by Shari Mycek

The BodyHoliday’s BodyScience Program, I quickly learn, is intense. And begins weeks before arrival. From home, guests are asked to complete a 96-page questionnaire, offering insight into their medical and family histories; lifestyle rituals. Blood, urine, stool and even DNA samples are collected and sent to a European lab for analysis, after which time Dr. Samantha and the lab physician consult.

“Your heart is green.”

Swirly visions of The Wizard of Oz – the wicked witch of the west, the wizard himself and even the tin man in search of a heart, dance in my head – as Dr. Samantha Semmalar, head of BodyHoliday’s BodyScience program in St. Lucia, smiles at me from across her desk.

“Don’t worry. A green heart is good, we will discuss more thoroughly,” she says, continuing down her list. “Your blood pressure is on the low side, lower than I’d like to see. And do you often have leg cramps.”

I do. Painful, charley-horse, tight-balls-in-my-calves that wake me in the middle of the night kind of cramps. But how does she know?

​“Your sodium is low. You need to eat more salt. In fact, you need to eat more in general, you’re not eating enough.”

We are seated inside Dr. Samantha’s office – an oasis of wellness and calm, set high above the Caribbean Sea. This is not my first visit to this mindful health haven. Three years ago, I traveled here to check out the unusual-in-my-mind wellness vacation resort – a place where alcohol flows freely, meals and daily spa treatments are included in the stay. And where Victoria Secret models sipping green smoothies, sit alongside professional athletes eating burgers and fries.

I was not disappointed. In fact, I fell in love – with the plethora of fitness, yoga, and mind-body classes, the scope of activities, and indepth spa programs including real-from-India Ayurveda offerings.

Andrew Barnard, deputy managing director and son of Craig Barnard, who opened BodyHoliday in the 1980s, explains that his father’s vision for a ‘wellness holiday’ was foreign at the time. Even to Americans who – with big hair, tight spandex and Jane Fonda home workout tapes – were already in the midst of a fitness craze.

“Guests arrived with suitcases stuffed with food,” says Andrew. “The idea of a wellness holiday in the 1980s was so unfamiliar. They were concerned that meals would be restrictive and that they would go hungry. They had no idea what to expect.”

​“When our family opened BodyHoliday, the idea was to offer a respite for the Wall Street crowd, a place they could come to relax, have spa treatments, have a glass of wine with dinner, and have fun,” Andrew continues. “It was born as a holiday, and we’ve never lost that philosophy. My father saw – way back – that wellness was more than a fad. And he integrated his wellness vision – of food, relaxation, exercise and beauty — into a beach holiday. The BodyHoliday was never meant to be a place of depravity, but always of balance and restoration. He was ahead of his time, really.”

And still is. When I arrived three years ago, I came to experience the new Skin Care Clinic. And specifically, the Dr. Michael Prager facial, which at that time marked its first offering outside the renowned doctor’s London clinic. On this visit, my focus is to experience the BodyScience program (or at least a mini version of it), a west-meets-east fusion combining western science and technology with eastern practices.

Escorting me up the winding natural stair master (90 steps) to the Alhambra-style Wellness Centre, Dr. Arun Pillai explains. “BodyScience is the next level, the optimal level of wellness.”

The full BodyScience program, I quickly learn, is intense. And begins weeks before arrival. From home, guests are asked to complete a 96-page questionnaire, offering insight into their medical and family histories; lifestyle rituals. Blood, urine, stool and even DNA samples are collected and sent to a European lab for analysis, after which time Dr. Samantha and the lab physician consult. A determination is made to place the guest in one (or combination of) BodyHoliday’s six core programs: digestion, healthy aging, destress, detox, weight management or fitness. Upon arrival, guests meet with Dr. Samantha and during discussion of lab results, the European physician joins the call.

