I Took a "Calmcation" For Stress Relief - and Gained So Much More ...Middle East

While reclining on a beach lounger next to one of my best friends, quietly taking in the the island views - green-blue waves, greenery-topped mountains - and feeling the gentle breeze as it tousled the palm-fronded beach umbrellas around me, I forgot, for a moment, about the Sisyphean state of my inbox or the liminal phase my life had once again entered. Even with a freshly diagnosed sinus infection and bronchitis, as well as my newly prescribed inhaler in tow, I felt content and excited for the days ahead.

"I love it here. Luis was right about Mallorca," I admitted, referring to my Madrileño friend while on a much-needed "calmcation." What's more, a recent tarot reading with Marina Smargiannakis had predicted the trip would lead to profound insights and personal healing - but to be honest, the simple pleasures of wearing a bikini and feeling the warm Spanish sun on my skin was already more than enough.

Wellness travel has trended for over a decade, with the calmcation being tossed around as one of the year's top luxury travel trends. The calmcation leans into the idea of creating a state of calm on vacation - a mental and emotional reset that will ideally be incorporated into your everyday life once you return home.

Its rise may speak to the fact that stress reduction has become a more substantiated need: functional medicine increasingly identifies the connection between mental and emotional distress to bodily inflammation and illness. Naturopathic doctor Nadia Musavvir, ND, has named the body's ongoing stress responses as the "root of all chronic illness."

So how does one craft the ideal getaway for inducing relaxation? The poet Rumi once wrote that "there are hundreds of ways to kneel and kiss the ground" - and so it is with finding your inner peace. My personal preferences all point to "slugxury," which is what I like to call the freedom from responsibility that comes while being sluggish in luxurious surroundings.

My ideal summer calmcation involves pool and beach access, plentiful sun, organic and gluten-free cuisine, and a next-level spa menu. Access to shopping provides an added but unnecessary bonus. As a writer, I also particularly enjoy non-English-speaking destinations as they allow me to home in on my inner voice.

Those factors led me to Mallorca, the largest and most livable of Spain's stunning Balearic islands. My friends in Spain got me hooked on their country's exquisite island life last summer, from the tiny, idyllic Formentera to the famous party destination Ibiza, and the quaint, quieter Menorca. But I had never visited Mallorca, which actually comes with a fitting nickname: the "calm island."

As luck would have it, the Four Seasons Resort Mallorca at Formentor had reopened in March to officially unveil their renovations. Along with my good friend, celebrity makeup artist Carissa Ferreri, I set out for its picturesque views, private beach access, multiple pools, Michelin-starred dining, and impressive spa menu. Here's how my calmcation went.

Experts Featured in This Article

Nadia Musavvir, ND, is a licensed naturopathic doctor and advisor specializing in holistic approaches to hair, skin, and overall well-being.

Dave Asprey, also known as the "father of biohacking," is an author, host of "The Human Upgrade" podcast, and founder of Bulletproof Coffee.

What Is a "Calmcation"?

The philosophy behind the calmcation is simple: the intentional removal of stressful day-to-day obligations followed by an immersion into restful environments. The idea is to invoke what Herbert Benson coined the "relaxation response" back in 1975: the body's natural antidote to the physiological stress process that is sometimes called the "rest and digest" state.

"Taking a restful calmcation can be important for the body's optimal well-being," Dr. Musavvir says. "Breaking up chronic stress by intentionally getting into the parasympathetic state helps remind the body that it is not under threat and allows it to heal and regenerate."

Because the brain doesn't distinguish between physical and emotional stress, modern life's frenetic pace keeps many of our stress levels at an unsustainable baseline. Dave Asprey, author and so-called "father of biohacking," collected data to confirm this, scanning the brains of 1,500 high-performing individuals and finding that "chronic sympathetic arousal" (i.e. an activated stress response) was the norm.

