I was so busy on Day 3 (www.miravalresort.com) that I didn’t write to tell you more about my amazing journey. In fact, there was more I wanted to do so I decided to give myself one more night and I stayed totally engaged on Friday. As I mentioned, it takes about 36 hours to get to a point of relaxation and some of you may get there sooner, however many of us take a little longer.
Friday was a day that I’ll remember for quite some time and my goal, as always when I’m at Miraval, is to apply what I learned when I return home. What’s even more important is to focus on staying in the moment and when you go to Miraval and do one of the services that engages you to focus on breath and to really feel, well I can’t tell you how important that is because it can really stay with you. For instance, the Samadi Healing Ceremony that I mentioned in my last post is a good example (http://www.miravalresort.com/S……vityID=486). First of all, it’s in one of the new outdoor treatment rooms and the rooms are beautiful. We kept the door open for awhile to connect with nature and get some air. It was a little warmer than it had been, so it was so relaxing in this outdoor setting and then to have a breeze and the sounds of nature - well, just perfect. The Samadi Healing encompasses acupuncture, Native Shamanic drumming, reiki and reflexology. The service is reviewed before you get started so the idea with most sessions like this is to set your intention and think about what you want to let go of or bring into your life. Again, I don’t want to get overly personal, so once I made the decision I carried that intention with me during the ceremony. The acupuncture was done at five points on each ear and the third eye (if you’re familiar with the chakras, you’ll know what this refers to), this is said to open your heart. I was so relaxed after this was done, the drumming and the chanting brought me a sense of peace and deep relaxation. It was a feeling of letting go. Dr. Tim performs this service and I was interested because of the session I had with him in May 2006 - Holographic Memory Resolution. To this day, that service has stayed with me. It has to do with assisting one to change their reaction to a memory. It doesn’t change the memory, just the reaction. If you’d like to know more about it and what I mean by it staying with me, please call or e-mail me (www.spa-vacation-experts.com). Back to Samadi Healing…for some people they may feel a loved one present or perhaps have a vision of someone or strong thought or memory. It’s transformational, and sometimes you don’t realize the benefits of a service right away, it could take a couple of days as it did for me. I was in such a relaxed state when it was over and as always I wanted it to go on just a little longer hoping and wanting to discover a little more and get to another level of total relaxation. I have a better sense of self, and I do feel different and change did happen. I don’t want to share everything because it is so different for everyone, we each have our own experience and it may be different for you.
After this session I chose to ‘just be’ for about 45 minutes because again, I wanted to do so many things on my last day. So after some journaling (reflecting on the Samadi Healing) I went to a cooking demo. If you’re a ‘foodie’ you’ll want to go to as many as you can. Friday’s demo was on butternut squash soup (a favorite) and it was fun watching chef demonstrating Miraval’s version while enjoying a healthy lunch.
Another session that I’d like to encourage you to do is the Changing your Metabolism lecture. Even if you know about metabolism, it really is a good refresher - so much information and vital to healthy living. Another highlight of my day was getting to meet Maggie Garbarini, a reknowned psychic and amazing woman. In her lecture, she discussed the meaning of psychic power and intuition, numerology, and about her life as a psychic and what her readings are and how they can help people. Part of her lecture was to give us an overview of our lives using numerology. Time was limited, however it was time spent wisely. Many guests of Miraval return just to see Maggie.
There was still one more activity left for me before returning home on Saturday. I didn’t want to leave without doing the Metabolic testing and body composition. It’s such an important test as it measures your metabolic resting rate, your lean body mass (pretty good), percentage of body fat (working on it) and cellular water levels (dehydrated, working on increasing water intake). All of this information is vital in achieving your personal weight and nutrition goals. I also found out that I do have a slow metabolism. I cook healthy meals, I thought I was eating enough (need to increase calories) and yet I returned with homework and I’m so glad I did this before I ventured home. At first, I didn’t want to know, the old ‘bury your head in the sand’ syndrome. As we all know, knowledge is power and now I have an important tool to continue on my path to total wellness. Since returning home, I’ve increased my water intake, increased my fruits and vegetables and am working at adding more exercise and rest. So, until next time, treat yourself well. Eat to nourish, exercise to feel good and rest - you deserve to be good to yourself. Miraval can help. (www.miravalresort.com)
Take a look:
Ageless Radiance (http://www.miravalresort.com/S……sting+rate)
Donna Mantone-Adinolfi is a writer who focuses on the Spa lifestyle, Spa travel, health & wellness, and nutrition. She advocates a philosophy of mindful well-being and devotes herself to educating others on ways to improve their physical and mental health through the columns she writes for Balance Magazine and Lifestyles 50+ Magazine as well as her daily life.