By HADLEY HENRIETTE
The RÄ“set at RÄ“ Precision Health is unlike any other wellness retreat you've likely come across. It's a science-based program, designed to optimize brain and body using modalities both high-tech and ancient. The program is a series of carefully orchestrated therapies, activities, and macronutrients that add up to physical and mental transformation. I can attest it's the real deal after I spent two remarkable weeks there that effectively retooled my nervous system and put out the fires of inflammation.
Set in a picturesque villa above the Pacific ocean, the location is an ideal one to calm the spirit. It has optimal views of sunrises, sunsets and plenty of negative ions from waves crashing on the volcanic sand Rē feels special—staff members exude good vibrations and crafts left behind by previous groups whisper tales of healing.
"I was worried this wasn't going be a real place. It just looked too good to be true," said one guest the day of arrival echoing sentiments of many who had found RÄ“ by chance on the internet. A relative newcomer on the wellness scene, there isn't much about RÄ“ beyond their website, instagram page, and reviews so glowing they couldn't possibly be real. But it is and they are. The RÄ“set collectivly exceeded all of our expectations. Maybe because beyond the list of therapeutic modalities, anti-inflammatory meals and a vague promise to "reset our nervous systems," none of us knew what RÄ“ and the program would actually be like.
Certainly no one will tell you about the conductor gel you'll be washing out of your scalp after your many sessions with Neuroscientist Paola Encinas. Paula runs qEEG brain maps upon arrival and before departure, after teaching guests to meditate with the assistance of neurofeedback. The meditation style is different for everyone, but the ultimate goal is a switch from fight-or-flight mode to rest-and-digest (i.e. from sympathetic dominance to parasympathetic mode.)
From the first day, whereupon guests introduced themselves and shared their reasons for landing at RÄ“, there was a tone for openness and group connectivity.
"I've seen how powerful it is to have a group of people together," says Lucy Oliver, RÄ“'s founder. Oliver is an American who struggled for decades with G.I. and energy issues before she found functional medicine and neuroscience. The program at RÄ“ Precision Health is a reflection of the one that worked for her. "The biggest insight was that my nervous system had been dysregulated since I was a kid," she says, explaining why the reset of the nervous system is the foundation of everything they do at RÄ“.
Healing the gut is key to the program and the backbone of the three delicious dairy-free, gluten-free meals a day. The menus's macros are overseen by their nutritionist, Samantha George, and executed by the beloved Chef Mimi, who also leads Mexican cooking classes.
Workouts are varied and tailored to both restore and rebuild. Modalities included talk therapy, red light, cooking classes, meditation, lymphatic drainage, heart rate variability training, chiropractic, breath work and cold exposure. Fun and adventure are woven into the program along with downtime to read and play with a rotating cast of staff-owned dogs. The end result is restorative even if some of the activities are emotionally and/or physically grueling. Action-packed days and optimized circadian rhythms insure excellent sleep.
The program reaches a crescendo with a near-religious experience in a Mexican Temascal, a ceremony that celebrates the maternal spirits. It is a ritual that bathed us in song and herbal steam while sitting sweaty thigh to sweaty thigh in absolute darkness for over an hour. It was a physical and mental challenge 2 participants (myself included) tapped out of half way through. But we were all rewarded equally the following day with a blissful day boating on the Pacific as our sendoff.
The recalibration of a a nervous system takes a little time, so the full program is 21 days. 14-day programs like the one I did are available as are 5-day introductions. I suggest the longest you can afford to be away or however long you can abstain from alcohol or drugs, both of which are verboten on the program.
As long as two weeks might seem, few of us were quite ready to say good-bye. Heading back to "real life" was an existential threat to the group container we had built by virtue of sharing meals and emotional breakthroughs. I left behind sweat, tears, ear-to-ear smiles and 20 new best friends. We are all still in touch and thriving compared to our pre-RÄ“ lives. What will you do with your next vacation?
