Dit’s dark outside. Down in the valley at Playa del Albir, the buildings sparkle like a thrown glitter jumper. A soft beep fills the air. Do I have ringing in my ears? No, the valley beeps. I’m at the SHA near Alicante, the best wellness clinic in Europe according to the World Spa Awards, which is appreciated by celebrity advocates such as model Toni Garrn or actress Rossy de Palma. For the next five days, I will experience much of the Healthy Aging program, a $10,000 healthy aging regimen. I’m 54 and not a day early. My condition: tired, overworked.
Less than an hour’s drive from Alicante, the white building complex designed by Uruguayan architect Carlos Gilardi sits enthroned behind a residential area. Curved balconies nestle like a green planted stack of soup plates in the mountains of the Sierra Helada Nature Park. The no-frills elegance of the clinic promises what it is all about: the core of all being. My schedule also reads like a list of all the predetermined breaking points that you can have inside: ECG, bone density measurement, blood count, colonic irrigation, sleep polygraph, bioresonance measurement, neurocognition, stress management, mindfulness training, aesthetic and regenerative medicine, sex consultation, hair, teeth, sports. There are also a number of treatments and the macrobiotic meals, of which the SHA is particularly proud.