Anantara Spas Wishes You A 'Well-thy’ New Year

Thursday 15 December 2016 09:53
At home or on holiday Anantara Hotels, Resorts & Spas' innovative wellness concept 'Balance' enables guests to focus on their health and wellbeing 365 days a year. Whilst the team at Anantara is passionate about helping guests make sustainable lifestyle choices, the New Year always presents an opportunity to make a fresh start, take a step back and reset intentions.

From yoga poses to indigenous herbal remedies, juice recipes and tips on fighting a cold, the Anantara team shares their expertise in a bid to help everyone beat the January blues and embrace a healthier mind, body and soul:

Anantara Siam, Bangkok Thailand

In the heart of one of the world's most dynamic capital cities, Anantara Siam Bangkok Hotel offers discerning travellers a luxurious retreat. To help guests acclimatise to the hectic pace of the city on-call 'Visiting Practitioners' are available on demand.

Visiting Practitioner, Grace Kim, Qi Gong Master, says: "Don't forget your connection with nature. When doing energy work, breathing techniques or meditating, try to be as connected with the ground as possible. Stand barefoot, sit under a tree with nothing between you and the grass, or float in the sea. The earth's energy is constantly flowing around us all, and can completely transform a stressful day."

Anantara Layan Phuket, Thailand

Surrounded by national forest and pristine blue waters, Anantara Layan Phuket is a sanctuary for wellness seekers and those wanting to retreat. One of the Signature Spa treatments is the Slumber Guru, which takes the importance of a good night's rest to a whole new level. The in-room ritual begins with a soak in a luxuriant bath infused with essential oils in your candlelit bathroom. Guests are then treated to a relaxing back, neck and shoulder massage using ylang or lavender essential oils.

Whether at the resort or home, here are some tips on how to sleep well during the colder months of the year from Spa Manager Ms. Pornsawan Limphapayom.

Anantara Hoi An Resort, Vietnam

The charming boutique retreat in the historic port town of Hoi An gives guests a taste of authentic Vietnamese wellness with treatments to you keep you feeling refreshed and rejuvenated. Spa Manager Mardiana Panjaitan suggests a traditional Vietnamese Herbal Bath to help keep warm, especially in winter. The bath ritual combines the healing power of aromatic Vietnamese herbs and the detoxifying effect of mineral sea salt to draw out toxins and impurities from the body and relax the mind.

- Cup of fresh Lemongrass (quantity will depend on your bath tub size), cut into small pieces

- Freshly sliced ginger

- Lime / Lemon

- To help soothe and relax sore muscles mix together Epsom salts, pink Himalayan salt and baking soda equal to two cups and mix well. Add to your bath together with your preferred herbs and enjoy.

Anantara Angkor Resort, Cambodia

Known for its ancient history and cultural significance, Siem Reap is a place rich in spiritual and ritual healing. Anantara Angkor Resort uses local remedies to introduce guests to an ancient form of healing through the spa and Balance offering. Below Executive Chef Kien Wagner suggests indigenous ingredients to help with weight loss and blood detoxification.

- Indigenous to Cambodia, Moringa is gaining in popularity among naturalists and holistic experts. No wonder, as it ticks all the benefits from commonly sought after superfoods, including: high in vitamins A and C; fights free radicals; dramatically reduces inflammation; assists in weight loss as it can increase metabolism and aid in blood detoxification.

- Fresh Moringa leaves can be added to many soups, curries, stir-fries, omelettes, and salads that Cambodians like to eat – any dish that includes the use of various herbs. It is available to buy in most health food stores as a dried powder or supplement which can be added to your meals.

Anantara Uluwatu Bali Resort

Set on Bali's secluded southern coast, Anantara Uluwatu Bali Resort is an exceptional sanctuary of natural beauty where indigenous health treatments can be found. All spa guests can enjoy a traditional healing drink called "Jamu Kunyit Asam" (turmeric tamarind) which helps to neutralise toxins in the body, therefore having anti-aging and skin lightening effects. To make this Balinese drink at home use this recipe:

• Ingredients:

- 1/2 kg turmeric

- 1/4 cup palm sugar

- 1/2 kg of tamarind

- 2 litre of water

- 1/2 teaspoon of salt

• Instructions:

- Grate or blend turmeric until it becomes smooth. Then, squeeze the pulp to gain the juice.

- Boil turmeric juice and add tamarind, palm sugar and salt. Wait until it is boiling.

Anantara Peace Haven Tangalle Resort, Sri Lanka

Bring your body to a sensory state of bliss with an experience that encapsulates Sri Lanka's finest elixirs and wellness practices. Spa Manager Roshantha Ramawickrama shares the recipe for the purifying green tea and exfoliating salt scrub which smooths and softens skin, giving a fresh glow for the New Year.

