Many visitors from around the world come to Sri Lanka for an exciting holiday spent among the golden beaches or lush green mountains. However, Sri Lanka offers many more exciting things than beautiful scenery. Nowadays, Sri Lanka is becoming more and more popular as one of the best wellness tourism destinations in the world. According to the Global Wellness Institute, Sri Lanka is among the top five destinations for wellness tourism. It has been ranked as the fourth world’s top wellness tourism destination for 2021.
Wellness tourism is a rapidly growing sector in the travel industry. With the renowned hospitality of Sri Lankans, there isn’t any better place than Sri Lanka to get this unique experience. The historical connection with Ayurveda, yoga, and meditation makes Sri Lanka a top sought-after destination for wellness Tourism. With a widespread network of traditional Ayurveda medical resorts, wellness sanctuaries, and yoga retreats, tourists arriving in Sri Lanka can get a wonderful holistic wellness experience.
There are numerous world-class wellness retreats to deepen your mental strength and enhance your physical wellbeing. Particularly, Sri Lanka is well known for spiritual healing. There are a number of famous wellness retreats, which are designed to aid you with a healthy routine to get rid of the stress of modern daily life. The sunshine, beautiful nature, and specially arranged fresh vegan diet, will support your body and mind.
Most Sri Lankan wellness programs are based around Ayurveda, yoga, and meditation, combined with traditional spa treatments. Here we are going to show you how to enjoy wellness tourism in Sri Lanka.
1. Ayurveda medicines
Ayurveda is at the heart of Sri Lankan culture and dates back thousands of years. This is a holistic approach to treat both body and mind. This ancient practice of health is based on traditional medicines. Moreover, Ayurveda is known for its amazing healing powers for certain illnesses, and even surpassing western medication practices. Thus, most tourists select Sri Lanka as their destination for traditional Ayurveda medications. As well as, visitors can seek preventive treatments to develop their personal wellbeing.
You can select a suitable Ayurveda treatment program according to your requirement. Typically, there are three kinds of Ayurveda treatment packages. Firstly, the intensive programs deliver complete detoxification of the body. Secondly, the healing programs suit guests with ailments, which require more intensive treatments. Thirdly, the light treatments are best for guests who want leisure Ayurveda therapy treatments.
There are experienced professional therapists in Ayurveda hotels to support you. If you have some kind of ailment, healing programs are the best and you can get intensive treatments. Without a doubt, Ayurvedic healing treatment in Sri Lanka is a great opportunity to improve your positive health and wellness.
2. Ayurveda oil treatments
Traditional Ayurveda oil treatments are quite useful for a number of diseases, including headaches and migraines. Particularly, Shirodhara head treatment is famous among visitors. In this method, a smooth flow of a fine oil jet on your forehead while you are relaxing with closed eyes. The oil jet flows slowly over the forehead for 20-30 minutes. Thereafter, the upper back, neck, and head are massaged.
The effect of Shirodara treatment is very intense and it calms your mind and body. It improves memory, and the ability to see and hear. This method strengthens your hair and prevents hair loss and early graying. It helps to overcome insomnia, inner restlessness, depression, anxiety, concern, and other mental problems.
3. Ayurveda spa treatments
If you are looking for light Ayurveda treatment therapies, you can treat yourself to a variety of luxurious spa therapies. These methods use herbal oils and pastes for body massages. Spa treatments depend on indigenous medicinal herbs to help in natural healing.
Since Ayurvedic massage incorporates physical, mental, and spiritual components, it is one of the best methods to relieve stress. Most importantly, it is helpful to revitalize your skin and rejuvenate your body. Body massages help to cure diseases, as well as improve your overall wellbeing.
4. Ayurveda steam bath
Steam baths and saunas are highly effective Ayurveda treatments for obesity. This therapeutic measure is used to sweat in a steam bath, Usually, a steam bath is administered after a full body massage or a similar oil treatment. This is a cleaning and recovery process of our largest organ, the skin. All the pores in the skin are stimulated and the toxins released from the open pores and make clean, smooth skin.
5. Healthy diets
Ayurveda philosophy is concerned with treating both the inside and outside of the human body. Therefore, a healthy and nutritious diet is a key factor in treatment programs. Many Ayurveda resorts in Sri Lanka mainly serve vegetarian meals. They use fresh organic food products including vegetables, fruits, and herbs to prepare the meals. Essential spices are used to enhance the taste and aroma of Sri Lankan cuisine. This is quite beneficial for health-conscious travelers.
