AYURVEDA TREATMENTS AT NIRAAMAYA RETREATS

"The Niraamaya spa offers a wide range of healing Ayurvedic treatments, based on 5,000 years of ancient Indian tradition, with qualified doctors on hand to consider guests' individual needs and to suggest the most beneficial treatments. Proceedings at the Niraamaya are unhurried and the staff attentive.

Set apart from the main hotel area, the spa is a tranquil space, shaded by swaying coconut palms. Among lush gardens and mellifluous fountains, the spa's eight treatment rooms are decorated in traditional Keralan style with modern touches here and there.

Alongside the traditional holistic therapies are a selection of signature treatments, drawing inspiration from both Asian and Western wellbeing to soothe away strains and stresses. The resort also offers all-encompassing wellness retreats lasting anywhere from two to 28 days, with comprehensive programmes including a personalised selection of healing or weight-loss therapies as well as yoga classes and detox menus.

I chose the 90-minute Spice Magic treatment, recommended as an aid to detoxification. It includes traditional massage using aromatic oils to activate lymph drainage and help channel toxins out of the system. Heated compresses are gradually placed on the body and used to deeply massage tight muscles and ease away tension from top to toe. It is a blissful journey to deep relaxation mixing the best of Indian and Western methodologies. On a hot day, the scent of the fragrant spices used within the herbal compresses, redolent of ginger, cardamom and cinnamon helps you breathe more deeply and begin to unwind almost instantaneously.

The treatment is designed to help guests attain the state of niraamaya, meaning freedom from ailments. You'll certainly feel aches and pains dissipate with the intense, deep strokes of the massage, soothing tight muscles and easing knotted shoulders. I'm not sure if I attained niraamaya, but I certainly felt more relaxed than I have in a long time, with loosened muscles and a sense of physical reinvigoration."

(ALICE REVEL, THE TELEGRAPH)