10 Sep The Age of Aquarius at ESPA Life at Corinthia London (SW1)

Autumn is the time for renewal, when the leaves fall to make way for new growth. To kick start the autumnal renewal of my mind, body and soul, I returned to ESPA Life at Corinthia for a second round of the Brain Power Spa Day.

[Update January 2020: Corinthia London no longer offers the Brain Power Spa Day. Instead try one of the six special facials by Dr Barbara Sturm.]

This time I took it even slower than the first  – jacuzzi, swim, sauna, relaxation, mind-body massage and then lunch by the fire, all between nine o’clock in the morning and two in the afternoon. I could have stayed longer, or gone to the gym.

ESPA Life at Corinthia is part of a new generation of  360º wellness centres, for the body, mind and soul. The difference is that ESPA Life at Corinthia offers pure five-star luxury, as befits a five-star hotel in the centre of London.

Some say such awareness of connecting the body with the mind and soul heralds the start of the Age of Aquarius. The Age of Aquarius arrived in the early 2010s and will be with us for another 2,000 years; for the rest of our lifetimes.

Aquarius is an age for breaking down the vertical hierarchical pyramids of power to make way for a more horizontal, networked society where information and transparency is king. If the stars and planets are to be believed, this new age is about existing ‘to be’ … and we need to be in tip-top shape for that, mind, body and soul.

An Ayurveda aside

In the last year or so, to simplify my way through the different eating fads, I’ve found inspiration in Ayurveda, which I first came across in Sri Lanka.

I look to eat fresh, naturally produced, seasonal foods with a balance of tastes: salty, sour, sweet, pungent, bitter and astringent. The Western diet tends to focus on salty, sour and sweet, to overlook pungent, bitter and astringent. Get the balance right and the body feels satisfied – and then I lose weight, or that’s the idea.

Ayurveda is much more complicated than this. Your diet needs to take into consideration whether you are a vata (air/space), kapha (earth) or pitta (fire) type. I like to keep things simple and achievable, so I don’t focus too much on my type.

The menu at the Spa Lounge may not have been Ayurvedic, but for me it scored 10/10 for combination of the 6 different tastes.

Eating for the mind at ESPA Life at Corinthia

The Brain Power Menu at ESPA Life at Corinthia is about eating to optimise the mind. The white interiors and the flickering fireplace of the Spa Lounge take care of the soul – as well as the Laurent-Perrier champagne on offer.

My choices from the menu included two of my greatest loves – walnuts, whose brain-like shape is said to signify that they’re good for the brain, and mackerel, a super food in its own right.

Sitting in the Spa Lounge, wrapped in my white spa robe, and opposite the fireplace, I started with a freshly pressed carrot juice.  Carrots are my favourite vegetable.

I then continued…

I followed my meal with an hour’s snooze in the hareem-like sleeping pods. This was the perfect preparation for the autumnal season ahead and la rentrée, as the French call the return to school and work at the end of summer.

Living in the Aquarian Age means wider horizons and more possibilities. The mind, body and soul need to be balanced to stretch with the horizons and to rise to the responsibility of living in a less hierarchical society.

My Brain Power Spa Day definitely helped. Roll on my next visit to ESPA Life at Corinthia!