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food, Food & Dining, Health & Wellness, Travel

The New Notting Hill ‘Wellness’ Scene

London is experiencing a full on ‘Well-naissance:’ long gone are the days of dancing on tables in dark corners of nightclubs, these days it’s all about drips and longevity. Even Tramp, the most louche, debaucherous nightclub I used to go to in my twenties, just launched a wellness members club: Tramp Health. The Arts Club already has a long-standing collaboration with Lanserhof, the medical retreat to the hard core wellness crowd (think, broth for dinner, crackers for lunch) and Annabel’s now even offers Sound Healing.

Cloud 12 Wellness After Dark

But the epicentre of Wellness in London has to be Notting Hill: it pops up more wellness-oriented businesses than anywhere in the capital: wellness memberships, exercise studios, restaurants (like the vegan Holy Carrot) and even food shops (a Whole Foods literally opened two weeks ago on Notting Hill Gate). Wellness Members Clubs are the hot new thing and I’ve already covered the new Six Senses Place members club, with access to the Six Senses Spa, gym and hotel facilities, which chose Notting Hill (well, Queensway) as their inaugural wellness club. An Australian friend looking for a good Acai bowl was bemoaning the lack of good Acai in South Kensington/Chelsea, reminding me that in Notting Hill, you can find Acai bowls on every street corner: Acai girls, Farm girl, Granger, Jusu Brothers, Oakberry, Jungle Berry etc…which is an indication of the demand and supply. But not all wellness fads survive, sadly Bodyism recently shut down, with a business model that was going to be hard to sustain, and is being replaced by an Alo store (another indicator of NH Wellness) and RePlace also closed recently.

Neeta Sharma of Grounded 1002

And then a few weeks ago, I was invited to a new concept launched by Cloud Twelve: ‘Wellness After Dark,’ which hosts weekly wellness sessions on Thursdays, with 50% off certain treatments and a ‘Wellness Social’ from 6:15pm-7pm. I was invited to try their new Infrared Sauna, which offers all kind of benefits from anti-ageing to weight loss and their ‘Wellness social,’ a rotating line-up of sessions given by guest practitioners. I attended the ‘Luxury of Knowing Yourself: Reset Through the Body,’ by Neeta Sharma of Grounded1002. Not knowing what to expect, I was welcomed with freshly foraged elderflower tea, a group of nice women, and an hour of connecting with one’s body with breathing, collective humming, tapping, body gua sha, and movement with Neeta’s guidance. I left feeling lighter, invigorated and in a better mood. I don’t know if it was the infrared sauna, the collective humming, or feeling part of a community, but it was a great way to spend a Thursday evening, prioritising myself and my wellbeing.

Neeta’s Gua Sha on sale on Grounded1002

There’s also the Method, which opened not one, but two studios in Notting Hill: first with the Nathalie Cafe on Westbourne Grove, where literally all the influencers go for their Matcha and Coffee, and their new studios on the intersection of Westbourne Grove and Pembridge Villas, in the flat-iron building, the Method Club, which offers ‘fun’ exercise classes with dancing and pilates involved. Two other gyms have opened, Third Space in The Whiteley and Form Studios across from it, all highlighting the current Wellness trend.

Finally, there are longevity clinics, popping up all over London, like Apogii, a Wellness and Longevity clinic in Notting Hill, which offers cryotherapy, infrared sauna and other longevity hacks, which was bought by Get-a-Drip, the iv clinic, which can top you up with anything from NAD+ to Vitamin C.

So, if you’re looking for a Wellness top-up, there’s nothing better than Notting Hill.

xx

NHYM

http://www.nottinghillyummymummy.com

Where to Stay in London:

  1. Best for Spa & Serenity: Six Senses Hotel
  2. Best for West London: The Kensington
  3. Best Romance & Rooftop Pool: The Berkeley
  4. Best in Old School Luxury in Mayfair: The Connaught
  5. Best in East London: Shoreditch House
  6. Best for sustainability: 1 Hotel Mayfair
  7. Best for Cool Central Covent Garden: Nomad
  8. Best for City Views and Sky High Restaurants: Shangri-La The Shard
  9. Best Boutique: Number 16 Hotel South Kensington
  10. Best for middle-of-the-action-Leicester Square: The Londoner

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Health & Wellness, Travel

Review: Mayrlife Medical Health Resort, Austria

BOOK YOUR FLIGHTS TO AUSTRIA WITH EXPEDIA.CO.UK

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

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