​Next up: onsite, non-invasive testing. And this is where I come in. This ‘second phase’ of the BodyScience program is available to guests already at the resort whose curiosity is piqued. Or those who simply opt out of the more intense lab portion. For either option, seven days is recommended, although guests may choose a five- or even three-day plan. I was on the fast (three-day) track.

During my initial meeting, Dr. Samantha asks me to complete a health assessment, only a few pages, and from this information, prescribes a series of non-invasive, onsite tests:

• HeartView, determining the condition of the heart.
• ANESA, a blood analyzer measuring 130 parameters of the blood.
• EIS, measuring minerals, hormone levels, serotonin and other areas between the tissues.
• NerveExpress, studying stress and comparing sympathetic and parasympathetic factors.
• BioClip, determining vascular age versus biological age.

For me, Dr. Samantha prescribes all five non-invasive tests, hooking me to wires, placing sensors in my armpits, bellybutton, on my neck. After the first three tests are completed, we break for lunch, meandering together down the long winding wellness stair path to a buffet lunch. The offerings are plentiful. Beautiful salads, hot entrees, gluten-free, vegan options, fresh fruit. But I hesitate. Lunch is not part of my daily regimen. I don’t ‘do’ lunch. But Dr. Samantha is not having it.

“Take a plate. Eat anything you want.” She smiles, kindly, knowingly, as we converse and plan out the rest of the day. I will have two more tests and then head into the thalassotherapy pool and infrared sauna, followed by a cocooning body scrub.

​Note to self: I catch her observing my sparse-with-raw-greens plate.

The thalassotherapy pool, prescribed by Dr. Samantha to rebalance and remineralize is warm. Private. The water pumped directly from the Caribbean Sea.

“Sea water contains the same minerals we have in our bodies,” Dr. Samantha explains. “So when there’s an imbalance, sea water helps. It’s why people crave the sea. The salt water absorbs immediately into the skin and begins to do its work.”

During my 30-minute thalassotherapy session, conducted in an indoor, enclosed area, a therapist enters the water with me, carefully positioning me – feet, hands, arms, thighs, calves, stomach, buttocks – in front of high-pressure jets. At one point, when my shoulders are poised directly in front of the spewing sea water, they begin to itch. My therapist immediately notices, and queries:

“Are you uncomfortable? Do you want to stop?”

“No, but it’s so strange,” I say.

“Not strange at all,” she smiles. “The itchiness means the (thalassotherapy treatment) is working. Your shoulders are a source of pain.”

Indeed, they are.

​The infrared sauna – a new treatment available to all BodyHoliday guests – proves equally therapeutic, although much more low key. Up to six people can undergo the treatment simultaneously. Men arrive shirtless; women in bathing tops or bare backs, to sit quietly 20 minutes in the warm wooden chairs. There is no sweating, just a light, gentle heat penetrating into the back, through the spine and into the organs and bones – warming and speeding up the lymphatic system. Increasing circulation. Relieving muscle pain. Burning fat. And helping to destruct ‘bad’ cells.

The next morning, I’m back in Dr. Samantha’s office where, after analyzing my test results, she’s created my treatment plan for the day.  A warming body wrap. Time in the Ayurveda Pavilion for Abhyanga massage and Shirodhara. More infrared sauna and thalassotherapy. A private yoga and meditation session. And lunch – prepared by the chef as prescribed by Dr. Samantha.

We start with the Abhyanga massage with warm oil to repair and retexture the skin, and long soothing strokes to benefit the lymphatic and nervous systems, increase circulation and aid joint pain. The treatment moves immediately into Shirodhara, an intense treatment, where a warm-to-hot oil, specific to dosha body type is slowly dripped onto the third eye (forehead) and hairline for ultra-deep relaxation. And a bonus hair-conditioning treatment.

