wellness travel

Wellness Residencies are the Future of Healthcare by Carley Montgomery

As the travel industry has come screeching to a halt around the globe I am seeing that at this time more than ever to see the emergence of wellness residencies. It is a concept I’ve fostered for years that in order to heal oneself of the emotional, physical and mental imbalances so prevalent today that we must remove ourselves from our environments and place ourselves in long term care of an environment that is conducive to healing. For some this environment is as simple as a place in nature, for most it would include a community of similar people and guides such as health coaches and wellness practitioners. For all ailments I believe as a species we are realizing that our current western system of medical doctors and hospitals are not the end all answer for healthcare and oftentimes quite the opposite. I’ve heard numerous times that one shouldn’t go to the hospital unless they want to die, thus meaning that oftentimes the treatment will kill more than the ailment. Like in the case of cancer I know more people now who have cured themselves naturally with no side effects than with chemo and radiation and as many that have spent years treating the damage done by the chemo and radiation with natural medicine to only be a fraction of their previous health.

This being said I often look to ancient wisdom like that of the Vedics in India who have developed a healthcare system of Ayurveda that resembles more a modern day retreat center than a western medicine hospital. In these health centers there are resident practitioners of natural medicine, therapists and hospitality staff all creating a peaceful environment to heal in. For the majority of the Ayurvedic “Hospitals” I researched they offered accommodations from rooms that looked like high end suites to a shared simple cabin. It gave the client the option to choose what level of comfort they can pay while still receiving the same access to treatments.

Now I believe there are so many healing modalities and practitioners out there that everyone of these modern natural healing centers would have a personality as unique as the management that runs the place. I see these health centers specialized in different imbalances or unique life situations such as elderly homes and cancer treatment centers. Each one encompasses a holistic complete system addressing mental, emotional, spiritual and physical health in an environment infused with positive energy and peacefulness.

Currently in the US and many other 1st world countries these types of “alternative” therapies are currently outlawed or highly scrutinized which is why these centers will likely operate in 3rd world developing nations not yet controlled by big pharma or will be operating illegally through word of mouth referrals. In countries such as the US the government agencies are operating as police for the corporations to squash any threats to the cut, burn and poison agendas of western medicine. At no time has the business landscape been more fertile to blossom these healthcare centers of the future as so many travel based accommodations are going to be suffering through this crisis and hotels and retreat centers all over the world will be either sold as distressed assets or looking for programs to supplement their business models.

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What is clear these days is that as the world reemerges from these times there is more people awake to what true health is, that our only real defense to a virus or other biological threat is a strong immune system and for that people will be looking for spaces to find their optimum health. It is my personal mission to make sure that these places exist for all walks of life in all parts of the world.