Visiting a wellness retreat has never been on my weekend bucket list. So, to my surprise, I found myself riding to the other corner of the Valley, from Chohar to Buddhanilkantha, to experience one, at the Meraki Holistic Wellness Retreat.
Even after a long week of assignments and article deadlines, I still didn’t feel like I deserved a breather. The bustling traffic only added to my stress and my mood was already cranky when I reached Meraki.
As I entered and looked around, I felt I’d stepped into a nostalgic country-side movie setting. From the stone steps to the green grass, light bushes, and trees circling the cozy seating areas, to the vibey veranda space leading to the cottage-like house, it felt like a scene straight out of a fairy tale.
I got to explore the services before choosing what I wanted to experience. After juggling with my indecisive self, I finally decided to start with ‘Salt Halotherapy’.
A salty moment of relief
The room is built with illuminating Himalayan salt bricks and the air mixed with salt from a halo generator. I’d never heard of anything like it. Although at first I didn’t quite understand it, I decided to try it anyway. It would be 30 minutes of sitting in the room, breathing in salt, and doing nothing. As I sat, the cold air made me nervous and anxious in the beginning. I was far from home, and alone in that room. But I decided to close my eyes and take deep breaths as I was instructed. I soon realized how much I needed this moment of silence and relief.
The thought of having some time to myself made me weirdly happy. The salt mixed with the air was refreshing and I just rested my head trying not to think about the things that stressed me out. And of course, the glowing pretty pink bricks were beautiful to watch. It felt peaceful, and I enjoyed the silence around and inside me. It was worth the experience and a much-needed break, I thought as I walked out a little bummed that it was over so soon.
The power of reiki
On the tour, I was told about one of their new services, Reiki Healing. At first, I had no plan to experience it, honestly, because I had no idea what it was. But when I heard that it is healing using hands, something in me wanted to try it. Without knowing what to expect, I met the reiki master and followed him to the attic room where they do yoga and meditation. Let me tell you, the triangular room was beautiful, framed with wooden beamlines and shelves on either side, and overlooking the city’s breathtaking view. The master sat me down and told me what he was going to do.
I lay down and closed my eyes trying to focus on my breathing as the reiki master put his palms on my eyes, then ears, then the back of my head, neck, shoulders and legs. The temperature change with his hands helped me meditate. It was a 45-minute-long peaceful session.
The atmosphere and the healing with hands, surprisingly, gave me a chance to bring in an ocean of thoughts in my head. It was relieving in a sense, but more than that, it was making me question my own body. The entire time I was wondering how this worked. I did not know, yet I somehow felt connected to that world. For a thick moment, I had forgotten where I was and what I was doing. As I opened my eyes and got up, it was like getting out of a trance after a meditation session, stepping out from a world of my thoughts.
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I asked the master how it worked and we had a wonderful conversation about cosmic energy and how all of us are also made of energy. It is these energies that connect us with the universe and with each other, he said. There is a world of knowledge and proven science on this subject, and it is used to heal many health conditions. He told me about the history of reiki as well. I was amazed and had already planned to go home and research more about this online.
I talked about my struggles with anxiety and how I often have anxiety and panic attacks. And even if it wasn’t what I had signed up for, we sat down again for a good 20 minutes and he taught me different breathing exercises to help me take control of my breath better the next time I have an attack. I was more than grateful and my heart felt comfortable being able to just close my eyes to listen to myself breathe. As we walked out, we had a chat about, again, cosmic energy. I told him how I looked forward to learning more about this.
Massaging my stresses away
Next, I was called for my massage session, a much-awaited one should I say. I struggle with a really bad pain on my shoulders and the back of my neck because of my heavy laptop bag and because I have to ride long distances. And so I chose to get my head and shoulders massaged. Entering the massage room, again, a new place and new people made me anxious. It would be my first-ever massage session. The next 30 minutes was all about forgetting the world and just feeling my shoulders relieve all the stresses they were holding on to. I didn’t even realize the time passing by as it was all so relaxing. A perfect way to end the day.
There was still so much left to try out, but I walked out satisfied with everything I got to experience. It was a much-needed self-care day before going back to reality. I said goodbye to the place a bit sad but I was already starting to think about the next time I’ll be coming with a friend to spend an entire weekend at Meraki.
About Meraki
Services:
Holistic health and wellness consultation
Massage therapy
Sound healing therapy
Fir sauna and aroma steam
Yoga
Hydrotherapy
Hyperbaric oxygen therapy
Live blood analysis
Physiotherapy
Pranic healing
Location:
Buddhanilkantha
Website:
Contact:
980-1234900
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