"That's the fight-or-flight system stuck in 'on' mode,'" he warns, noting that it hijacks energy, focus, and libido, and it even ages you. The antidote, he says, is to provide your nervous system with the sense of safety that gives it permission to "downshift" into its natural state of repair and rejuvenation. Then, he insists, "your brain repairs, your hormones can rebalance and your inner voice stops sounding so stressed out."

This often has to be intentionally planned, however, such as with a calmcation or thorough self-care regimens, because high stress levels have become the norm. Otherwise, Asprey lists several stress-related symptoms impacting quality of life that can emerge, like poor sleep quality and reduced emotional capacity. He also notes less apparent outcomes of chronic stress, from reduced mitochondrial function at the cellular level to shortened lifespan.

"Most people are so stressed that they don't even know they are," Asprey adds. When unhealthy stress levels have become your norm, sometimes the feeling of calm or relaxation can even be confused with fatigue or laziness, as the mind and body veer back towards an expected state of hypervigilance.

I, on the other hand, have been fully aware of my unsustainable stress level and the havoc it wreaks on my life and well-being. Following renovations and relocations, breakups and reconciliations, runaway beagles and reunions, I've experienced everything from missed periods to intestinal parasites in the last two years. And I was absolutely frothing at the mouth for an opportunity to interrupt my regularly scheduled chaos with a calmcation in the name of peace and equanimity.

My Experience Going on a Calmcation

True to form, my calmcation was delayed by an unexpected trip to the emergency vet with my miniature schnauzer, Delilah. This required a last-minute change to my travel plans, which were thankfully free of charge thanks to Delta One's flexible policy. But it also meant taking three flights to get to the island, beginning at 6:00 a.m. in Los Angeles and including a lengthy layover in Barcelona.

I was practically delirious by the time I arrived at the Palma airport in Mallorca, where I met up with my travel buddy, Carissa. But even extreme jet lag couldn't stop me from my spa appointment for an Endospheres treatment that day. The non-invasive body treatment uses compressive microvibrations to contour the body and reduce the appearance of cellulite, but it's also ideal after a long, sedentary plane ride in high altitudes, as it promotes circulation, fascia release, and lymphatic drainage - spurring the body's natural detoxification process while smoothing the skin surface and visibly de-puffing from fluid retention.

The treatment works by gently guiding the lymphatic fluid along its bodily pathways between the lymph nodes, making its natural way to the liver and kidneys to be excreted. (I fell asleep during the treatment, but could tell it was effective; upon waking, I immediately had to pee, which is a common outcome following lymphatic drainage treatments!) Plane travel's altitude changes and sedentariness impact the accumulation of fluid in the body, and Dr. Musavvir recommends routine therapies that support lymphatic drainage as a vital way to support the immune system. This, as it turns out, was especially important for me - but more on that later.

After my nap on the massage table, Carissa and I got ready for our dinner reservations at Shima, one of the on-site restaurants serving Japanese-Peruvian fusion cuisine known as Nikkei. Four Seasons prides itself on its cuisine, having been awarded 34 Michelin Stars across its hospitality group, and the meal did not disappoint. Carissa and I are both gluten-free, which was not a problem for the chef.

As we sipped glasses of Sancerre, we met a pair of vacationing Texans seated at a neighboring table. They were thrilled with their experience at the resort thus far, telling us about falling asleep at the beach and taking an excursion to the nearby town and property. Their only complaint, they told us, was that getting one bag of laundry done had cost them close to 1,000 euro.

My energy was already dwindling and before the end of dinner, I started to crash. I headed back to the room and took a bath, even falling asleep for a minute in the tub before getting in bed. The next morning, I knew I needed to see a doctor from the moment I awoke - my sinuses were throbbing and my throat was burning. Leading up to the trip, I had been dealing with lingering congestion and sneezing that I chalked up to seasonal allergies. But after my marathon of travel, it had clearly turned into a full-blown sinus infection.

