Cool alpine breeze flowed by means of my nostrils as I walked across the lake. Clear blue skies, tall mountains and orange autumn leaves framed the surroundings round me. A far cry from the glittering evening lights of Marina Bay Sands, Altausee was like a storybook city in a battered copy of your fairy story ebook. It wasn’t a perfect vacation spot spot to trip, but being there was a reset I wanted in October 2021. As a substitute of a 5 star lodge, I stayed at Viva Mayr, Austria’s most well-known detox clinic for 10 days.
A vacation spot for Insurgent Wilson and Suki Waterhouse, Viva Mayr was the go-to wellness centre for celebrities to reshape diets, go for weight reduction packages and make radical life-style selections. Although I used to be 49 kg and 5’3”, my physique soaked up all of the wine from a household pal’s wedding ceremony alongside each day programs of French pastries.
I could also be tiny, however I wanted to revamp my life-style as I used to go for every type of alcohol — White Claw, pink wine, soju and bokbunjae — to destress after an extended work day. Typically, I simply wanted a little bit of booze to relax out to Emily in Paris or get by means of anxiety-ridden moments of Cash Heist. Alcohol was a as soon as in a blue moon deal with that gave me consolation throughout the top of Covid as I used it to numb my emotions of loneliness from not going out.
Pre-covid, going booze-free wasn’t a problem for me as I went on a no alcohol and plant primarily based cleanse twice for 10 days. However this time round, I wasn’t actually prepared to surrender the alcohol because it was an emotional crutch for the bodily isolation I used to be subjected to for the previous yr and a half.
Not your common weight reduction clinic
Going to Viva Mayr was a pilgr for my household and me as we heard about it from a household pal who had beforehand tried this system. It was not my first dance with Viva Mayr as my household and I went there in 2017. The primary time I did it, I solely went there to check out a cleanse as I used to suppose they have been a gimmick. What I liked most in regards to the cleanse Viva Mayr put me on, was that it didn’t minimize out fish, meat, and eggs. Though when you can’t stay with out consuming fruit, Viva Mayr can also be finest identified for slicing out dessert and fruit as sugar was linked to irritation.
What I liked about Viva Mayr was that it doesn’t tout itself as a weight reduction clinic because it allowed me to focus on the affect of meals greater than the decreased parts. If you need to do it, get ready to shell out 2,145 Euros (XX SGD) for per week of the Traditional Program. If you wish to spend two weeks doing the Traditional Program, time to shell out a fraction of your financial savings for 3,705 Euros (XX SGD). Since there’s an array of packages, you possibly can check out an anti-inflammation program (that was designed with Dr. Barabara Sturm), a post-covid therapy, stress management or a diabetes therapy. For the price of the therapy, you might be anticipated to finish the total program as there’s zero shortcuts to get the physique of your desires.
Whereas Viva Mayr constructed its title on its weight loss program, the cleanses have been customised to every particular person. In my case, a nurse assigned me to go on a Traditional detox program, the place I needed to take further dietary supplements to nourish my physique. I needed to disclose my well being historical past by mentioning my allergy symptoms, tablets I took to offset the sinus-related allergy symptoms, physique aches, how usually I drank and if I smoked. Once I was weighed, my abdomen fashioned knots. Seeing numbers on the size made me nervous, however I knew that it was a part of the method of serving to me to acknowledge how I might begin enhancing my weight loss program and life-style. I used to be assigned to do the Traditional as I didn’t must drop a few pounds. Moreover, the Traditional allowed me to attempt numerous therapies as they expanded their spa and medical packages since then.
Mayr manner or the freeway
The primary evening I checked in, my normal dinner portion of a 12 inch plate shrank. As a substitute of a giant bowl of Naengmyeon or a plate of gluten-free pasta, I had a small bowl of potato-based soup with flaxseed oil and hand-sized buckwheat bread for dinner. I might usually end my meal in 10 minutes, however this meal took 45 minutes to an hour to complete. Based on the Viva Mayr technique, I needed to chew 40 to 60 occasions with the intention to push myself to cease after I’m feeling full. The idea appeared unusual, however for a quick eater like myself, it was out of my sensory boundaries as I used to be used to stuffing meals in my mouth to really feel full.
In comparison with dinner, breakfast was heaven. I might eat a palm-sized portion of smoked salmon, thumb-sized quantity of dill and eat my eggs with rice crackers. If I used to be hungry, I might ask for seconds. The menu regarded like a brunch haven, nevertheless it’s designed to chop down irritation in your physique. Nonetheless, the most important problem out of the dietary program was to skip snacking as there was a six hour hole from lunch to dinner.
Virtues over vices
A vice I liked other than booze, snacking was a previous time I partook in since childhood. I’m nonetheless a sucker for vegan and gluten-free snacks, nevertheless it was time for me to alter it. Instead of a sorghum vegan cheeto, I drank tea adopted by a glass of Basen, an alkaline-based powder to alkalise my abdomen. The teas I drank have been assortments of natural teas, which modified from day to nighttime. Every tea was meant to offset the results of detox from starvation, cramps to headache. Relying on the kind of detox, generally you would need to drink Epsom salts combined with water for an intense detox. In my case, I didn’t need to do something too excessive as my nurse suggested me to stay to the Traditional Program, the place I solely drank magnesium, calcium and potassium dietary supplements to assist me flush out the toxins in my physique.