I arrive at lunch, hair dripping in oil, give my name as instructed to the server, then sit back as one-by-one my lunch courses arrive. A beautiful pink-red hot beet root soup. Delicious. A large plate of warm wild rice with cooked vegetables. And for dessert, fresh mango sorbet served in gorgeous blue glass. For someone who skips lunch, I’m surprising not ‘full.’ And in fact, feel balanced. Energetic.

​Yoga, outdoors in a tree house, is followed by another round of sauna and foamy seawater thalassotherapy session. Late in the day, in robe and slippers, watching the sun sink into the sea from my verandah, I detect a theme – of warm – to my day. Warm tea, warm massages, oils, saunas, sea baths. And even meals.

The next morning, walking me through my test results, Dr. Samantha explains the warming factor. In Ayurveda, my body composition is vata, which means I’m more on the airy side, in my head, easily stressed and anxious if out of balance, so warm foods and relaxing, grounding therapies work well. Overall, I’m in good health, my vascular age that of someone 15 years younger. My heart, green, near perfect. But with a slight lack of oxygen to it (yoga will help). The Nerve Express test reveals stress; while the EIS shows low sodium, decreased serotonin and joint pain.

And it is here that Dr. Samantha offers my personalized take-home prescription: daily yoga; monthly massages with focus on abdominal massage; meditation and breathing techniques; a change in diet to more warming and easily digestible foods, and recommendation to fast once a week. She presents me with a hardbound book containing printouts of my test results, a personalized yoga plan; breathing and meditation exercises, and a three-month diet-and-lifestyle plan including specific foods to eat (rice, oats, cooked vegetables, salt). And those to avoid.

I clutch the book to my chest, grateful to be armed with such valuable health knowledge. And now understand why many BodyScience guests are repeats. And how no two ‘prescriptions’ are the same.
​
Vowing to start my new regimen immediately, I make my way to the seaside “Deli,” loved by BodyHoliday guests for its bottomless jars of gluten-free cookies and healthy made-on-the-spot smoothies. Without any hesitation, I order an alkaline-rich “coconut cleanser” – lime juice, ginger, beetroot, tomato, radish, cayenne pepper and coconut water.

At exactly 6:03 a.m., I opened my eyes to see Anita, a tall, lanky woman in white pants and sun-yellow shirt, standing over my bed at Steigenberger hotel Der Sonnenhof, a property in Bad Worishofen, Germany - a small Bavaria town known for its Kneipp water cures. Little known in the U.S.  Kneipp water therapy uses warm and cold water  to increase circulation, improve lymphatic function, reduce headaches and promote overall wellness. Spas, hospitals, as well as outdoor parks feature the long, water-filled troughs, used for stepping (feet) and soaking (arms).

The night before, the spa staff had advised me of the delivery of the hay pack – a warm linen sack filled with approximately 20 steamed grasses, flowers, and herbs including chamomile, St. John’s Wort, and sage – so I would not be startled by the early morning visitor.

The ritual is common in hotel spas all over Bad Worishofen, as it's believed that in the early morning, the body, in its quiet state, is better able to receive the healing properties of the warm, herb-infused flowers and hay. After placing the fragrant bundle under my shoulder blades and tightening the blankets around me, Anita slipped out of my room.  And breathing in the fresh, hay-and-herb-scent, I drifted back to sleep. 

Forty-five minutes later, Anita returned to remove the hay pack - then guided me to the spa to begin the Kneipp ritual of soaking arms - then feet -  in troughs of warm, followed by  ice-cold water.

Only a half-hour outside Washington DC, the terrain was already beginning to feel like ‘home.’ The rolling hills, wooden-fence-remnants from the Civil War battlefields, the faint scent of honeysuckle, and the horses, one rolling joyously on its back, soaking up the first rays of summer, were infused-in-my-veins familiar. I grew up in these parts, not far from the Mason-Dixon line.

