After a particularly trying year I knew as soon as the cool of October hit that I needed to escape. I wanted to reset and return refreshed with a more positive outlook on what was happening in my life.
There are endless wellness retreats and spa breaks, but Soukya, on the outskirts of Bangalore, where the Queen has visited seven times (the King has been twice and spent his 71st birthday there), felt like a holistic step up. I thought if Camilla, a woman who binge watched Jilly Cooper’s Rivals, was into it, I could find something there too.
I joked to friends before I headed off that I was ready to enter my George Harrison period. Eat, pray, love, they scoffed. But it wasn’t far off the mark. Although, no sitars were plucked, by me at least, in the making of this makeover.
Set in a 30 acre organic farm (over 300 herbs are grown here for its medicines) it feels like being in the garden of Eden. The verdant stretch of grass is surrounded by a rainbow effect of plants and flowers in full bloom, soundtrack by extraordinary birdsong and the sight of myriad exotic birds. Both the Queen and King have planted trees to mark their visits here (as has Desmond Tutu and the Dalai Lama).
In the centre is a bamboo structure of an open door, symbolising “that you need to open your mind, body and spirit for the positivity of healing to fill you.” Maybe it was the jetlag but I didn’t even roll my eyes.
The 25 rooms range from doubles to the royal suite, the rooms are comfortable with simple wooden furniture, and each comes with its own garden space. There are no televisions, phones are not banned but discouraged. I deleted all my social media apps and checked in only with family. I didn’t want to hear from beyond the walls.
At any one time there are a maximum of 30 guests with 150 staff to tend to them. In many ways it’s akin to being treated like a baby.
Soukya, its founders are keen to impress, is not a spa. Technically it is a holistic health destination which melds naturopathy, homeopathy and ayurvedic practice, accredited as a hospital by the NABH (National Accreditation Boards for Hospital & Healthcare Providers). Guests come here for everything from addiction to immune conditions, PCOS, mobility issues, arthritis, anxiety, stress, menopause support to more serious health conditions as a supplement to conventional medicine. There are people recovering from hip and knee replacements to burnt out tech bros on sabbatical in Vibram barefoot shoes.
It was founded by the husband and wife team Dr. Issac Mathai and Dr. Suja Issac. Dr Mathai is a trained homeopathic doctor, previously a consultant physician at the Hale Clinic in London. It was in London that he established his practice and treated the then Prince of Wales. The centre here opened in 2003; the team also run a pro bono health centre which treats around 12 villages for free. Dr. Suja Issac oversees the nutritional programme, which offers ovo-vegetarian fare.
I was sceptical about quackery, but in a session with Dr. Mathai from simply holding my wrists to feel my pulses, he read my mind accurately. He is one of those slightly magical beings, incredibly kind and wise. I could understand why the Queen is such a fan.
The day begins at 7 o’clock with communal yoga; the gentle all-ability practice is more about small, gradual movements than grand downward dogs; for those proficient there is a follow on session.
Breakfast is served at the restaurant where you can sit out or inside (where guests sit singularly at their tables and observe silence - you can also request a silence badge from reception for the rest of the time). First warm, herbal infused water in a puce-hue. Then a fresh juice with a plate of fresh seasonal fruit. Then either a Thali style Indian breakfast or eggs or porridge. While tea and coffee is available I decided to abandon caffeine for the duration.
On the first day you have a full health assessment with the doctors to pinpoint any specific goals and for them to plot your treatments. This is everything from personal and family medical history to diet to a physical exam (nothing invasive).
Aside from the twice daily treatments I was prescribed grounding (where you spend 10 minutes in the morning walking around barefoot outside in order to connect to the natural energies of the earth). As well as mindful chewing (chew each mouthful 32 times — once for every tooth — which improves digestion as well helps to alleviate stress); aromatic inhalation (tree hugging / forest bathing) and sunbathing, frankly all things I could get on board with.
Each morning you have a catch up with the doctor to check on how you are feeling before being handed to two therapists. Everything starts with a Abhyanga full body oil massage. This is done in unison by the therapists, who take a side each. There is no room for modesty. Paper knickers only, nothing (nothing) is left unslicked by the bowls of sesame oil infused with herbs (made up specifically for each patient). Prior to starting the therapists sing the Invocation to Lord Dhanwanthari, which seeks divine intervention for the healing process. I’m not religious, but it was incredibly moving.
Subsequent treatments included a herbal poultice massage where you are pounded with a poultice dripping in hot oil. After a few days I had graduated to Shirodhara, where oil is poured continuously across your forehead. After you’ve been slicked down the therapists (both female — the health centre is split by gender) help you down off the bed (which one guest described not entirely inaccurately as a pool table) and take you to the shower where there’s a natural body scrub and hair wash. My skin has never been so soft. Like a newborn. The oil is all made on site, an extraordinary endeavour which requires giant bubbling pots to be stirred continuously for eight hour stints over nine consecutive days.
After a break for a Thali style lunch — usually different dals and assorted vegetable curries with delicious fresh phulka bread (similar to the evening meal, although a “Western alternative” is also available, such as shepherds — soya beans — pie with cauliflower mash). I found the food absolutely delicious and wasn’t hungry most of the time I was there. Although don’t imagine you’re going to see the Queen popping up over supper, when she attends she books out the whole place to herself, with her sister and an assistant to accompany her. She apparently has a mud-bath every evening.
In the afternoon, more treatments — with liver mud packs, acupressure or reflexology as well as the dreaded head clean: oil pulling — swilling sesame oil around your mouth, double eye bath and nasal douching with salt water which was at first unpleasant and progressed to mildly tolerable. At 7 o’clock every evening there’s meditation, which was so relaxing I fell asleep every time.
There is nothing to do, yet somehow the days fill up. I slept, swam and read, checked in on the farm animals (sheep, chickens and cows) and took turns around the 2km walking track that runs around the perimeter, which undulates through wilder landscapes, with natural ponds and everything from peacocks to cats strolling through.
At first the institutional routine feels hard to meld into, but after three days the place seeps into you. A soothing calm takes over. Problems seem eminently doable.
On leaving I was given a booklet with diet and movement advice, as well as a batch of herbal and homeopathic pills. Weeks later I still feel a calmness; I stayed off alcohol for another few weeks once home (it is strictly forbidden, smokers have to walk a mile to a small room on the outskirts of the property every time they want to light up) but the biggest revelation has been staying off caffeine. I feel much more awake every morning; when I’m tired I can get off to sleep easily. The shift I’d been hoping for came, I returned a little more at peace with my world. I’d go back in a heartbeat.
Book it
A 7-day Ayurvedic Swaad programme at SOUKYA starts from £445 per night based on single occupancy which includes accommodation, the Ayurvedic Swaad programme, group yoga in the morning and evening, plus weekly activities.
Healing Holidays (healingholidays.com/020 7843 3597) can arrange a 6 day Taste Of Ayurveda programme from £2,299.00 per person sharing, including transfers, full board accommodation and inclusions of the programme.