Green Tea & Salt Scrub Recipe:

- 1 ½ cup sea salt

- 2 tsp. green tea powder

- 2 green tea bags

- 1 cup coconut oil

Recipe: Open green tea bags and empty tea leaves and set aside. In a bowl place sea salt, green tea powder and loose leaf tea leaves; mix together all the ingredients until the green tea powder is incorporated into the sea salt. Slowly add coconut oil and stir until all the mixture is covered in oil.

Anantara Maldives

Where better to refresh, and rejuvenate for the new year than hidden away from the world in one of Anantara's Maldives resorts. Below Dr. Avinash R. Tiwari, the resident Ayurvedic Doctor suggests some yoga poses that help practitioners focus on their breath and improve the function of their body, as well keeping hearts healthy.

Trikonasana (triangle pose)

• Known for its ability to beat stress, this is a heart opening asana is designed to promote cardiovascular exercise. The chest expands while controlled breathing helps increase stamina.

Bhujangasana (cobra pose)

• The cobra pose increases the stretch to the chest and helps being breathing down to normal.

SetuBandhasana (bridge pose)

• The bridge pose a great asana to help keep your heart healthy. Not only is it less demanding than bow pose, the bridge pose facilitates deep breathing, opens and improves blood flow to the chest region and helps control blood pressure.

Anantara Kihavah Maldives

Enjoying a prime location in the Maldives' Baa Atoll island archipelago, Anantara Kihavah Maldives Villas is the perfect place from which to explore the pristine waters and escape to on a wellness journey. One way of embracing a healthier, happier holiday is the practices of Ayurveda, a Traditional East Indian Holistic Medical Science which uses natural methods to promote healing. Guests can set up a treatment with the doctor upon arrival to diagnose their 'dosha', which are the energetic principles that govern physiological and psychological functions within everyone. Guests can then have treatments and meals tailor-made to their dosha.

Spa Manager Nenita Cabrera suggests an Ayuverda tip on how to help have the best night's sleep during the winter months.

- Drink warm milk at bedtime. In one cup of warm milk add a pinch of nutmeg, pinch of cardamom, a pinch of saffron.

Al Baleed Resort Salalah by Anantara, Oman

For a wellness escape unlike any other, Oman is the ideal retreat to discover new remedies and medicinal wonders from centuries past. Situated between a beach and freshwater lagoon, Al Baleed Resort Salalah by Anantara offers refreshing luxury in the south coast of the Dhofar region.

One of the most effective medicinal wonders is the use of the sacred Frankincense oil which offers a variety of health benefits: it is said to relieve chronic stress and anxiety, reduces pain and inflammation, boosts immunity and even assists in fighting cancer. Below are some at-home uses for Frankincense oil, which is available at most Health Food or Organic and Naturopathic stores, from Director of Spa Esmerelda van der Westhuizen.

• Skin Care

- Frankincense essential oil is great for skin care and nearly everything related to skin; burns, rashes, cuts, scrapes etc . It also works for mature, premature aging, and environmentally challenged skin.

- To use as a night (or day) cream: just add a few drops to the base of your choice (unscented lotion, liquid soap, shower gel or moisturiser). Frankincense oil can be added to pure water and used as a toner or refresher.

• Compresses

- Fill a bowl with cool water (or warm water if desired) add a few (3-5) drops frankincense and toss a washcloth in, then wring it out and placing the cool cloth on your forehead. The warm compress will be beneficial for sore muscles and anywhere heat is desired.

Anantara Al Jabal Al Akhdar

To elevate your wellness journey and experience indigenous wellbeing escape to the Middle East's highest five star resort, Anantara Al Jabal Al Akhdar. Situated in the rocky contours of the Saiq Plateau on Oman's fabled Green Mountain, perched 2,000 metres above sea level on the curving rim of a great canyon.

Jabal Al Akhdar is home to 22,554 pomegranate trees growing in nine villages. Pomegranates revered as a symbol of health, fertility and long life, pomegranates contain high levels of flavonoids and polyphenols, potent antioxidants, offering protection against heart disease and cancer. Combined with Himalayan Pink Salt, which is also known to have many health benefits, (such as detoxifying the body by balancing PH, or balancing mineral status of the body), the two ingredients make a homemade scrub that will leave skin feeling fresh & revitalized. Spa Manager Gina de Costa gives a recipe for a purifying Pomegranate Himalayan Salt Scrub.

- ½ Cup of Pomegranate Seeds

- ½ Cup of Pink Himalayan Salt(Fine)

- 2 tsp. of Oil (Coconut oil, avocado oil or olive oil)

In a small bowl, mix the Himalayan salt and pomegranate seeds, crushing both with a spoon. Add the oil and mix. Massage gently onto damp skin. There should be enough for a full body scrub. Rinse off.

For more information on the Balance Programme please click on www.anantara.com/wellness