Elite Traveler Fall 2023

elite traveler FALL2023 121

Velaa Private Island

It takes a village

“I would like you to eat a lot while you’re here,” Dr Peeyush Kumar tells me. “Try everything and really taste it and enjoy it.” This is my kind of medical advice. We’re sitting in Dr Kumar’s swanky clinic in the heart of Velaa Private Island’s all-new Eveylaa Wellbeing center, and I’m having my fi rst in-person consultation (the fi rst happened via video call a week before I arrived) ahead of a four-day-long prescribed treatment plan. Admittedly, a wellness retreat isn’t the fi rst thing that comes to mind when you think of the Maldives. That powdery sand, so white it’s almost snowy; perfectly clear waters brimming with sea life; brilliant, blinding sunshine; and maybe a trip or two to the spa — that’s the paradisiacal Maldives we know and love. A wellness regime? Not so much. Fortunately, like with most things at Velaa, the program I’m here to try out is di ff erent from most. Dr Kumar heads up the Ayurvedic portion of the new Eveylaa Wellbeing center that opened in early May as the latest addition to the resort’s innovative Wellbeing Village. In line with the principles of Ayurveda — an ancient Indian medicine system that promotes holistic health — Dr Kumar addresses each complaint by treating the cause rather than just the symptom. A central pillar of Ayurvedic medicine — and one of the fi rst points that Dr Kumar gets to with me — is dosha , a fundamental type of body constitution, by which most other ailments can be treated. Far from just a personality type, a dosha encapsulates every part of your being, from your likes, your dislikes and your physique, to your temperament, your temperature and your mental state. There are three types of dosha — Vata , Pitta and Kapha — and people are often combinations of them all, with one being prominent. The key to achieving emotional and physical well-being, according to Ayurvedic teachings, is to balance the presence of these doshas. “What about the gym?” I ask after being given my generous dietary instructions, thinking about Velaa’s impressively high-tech setup and my preconceptions of what a health retreat looks like. “I don’t think that will be necessary,” is the reply. Dr Kumar has marked me out to have a prominence of Pitta, a fi erydosha that requires calming rather than overexciting, so one of the goals for my time on the island is to rest (and to eat, of course). My plan does include some exercise though. First is an 8am wake-up call for a Reformer Pilates session with resident instructor Polina, where

TheAvi Bar

muscles I didn’t know existed are carefully but oh so fi rmly put to the test. Then, there’s a taster session at the Velaa Golf Academy, where I not so expertly traverse the nine-hole course. The bulk of Dr Kumar’s personalized plan for me, though, is daily Ayurvedic treatments, the majority of which take place in one of two of the new Eveylaa Wellbeing treatment suites (the second is for more modern Western practices and has an osteopathy clinic). The word ‘suites’ feels like an understatement: The one dedicated to Ayurvedic practices has three private rooms and includes a pre- and post-massage relaxation area, a mini steam room and traditional steam chair, a shower and changing space, and a twin treatment room, all fl ankedby fl oor-to-ceiling windows overlooking the lush jungle foliage beyond. The most common form of massage in Ayurvedic medicine is Abhyanga — a head-to-toe massage using a dosha-speci fi c oil. Treatments are undertaken by two skilled practitioners at a time, with two sets of strong hands teasing out knots and working away tensions from your feet all the way up to your scalp in perfect, staggered unison. I have several of these booked, and with each, my body feels looser, more supple, and with fewer twinges and pains. A second and more immersive (and easily my favorite) treatment is Shirodhara — a traditional healing technique where warm, almost hot, oil is gently poured from copper bowls across your forehead. To those who haven’t had it before, this experience can sound daunting, even torturous; it’s not. Focusing on what in Ayurvedic medicine is called the third eye — a spot in the middle of your forehead — Shirodhara can put you in a dreamlike, almost lucid state, with the unfamiliar sensation intended to aid relaxation, reduce stress and anxiety, and even improve intuition. It’s an entirely unique experience and, surprisingly, one that is yet to be replicated in Western therapies. One day, I head to Velaa’s overwater spa — the resort’s original wellness enclave, if you will — for a