My driver, of course, has no idea (his assumption, I learn later, is that I’m from California), and so I revel in his tales of the area. “Jackie Kennedy had a horse farm (Glen Ora) here, and used to leave the White House to come out here and ride,” he tells me. “And of course, some of Virginia’s best wineries are right here. Be sure to try the sparkling wine. First Lady Michelle Obama loves it. She loves The Salamander too, she’s visited several times, comes for the spa.”

My plan exactly.

Despite my intense familiarity with this rolling-hill, horse-wine countryside, it is always spa – no matter where I am in the world –  I feel truly  ‘at home.’ And The Salamander Resort & Spa proves no exception. Immediately upon entering the hotel, amidst the cozy burning fireplaces, and women in slim jeans and high boots heading to brunch, I smell it. Sensually fragrant. The intoxicating blend of jasmine and citrus. Spa. And within minutes of checking into my room,  I'm headed to the spa's Moroccan-inspired rasul, for a red flower treatment, in a ceramic-domed steam chamber. 

 In its heyday, Baden-Baden was the place to see and be seen. Europe’s upwardly aspiring bourgeoisie would flock to the German town for month-long kurs, drink the magically curative waters and parade in finery along the promenade. While the scene has changed since the baths were opened in 1877, Baden-Baden and its historic Friedrichsbad public baths (a combination of hot-and-cold pools, thermal steam rooms and warm-to-hot air baths) are still very much in vogue.

“It’s the diet. The buttery pork, the shepherd’s cheese, the gelato,” says Gaby Weissman, my German-born tour guide, who’s lived on Sardinia for decades, attempting to explain why so many people in Sardinia than elsewhere in the world, live to be 100 years and older.
 
Popping an olive into her mouth, as we dine in a tiny Cagliari restaurant, she eyes her debate opponent – driver and Sardinian-born friend Carlo Pia, a stocky man with jet-black hair who’s shaking his head in disagreement. Longevity doesn’t come from the cuisine, Carlo is saying. But from the wine, the sea, the work.

​“Sardinians drink one glass of fine red wine a day. They swim every day in the sea. And they never, never stop working. All day long, in the open air and by the sea, Sardinians fish, tend to their sheep. Their lives are peaceful. Of course, I will die young,” he sighs, gingerly touching the pocket of his tailored black suit jacket. “I’m like the Americans. Always in my car. Driving, driving. Yesterday I started smoking – from all the stress.” He flashes a pack of Marlboro as proof.
 
Sorry Carlo, but at least one car-owning American doesn’t believe driving along stunning sea and jagged coastline on an island with more sheep (4.5 million) than people (1.8 million) is even remotely stressful.
 
He laughs. “Excuse me, I must smoke now. I’m very, very stressed.” As he exits the restaurant, shaking hands, slapping shoulders in greeting, he looks happy, relaxed,  joyous even. The look is common across this gorgeously craggy island about 125 miles off the northern coast of Italy.
 
Shaped like a loaf of ciabatta and dense with cork groves, millennia-old olive trees, pink flamingos sunning on one leg, and brilliant red poppies dancing among ancient Roman ruins, Sardinia – thought by some to be the lost Atlantis – is the very picture of tranquility.
 
It’s here that stressed-out Italians come to escape the urban frenzy; here that Europe’s yachting set descends in sensual appreciation of the bluest of blue Mediterranean waters, and here that European football teams (that’s soccer to us) come to recuperate in the salty thalassotherapy pools at Thermae del Forte spa.​

Gaby leans closer now, pouring more wine. “No worries,” she laughs. “We’re not driving. Now, do you want to know the real reason Sardinians live so long? It’s the megere, Good witches," she translates.  Always female, megere are “chosen” at a young age by a female elder (mother, aunt, grandmother) to carry out their practice. Most villages have at least one and the “real” ones never take money for their work.
 
“Could I meet with a megera?” I ask, eagerly.
 
