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Mayrlife Medical Health Resort, Altaussee. All photos in this post by NHYM 2024.

I first heard about Mayrlife – then called Vivamayr – about ten years ago when my youngest was still at nursery and a Billionaire-Royalty mum was hailing its benefits with another socialite mum and I have been wanting to go ever since. But let’s be real, it’s a minimum 1 week stay, and I couldn’t imagine leaving my two young children for a week. Fast forward 10 years and covid, long covid and a chronic illness later, I desperately needed this break when the stars aligned and I had one week free: one child was going to camp in North America and the other to a high performance sports camp in Spain.

I jumped (leaped) at the chance to go with one of my dearest and oldest friend who happened to be free and regularly goes on detox trips (this is NOT something to do with husbands or new friends – let’s just say you are in for a complete top-to-bottom cleanout!).

Photo: NHYM 2024

My first impression was that the setting was breath-taking with majestic mountains jutting behind a beautiful lake. It’s not only about the health and medical clinic aspect here, this place is so beautiful you could just go for the location, but I was here primarily for the promises that I would feel transformed by the time I left. Mayr is all about the gut and the microbiome and I was here to reset my gut and hopefully my health (oh and it is famous for forty chews per bite at every meal).

Photo: NHYM 2024

The day after we checked in, I met with my very lovely doctor Ingrid who basically made me cry when she told me I really needed 3 weeks here to feel healthy again (which of course would be impossible, I have kids!), but she assured me that she would do everything to start sorting me out. After ordering about a million tests and starting me on a million pills and giving me an intense treatment schedule, I was off to start my treatments.

Photo: NHYM 2024

I came specifically for their Long Covid Programme and a rare genetic condition I was diagnosed with 12 years ago, which leaves me exhausted, breathless and in pain. I love that they have very specialised programmes depending on your health needs (some other medical resorts have much more generalised programmes like weight loss, detox or longevity). My friend came for a detox and others come to lose weight (Rebel Wilson is pretty much a brand ambassador), but others were here for cancer recovery and we also saw an amputation patient down by the lake. My friend had fewer, gentler treatments than me, but enjoyed the hiking, the classes and socialising. My intense schedule was non-stop and included 3 x ozone therapy, 3 x hypoxic therapy for my breathlessness and fatigue and a bunch of other lighter treatments like massages, wraps and foot baths, to feel good, detox and calm down my parasympathetic nervous system.

Photo: NHYM 2024

When we weren’t busy with our treatment schedules, we went to the pool/sauna, sat by the lake with a book or went for hikes around the lake, which was really out of a fairy tale. It was unbeatable in terms of natural surroundings. While swimming in the lake one day, we met a Rock/Film Star who was there with her son and she was just as magnetic and beautiful in real life as she is on screen and down to earth too (unlike Rebel, she prefers to stay anonymous). This is what’s special here, it doesn’t matter who you are, there is an intimacy and connection that is instantly formed with every guest/patient: it felt like we were all here to be part of this special, enlightened club.

Photo: NHYM 2024

The week we were there, Rebel Wilson was there for three weeks with her wife and baby and she was just as hilarious in real life as she is in her movies: ‘sorry I don’t remember you, I’m too busy starving’. Fergie was also there, still recovering from breast cancer, along with another English aristo chatting to some LA/ Hollywood girls who clearly go every year.

Photo: NHYM 2024

Unlike my friend who was very social and literally met everyone there by then end of the week, I was there for a medical MOT: the ozone therapy literally drained me of my blood and washed it with ozone to get rid of any viral remnants and ‘clean and oxygenate’ my blood. The hypoxic treatment simulated climbing at altitude to encourage my body to create more blood cells to help with my breathlessness. This was intense work but was finally helping me: I could breathe and my mind felt clearer than it had for months.

Photo: NHYM 2024

The food, I would say, was the one thing I struggled with the most: I was here for exhaustion, not starvation! My blood tests showed that I am allergic to dairy and gluten, pomegrenates and pine nuts and intolerant to a whole bunch of other things. So, the first four days I was only served mushroom tea, coconut yoghurt, crackers, boiled chicken and about a million pills to take because of my newfound allergies. But after four days salivating over my neighbours’ food, I begged my doctor to put me back on regular food and she felt so sorry for me, she did, see below photo, and that sent me straight to heaven. Talking to other guests, it turns out some of them cheated and went to the nearby village for real food or snuck in chocolate bars, just like teenagers sneak in alcohol at school parties.

Photo: NHYM 2024

My doctor was excellent, knowledgeable and very empathetic. Despite some of the diagnostics and treatments being a bit outside my comfort zone like the colonics which I said a hard no to, despite everyone trying to convince me otherwise (‘My favourite part!’ said one guest) but that’s where I drew the line, so don’t worry about saying no. I was willing to try *almost* about anything – nothing had worked so far after all – but not everything.

What I loved the most about the week was that I spent an entire week completely prioritising my health without having to think of/or do my children’s meals, activities, pick ups, exams, pick ups and drop offs and looking after who’s happy and who’s sad. And that’s just my children, not to mention my husband’s needs. This was transformative in itself.

But by the end of the week, my stomach pains went away, my belly finally looked like I wasn’t 9 months pregnant and my brain felt so clear, I felt like I had woken up from a fuzzy dream. I can’t wait to go back (this time with hidden snacks) although it might take another 10 years for the stars to align again. It is by no means a ‘pampering’ holiday, it is hard, you have to be disciplined, but anyone with any kind of health problem or needing a detox will really come away with a whole new way of eating and of life. It really is that transformative.

xx

NHYM