I’d been touring for about 4 hours when I lastly checked in at Vivamayr, a luxurious well being spa in Austria where week-long stays begin at around $7,000.
Sitting on an idyllic lake in Maria Wörth, Vivamayr attracts company like Bollywood stars and Hollywood celebrities (Elizabeth Hurley and Melanie Griffith, to title a couple) — and I was prepared to see how the other half lives.
Exhausted and battling jet lag, I perked up when the entrance desk workers requested if I needed a refreshment and eagerly requested a cappuccino. But the girl’s expression instantly turned critical as she replied, “I’m so sorry, but we don’t serve coffee at the resort.”
That was the second I realized this was a critical detox program I wasn’t positive I was prepared for.
Sitting on an idyllic lake in Maria Wörth, Vivamayr is a luxurious well being spa in Austria where week-long stays begin at around $7,000. Gert Steinthaler
Vivamayr attracts company like Bollywood stars and Hollywood celebrities including Melanie Griffith. @melaniegriffith / Instagram
Melanie Griffith, 69, shared images from the resort in the fall. @melaniegriffith / Instagram
As a journey journalist, I’ve stayed at my fair proportion of wellness resorts around the world. While some of them focus on rest — think spa therapies, butlers and shaded cabanas — Vivamayr is more about the inner digestive makeover.
The resort, I’d heard from a couple who stayed there, was “the real deal.” Since opening in 2005, it has become an annual vacation spot for these trying to reset their intestine well being. One mom and daughter from New York instructed me they go to every yr.
“Every time I leave here, my health is perfect. I go back home, my doctor gets my bloodwork, and everything is normal,” the daughter, in her late 50s, said.
Add to that another glowing suggestion from a shut pal who had been going for years — and swore that the Mayr Method healed her persistent intestine points — and I was enough to settle for an invite to strive out their detox program… even if their model of wellness is less about pampering and more about whipping our bodies into form.
What is the Mayr Method?
The resort is based on the ideas of Modern Mayr Medicine, a technique created by Austrian doctor Dr. Franz Xaver Mayr.
“Over a hundred years ago, [he] observed how closely digestive efficiency and intestinal health are tied to overall well-being,” Dr. Sepp Fegerl, the Head of the Medical Department at Vivamayr, instructed The Post.
“The overall goal of the therapy, according to F.X. Mayr, is to use an individualized fasting, not to lose weight per se, but to restore the biological preconditions that make self-regulation and regeneration possible in the first place — through relieving the digestive tract, retraining eating behavior (especially chewing), taking care of personal intolerances, and targeted substitution of deficiencies.”
Guests get a medical analysis and are sometimes given dietary supplements. Courtesy Vivamayr
There’s also rest, with typical spa facilities. Courtesy Vivamayr
The technique revolves around 10 “Golden Rules.”
Days are stuffed with therapies and therapies, which can embody oxygen remedy, an electrolysis footbath, forest walks, cryotherapy, a dietary session, breathwork, and an HRV stress check. Courtesy Vivamayr
Toughing it out
My keep began with a 60-minute session, during which Dr. Fegerl went over my lab outcomes and listened to my well being issues.
I instructed him about meals poisoning I’d not too long ago picked up in Costa Rica, which he prompt could clarify attainable parasites in my intestine.
The doc prescribed me magnesium citrate — which has a sturdy laxative impact — to assist clear out my intestine. He suggested me to take it straightforward for the next few days (i.e., no gymnasium or sauna), admitting that it wouldn’t be nice as my physique started detoxing.
He wasn’t fallacious.
The weight-reduction plan is also intently prescribed. Martin Steinthaler | tinefoto.com
The first 48 hours proved to be more difficult than I expected. I had a headache and felt extraordinarily torpid, which left me taking several naps a day. By the second day, I turned agitated and irritable, and as a heavy espresso drinker, all I fixated on was my morning espresso and a hearty meal.
It was a far cry from my keep at Italy’s Hotel Hubertus, where I spent my days at my own leisurely tempo, drifting between a sauna and steam room and napping on the garden.
I can’t say I hadn’t been warned — even by other company.
“On day 3 you’ll hit a wall,” one girl assured me on my first day. I had just woken up from a nap, feeling discombobulated. She was a veteran who had been to the resort numerous instances.
