Post by Onyango Oloo on Oct 18, 2005 23:44:32 GMT 3
AP Story carried by The Detroit Free Press:
Serene Kenya spa offers meditative respite
BY BEATRICE LARCO
ASSOCIATED PRESS
October 16, 2005
DIANI, Kenya -- Here's a unique setting for an alternative holiday at the seaside -- no diving or energy-consuming water sports, but a week of massages, yoga and ayurvedic treatments combined with an all-vegetarian menu.
It may sound like torture if your idea of a vacation is to party all the time or experience thrilling adventures. But if you are looking for something more serene, a spot along the south coast of Kenya offers respite in the tropics of the Indian Ocean.
In one of my daily walks along the beach in Diani, Kenya, a 5-mile stretch of white sand about 300 miles from Nairobi, I found myself ignoring a "Private Property" sign, walking right past a tree house and stepping into a carefully maintained garden with a wooden platform to one side and earth-colored low-roofed buildings.
"Shaanti Holistic Health Retreat" read an orange sign on a large stone next to the beachfront. I wasn't sure what to expect, but I wanted to find out.
Orange and red cushions and mattresses covered a cement structure as I reached what seemed to be a reception area.
Tasreen Keshavjee, the managing director of Shaanti, approached me and with enthusiasm explained exactly what the retreat was about.
Holistic approach
"Shaanti represents a holistic approach to healing. Since almost all ailments and disease originate from stress and anxiety, the best way to cure them is to attack the root cause. Take away the stress, take away the anxiety and work on the mind and body so that the process is sustainable," Keshavjee said.
The retreat, which opened in November 2004, is the first of its kind in the area. Most of the numerous hotels that line this tropical resort provide massages and other health and beauty treatments, but Shaanti offers a specific healing method aimed at improving both the physical and mental state.
The wooden platform on the beachfront is for daily yoga lessons and the tree house is the vegetarian restaurant. The buildings are rooms for overnight accommodation.
Signs are written in English with a Hindi-styled font. Furniture is covered by the orange and red cushions, which are made from the local East African kikoy material. Most of the floors are made from local galana stone, and fishing canoes are used as shelves in the restaurant and in the reception areas.
All these indigenous elements in the decor help the retreat fit in with its natural surroundings.
Meeting Keshavjee and seeing the beautiful setting were all it took for me to book a massage -- an abhyanga -- where warm medicated oils are applied to the body to improve circulation and promote relaxation. I walked into one of the small makuti-roofed bandas (huts with straw roofs), where a Kenyan girl shyly told me to take my clothes off. She tied a long rectangular piece of cloth attached to a string around my waist and had me lie on the massage bed.
Moments before the massage, the resident ayurvedic doctor from Kerala, in southern India, met me to see what type of herbal oils were best for me. I had a slight cold, which was taken into account in the choice of oils that were to be mixed and applied on my skin.
Creating balance and tranquility
Ayurveda is a 3,000-year-old system of healing, taught by rishis of India, or Hindu sages. It is designed to create balance and tranquility in body, mind and spirit through massage, diet and meditation.
As I lay on the massage bed, the oils were heated. Then I was told to sit up, and the masseuse began pouring the warm oil on my shoulders. This type of massage consists of rubbing the oil up and down the arms and legs by going over the back and stomach; it lasts an hour. Unlike other types of massage, you don't relax during the treatment, but the effects are intended to last.
The hour flew by. I was given a robe made of kikoy to wear for the next hour while the oil soaked into my skin. I headed toward the open-air "chill-out room," which looks out to the Indian Ocean, sat on a mattress and ordered a freshly squeezed watermelon-and-mango drink.
I was then advised to take a steam bath with eucalyptus essence to make my cold go away and make the oil soak into my skin faster.
Once done with the bath, I returned for more -- an hour-long facial massage and a taste of the vegetarian menu, which, at the customer's request, can be Indian food or continental.
The tree house restaurant overlooks the white beach. My meal started with a green salad, followed by tropical fruits. The main course was a tasty curry served with cumin rice, lentils and chapati -- a puffy bread.
Kenya's coasts are becoming known for diving and for opportunities to see whale sharks, but Shaanti is yet another reason for travelers to go to Diani.
