Health retreats have historically been the domain of women, so, as the chat around menopause and perimenopause continues to grow louder, it’s not surprising the Menopause Retreat is fast becoming one of the hottest new wellness travel trends.
Some of the world’s top health spas are now offering specialised programs to support women navigating the physical and emotional challenges of this hugely transformative life change.
With around 7 million women currently in perimenopause or menopause in Australia, it’s great to see local retreats jumping on board.
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After riding my own peri-menopausal rollercoaster for years, I just don’t feel like myself anymore. (Supplied/Sami Lukis)
Gwinganna is offering a Women’s Empowerment Retreat. There’s a Rebalance Experience at Gaia and Elysia is promoting a Perimenopause Decoding Stay designed to “arm women with ‘personalised peri-data’ to reclaim this life stage and bring you back to yourself”.
And that’s the biggest drawcard, right there: the potential to reconnect with the old ‘you’.
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After riding my own peri-menopausal rollercoaster for years, I just don’t feel like myself anymore. HRT has my hot flushes mostly under control, but I’m still struggling with some of Peri’s other greatest hits … chronic sleep deprivation, brain fog, anxiety, random aches and pains and an overwhelming sense of exhaustion.
So when I was invited to experience the Menopause program at a health retreat once voted ‘Best Medical Wellness Resort in the World’, my hormones did a little happy dance – for the first time in a very long time.
The Farm at San Benito is 90 minutes outside Manila in The Philippines. (The Farm at San Benito)
It was once voted ‘Best Medical Wellness Resort in the World’. (Supplied/Sami Lukis)
Nestled in the mountains, 90 minutes outside of Manila in The Philippines, the 4-night program at The Farm at San Benito offered to “ease the transition of menopause and restore balance with natural therapies, detox techniques and psycho-emotional clearing.”
Exactly what me and my depleted estrogen needed. Even though I had no idea what ‘psycho-emotional clearing’ would involve.
However, I was surprised to receive a notification from The Farm a few weeks before my visit, advising that they no longer offered the Menopause program.
Instead, I’d been booked into the ‘Pure Body Reset’ program, with a focus on specific treatments to target hormonal imbalances. Not exactly what I signed up for, but thankfully, it still turned out to be the health reset I desperately needed.
I’d been booked into the ‘Pure Body Reset’ program. (Supplied/Sami Lukis)
First up, Day 1, was an appointment with ‘The Listening Doctor’. Dr Ron is basically a walking talking wellness encyclopaedia, who listens to your concerns and then decides which treatments you need.
“My hormones are completely out of whack”, I told him. “I feel physically and emotionally drained.”
We got off on the wrong foot, to be honest, when Dr Ron suggested many menopause symptoms are lifestyle-related.
“200 years ago, the symptoms of menopause weren’t as bad”, he claimed.
“How could you possibly know that?” I snapped back (feeling the familiar stirrings of my peri-irritability), “unless you were a middle-aged woman, 200 years ago?”
My treatments were designed to target hormonal imbalances (Supplied/Sami Lukis)
After a brief moment of awkwardness, Ron calmly explained the general stresses of modern day life affect our adrenal glands, which is where he believed much of the menopausal discomfort comes from.
When our adrenal glands are under stress, it can worsen symptoms like fatigue, anxiety, weight gain – and irritability. That’s where the Pure Body Reset could help, he explained, through a program of health optimisation.
“When you clean the body from within and give the nervous system a rest, it allows the body to gravitate towards healing,” he said.
Alongside the standard health retreat inclusions, like daily yoga, relaxing massages and nourishing food, Dr Ron recommended the following treatments to target the specific symptoms associated with my hormonal imbalance.
Reducing inflammation was key, apparently, because the decline in estrogen triggers inflammation throughout the body and that can be linked to all kinds of health issues.
Compacted malunggay and serpentina herbs were placed on my upper abdomen for a liver compress. (Supplied/Sami Lukis)LIVER COMPRESS
As the organ that helps regulate our hormones, a healthy functioning liver can make the transition during menopause a little easier.
For this treatment, a mound of compacted malunggay and serpentina herbs was placed on my upper abdomen for about 30 minutes. I didn’t feel a thing, during or after the treatment, so assuming the benefits may happen within.
KIDNEY CLEANSE
This is actually a full body scrub, but it’s called a Kidney Cleanse because of the skin’s ability to act like a second kidney and remove toxins. My entire body was covered in an activated charcoal scrub and I was wrapped up in cloth, like a mummy, for about 20 minutes. My skin was glowing after – hopefully that means the detox worked.
The Kidney cleanse was a full body scrub. (Supplied/Sami Lukis)COLON CLEANSING
This is The Farm’s speciality. It’s not a pleasant thing to talk (or write) about, but there can be so many potential positive benefits as a result of this treatment – improved digestion, reduced bloating, detoxification – and I was definitely colonic-curious.
The moment I met Nurse Cleo, I realised why people travel from all over the world to have colonics at The Farm.
“We’re going to have an intimate date”, Cleo said with a big, warm, welcoming smile, as she invited me into the treatment room. “Trust the process. It’ll be a new you!”
Cleo has been working here for 20 years, helping thousands of patients through this confronting, and let’s face it, often embarrassing treatment. She was supportive and empathetic and she just made the whole process feel – not weird.
We laughed the whole way through! When the “harvest” happened (yep, that’s what they call it), Cleo was literally cheering me on. I made it through the treatment successfully – with dignity intact. My stomach was also noticeably flatter.