If there was one facet about Viva Mayr that I discovered difficult, it was the digital detox. Going off the grid was out of the extraordinary save for Easter weekend. Since I spend the vast majority of my day partaking and creating content material for IG, it was a routine I needed to work on compromising. Relatively than being caught in my room all day as a aspect impact of being torpid, I pushed myself to attempt totally different actions to keep away from caving into digital temptation – save for my nightly Squid Sport binges. One among them was going to the spa, the place I attempted three kinds of sauna therapies (salt, wood and infrared) and swam. Out of the sauna therapies I attempted, I liked going to the salt sauna because the saline vapor alleviated my sinuses and concurrently helped me to detoxify by means of sweat. Being alone in a heated room helped me to apply mindfulness to offset the lethargy.
Because it was chilly exterior, strolling across the lake with my household helped me to rejuvenate my vitality. A full 7.9 km distance, with the ability to see a 360 diploma view of the realm felt like I stepped right into a Nat Geo scene. Provided that it was a YOLO alternative, my household and I took numerous footage to seize the golden hour for 2 hours. I don’t do a lot nature walks exterior of Botanic Gardens, however this journey to see the lake pushed me to benefit from the surroundings round me.
If I wasn’t feeling lively, I might go for massages and spa therapies. Watsu, a shiatsu within the water therapeutic massage, was a therapy beneficial by the nurse. Like a baptism, I floated above the pool whereas my masseuse utilized light strain on my physique as she moved me across the water. There was zero aching whereas my muscle groups have been being kneaded within the water. Typically, I couldn’t chill out at some massages because the strain was too painful, however at Viva Mayr, the watsu therapeutic massage helped me to atone for extra hours of sleep as I struggled with insomnia. It felt like all my aches disappeared throughout one therapy because it was designed to offset irritation.
Drugs meets spa
Spa therapies might run the chance of being too fundamental; nevertheless, the kinds of spa therapies being supplied have been physique wraps and ionic foot baths, which each help in detoxing. The previous was beneficial by a pal of mine, who sang the praises of the salt wrap. I floated on prime of the Lifeless Sea a couple of years in the past however by no means had I ever had salt wrapped round my physique. I laid on prime of a tarp, had liquid salt massaged on my limbs and chest, then slept for an hour as I floated on prime of a water bed-like desk. Performing as an exfoliant, the salt helped to shed useless pores and skin sooner because it eliminated toxins from my pores and skin. In comparison with a regular physique wrap, the salt wrap left my pores and skin feeling softer than a child’s.
Not a traditional therapy I might get anyplace, the electrolysis tub consisted of me soaking my toes for 50 minutes with a ion-based battery. The color of the water reworked right into a shade of poop brown, a results of detoxing of the bowels, liver, kidneys and elimination of blood clots. Although I used to be somebody who had zero issues with my inner organs, it was a shock to my system to see how a lot toxins from my alcohol and pastry consumption have been beforehand absorbed into my physique.
Whereas I believed I might have time to chill out, the medical concierge at Viva Mayr booked me on again to again therapies that have been scheduled from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. on weekdays and 11 a.m. on weekends. It was out of my routine, nevertheless it was one thing I needed to regulate to.
What medical therapies are you able to attempt?
Aside from the spa therapies, I used to be directed to attempt intense medical therapies regardless of not having any continual sickness save for my normal lethargy brought on by late nights and spending an excessive amount of time in entrance of a display screen. Often, I’d do a vitamin-laced IV drip to offset the negative effects of life-style induced lethargy however, I used to be booked to attempt a hypoxi coaching oxygen machine. A machine that dispenses oxygen, I needed to do intervals of 20 minutes of respiration adopted by three minutes of relaxation in between. This machine was used to assist me help with pacing my respiration and enhance vitality into my physique. I wore a transparent plastic masks over my head that left me trying like Bane.
Having to breathe by means of a masks was difficult the primary 5 minutes, nevertheless it pressured me to match the tempo of the machine because it timed how a lot air you needed to breathe and relaxation. Although one of these therapy was not one thing I might get in Singapore, making an attempt out this funky machine was definitely worth the journey for me because it pressured me to coach my mind into utilizing respiration as a supply of vitality.
All through my keep, the hypoxi machine was a therapy I needed to do thrice as a solution to make up for the lethargy I might face from my new detox weight loss program. Most detox diets solely centered on the meals to do many of the detoxing, however Viva Mayr’s stability of detoxifying meals, spa and medical therapies was a singular technique that helped my physique to detoxify and energise with out the necessity for any medicines to help with detoxing alongside fatigue.
A brand new perspective
All through the ten days I spent at Viva Mayr, it modified my perspective on detoxing. Detoxing from sure meals and drinks was a type of detox I understood finest. Nonetheless, I realised that detox additionally meant detoxing from electronics, unhealthy mindsets (e.g. can’t stay with out your cellphone) alongside being open to totally different types of self care. Although Viva Mayr was an extended keep, I drank much less, ate with out stuffing my mouth and continued to indulge myself in massages. Cellphone-wise, I solely posted at any time when I felt like posting with out the should be hung up on algorithms all day. Would I do it once more? I might. The truth is, I left feeling like I wished to return again to Viva Mayr yearly.
Supply: Her World
