While most practitioners of mindfulness retreat to the pagoda and the sangha for space and community, The Sanchaya is stepping up as an alternative venue for a retreat that indulges silence and calm, as well as great food and fine wine.
The 10-hectare beachfront estate has joined forces with Australian pilates specialist and personal trainer Rosie Gregory and app-based lifestyle and fitness platform GuavaPass to introduce the inaugural The Sanchaya Sangha – An Indulgent Mindfulness Retreat from 4 to 8 June this year.
The four-night retreat balances morning beach boot camp sessions, meditation workshops and afternoon yoga and pilates with delectable spreads from the resort’s kitchens, premium vintages from its cellars, European cheese and lively conversation.
The Sanchaya’s estate manager Magnus Olovson said the experience was designed for those in need of a getaway, combining some physical exertion and meditation with the finer things in life, such as dialogue with like-minded people.
“At The Sanchaya, we have an idea that mindfulness need not always be accompanied by abstention,” Olovson said. “It’s like Plato once said, ‘Nothing more excellent than wine was ever granted by the gods to man’.”
Gregory, who divides her time between Singapore, Australia and London and helps clients worldwide develop and strengthen mind-body connection, said participants would tune into themselves by combining muscle and mental training to boost healing, stress relief and health.
“But we won’t take ourselves too seriously,” she said. “All too often, we try to change our habits drastically in the continuing mayhem of our everyday lives and soon discard our well-intended goals into the ‘too hard’ bin.”
Rhyce Lein, GuavaPass’s GM for Singapore, said that relocation to an environment removed from the usual stressors, triggers and schedules could enable small, sustainable shifts into the mind and body: “The retreat is a prime chance to unload tension, reset and cultivate a new state of mind and, of course, have a whole lot of fun training with like-minded individuals.”
As a fledgling community, or sangha, the retreaters will gather together to chat and share ideas at venues throughout The Sanchaya (Sanskrit for ‘collection’), just a short ferry ride from Singapore. These venues include the glass-walled wine cellar and wine and cheese tasting area, Decanter, and at the outdoor Tasanee Grill restaurant by the infinity pool with the ocean beyond.
