KEY POINTS:
Final days
The weekend was supposed to be quiet because a number of the group had gone home on Friday. They teased us with tales of the foods they would eat and the accompanying beverages. My Friday had ended with a facial, another first. The only awkward moment was when I had various compresses covering my eyes and was having a one way conversation with the therapist only to find out later that she had stepped out of the room for a few minutes.
Friday night concluded with quiz night. We were leading into the final round which involved sending one team member up for the final challenge. We sent up Ross the gynaecologist as he seemed to have the broadest general knowledge. Unfortunately for him and us the final challenge was not cerebral. The challenge was to move an apple some distance across the floor using another apple suspended between the legs by a jury-rigged pantyhose. Picture anything you like and it will probably work. I'm not sure what is was called, possibly apple croquet. Ross made a clear statement on Saturday that he wouldn't be back. I felt sure his showing in the apple croquet was a significant factor in that decision.
So much for a relaxing weekend. I signed up for the Saturday morning triathlon done in the order of biking (stationary bike), running and a swim to cool off. I'm not a good swimmer as I have noted, even less so after a bike ride and run. A good swimmer is described as having a feel for the water. I have a feel for the bottom of the pool. I seem to use most reserves of energy staying afloat with forward propulsion being a secondary consideration. I was told my problem was not so much my stroke as my breathing. That made three times in the week I was told that I wasn't breathing properly. That and the jibe that I didn't walk properly - I was lucky they gave me a knife and fork with my meal. I went quietly at breakfast in case I drowned myself in the muesli.
The rest of Saturday morning was 3 hours of stretch, stretch, stretch. Stretch class followed by posture class followed by "yogalates" a combination of yoga and pilates. After lunch I went for a "snoozeap" a combination of snoozing and napping. I got up in time for the 5pm activity, a siesta before dinner.
After dinner we had a comedy show from a woman who had been in Muriel's Wedding. In fact she had one of the most memorable lines of the movie, "you're terrible Muriel". Most of us were still recovering from the first dessert of the week, berry panacotta, so we were less centred for comedy than we should have been. I too was reflecting on my last therapy session, retail therapy in the boutique which stocked a dazzling array of clothing, books, music and other accoutrements. A big part of the spiritual journey we all need to make is to focus less on possessions and material objects. And it's amazing just how much stuff you can buy to help you get into that headspace.
Sunday morning and the finish line is in sight. One last Tai Chi session with all 18 moves. Mine is somewhere near 24 involving half a dozen intermittent mosquito slaps. At least I tried to slap slowly. Then one last bush walk before the final breakfast. I had done this walk earlier in the week and this time I felt as if I had a new battery pack - quite an amazing transformation.
A few hours later a core of the group were wandering around Brisbane airport waiting for flights to take us back to our loved ones. I'm not sure that duty free is quite the right environment for people who have just spent a week without cigarettes, alcohol and chocolate. You can't but wonder how everyone will be getting on this week at their various jobs this week. How many lattes and cake have been quaffed or just inhaled as just reward for a week's hard work? I've got a pear, some sunflower seeds and tap water (because, surprise surprise, it's perfectly safe to drink) - yummy.
All in all it was a great week. Would I do it again? Absolutely. I plan to make it an annual pilgrimage. Would I recommend it to others? Again, absolutely. In amongst all the fluff and clutter that invade our lives we can all too easily lose sight of the two primary goals in life, to be healthy and happy. And why wouldn't you take every opportunity to be just that?
Day Five:
So, it's Friday here at the Golden Door. It poured with rain last night, but it's bright and clear this morning.
I missed a posting yesterday as I had my first nap after lunch. Actually it was longer than a nap but I made it to tribal dancing and was glad I did. The music took us around the world and we had to let go of our ego and judgement hats so that we could let go of everything else. It seemed to work. Music was a bit of theme yesterday. Last night we had an African drum duo entertain after dinner and we got involved too with a drum or maracas for everyone.
So far this morning it's been Tai Chi again, a walk, breakfast and stretch class. I've swapped water polo for tennis. I'm not good in the water.
Later today I've got a session with the naturopath and then a facial. Later on, as it's Friday we have "mocktails", you can guess what they are, and bocce (like petanque I think).
So now I'm off to play tennis with Melanie who is a professional entertainer, a magician for kids in the guise of a fairy.
I've also met someone else who takes her clothes off for a living - that's right she's a life model for art classes. Must make suggestion to management - please add art classes to the programme.
Day Three:
It rained all night, very heavily. We were up again for Tai Chi at 6.15am in what looked like clearing weather. We learned 3 more moves in Tai Chi as the drizzle re-appeared.
Whilst yoga seems to have a fixation about cat and dog poses the animals in Tai Chi are becoming increasingly diverse, today it was diving swallows. I catch myself thinking about whether jellyfish or octopus will feature in any of the moves. What is the plural of octopus?