My wonderful nurse Cleo. (Supplied/Sami Lukis)IV THERAPY
IV therapy is all the rage these days. I had the Vitamin C infusion, touted for its anti-oxidants and immunity boosting qualities. Again, proving the nurses here are world class, I didn’t even feel the needle when Nurse Christy inserted the IV.
TREE THERAPY
“Hug a tree”, Ron suggested. “It’s very grounding. And anti-inflammatory.”
I thought tree therapy sounded a bit naff to be honest, but I’m not ashamed to admit that yes, I hugged a tree, and I liked it!
The session was hosted by Spa Director Lem Senillo at the 200 year old sprawling Mango Tree, considered to be the energy vortex of the property.
“The tree is alive”, Lem explained. “When you touch it, you can feel a pulse.”
By connecting with the tree’s unique healing powers, I could release negativity and absorb positive energy. I could also ask the tree for guidance and make a wish. “But don’t be greedy” Lem warned.
I didn’t feel a pulse when I touched the trunk, but I still made a wish – just one! There was also some kind of gentle healing energy that drew me back to the mango tree, several times during my stay.
Yes I hugged the tree and visited it a few times during my stay. (Supplied/Sami Lukis)OLIGOSCAN
This was fascinating. The therapist scanned a ‘spectral photometry light’ over my hand, which was somehow able to measure the level of vitamins and minerals in my entire body and provide warnings about imbalances that could potentially lead to anything more sinister.
This treatment was non-invasive, the results were immediate, and it provided valuable information for me to follow up with my GP back home. I’m lacking in Chromium, apparently, which can lead to insulin resistance or diabetes.
BUSALIK CLEANSING
Another full body scrub to detoxify and reduce inflammation, using a mix of coconut oil and sea salt. The treatment was superb. It left my skin feeling soft and smooth and I swear my face looked like I’d just had Botox (a good amount, not the scary amount).
SOMATIC EXERCISE
This was a movement and breathing class with Dr Ron. “When you’re feeling anxious or stressed”, he told me, “these subtle movements can regulate your nervous system and make you feel safe again”.
We did the ‘Chinese Drum’, the ‘Butterfly Hug’ and some Alternate Nostril Breathing – and I’ll definitely be trying them next time the peri-monster rears her ugly head.
Dr Ron taking me through the breathing exercises. (Supplied/Sami Lukis)NUTRITION
My program included a Healthy Eating consultation, where the nutritionist suggested I eat more protein, to help counteract the symptoms of menopause. She also warned that too many carbohydrates can shoot up blood sugar and worsen symptoms like hot flashes, fatigue, and mood swings.
All meals were included in my program and the food was the hands-down-highlight of my stay at The Farm.
Standouts were the vegan banana pancakes drizzled with coconut nectar. (Supplied/Sami Lukis)
There are five different restaurants on site, offering a huge variety of Vegan, Pescatarian, Indian and French cuisine, but my favourite was the Vegan restaurant Alive!, where every single dish was filling, and bursting with flavour.
Standouts were the vegan banana pancakes drizzled with coconut nectar and the vegan coconut chocolate cake, which was so rich, I couldn’t finish it.
The vegan coconut chocolate cake was so rich I couldn’t finish it. (Supplied/Sami Lukis)
I splurged one night at the French fine dining restaurant Soufflè de vie, and I had to keep reminding myself I was at a health retreat, as I enjoyed Seared scallops, creamy fennel puree and bell pepper salsa, followed by Baked lobster with bechamel sauce and Parmesan cheese.
Anyone who thinks health food is boring or tasteless, really needs to eat just one meal at The Farm.
WEIGHT LOSS
There was a set of scales in my Villa, which didn’t seem entirely conducive to the whole “escape from the stresses of daily life” mantra they promote here.
Whilst I didn’t go to The Farm to lose weight, I somehow lost 2 kilos in 4 days, which is extraordinary considering I ate three meals a day and didn’t exercise nearly as much as I do back home. The Colonic probably helped.
I also went alcohol free and I sat down at a table for each meal and ate slowly – something I rarely do at home.
I sat down to eat each mean more mindfully. (Supplied/Sami Lukis)The verdict
There’s no quick fix for menopause, but this retreat did give me a quick health reset.
“Daily, we have so much going on,” Dr Ron told me, “and that keeps us in fight or flight mode. After you run a marathon, you give your body time to recover. Here, you can give yourself time to recover from the stresses of daily life.”
I think that’s the ‘psycho-emotional clearing’ of it all.
After giving myself a little breather from the Peri-Rollercoaster, I left The Farm feeling detoxed, destressed and with more clarity around some important lifestyle changes.
I’ll be going through the ‘Pause for who-knows-how-much-longer’, and if time and finances allowed, I would absolutely love to do a retreat like this once a year, until I reach the other side.
The Farm at San Benito did offer me a quick health reset. (The Farm at San Benito)Things to consider
It’s not as exercise focused as other retreats I’ve visited, with a limited number of yoga classes, and no Pilates or stretch classes on the schedule at all.
They’re definitely more focused on the wellness and spa treatments here, which can be quite pricey.
It’s child-friendly. There were quite a few families here with young children. I love babies, but a screaming infant next to me at lunch is not compatible with the Zen environment I was hoping to enjoy at a health retreat.
Best to avoid weekends – which seemed to be when the family clientele arrived.
Sami travelled as a guest of The Farm at San Benito. You can follow Sami on Instagram @samilukis
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