Outside, overhearing our conversation, Carlo hastily stamps out his cigarette and confesses that his grandmother was a megera. “As a boy I used to hide under the kitchen table from her.” No, he cannot drive us to see her. He smiles. Ah, but yes, he can drive us to Pula – a nearby town of winding cobblestone streets where crisp laundry airs between colorful houses, and fresh figs and sun-dried tomatoes are for sale under the shades of umbrellas.

For many years, I had the privilege of working with Charlene Florian on her blog for Kerstin Florian International Skincare. Always mindful, always radiant, Charlene provided endless wellness nuggets -  on ways to live life more mindfully, spiritually, fully. Charlene passed on Easter Sunday, but her wisdom lives on through her daughters, the products she created, and the writings she leaves behind. Carefully crafted with love.  The following was Charlene's last posting (published February 2016, Kerstinflorian.com). I will think of, and remember her always - every time I pick or eat a red-blue summer berry...

Berries. Plump. Succulent. Fresh. And so wonderfully healthy for us.

"My fondness for berries started when I was a child – in Sweden – in my grandmother’s garden. She grew everything – potatoes, herbs, several kinds of apples, goose berries, black and red currants, raspberries, the most gorgeous roses, and so much more. My favorite were smultron, tiny wild strawberries, which my grandmother planted all over her garden. It was like an Easter egg hunt every morning, as I raced out to see which had ripened. Raspberries grew along a hedge at the back of the garden, and I remember, one year, taking my cereal bowl, feeling like I was in a sea of plump red juicy raspberries. They were everywhere. It brought me such joy – picking the juicy berries and eating half of them, and later watching a tiny black bug crawl from the bowl. I didn’t care. I was one with it all.

My grandmother brought me into the forest from the time I was young to pick wild blueberries. We wore boots and brought buckets, and she would use our harvest to make everything blueberry – she was so talented that way. Kerstin, who inherited her valuable forest skills, makes it a point to pick enough lingonberries (and mushrooms) every fall to freeze or turn into jam.

As my interest in health and wellness grew, I discovered that my beloved berries comprised the number one category of antioxidants. Not only the luscious blue- and raspberries of my childhood, but also exotic berries, like Goji berries and Schizandra (a favorite of my Chinese herb teacher for its many benefits). When I began traveling more, I made special trips, when in Hong Kong, to visit the herb market to find the quality of Goji berries I couldn’t easily find at home.

The health benefits of berries are plentiful. High in antioxidants, anthocyanins and Vitamin C, berries help to improve our minds, bodies and skin. Specifically, berries help to:

* Improve Memory and Sharpen the Mind: A recent study, published in the Annals of Neurology found that women, over age 70, who ate one serving of blueberries or two servings of strawberries per week experienced less mental decline. The reason: anthocyanins working together with quercetin to help slow age-related memory loss.

* Help Manage Weight: Comprised mostly of water (more than 85 percent water), berries provide a sense of fullness, while the natural fiber contained in them aids in weight loss and even helps lower cholesterol and blood pressure.

* Make Skin Glow: High in Vitamin C, the antioxidant responsible for healthy collagen levels, berries are a natural booster, contributing to radiant skin and healthy hair. When formulating one of our most recent products, Clarifying BerryPlus Repair Serum, we looked naturally to raspberries (to rehydrate, soothe and promote cell regeneration), Goji berries and Australian wild berry extracts (to support the skin’s cellular matrix and protect from free radicals and sun damage). We went a step further by utilizing the plant cell culture of the raspberry – the most vital, purest and effective part of the plant – to be sure it maximizes the benefits to the skin.

The result: a light, nourishing serum that repairs from the outside in, perfect to use every day before moisturizer. Keep the goodness going by eating a bowl of fresh, unsweetened berries or a yummy, nutrient-rich smoothie.

One of my personal favorites is the BerryPlus Quench Smoothie. Just put the following organic ingredients in blender, and drink in the goodness!

