Surviving the Extreme Spa Experience
The Farm at San Benito in the Philippines
Toughness Rating: Boy Scout Weekend Campout
This Philippines-based med spa provides an exhilarating—if not overly taxing—experience that combines Eastern and Western medical traditions, set in the forest of Batangas a 90-minute drive from Manila. Past guests have included Woody Harrelson and Coldplay’s Chris Martin, but this is no woo-woo Goop alikeness: Five resident medical doctors oversee every aspect of treatment, which focuses on integrative medicine. Start the day with an Oil of Life lecture, which introduces the history of healing oils, before following a custom program devised in the wake of a wellness test, which combines a whole body scan with bloodwork and brain biofeedback. That program could include crystal healing or malunggay therapy, a body wrap treatment with the pulped bark of a local namesake tree believed to have curative qualities, plus art therapy and acupuncture. From $600/night, all-inclusive; thefarmatsanbenito.com
Lanserhof in Germany
Toughness Rating: A Day of Back-to-Back Barry’s Classes Without a Break
They call it the Lanserhof Cure. That’s the shorthand for the supposedly life-extending programs enacted by this high-end, no-nonsense German retreat, which just added a third site on Germany’s answer to the Hamptons—the chic but remote island of Sylt. (One satisfied former customer: reformed party girl turned wellness booster Kate Moss.) Each guest undergoes an induction assessment on arrival, from mental health checks to gastrointestinal tests; The results are used to tailor-make a program that could include cryotherapy, meditation, and slow chewing (known as the Mayr Method, which suggests every mouthful should be masticated at least 30 times). Programs are also available to address long COVID, using a combination of immune system assessments and physical fitness. From $7,650/person/week; lanserhof.com
Buchinger Wilhelmi in Germany and Spain
Toughness Rating: Bear Grylls in a Bare-Knuckle Brawl With a Bear
This clinic, with two sites in Europe, offers one protocol: therapeutic fasting. It’s created no spin-off products or apps, but rather focuses entirely on its more than century-long tradition of using medically supervised calorie restriction as a curative for everything from obesity to autoimmune conditions. Around 6,000 people pass through its clinics in Marbella, Spain, and Lake Constance, Germany, every year, following a strict regimen that tapers food at the outset before limiting people to just 200 calories per day for courses that can last up to four weeks. Residents can swim or go for hikes in the hills, book a Reiki healing session or a massage, all while consuming little more than vegetable broth and herbal tea. The family-run clinic promotes therapeutic fasting as a lifestyle, not simply a treatment. Those who felt an improvement in mental clarity or dropped the dreamed-of poundage can continue it once home, perhaps by following the 16/8 protocol: 16 hours calorie-free each day with eating limited to just eight. From $4,300/room/10 days of treatment; buchinger-wilhelmi.com
Beckley Retreats in Jamaica and the Netherlands
Toughness Rating: An Emotional Ironman
It might not feature Nicole Kidman adopting an iffy, indeterminate accent, but this real-life answer to novel and TV series Nine Perfect Strangers allows you to follow a three-month-long trip that’s equal parts scientific and psychedelic. A getaway to Jamaica or the Netherlands—both territories where psilocybin truffles are legal for this work—is sandwiched between four weeks of guided, virtual preparation and six weeks of integration at home (also virtually) after that experience. While on-site, participants undergo two, six-hour deep psilocybin experiences, all steered by a team of medics and facilitators. Its pedigree is more impressive than many such startups: Neil Markey, a former US army captain and McKinsey consultant, partnered with British aristocrat and psychedelic campaigner Amanda Feilding to establish the program. From $5,900/person for a five-night experience; beckleyretreats.com
