Bring on the Babymoon at Kamalaya Koh Samui

Bring on the Babymoon at Kamalaya Koh Samui
No one's quite sure of where and when this trend started but they're certainly growing in popularity. The concept makes perfect sense when you think about it. Getting married and having a baby are two of life's most important events, so surely both should be celebrated as a couple in their own way.

For some couples, babymoons mark the perfect opportunity for a romantic getaway… a chance to enjoy sunset sundowners, candlelit dinners and lazy lie-ins. For others, they're an opportunity to enjoy trips that you can't easily do with babies or toddlers in tow. Think traipsing around museums and galleries, going to late night concerts or enjoying back-to-back spa treatments. For others again, they offer the chance to splurge a little, in the knowledge that post baby arrival, funds will be tighter and indulgent spending a distant memory.

The benefits of babymoons are multiple. A chance to enjoy your lives as two before two become three, a much-needed break from the typical anxieties that go hand in hand with pregnancy, the opportunity to slow down and ultimately, to reconnect as a couple.

On finding out about my own pregnancy, I recall blissfully daydreaming about my ideal babymoon almost immediately. My destination of choice was obvious… multiple-award winning wellness retreat, Kamalaya, on the island of Koh Samui in Thailand.

A little insight into this magical place.

Kamalaya

What is Kamalaya?

Kamalaya, www.kamalaya.com, is a wellness sanctuary and holistic spa that takes a totally unique approach to complete wellbeing and personal fulfillment. Combining therapies and treatments from both the East and the West, it delivers uniquely profound and empowering lifestyle experiences, in the most restorative and peaceful setting.

Kamalaya is not a typical retreat or resort, nor is it an escape. In fact, Kamalaya is all about connection and discovery through a number of incredible wellness programs offering comprehensive health solutions. It combines self-discovery and personal improvement with sheer luxury and indulgence.
What programs are on offer?

Wellness programs have been designed to transform from within. You can choose from various levels of Detox, Stress & Burnout, Yoga, Ideal Weight, Optimal Fitness, Sleep Enhancement and Emotional Balance. Programs are comprehensive with a daily personal schedule awaiting your arrival.

Kamalaya Suites Room06

The key elements of each program are noted below:

Detox – Combining medical science, holistic therapies, nutritional and herbal support, Kamalaya's detox program bring profound results with little sense of deprivation or sacrifice.

Stress & Burnout - choose from Asian Bliss, Relax & Renew and Balance & Revitalize. These programs are designed to help you counteract the stresses and strains of today's hectic lifestyles and help you to recover balance and replenish the spirit.

Yoga – Personal Yoga provides customized one-to-one instruction alongside complimentary treatments such as Ayurveda therapies and traditional Indian treatments.

Healthy Lifestyle – choose from Ideal Weight, Optimal Fitness and Sleep Enhancement. Ideal Weight helps to identify mental and emotional blocks, to help you achieve and maintain your optimal weight. Optimal Fitness combines personal instruction and guided support to help you reach your personal fitness goals. Sleep Enhancement addresses sleep imbalances, enabling you to establish and upkeep healthy and restful sleep patterns.

Embracing Change – designed to enrich your emotional being and life fulfillment, the focus is on exploring your emotional habits and restoring balance. It's ideal for anyone seeking support during life changes or challenges.

Kamalaya

What else is there to do?

As little or as much as you want! A weekly schedule of classes, talks and workshops is open to all from yoga, Tai chi and meditation to tea sharing and cookery classes. Visiting practitioners are available for one to one sessions. Hailing from the world over, practitioners are experts in all manner of holistic health from Traditional Chinese Medicine and Spiritual Healing to Acupuncture and Reiki. The beach is divine, begging to be enjoyed from a swaying hammock. The Monk's cave, around which Kamalaya is built, provides a tranquil retreat to meditate. A newly built lap pool and world-class fitness facility enjoys panoramic views over the Gulf of Thailand.

Who goes to Kamalaya?

People from all corners of the world, looking to recharge, reboot and rejuvenate. It certainly isn't a party place, rather a place of peace and tranquility, a place for inward reflection, a place to optimize your physical, mental and emotional wellness.

The food at Kamalaya?

After experience the food at Kamalaya, it is difficult to return to ‘normal' cuisine. Tantalizing in taste and healing by nature, menus have been designed for optimal wellness and enhanced health and vitality. The focus is firmly on using food as medicine and cellular detoxification using fresh, tropical, local and where possible, organic ingredients. Think Kamalaya cuisine and think a celebration of cultures and an explosion of flavors.

Of course, whether pregnant or not, a stay at Kamalaya is a transformative and life-enriching, soul-enhancing experience, leaving you glowing both inside and out. To steal the words of Deepak Chopra, “Nothing is more important that reconnecting with your bliss. Nothing is as rich. Nothing is more real.”

Kamalaya

Things to consider when plotting & planning your own babymoon
Medical:


• It's important to get the go-ahead from your OB before you go so keep your doctor in the loop about where you're going, when and for how long.
• Make sure you have adequate insurance in case of any unforeseen medical emergencies and check before leaving if your policy requires prior notification.
• You may also wish to confirm that your destination has reliable medical facilities. Make a note of their contact details just in case!
• Find out if you require any vaccinations prior to your trip.

Kamalaya

Food:

• There are some foods that are completely out of bounds when pregnant and some women just find it hard to stomach unfamiliar cuisine, so keep this in mind when planning your destination.
Flying:
• Most airlines operate similar policies, allowing you to travel up to 36 weeks (or 32 weeks for twins). After 28 weeks however, you normally need signed authorization from your doctor to confirm that he has no problem with you flying. Check with your individual airline in advance.
• The second trimester is generally considered the best time to travel. The nausea of your first trimester should be behind you and you're not yet big enough to find time on your feet a discomfort. According to the American College of Obstetrics and Gynecology, the safest time to travel is from 18 to 24 weeks.
• If you're anxious about flying during pregnancy, choose a short haul destination and if your sleep patterns are haphazard already, pick somewhere with a minimal time difference.
• Consider staying somewhere close to your arrival airport so you don't have a long and potentially uncomfortable journey by road.
• Whether traveling short or long haul, make an extra special effort to get up regularly for a walk around, to aid circulation and reduce the risk of blood clots.

Visit www.kamalaya.com and start planning your bliss!