Focus - I am not in the moment, or rather not in the right moment. At the end of Tai Chi the rain really sets in. It seems we have been doing a slow motion rain dance. No time to waste, we're off on a bush walk, some 4kms up and down, then up, up and down again.
On the way back I stop by the pool to catch up with the deep water runners. In today's weather there was little difference between the walk and the deep water running. Back in the room I notice that a text has come through on my mobile. It's from a friend in Auckland inquiring whether I would like to go out with him for a drink tonight. I don't know if it's a genuine inquiry or whether he's being cruel. I try to text back but cellphone coverage is fairly patchy. I find that if I adopt a contorted yoga pose near the window coverage improves.
Breakfast is more fresh fruit followed by a choice of muesli, plain or organic. I find myself becoming more enamoured of the dandelion tea. There are always jokes and quips around mealtimes about what people want but can't have. We sound like POWs.
Yesterday in the spa pool the conversation topic was all about wine. Margot loves pinots and Lisa prefers sav blancs. They ask me my favourite tipple. I tell them I haven't had a drink since 20 September last year. The conversation dries up, so to speak.
Yesterday was also a day of progress for me. First I finished my book, I only had 30 or so pages to go when I got here, but night time reading has generally only been about a page and a half before the sleep fairies come. I don't lose my page in the book, as it's marked with drool. Also yesterday I had more needles put in my body than at any time in my life. The acupuncturist comes from Auckland as it turns out.
As a group we are all learning more about each other. Melanie is a professional fairy. She does magic for children's parties dressed as a fairy. Turns out she went to clown school in New Zealand. There has to be a quip there somewhere but I'm engrossed in the dandelion tea.
I feel I made progress in today's stretch class. The instructor didn't have to disentangle me from the zig zag pose. I must remember never to do this stretch at home alone. This morning's lecture was on nutrition from yet another wonderful specialist. Interesting fact for the day - 1g of carbohydrate binds with 3g of water in the body.
So if you go on a carbo-reducing diet you will initially lose most of the weight through water loss. I also have a better understanding of the Glycaemic Index and why there is often a crush at the vending machine at work around 4pm most days. Women have shared openly what chocolate means to them. I feel that I have been allowed to walk on hallowed ground. The nutritionist listed her 5 top super foods at the end of the class. I can't divulge too much but you would be surprised where berries are rated.
After nutrition came the cooking class. It was very well attended. A rumour had swept around that we would be allowed to eat something extra. The class was taken by head chef David from Scotland.
I had already met him as I had been told that he gave out extra apples to people of Scottish heritage. I didn't have my clan history with me but bluffed well enough. David has a very thick brogue. It was a good thing we had notes for his class. There is a journal of notes and powerpoints covering every lecture. David did a stiry fry, crabcakes and pan fired snapper dish without using a drop of oil. I'm told this is impressive.
I had only enough time to inhale a crabcake before it was time for my next treatment, "Soul Awakening". Again, it's hard to explain these sort of therapies except to say that it will be personal for everyone. I found it truly amazing. If you want to know more you will just have to book in - ask for Rochelle.
This afternoon I have an individual Feldenkrais session to work on my dodgy hip. Then it's the men's health seminar to work on my dodgy everything else. Women are not allowed at the men's health session but men are allowed at women's health. Go figure.
Jay has just dropped by the office. Jay and I teamed up to win 2-on-2 volleyball yesterday against Ross and Allan. We really kicked butt, but then again the score was 15-13 and they were both grandfathers. No one is talking re-match - yet.
Day Two:
Right now there's a choice between a boxing class and a seminar on women's health. I feel strangely conflicted. Surely they could combine the two. One of my hands isn't up to boxing so I'm taking a break - which is allowed.
Yesterday was full of surprises in the afternoon. I had my first treatment, "Intuitive healing" which was a combination of treatments mainly involving Reikki which is best described as movement of energy.
It's a bit hard to explain this session as it will be different for everyone based on what needs healing. I found it very intense and quite emotionally charged - very interesting and profound.
No sooner had I recovered then it was off to a session on the Feldenkrais technique, an other fascinating area of mind directed movement of the body. Dr Feldenkrais was obviously an incredible person. Apparently the Allies tried to persuade him to join the Manhattan project in WW2. He refused and went on to develop his technique. Half way through the session I wished the Allies had been more persuasive.
Dinner was another exquisite meal - a frittata of sorts with veges and salad and a wonderful vege soup. There are no desserts here. Other than the 3 main meals there is morning and afternoon tea which is fruit only. One of the guests told me that the diet was helping her to walk faster because she was becoming jet propelled.
After dinner we had a session on breathing. Now this is something I've been doing fairly well and consistently till this point in my life. Naturally there was more to learn. It's amazing to reflect on the amount of information and experience I've had here already. It's truly a special place. The staff here are amazing. They have extensive credentials in their expert areas and are warm and friendly.
