Indulgence with a purpose at The Farm

Don’t wait for the perfect moment. Just take the present moment and make it perfect.

There is a sanctuary nearby that I escape to when I am tired and weary. Here I find solace, peace, wellness and rejuvenation. In this medical-paradise called The Farm at San Benito in Lipa City, Batangas, guests find the synergy in their body, mind and soul and enjoy the sacredness and abundance of life. The Farm teaches that the body has the capacity to heal itself.

As Christmas carols begin to fill the air and colorful lanterns adorn our homes, we look forward to the holidays. During this season, we indulge like there is no tomorrow; sometimes, forgetting that each day is one more than we deserve.

Yes, the holidays are not just a time to celebrate, give thanks and reflect. They are also a time to pay special attention to your health, which is actually the best gift you can give yourself and others.

But what if we could enjoy each day of the year by indulging in a higher purpose, which is to embrace our wellbeing and the quality of our lives? Wouldn’t this be the wiser choice?

Introducing healthy healing holidays at The Farm. This multi-awarded, recognized wellness haven and health facility that is situated in a sprawling 50 hectares of expansive coconut plantation is a jewel in our backyard waiting to be experienced and explored.

As The Farm celebrates its 10th anniversary, it’s also achieving a milestone in leading the lifestyle revolution. It specializes in “healing retreats” namely Organic Weight Loss, Beauty a& Longevity, Diabetes Prevention & Management, Heart Health & Stress Reduction, Environmental Detox, Integrative Cancer Care, Holistic Skin Therapy and All-Inclusive Luxury Premier Retreat.

In the last 10 years, it has helped a multitude of people in their quest to live a healthier life through integrative wellness, preventive health, and nourishing foods in their purest form. The Farm was ahead of the times when it opened in 2002 by offering detox cleansing retreats and raw living foods. The Farm at San Benito has initiated a revolutionary change in the Philippine medical tourism and health industry. It has certainly made its mark as one of the leading wellness destinations in the Asia-Pacific region. Today, it is the only resort destination in the country that offers comprehensive programs addressing diabetes, obesity, hypertension, cancer, just to name a few, naturally and holistically.  

According to gracious GM Michael Di Lonardo, “These weeklong transformative and life-enhancing programs are supervised by a highly qualified team of experts in preventive health care — including integrative doctors and licensed therapists, living food chefs and fitness consultants. It’s the vacation where guests benefit from a comprehensive series of holistic health services designed to be specific to the individual to achieve health, spiritual wellbeing and mental clarity.”           

When we go for executive check-ups, we pay hospitals and doctors to tell us what is wrong with us. In this new luxury destination that offers Healthy Holidays, it offers you the solution, the cure, the regimen that will teach you how to take a grip on your life and live the rest of it — the best possible way you can. Michael calls it “Indulgence with a purpose.” Formerly with the Aman Group of Hotels and Resorts for 10 years, Michael advocates that “this is the new way to go... take a vacation and have a healthy holiday at that. No need to take a vacation from the previous vacation... no need to worry about having to weigh (yourself) after. You can enjoy that right now and keep this lifestyle that will enhance and extend the quality and length of your life as well.”

As of today, The Farm has received 22 prestigious international awards including: ASIASPA Awards (Asia-Pacific), Holistic Treatment of the Year 2011, Spa Cuisine of the Year (2006, 2007, 2009 and 2010), Spa Retreat of the Year (2005, 2007 and 2008), Medi-Spa of the Year (2005, 2006 and 2007) and Spafinder’s Readers Choice Award-USA (as Country Award for Best Spa in the Philippines in 2010 and 2011).

This year, dynamic Naresh Khattar, owner and CEO of The Farm at San Benito, proudly shared their Senses Wellness Award for “Best Medical Wellness Resort.” This is the first time this accolade has been awarded to the Philippines. The criteria employed by the international jury to select the winning property include the entire holistic concept, the high standard of wellness as well as medical treatments and therapies, the level of staff and the location and environment of the property.

I learned that Senses is an international premium wellness and lifestyle guide that has been published in German and English for the past 14 years and in Russian since 2006. The Senses Wellness Award is an international barometer for the hallmark of excellence for the entire international hotel, lifestyle sector, and wellness industry and, as a Swiss newspaper reported, it’s like “the Oscars of spa hotels.” The awards gala took place during ITB, one of the world’s largest tourism fairs in Berlin, Germany.

A new and future award-winning treatment at The Farm is the ozone treatment, which is compared to the feeling of being in love. When I tried it, the integrative doctors extracted 100 cc’s of my fresh blood, added oxygen to it and then had it filtered back to me in a few minutes. I felt giddy and giggly, like some sort of internal high. Like I often say, some things are better experienced than explained.

An exciting addition at The Farm is the introduction of the 12 ultra-luxurious Narra pool suites that will be ready for occupancy on Nov. 15, 2012. Each lavishly appointed stand-alone villa measures 200 square meters. Nestled on the ridge running along the river, beside the Master Villa, towards the South Pool, each villa offers a private 3x8-meter heated swimming pool with Jacuzzi, outdoor terrace, bedroom, palatial bathroom with double sinks, shower, bathtub and two toilets. Private gardens surround the villa with breathtaking views of the San Benito ridge.  

Michael shared, “The inspiration for the Narra Villas comes from the love of nature and the original Philippine essence of a managed forest, not cutting and trying to remake nature but living within the natural surroundings with nature.” The villa style is modern Filipino, as done by architect Noel Saratan, an artist who has succeeded in blending the original Farm concept seamlessly with the new villas. Michael is confident that the Narra Villas are the best new rooms in Southeast Asia.

I have been a regular visitor at The Farm since it first opened a decade ago. I have religiously retreated to this oasis of healing by myself or with my loved ones.  After my parents lost their battle to cancer 20 days apart 15 years ago, I thought I could hardly move on with life. I even wrote before that if only my parents had embraced the philosophies of The Farm about optimum wellness, they could have lived longer. When my sister Michelle triumphantly conquered her own battles with cancer this year, it was in The Farm that I found solace and the environment conducive to praying, talking to God intimately and actually hearing His words of courage and strength to believe everything will be alright.

Each year, I do the five-day detox program, which is actually the process by which the body eliminates harmful toxins that weaken our immune system and cause degenerative conditions to take place. Through this medical retreat, the body’s natural toxin-fighting capabilities are enhanced through a detox diet, which utilizes raw fruits, herbs, enzymes, replacement therapies and juices, exercise, skin and colon cleansing.

This journey towards finding wellness destinations is now part of my family’s lifestyle. It is true that prevention is worth much more than a cure. Take control of your health and wellness now. Do not wait till you are ill and plagued with disease.

We can be our worst enemies, our worst critics. However, we can never run away from ourselves. We may hie off to a far and distant land hoping to find peace in the new environment but if the enemy lurks inside us, if the very thing we are escaping from is trapped within — what do we do?

We look within ourselves and allow the change to start with us. We release the negative emotions and hurts and pains. We free the fears that are imprisoned inside us. Then, we liberate ourselves from the forces that control us and let go and let God. We allow ourselves to care for the mind, body and soul. Our answered prayer is our perfect health.

Life is short; make every breath count. Do your best, be the best and strive for what truly matters.

They say there is no perfect moment. You take the present moment instead and make it perfect.

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For reservations at The Farm at San Benito, call (632)884-8074 or e-mail reservations@thefarm.com.ph or visit www.thefarm.com.ph.

E-mail the author at miladay.star@gmail.com.