'It's Utopia for the wellness set.'
If you were to land at Spain's Alicante airport and head northeast on the black ribbon of highway bounded on both sides by brown, barren landscape, you'd eventually come upon L'Albir, a small, nondescript beach town that could exist anywhere else in Europe, dotted with souvenir shops and a few eateries with plastic tablecloths over thin fabric ones.
A striking series of white buildings ascend the cliff-like stairs. To my left: the portal to the complex. The silent glass doors slice open as I enter, feeling like a bumbling earthling who tripped into some pristine world order where pedestrian things like tennis shoes and undereye bags do not exist. Inside, between the glass walls, glossy floors, and dark, quiet hallways, facials,, and wellness tune-ups are taking place . But this is no "treat yourself" spa.
My breakfast outfit is a large piece of fabric and little else — most of Sha's clientele walk around in the spa's robe and slippers, only wearing real clothing at dinner, where it's required. I'm served fresh vegetable juice, miso soup with a slice of lemon, turmeric-and-cardamom oatmeal, a chocolate-and-almond roll, and a slice of tempeh.
The next few days are a cornucopia of hourly appointments: a private yoga session, a general health exam, a nutritional consultation, a neurocognitive assessment consultation, an acupuncture session, a deep-tissue massage, a "therapeutic recipes" cooking class. It's Utopia for the wellness set.
Each doctor grew serious as they asked me a battery of questions. I'm too young, they said, to be reporting the symptoms of fatigue that they were seeing. My massage therapist, a man from the Balkan peninsula with the physique of a bodybuilder, struggled to grapple with my jerky-like shoulders and back. Another doctor warned that if I didn't sleep more and stress less, I could expect serious health complications down the road.
Australia Latest News, Australia Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
Forget store traffic and bag count: Gauging retail performance in an online worldMarshal Cohen has religiously visited the same stores every holiday season since...
Read more »
5 Holiday Health and Wellness Hacks from Celebrity Trainer Eric FleishmanThe man behind some of the best bods in Hollywood is sharing his tips for surviving the holiday season.
Read more »
People Are Exposing Their Buttholes to the Sun for This New 'Wellness' Trend—and It's Not OKAccording to Instagram users, perineum sunning, or butthole sunning, is a new wellness trend.
Read more »
Kim Kardashian on Her Feud With Kourtney and Kylie Jenner and Travis Scott’s Relationship StatusWith Kourtney, the feud 'gets worse before it gets better.'
Read more »
Spanish car industry pushes pig poo powerIn one small town in Catalonia, pigs are being trialed as a way to fuel the future of mobility
Read more »