Meals are served 3 times per day, at least 4 hours aside. They get progressively lighter, with dinner often being vegetable broth. Courtesy Vivamayr
Neatly lined bottles of nutritional vitamins and drugs tailor-made to your well being await you at each meal. Ulrike Koeb
Looking for the buffet? Nein!
Meals were served 3 times per day, at least 4 hours aside, and got progressively lighter, with dinner often being vegetable broth. No other meals was out there.
To eat, company are assigned a desk on the out of doors terrace with a coloured place card and quantity corresponding to their personalised meal plan.
Neatly lined bottles of nutritional vitamins and drugs tailor-made to your well being await you at each meal, sometimes making it really feel less like a wellness resort and more like a senior dwelling middle. I was given bitter drops and selenium drugs with a card that learn “Yellow #2,” which I later realized was one of the stricter meal plans.
I’d typically look around in envy as I saw one aged girl consuming yogurt in the morning (I couldn’t have dairy) while another had a heaping bowl of cooked greens and slices of veal for lunch, which felt like a Thanksgiving feast in contrast to my celery soup and canapé-sized portion of roasted turkey. One girl proudly confirmed off her plate to another visitor who replied with a chuckle, “Oh, you’re lucky, enjoy that!”
Most company were solo, so meals were typically shared in silence with views of the lake. Phones are prohibited while consuming to encourage company to be current. Initially, the silence was awkward, but it regularly compelled me to focus on the meals in entrance of me and chewing. Over time, my starvation subsided.
“On day 3 you’ll hit a wall,” one girl assured Leila Najafi (not pictured) on my first day. Stefan Leitner
The bells and whistles
Of course, the hefty price ticket isn’t just for a restricted weight-reduction plan — there are also a ton of therapies and tech.
My days were stuffed with personalized therapies and therapies, which included oxygen remedy, an electrolysis footbath, forest walks, cryotherapy, a dietary session, breathwork, an HRV stress check, a sea salt peel, common stomach massages administered by the physician and even hypnosis.
Another session with the physician concerned utilized kinesiology, or muscle testing. Dr. Fegerl opened a drawer stuffed with tiny vials of varied substances (i.e., espresso grounds, egg whites, and so forth.) and, like a mad scientist, he chosen one for me to maintain between my fingers. Lying down with one knee bent, he examined my muscle power by asking me to push against his hand as he utilized resistance to my knee and repeated the course of with completely different vials. It all felt a little too woo-woo.
Najafi said she’d typically look around in envy as I saw one aged girl consuming yogurt in the morning (I couldn’t have dairy) while another had a heaping bowl of cooked greens and slices of veal for lunch. Courtesy Leila Najafi
But while I held certain vials, my muscular tissues instantly turned weak. I was genuinely shocked. After further testing and stomach massages, the physician concluded that I was delicate to histamines.
“Many factors can influence muscle response — allergens, toxins, food intolerances, medications, minerals, trace elements, vitamins, and even emotional factors,” said Dr. Fegerl. “Once an imbalance is identified, further factors are tested to find what restores a balanced response — this is how the individual therapy plan is built.”
Was it price it?
The keep itself may have been torture (and I was only there for 4 days — most folks go for a week or two), but I do think this was the most legit longevity/medical resort I’ve been to. And surprisingly, I would even take into account visiting again when I want another detox.
Though it was robust, Najafi said the keep modified her relationship with meals. Courtesy Leila Najafi
It undoubtedly had its bumps (and starvation pangs), but I was shocked by how much of the expertise I took residence with me — including some of the Mayr Method’s “Golden Rules.” In truth, I felt lighter, wasn’t bloated and even shed a few kilos.
My relationship to meals has modified, too. I slowly got used to only consuming 3 times per day. My cravings actually went away — actually — and I realized to pay attention to starvation cues versus consuming out of behavior.
I now begin my mornings with my largest meal at breakfast and strive to focus on the plate in entrance of me, treating it as a aware ritual. I also strive to cease consuming at 7 p.m. most nights to give my physique time to digest.
If you’re trying for a kick in the pants to get your intestine well being in test and would choose to do it amid some fairly beautiful surroundings, this is a excellent place to do it. But don’t expect to be pampered… and possibly keep away from the caffeine chilly turkey shock by weaning yourself off espresso the week before.
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