Melodic mantras and warm oil repeatedly poured across the lower back are parts of Kati Vasti, an Ayurvedic therapy that Karina Steward, founder and chief wellness officer of Kamalaya Wellness Sanctuary in Koh Samui, Thailand, swears would put anyone in a pleasure coma. “It's like when you rub oil on the back of a baby and they just pass out,” she explains. But for women experiencing menopause, who are subject to nervous system overload, adrenal burnout, and sleeplessness, such treatments can feel especially powerful, Steward notes. It's one of many tools in Kamalaya's new Radiant Bliss program, a combination of Eastern and Western therapies. Stewart designed it to address women's health concerns at all points in the biological cycle, but the program particularly helps those enduring the mood swings, hot flashes, weight gain, and insomnia that are part of what was once referred to as “the change.”
Cringey euphemisms for the midlife hormonal shift used to be commonplace. But today menopause and its harbinger, perimenopause (which can strike women as early as their 30s), have shed their Geritol-tinged stigma, thanks in part to the openness of stars who've gone through them: Oprah Winfrey and Drew Barrymore discussed hot flashes and hormone replacement therapy (HRT) in their special program “The Menopause Talk,” while Naomi Watts unveiled her meno-beauty brand Stripes at membership club The Swell's New Pause Symposium in New York and LA (tagline: “We're coming in hot!”).
Now the same generation that once pushed for insurance coverage of IVF and breastfeeding pods at the office are flocking to spas and wellness retreats with programming that specifically addresses menopause. Spain's esteemed Sha Wellness Clinic recently opened a sexual health unit, prompted by “a shift in societal attitudes and a growing interest from our guests in addressing these issues,” says Cinthya Molina, a clinical psychologist who heads the program. Guests are assigned therapies “based on balancing all hormonal axes” through nutrition, exercise, and supplementation, including plant-based “bioidentical” hormones. Some may also be candidates for a prescription of HRT.
In fact, with hormone replacement therapy still a fraught issue in the US—where the medical establishment has slowly re-embraced it after a faulty 2002 study connected it to elevated breast cancer and heart disease risk—many women are seeking guidance at wellness clinics. The seven-night program for menopausal women at Villa Stephanie in Baden-Baden, Germany, for instance, offers a cornucopia of protocols, including bioidentical hormone replacement therapy, mental health consultations, acupuncture, hiking, and a tailored dietary plan that targets glucose metabolism to regulate hormones. At 1 Hotel Hanalei Bay in Kauai, Hawaii, women work with experts to “unlock the power of biology” with a panoply of tailored therapies, including a comprehensive hormone assessment, nutrient therapy, and personalized bioidentical hormone replacement (with fun gizmos for symptom management, like an “ocean float room” to relieve muscle aches and compression leg cuffs to boost circulation).
Taking a less medicalized though no less immersive path, meno-focused group retreats are attracting adherents. Baja-based wellness pioneer Rancho La Puerta is hosting an Iyengar Yoga workshop for perimenopause, with a focus on asanas that address hot flashes, insomnia, and mood swings. And Amilla Maldives recently held a four-day Pause Retreat consisting of meditation, yoga, sound therapy, massage, and breath work that was so popular the resort plans to do it again. “Women loved that they had the time to learn about the changes taking place in their bodies,” says general manager Narelle McDougall, “and ways to transition whilst enjoying their dream holiday.”
Those who don't want a multiday commitment can opt for a quickie treatment at Chewton Glen, in South East England, called [Meno]pause and Restore, which aims to address emotional heaviness while decreasing inflammation in the body. Mii Amo in Sedona, Arizona, reopened its renovated spa with a workshop that addresses challenging life stages, while Miraval offers classes that address this transition, including a Pelvic Floor Wisdom offering. At Nayara Tented Camp in Costa Rica, the Rite of the Womb ritual, based on initiation traditions of Amazonian and Andean shamans, is offered to women who are pregnant, entering menopause, or have had hysterectomies.
Which may point to the most lasting antidote of all, and one that underscores why we travel. In places where traditional cultures still flourish, says Kamalaya's Stewart—like her homeland of Mexico, or her adopted one of Thailand—elders are revered and treated with kindness. “If we have a negative image of what menopause is, if we fight it, it will be a disaster. Yes, it's a closure, but I'm finding it is also the biggest rebirth. It's truly liberating. I hope that women can work with their health both internally and physically to experience menopause not as a decline, but a metamorphosis.”
This article appeared in the March 2024 issue of Condé Nast Traveler. Subscribe to the magazine here.
