Travel: BodyHoliday - the original healthy holiday resort in St Lucia

I’ve been asking doctors, reading books and scrolling social media, but I’m still pretty clueless. That is, until I decide to get away from everyone and everything, at the BodyHoliday in St Lucia.

Holidays with a healthy focus are nothing new. In fact, BodyHoliday was one of the first, launching back in 1988, when Jane Fonda’s long limbs would fly across TV screens, but it was a different time back then. Menopause was very much a taboo topic.

Now, while escaping to a resort filled with wellness, wondrous scenery and weather to die for, BodyHoliday’s Wellness Clinic means you can select a specific focus before you go, from destressing, detoxing or digestive issues, to fitness, ageing and weight management.

I am trying to be more accepting of my body, after 44 years of life and two children. But the weight loss programme uses scientific lab tests to evaluate hormones, inflammation and food sensitivities – so I can find out whether all my bodily and brain changes are due to the perimenopause, while also having a relaxing break.

Located on the north-west region of Caribbean Island of St Lucia, BodyHoliday is set in tropical gardens on the beachfront. The rooms here are pretty standard, but the resort itself is a hive of activity, with two beautiful pools, a beach, spa, all the activities you could ask for and a range of restaurants.

The health tests are fairly intense. Before setting foot on a plane, I was sent my pre-holiday test kit and discovered I needed to find someone to take 60ml of my blood and courier it to St Lucia. Then, after settling into the resort, I have a consultation with Dr Maha, The Wellness Clinic Leader.

In a stark white clinical office, I lay on the bed while clamps are attached to my feet and hands for an ECG, have my heart, blood pressure, lungs, stress and body fat levels measured, give more blood to investigate my liver function, cholesterol and glucose levels, and have my body minerals and metal toxicity analysed. It is slightly overwhelming, but nothing compared to the results.

When all the tests are back, I’m presented with a folder of charts and tables. Dr Maha reveals I’m intolerant to lactose and gluten, that the bottom half of my lungs aren’t functioning properly, I have a digestive disorder and lymphatic condition, and I am very much in the throes of perimenopause. I was half-expecting the last one, but everything else is a bit of a shock. Still, I’m given suggestions to make it better – stop eating gluten and lactose, start daily breathwork, and take monthly lymphatic massages, which just about sounds doable.

Putting the results to the back of my mind, I focus on everything else there is to offer here. Yoga kicks off my full activity schedule.

Deciding how much to squeeze into your day is really the hardest part here, but I take myself off for a mood-boosting meditation class.

The Treehouse is at capacity with around 12 of us waiting to be guided through a state of relaxation. As we start contracting and releasing muscles, focusing awareness on different body parts, my inner critic chats on about what a complete waste of time this is and listing multiple other things I haven’t had time to think about yet.

But as we relax each section of the body, incorporating chants to relax the muscles further, I realise the chatty voice in my head seems to have gone to sleep, and I feel like I’m floating on a cloud.

At the Wellness Centre, 33 treatment rooms are in action, offering everything from medically-endorsed preventative therapies, through to Ayurveda, beauty and pampering.

A feet-washing ritual precedes my first treatment, shirodhara, an Ayurvedic healing technique involving liquid being poured onto your forehead. Strong pinpointed massage to the face and scalp goes on and on until the oil pouring begins, making my senses stand on end before completely enveloping me in comfort and allowing me to drift off. I’m told it’s great for stress and anxiety – and perfect for calming a racing mind.

My favourite treatment is a Bhutanese massage with Tendel – one of the medical practitioners here. By the time he’s wheedled his way into every sinew of my being, stretching and placing my limbs into various positions in order to loosen up my tight trunk, lengthen my lead-like legs and knead my knots away, I genuinely feel like my posture’s improved.

Of all the activity and food offerings here, the plant-based I-TAL garden dinner experience is an absolute must. We meet at 5pm for a hot ascent up the garden, but the pace is slow, as we stop to pick mangoes fresh from the tree, sniff four different types of basil and learn to appreciate the price of pineapples, after being told it takes a whole year to grow one.

As we head towards the top, we’re welcomed by the most Instagrammable dinner table I’ve ever seen. The view overlooks the ocean, I discover soursop tastes likes a sweet watery Chewit sweet, and the evening is full of fun chat, delicious food and a night under the stars.

As I leave, I’m definitely less tired and moody. I’m still fat and emotional, but at least I know why. And I managed to have a wonderful holiday while finding out.

How to plan your trip

Rooms start from $388/£302pp per night including fitness activities, a daily spa treatment, all meals (some dishes and the I-TAL experience at a supplement), drinks and watersports. A supplement of $2,600/£2,022pp is charged for a three-day Wellness Clinic programme, and from $5,000/£3,889pp for a three-day Wellness Clinic Plus programme. Visit thebodyholiday.com.