6. Herbal teas
An important aspect of wellness is what you indulge in. Ayurvedic philosophy mainly recommends drinking herbal teas to maintain positive health. Herbal tea is different from your usual cup of tea. In fact, it is not tea at all. It is an infusion or a blend of various leaves, flowers, fruits, or barks of medicinal plants. Usually, Sri Lankans drink many kinds of herbal teas, each with many health benefits.
Herbal teas are available in different varieties. Each herbal tea is made using a medicinal plant that possesses value unique for itself. Most practitioners of Ayurveda recommend herbal teas to their patients as they have studied the health benefits each beverage delivers. Among them, Ranawara tea is used for sugar disorders and Polpala tea is quite useful for kidney problems and urine troubles.
7. Ayurvedic herbal pouches
Ayurvedic pouch massage is popular for aches and pains, especially for muscles, tendons, and joints. It provides you with deep tissue massage without feeling uncomfortable. In this method, herbal oil is applied to your body, and massage is administered with a warm herbal pouch.
Usually, the pouch is prepared from fresh herbs and herbal powders depending on your pain. The oil and herbs of the pouch are selected according to the symptoms of health issues. The pouch is reheated to maintain its warmth by dipping it in warm herbal oil.
Ayurvedic pouch massage relieves stiffness and pain, so it is highly recommended for problems with muscles, tendons, ligaments, and the spine. This is a very unique therapy for pain and associated problems. It can give instant and lasting relief for pain and stiffness.
8. Ayurvedic floral baths
Herbal baths call as “beheth oru” dates back to ancient times. In this method, guests can immerse in a boat filled with flowers, herbs, and medicinal drugs to rejuvenate, refresh, and heal the body. This floral bath is perfect for soothing your mind, where you’ll be naturally perfumed with the fragrance of flowers. Usually, it is the last treatment during your wellness program.
Ayurvedic flower bath has colorful blooms with a wonderful smell of flower essences and sandalwood. It is a bath that you get at a moderate temperature and help you to return back to normal life. With this last treatment, you have certainly pampered yourself, your body, and your mind.
9. Yoga practices
Yoga practice is one of the most important and beautiful aspects of any wellness retreat. Specialized instructors and trained staff are based in every wellness retreat to look into the visitor’s needs. Yoga is a unique experience that supports you physically, emotionally, and spiritually. There are many benefits of yoga practices to enhance your wellbeing. Yoga therapists will teach you poses, breathing techniques, and workshops about philosophy, holistic health, creativity, and many more things.
There are qualified and experienced teachers to immerse you in yoga practices. These practitioners will give you more personalized advice to do yoga more safely. They will take you on a long journey and support the visitors in a unique way. You’ll be guided in a progressive manner, further deep into the experience of yoga.
Yoga Retreats create a loving and supportive environment that encourages you to meet different people with open hearts. There will be fun adventures to beaches, walking tours, hiking, and trekking activities. You will find this community is quite fun and quickly these connections will become long-lasting relationships. Most probably, these friendships will continue to inspire you long after you’ve returned home.
The time away from your hectic daily roles and responsibilities gives you imaginable freedom and relaxation deep into your heart. There will be many inspiring hours spent in yoga practice which helps you become stress-free. Then you’ll notice what is important to you and what brings you joy. You’ll understand what you need to do in order to have a happy, healthy life.
10. Meditation
Everybody is aware of the powers of meditation to maintain perfect mental health. Meditation is one of the best stress relief methods and helps to carry on a healthy lifestyle. Thus, meditation has gained immense popularity over the years in wellness tourism.
There are meditation centers in most wellness retreats. For those who seek inner peace of mind and relief from tension, meditation tends to be highly productive. There are specialized instructors and trained staff available in wellness retreats to look into visitors’ needs.
In the past, people traveled places to explore new worlds, but nowadays travelers are seeking a new kind of exciting break. Then, enjoying wellness tourism in Sri Lanka is the best idea. You can get combinations of healthy experiences including traditional medicines, yoga practices, meditation as well as pampering spa vacations. Most importantly, visitors can get cost-effective treatments and cheaper medical services than in many other countries. Welcome guys, Enjoy the wonderful wellness tourism in Sri Lanka!
Text by Magnificent Sri Lanka. Images from booking.com, Wikimedia Commons, Facebook & Twitter. All copyrights are reserved by the original authors.
