opened just last summer, and its knockout spa offers three-day ayurvedic rejuvenation programs run by acclaimed holistic expert Dr. Sujeet Kumar Gupta.
An ayurvedic consultation will determine your dosha (body type). Still your mind with a 30-minute pranayama breathing workshop before an astronomer-led stargazing session.
A shirodhara treatment with warm oil melts away tension. Afterward, watch the sun melt into the desert as you flow through downward dog and warrior poses.
Mix your own botanicals at the spa’s Alchemy Bar for your udwarthanam experience. This ayurvedic massage uses powdered herbs to promote circulation.
DOCTOR’S ORDERS
Canyon Ranch Lenox, in Massachusetts, has upgraded its spa and launched a new 3-day “Optimal Health Pathway+.” After a thorough exam (EKG, pulmonary tests, and joint assessment), a team of sports scientists and nutritionists crafts a wellness game plan right for you. canyonranch.com
This story appears in the April 2022 issue of Town & Country. SUBSCRIBE NOW