I've just come from "noodles" which is not lunch but rather a session in the pool using noodles (a foam tube) to have both fun and therapy. I have learned a wonderful relaxation technique, all you need is a body of water, two noodles and a helper. I can't give away any more than that.
This morning started with Tai Chi again at 6.15am, adding to the moves we learned yesterday.
I elected to go to the spin class. This is done on exercise bikes, doing an imaginary time trial in the Tour de France. We all had turns leading the peleton during a huge 45 mins workout. I was shattered afterwards, luckily it's a downhill walk from the gym to the dining hall.
There's a lot of walking here. Another interesting fact, we move/walk about 70km less each week than we did 100 years ago. Put in another way, imagine how much better we would feel if we walked an extra 70km each week!
After breakfast there's stretch class followed by another lecture. Today's was on stress management. We all think we know what stress is and how to manage it. But as alcohol is banned here, you need to learn other ways of managing stress, and there are many.
This afternoon there is kung fu and I have another treatment, meditation technique and acupuncture. I've had the needles before, many times in fact and a big fan. Then I can go to another session on Feldenkrais technique or some more yoga.
Dinner's at 6pm and there's often another lecture after that. It will be early to bed because it's early up again tomorrow.
Right now I'm looking forward to lunch in 30mins, just me and my new friend tofu.
Day One:
So, here I am half way through day one. I arrived yesterday on a 7 day programme. The Golden Door health retreat is about an hour from Brisbane situated in beautiful bush.
The most important part of yesterday was the wellness assessment and the setting out of a program for the week, especially the treatments. I would have done better if it had been an unwellness assessment.
So I have a number of treatments sorted for me including "intuitive healing" at 3pm. But it's been a full day already. It started with a wake-up call at 5.45am to assemble for Tai Chi in a beautiful field with a view to the mountains shrouded in mist. I've done Tai Chi, the slow movements at 6am seemed entirely appropriate.
Next up was a choice between a bush walk and "deep water running". I know how to walk so I went for DWR which involves staying vertical in the water with a float belt and then running - sounds easy. The reality was quite different. First directional control without cheating and swimming is hard. Then there is a cross country ski motion that is supposed to keep you in the same spot. Somehow I was running on the spot and moving forward with the ski motion. I'm looking at remedial DWR.
Next up was breakfast at 8am - a wholesome choice of muesli or porriadge with lots of fresh fruit. The tea is very interesting. The Golden Door house brand is fantastic, and there's also dandelion tea and cold&flu tea and 6 or 7 others.
The food, facilities and staff are just excellent. Next up after breakfast was stretch class. I'm quite inflexible, tolerant of others but inflexible when it comes to my hamstrings and flexors.
After stretch class was the daily seminar on nutrition and detoxification - very informative and with a manual/journal that we have for the week. Straight after that session was fit ball or Swiss ball - a perfectly nice ball that you don't get to bounce or kick, but instead do a range of difficult and sweat-inducing actions, often with one's eyes closed.
Luckily that was followed by yoga which involved lying on the floor and breathing for quite a while. When I woke up the others were assuming various poses. Ironically or perhaps being PC to animals most of the poses involve the simulation of either cats or dogs. I've always been more of a cat person myself. I need to work on my downward dog.
And so on to lunch, a beautiful fish curry. Next is swim stroke correction before my treatment.
There are about 45 people here, form all over. I'm the only NZ'er here and I would like to congratulate the Black Caps on enabling me to hold my head high.
Suddenly I find myself wanting to talk cricket to the Aussies and they seem oddly not interested.
I haven't come the furthest, Jay is here from Seoul on his third visit. He was very friendly, especially for a man in serious nicotine withdrawal. They have a session on that later in the week. In fact they have a session for everything. I'm worried that Jay may not make it till Wednesday.
They have very strict rules here about contraband items. No alcohol, cigarettes, coffe/tea or chocolate. If you're caught with any of these you get a warning and confiscation. Caught again and you're asked to leave. Apparently the worst behaviour recently was someone who tried to get Pizza Hut to deliver - that was stopped at the front gate.
Most interesting fact for me so far is that a man loses about 10 per cent of muscle mass every ten years from say 25, if you don't exercise to keep the muscle mass. So if you do little exercise for say 20 years and you stay the same weight then you have swapped muscle for fat at quite an alarming ratio.
So with that observation in my mind I'm off to the pool for a swimming session, followed by a treatment, then pilates and feldenkrais (I can spell it but that's all I know).
This is an amazing place. The 40 or so of us are now a family, name badges are compulsory and there's a buddy system. There is a big focus here on spirituality and its hard to put into words how that feels.
To steal for "the Castle" - how's the serenity? Well the serenity even amongst all the activity is just fine. Why didn't I come here sooner?
