"There is something at work in my soul, which I do not understand." — Mary Shelley, Frankenstein
Happy Halloween from Miraval Berkshires! Anyone who knows me or who's been reading Muse News for a while knows that I LOVE the Berkshires and have been coming up here for the last 20 years. So I was overjoyed to be invited to a three-night stay at the all-inclusive Miraval Berkshires wellness resort and spa in Lenox, Massachusetts, along with five other travel advisors from around the country. I spent my birthday four years ago down the road at Canyon Ranch and am grateful to be able to compare my experience at each of them from a guest's perspective. If you're interested in either, let's talk!
On Sunday I took MetroNorth from Grand Central station to Wassaic, NY where Miraval's free shuttle picked me up for a scenic hour-long drive through the fall foliage to the resort. The shuttle will also pick up from Bradley International Airport in CT, and they're looking into adding shuttles for the Amtrak stations in Pittsfield, MA and Albany, NY too. They make it so easy to get here! It's quickly evident when you arrive that this is a place for healing that feels safe, compassionate, welcoming, and enveloped in a positive and nurturing energy. The staff are all kind and friendly, and the specialists who lead various programs here exude a helpful radiance that is contagious. Plus their pumpkin carving skills are impressive! I voted for #4 because it even has water running through its ghoulish spa hot tub!
Miraval Berkshires is like summer camp for your soul. No two people will have the same mindfulness journey because there are SO many choices of activities in a day! You can see what I've been up to at the Nine Muses Travel Facebook and Instagram pages. So far our intimate group of advisors has been guided through five minute paintings (which revealed a lot about each of us) and shared a private twilight tour of Miraval's art class studios, gardens (eating minty herbs and spicy flowers off the stem), and farm where we said goodnight to the chickens as they went inside their coop to sleep. We got to know the horses and donkeys too. On my own yesterday I joined two group classes: Healthy Back Yoga and Roll With It, a foam roller class. I was the only one who showed up for the Sound Meditation Chamber class and got a private session surrounded by centuries-old, sonorous bowls and chimes sounds as I lost all sense of time. I also got a Deep Tissue Massage and walked out in a new body.
Today begins with the activity I've been looking forward to the most: their signature Miraval Equine Experience, which they describe this way. "Practice living in the moment as you work with specially selected horses and our expert facilitators. Perform equestrian ground skills and get a chance to notice personal patterns that may be holding you back from the life you want to live. Not a riding class." I'm fascinated by horses and can't wait to see what this will be like. The rest of my time here will include a Thai massage, Ayurvedic massage, heated pools, spa relaxation zones, and more activities intended, as they all at Miraval, to help create balance.
Miraval Berkshires is perfect for individuals who need a solo retreat, couples, weddings and events, and groups of friends and family (adults only). It's the largest spa in the Berkshires and Hyatt's entire Miraval portfolio. Even when it's at high occupancy, you don't feel it because everyone is scattered around the property on their scheduled activities. Added bonus: most of the resort is connected by indoor corridors filled with works by local artists, so even on chilly and rainy days like we've had, I've kept cozy and dry, warmed by fireplaces and delighted by the seasonally on-point, spooky, gray fogs and mists hovering over us and the mountainsides, visible through floor-to-ceiling windows everywhere.
Now I have one more reason the Berkshires is one of my Happy Places!
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