2 Tablespoons dried Goji Berries
1/4 cup Frozen Pineapple
1/4 cup Frozen Raspberries
1/4 cup Frozen Blueberries
1 Tablespoon fresh Lime juice (about 1/2 of a medium Lime)
1 teaspoon Camu Camu Powder
1 Tablespoon Raw Honey
1 small fresh Mint Leaf
1 1/2 cups of Coconut Water (enough to cover all ingredients in blender)
Blend until smooth
Serves 2-3

There are so many ways to enjoy these delicious treats from nature, each one as healthy as the last. Enjoy finding your favorites.

Love,
Charlene

By Shari Mycek
(This article first appeared in Insiders Guide to Spas)

When reaching out to Sylvia Sepielli, owner of SPAd (Sylvia Planning And design) to reflect on a spa in Switzerland that she developed years ago, we fittingly found her sitting on the deck of her room (#8307) at The Dolder Grand, overlooking flowering lilacs, spring-green mountains, and one of her favorite art pieces there: “Lady with Fruit.”

The spa designer extraordinaire has been returning to The Dolder twice a year since opening the spa seven years ago—continuing to work with the spa team fine-tuning services and offerings. In creating the spa, a stunning blend of glass and water features, Sepielli—in the style she footprinted and has since made industry-famous—drew upon the authenticity of the region.

“Switzerland is known for its majestic mountains,” she says. “Traveling the country, I was most inspired by the space between the mountains, by the canyons, and specifically by the source of water deep within those canyons. The result became an interpretation of that with a quiet meditation space that follows a path to a stunning pool within an interpretive ‘canyon’ that expands with a two-story glass view of Lake Zurich.”

The “co-ed zone,” one of Sepielli’s (and guests’) favorite corners of the spa, features a warm pebble bath—used as a “relax lounge”—between the steam, sauna, and, yes, snow room. “You wriggle into the warm pebbles, it‘s very cozy,” she says.

Among the products, Sepielli selected for use in treatments are: La Prairie, “the preeminent Swiss line;” Amala, “because it is a NaTrue-certified line;” and Kerstin Florian (also an amenity in guests’ rooms) “because it fulfills every need in a full-range line.”

Because Sepielli has spent (and continues to spend) so much time in Zurich, we asked for her “must-do” insider recommendations both in and outside The Dolder Grand.

Outside the hotel:

•Hiltl – The “oldest vegetarian restaurant in the world” founded in 1898. “Very delicious and fun experience.” www.hiltl.ch/en/

•Seminarerum Gallery – “I’ve gotten to know the owner of the gallery, Irene Preiswerk, a dynamic woman who has mentored many artists and continues to put together significant shows. www.seminarerum.ch/

•Chocolate – “A must-try is Sprüngli’s“ chocolate of the day – it’s freshly made and should be savored immediately. Also, at the back of the Lindt store at Zurich airport, and treat yourself to a hot strong coffee with liquid-chocolate – WELL worth the calories.

•Apennzell – 40 minutes outside Zurich is an old town called Appenzell, known for its many varieties of apples. There is a trail that goes from apple hut to apple hut visiting the different growers, also known for making liqueurs from a variety of 42 herbs.

Within the hotel:

•Chocolate chef, Mr. Carletto, at The Dolder, is a true master and has a sassy twist on some of the classic pieces. I finally found his small kitchen, “the chocolate room,” tucked away from the other kitchens deep in the heart of the house.

•Looroenkopfturm – Go behind The Dolder and start walking into the forest. Arrange to go with a fitness instructor, or simply ask any of the locals who run, walk their dogs and bike (at all times of day or night), which path leads to “Loorenkopfturm.” It’s a wooden tower, 32-meters high (and about 40 minutes). The view above the tree tops is stunning.