Copyright © 2005 Detroit Free Press Inc.
Serene Kenya spa offers meditative respite
BY BEATRICE LARCO
ASSOCIATED PRESS
October 16, 2005
DIANI, Kenya -- Here's a unique setting for an alternative holiday at the seaside -- no diving or energy-consuming water sports, but a week of massages, yoga and ayurvedic treatments combined with an all-vegetarian menu.
It may sound like torture if your idea of a vacation is to party all the time or experience thrilling adventures. But if you are looking for something more serene, a spot along the south coast of Kenya offers respite in the tropics of the Indian Ocean.
In one of my daily walks along the beach in Diani, Kenya, a 5-mile stretch of white sand about 300 miles from Nairobi, I found myself ignoring a "Private Property" sign, walking right past a tree house and stepping into a carefully maintained garden with a wooden platform to one side and earth-colored low-roofed buildings.
"Shaanti Holistic Health Retreat" read an orange sign on a large stone next to the beachfront. I wasn't sure what to expect, but I wanted to find out.
Orange and red cushions and mattresses covered a cement structure as I reached what seemed to be a reception area.
Tasreen Keshavjee, the managing director of Shaanti, approached me and with enthusiasm explained exactly what the retreat was about.
Holistic approach
"Shaanti represents a holistic approach to healing. Since almost all ailments and disease originate from stress and anxiety, the best way to cure them is to attack the root cause. Take away the stress, take away the anxiety and work on the mind and body so that the process is sustainable," Keshavjee said.
The retreat, which opened in November 2004, is the first of its kind in the area. Most of the numerous hotels that line this tropical resort provide massages and other health and beauty treatments, but Shaanti offers a specific healing method aimed at improving both the physical and mental state.
The wooden platform on the beachfront is for daily yoga lessons and the tree house is the vegetarian restaurant. The buildings are rooms for overnight accommodation.
Signs are written in English with a Hindi-styled font. Furniture is covered by the orange and red cushions, which are made from the local East African kikoy material. Most of the floors are made from local galana stone, and fishing canoes are used as shelves in the restaurant and in the reception areas.
All these indigenous elements in the decor help the retreat fit in with its natural surroundings.
Meeting Keshavjee and seeing the beautiful setting were all it took for me to book a massage -- an abhyanga -- where warm medicated oils are applied to the body to improve circulation and promote relaxation. I walked into one of the small makuti-roofed bandas (huts with straw roofs), where a Kenyan girl shyly told me to take my clothes off. She tied a long rectangular piece of cloth attached to a string around my waist and had me lie on the massage bed.
Moments before the massage, the resident ayurvedic doctor from Kerala, in southern India, met me to see what type of herbal oils were best for me. I had a slight cold, which was taken into account in the choice of oils that were to be mixed and applied on my skin.
Creating balance and tranquility
Ayurveda is a 3,000-year-old system of healing, taught by rishis of India, or Hindu sages. It is designed to create balance and tranquility in body, mind and spirit through massage, diet and meditation.
As I lay on the massage bed, the oils were heated. Then I was told to sit up, and the masseuse began pouring the warm oil on my shoulders. This type of massage consists of rubbing the oil up and down the arms and legs by going over the back and stomach; it lasts an hour. Unlike other types of massage, you don't relax during the treatment, but the effects are intended to last.
The hour flew by. I was given a robe made of kikoy to wear for the next hour while the oil soaked into my skin. I headed toward the open-air "chill-out room," which looks out to the Indian Ocean, sat on a mattress and ordered a freshly squeezed watermelon-and-mango drink.
I was then advised to take a steam bath with eucalyptus essence to make my cold go away and make the oil soak into my skin faster.
Once done with the bath, I returned for more -- an hour-long facial massage and a taste of the vegetarian menu, which, at the customer's request, can be Indian food or continental.
The tree house restaurant overlooks the white beach. My meal started with a green salad, followed by tropical fruits. The main course was a tasty curry served with cumin rice, lentils and chapati -- a puffy bread.
Kenya's coasts are becoming known for diving and for opportunities to see whale sharks, but Shaanti is yet another reason for travelers to go to Diani.
Copyright © 2005 Detroit Free Press Inc.