The Treatment: Floating Meditation
While Miraval offers Floating Meditation classes several times a week, they were all booked when I arrived, so I opted for a private session with Alysa instead. I do have a meditation practice at home in New York — a combination of Headspace podcasts and visits to a local Vipassana center — but am always looking to expand it and try other versions of meditation.
All classes, whether private or group, take place in the resort’s Agave Center, which has a lovely view of the Catalina Mountains. Whoever leads the meditation also uses crystal chakra bowls which, depending on the time of day, positively glow in the front of the room. It gives the space a very spiritual feel, which I found not only beautiful but very relaxing.
The meditation itself is pretty straightforward. You start by sitting in a silk/spandex “hammock” suspended from the ceiling. I was instructed to close my eyes and to focus on the breath before reclining in the hammock for the duration of the session, which lasted about 45 minutes. The rest was guided by Alysa, and while I managed to stay awake (and trust me, it was HARD), I don’t remember much more than feeling incredibly relaxed. Occasionally she would give my hammock a little push, and I found the rocking/swinging motion very comforting. At one point she placed crystal bowls all around me and played them, one at a time, asking me to focus on which of the seven chakras I felt responding to each. Then she played them again, and told me which chakra each bowl corresponded to, to see if I felt differently. Most of the sounds were pleasant, but not all. Breathing through this type of discomfort is part of any meditation process and practice.
Best For
Anyone into meditation who wants to try a different practice, or adventurous newcomers. Please note: contrary to the implications of the name, water is not involved and the class does not take place in a pool.
Drawbacks
Anyone who might be claustrophobic, or who is uncomfortable with the idea of lying/being enveloped in and occasionally swinging suspended in sturdy silk/spandex hammock.
Rima Suqi
Contributing Travel Editor Rima Suqi is an avid world traveler who was raised in an international home. She has explored and covered emerging destinations in the Middle East and Africa, far-flung luxury resorts in French Polynesia, as well as those closer to home including the burgeoning arts scene in Marfa, Texas. The Chicago native has traveled to over 40 countries, writing about the trends and tastemakers for leading travel and lifestyle publications, and subjected herself to innumerable spa treatments—sometimes under very odd circumstances—all in the name of journalism. Her work is regularly published in national and international outlets including The Financial Times, The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, Departures, Architectural Digest and Elle Decor; she has also written, consulted and hosted panels for hospitality brands including Proper Hotels, the Baccarat Hotel, Edition Hotels, St. Regis Hotels, Miraval Resorts, Mii Amo Spa at Enchantment, Grupo Habita and Marriott Hotels. Her last book American Fashion: Designers at Home (Assouline) in partnership with CFDA, sold out three printings.