Tabacón Thermal Resort & Spa in Costa Rica has launched a partnership with Harvard Psychologist, Dr. Natalie Christine Dattilo. This new programme focuses on self-care using traditional wellness techniques and evidence-based therapies.
According to a recent study, sixty-eight percent of travellers are likely to base their next trip around improving their mental well-being. In partnership with Tabacón, Dr. Natalie designed a programme to include mind-body strategies from her trademarked, science-backed ESCAPE® approach. These include Exercise, Sleep, Connect, Appreciate, Play and Exhale. It embraces sensory, emotional, and physical experiences unique to the destination. These have proven to increase relaxation, ease mental distress, and improve overall health.
EXERCISE: circulates stress hormones that build up and can cause or exacerbate mental health challenges like anxiety and depression. Brief bursts of exercise have been shown to boost our feel-good brain chemicals and help us relax. In Costa Rica exercise can be in the form of horseback riding, waterfall hikes zip-lining adventures, whitewater rafting or simply walking.
SLEEP: helps to process and store emotional information. Sleep challenges can impact the brain’s ability to consolidate and remember positive experiences, leading to increased distress and possible illness. To encourage deep rest, Tabacón collaborated with local company Biosfera to provide products using essential oil blend for use in meditation to enhance sleep. Showers in all rooms at Tabacon are fed by thermo-mineral water from the nearby Arenal volcano.
CONNECT: with the local community and natural curiosity. Humans need social experiences to strengthen neural connections to grow, learn, and thrive. A private outdoor yoga experience connects thoughts and nature to boost emotional health. Tabacón has developed a binaural beats track available for guests to download. This weaves the sounds of bird song and thermal river into a form of wave therapy to encourage an imaginative, meditative, and relaxed state of mind. Guests are encouraged to listen to this while exploring the gardens and the rainforest during their stay, as well as once they return home.
APPRECIATE: the surroundings, local customs, and traditions. Research shows gratitude enhances mental health by increasing mindfulness to cope with life’s uncertainties. Tabacón performs a private tree planting ceremony on site which, once grown, will be home to different bird species including the endangered green macaws.
PLAY: is something most adults are severely lacking and is crucial to our health. Play inspires laughter, which increases endorphins, soothes tension, and attenuates the effect of stress on the body, lessening the damaging effects of stress-hormone cortisol.
EXHALE: and inhale. Tabacón’s open-air rainforest spa possesses clean, pure air. The benefits include lower blood pressure, cellular growth, and mental acuity. Meditation and deep breathing techniques calm the nervous system to reduce stress, enhance focus, and boost the immune system to counteract the negative effects of stress response hormones like cortisol and adrenaline. Tabacón offers massage and balneotherapy.
Travel is a vibrant way to restore fundamental tenets of health and wellbeing through sleep, play, and connecting with nature. This trend of travel as a form of intrinsic healing will be top of mind for luxury travellers looking for the ultimate reprieve. The wellness program acknowledges the entire hotel ecosystem and the importance of a holistic health experience at Tabacón.
Tabacón is already an established leader in environmental sustainability,
Tabacón Thermal Resort & Spa is located at the base of the Arenal Volcano in the northern Region of Costa Rica. Set amidst more than 900 acres of a pristine rainforest reserve, the 105-room property is blessed with the largest network of naturally flowing hot springs, complemented by thermal waterfalls, river pools and an internationally renowned spa. A member of Small Luxury Hotels, Tabacón is an ideal launch pad for nearby adventures, including those in Arenal Volcano National Park, where ecotourists will encounter such wildlife as howler monkeys, toucans, and coatis. www.tabacon.com.