Eco-resorts: Transforming Wellness Travel

From luxury fatigue to barefoot clarity, this kind of hospitality serves both humanity and nature through ancient wisdom and soul-nurturing design, says Reema Diwan

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I arrived at the Isha Foundation, a yogic retreat established by Sadhguru in Coimbatore, exhausted, resistant, and skeptical. I was accustomed to polish and privilege, not copper water vessels, oil-scented air, and walking barefoot on stone paths. There were no phones, plastic, or room service. I threatened to leave. But two days in, something shifted. I was sleeping better, breathing deeper, and for the first time in years, doing nothing without feeling guilty.

As someone from the hospitality industry, I realised what I had dismissed as discomfort was, in fact, a recalibration - of pace, of perspective, and of what it means to truly feel at ease. Every element at the retreat, from the acupressure stones beneath my feet to the circadian lighting and copper vessels, was placed with deeper intention. It wasn’t about décor. It was a philosophy—born of ancient Indian wisdom and expressed through conscious design. Wellness wasn’t something offered. It was inherent—subtle, sacred, and quietly ever-present.