 
By Shari Mycek
(This article first appeared in Insiders Guide to Spas)

Neither “spa” nor “treatment” comes up in my conversation with Janice, an American living in Switzerland for decades. For the past week, she has been showing me the “real” Switzerland. And I am spellbound. Summertime in this postcard-perfect country is stunning—with its snow-capped mountain peaks, rushing waterfalls, bell-clanking cows, and endless meadows of columbine, daisies, violets, and forget-me-nots. Every morning, we rise early and climb Switzerland’s natural Stairmaster Alps to dark-wooden huts where milk cans hang neatly on pegs alongside giant cowbells, and crisp white laundry beckons in greeting. Not laundry, but cheesecloths.

“You can always tell the huts where they’re making cheese—by the cheesecloths drying on the line,” says Janice, who shares with me the more than 600-year-old tradition.

Every year between June and September, the farmers pack their belongings, scrub their cows and, in a ceremonious send-off (cows are draped with floral headdresses), make their way to the high pastures of the Alps, where the cows feed on 25 to 30 varieties of wildflowers. Once settled into their modest, Heidi-esque huts—simple wooden table and chairs, sleep mattresses in an upstairs loft—the farmers go to work. There is no electricity—a generator supplies the power needed for morning and afternoon milking.

“We love it here,” says one farmer, in halting English. “In the morning and evening, when the generator is running, we listen to the radio and charge our cell phone. And in nice weather, people, like you, come up to visit.”

During the late 1800s, as tourists began coming to Switzerland to drink whey (for health), grand hotels began adding whey baths as a skin-softening beauty regimen. In time, however, the whey bath faded, giving rise to more glamorous spa treatments . . .

After milking the cows, the fresh milk is poured directly into a giant copper cauldron and heated over an open fire. Rennet, an enzyme found in the stomach lining of calves reared solely on milk, is added to help “curdle” the milk, as is bacteria culture to help ferment and age the cheese. As the whey (liquid) begins to separate itself from the cheese mass, the cauldron is removed from the fire by a heavy wooden swing handle, which is stirred for up to 45 minutes before returning to the fire.

And it is at this stage—during the separating of the curds and whey—that Janice smiles, pointing to the bag containing the bathing suit she instructed me to bring. “You may want to put that on.”

As I change quickly (in a cow stall), I emerge to find the farmer—using a muslin cheesecloth, dipping both arms into the copper pot, scooping out the cheese (which at this stage looks more like cottage cheese) and leaving the whey behind. His wife moves in quickly behind him, pouring the hot whey into mugs.

“Is goot,” the farmer says, raising his mug. “Please, have some.”

For centuries, Swiss farmers have sworn by the holistic health attributes of whey, attributing it to longevity. I take the steaming mug, and gingerly sip the warm, sourish milk taste—and I’m not enamored. Janice, sensing my polite dislike, just smiles. “Come. You’ll like this better.”

I follow her outside where the farmer, via a hose leading to the copper cauldron, is slowly filling a large wooden cask with whey. As the tub fills with the soft yellow liquid, he discreetly disappears, and I climb into the foamy, velvety texture—deliciously warm. Surprisingly, the bath is not sticky, but rather smooth and lightly fragrant, with the gorgeous scent of wildflowers. For the next 30 minutes, I soak gloriously in the warm liquid, savoring the fresh mountain air and gentle clanking of cowbells, as Janice shares the history of this whey-out bath. During the late 1800s, as tourists began coming to Switzerland to drink whey (for health), grand hotels began adding whey baths as a skin-softening beauty regimen. In time, however, the whey bath faded, giving rise to more glamorous spa treatments. Too bad—because as I emerge from this yellow-velvet liquid my skin is supple, soft; my mind, beyond relaxed.

After changing once again—this time in the presence of a bell-clanking cow named Anemone—I’m greeted by the farmer, who sends me off into the alpine meadows, with a wheel of his prized cave-aged cheese as remembrance.

Editor’s Note: According to Switzerland Tourism, there are organized whey bath offerings on Engelberg Alp (in front of the Gerschni Alpine Hut) and in Berglialp, in the Glarus Region. For information, contact myswitzerland.com.