The hotel concierge called for a doctor, and when Dr. Blanco arrived, he administered a COVID test (negative), took my temperature, and proceeded with my checkup in my hotel room. He diagnosed me with a sinus infection and bronchitis, prescribing me antibiotics, an inhaler, a fever reducer and painkiller, and probiotics. In true Spanish form, he recommended that I only have "one to two" drinks per night, which Carissa and I found funny because I barely drink to begin with.

The good news is I started to feel better quickly. I felt that fresh air and sunlight would help, so I moved myself outdoors to sunbathe in front of my suite's private pool. I ordered some in-room dining - an açai bowl and some gluten-free pastries - and once my medicine kicked in, Carissa and I headed out to the beach. It was beautiful; even in my sick state, I was smitten with the view and ambience.

All I had to do was sit there and soak up the sun, listening to the waves crash and glimpsing island scenery unlike anything I could see back home, and I was actually happy - even with a sinus infection and bronchitis. After the beach, we stopped at the spa to enjoy the steam room and sauna. Everyone on the staff knew I'd been sick and checked in to see how I was feeling.

The doctor recommended that I breathe in steam, so I went to the steam room first. Afterwards, we made our way to the sauna. I've never experienced a cleaner or more beautiful sauna than this newly renovated one, which has a view of the sea and grounds. The spa also has its own pool and chaises where guests can relax and enjoy tea and healthy snacks. Carissa stayed to sunbathe while I headed back to the room to rest; after all, I was still pretty sick.

That night, we ate at Mel. There was a band playing live music, coincidentally playing "Hotel California." We shared the night's special, branzino, and admired the ambience, which felt more like staying on a European estate rather than a modern five-star hotel. Besides the incredible view afforded by eating outdoors, I loved seeing how dog-friendly the resort was. At one point, a dachshund darted away from his family to greet a dog at the neighboring table.

I was still sick, but that didn't stop me from sleeping serenely. (In fact, Four Seasons is known for its luxurious bedding and cloud-like pillows.) The next morning, we headed to breakfast - again at Mel - where they served an à la carte menu, as well as an incredible buffet. I had coffee while Carissa tried a matcha latte that they happily made according to her exact specifications.

It was hard to believe, but it was already time to check out before heading back to Barcelona for a few nights. Because the flight to Barcelona is less than an hour, Mallorca makes for an easy island getaway from the mainland. But leaving after such a short trip - especially when I was sick for most of it - was heartbreaking.

Even so, Mallorca was absolutely the perfect place for my calmcation. Unfortunately, you can't always control life events that get in the way of taking that time to reset. And not only was I sick on my getaway, but my return home was followed by three more stressful developments, in rapid succession, that I could never have foreseen.

In a way, I look at my calmcation as the eye of the storm during a stressful time of my life. But in the brief moment of pause it afforded, I became more aware of just how stressful my life had become and the importance of making changes to prioritize peace moving forward.

The fact was that the last two-plus years have been particularly transformative and growthful, but also quite painful. For all that time, I had had the mentality that I just needed to find a way to cope until things calmed down; then I could resume the life that I had loved so much before. But as time went on and certain changes became permanent, it finally dawned on me that my expectations of myself are what needs to change. Returning to the life I lived before all these events took place no longer makes sense; they've changed me.

Finally, I realized that what I actually needed to do was to reorient myself in my new set of circumstances and to build the life that fit and nurtured the woman I had become. Part of the stress had stemmed from holding onto the sense of myself that I had outgrown. Instead, I needed to take account of the losses, gains, and valuable lessons learned, so that the makeup of my life could evolve along with my sense of self.

So while my brief calmcation itself was not the reset I had hoped for, it was profoundly important to me as a person. After enduring a yearslong marathon of high stress, my health broke down on an idyllic Balearic island. The experience woke me up to the deeper source of the stress weighing down my mind, body and soul - holding onto the familiarity of a past and identity I had outgrown. For years, I believed that I was prioritizing self-care in order to preserve the life I had built. Moving forward, my goal will be embracing the woman I'm becoming while changing my life to again cultivate, prioritize, and reclaim the inner peace that had once been mine.

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